Long Time No see!

Hello Everyone! sorry for the radio silence... A bit of catching up:

Sarnath, near Varanasi: Did we tel you that we went to see HH the Dalai Lama give teachings? He did so in Sarnath, the place where the Buddha gave his first teaching. We were of course the lazy ones, showing up at the very end for the parties and blessings, while other friends of ours had been sitting on the ground listening to things like how to develop patience and widsom. Ouf! And then guess what: The Dalai Lama himself had a private audience for the english speakers! (He'd had ones on other days for other groups, Tibetans, Mongolians, etc). Whew! we were just in time. We arrived super early, 5:30 ish, stood in line, security, then we were in! He came a bit later, told the organizers to get rid of the throne and canopy they'd prepared and moved the table with microphone closer to us (like 1 foot away from teh first row of people!) He then stood up with no chair to be closer to us while he talked for about 30 minutes in English. This whole time, I'm like, not more than 10 feet from him --which is totally impossible in the West when he comes. Let me tell you, being that close to him, he gives off an energy that you can feel. I didn't see an aura or anything, but everyone--whether buddhist or not---was just in a happy, joyous mood. You feel that nothing could ever go wrong. You feel completely un-judged, total acceptance. I know, I sound like a silly Hallmark card, but if you ever have teh chance to be in the presence of a Great Person, like Mandela or Dalai Lama or like that, then you'll know what I mean. NOTE: He asked everyone to pray for that Iranian woman (I forget her name!) who one the Nobel Peace Prize a few years ago for her work on justice in Iran--she's now facing big problems. Then, he suggested we have a group photo! (by region) So when those for eth Americas we called, I went up (EVEN CLOSER! 2 feet maybe!) Others were all reacing out to touch his hand, but I couldn't bring myself to do that. The photos are available on: www.dalailama.com!

Us on our late afternoon boat ride at Varanasi, the holy Ganges river where Hindus come to bathe (and be cremated at death). Just after my oil massage, so Im literally dripping!

One of the many, amazingly healthy cows in Varanasi: People give them stuff to eat, food offerings, touch them on the forehead for a blessing as they go by.... but believe me, you don't want to cross one in a narrow alleyway at night!

Bodhgaya: This is THE place where Buddha sat under the bodhi tree 2500 years ago and got himself Enlightened. what was amazing about this place, besides being a gorgeous park with gardens, is that rather than be a dead, dry momument, it's FULL of people from everywhere doing spiritual practise: Thai monks and lay people chanting in Thai, Tibetans, Indian tour groups, people of all walks of life and all sorts of religions. Praying, meditating, making offerings of flowers, lights, water bowls, incense, gold leaf on statues...it's just amazing to see....I also discovered that humans everywhere are the same: the local beggar boys have figured out that if they put on robes that look like monks and then go ask for money, they'll get more from tourists who don't know how to spot a 'real' monk :)

This is THE Famous Bodhi TREE of the Budda, with Thai and Tibetan monks in the foreground.

Train to Kolkata that never ended: the only upside of this trip was sharing our compartment with an adorable young Indian couple who didn't speak a word of English. Through gestures, we learned they'd just been married and seemed to be heading to Kolkata for honeymoon. Forget whatever you want to think about loveles Indian mariages: these two were clearly head over heels. The girl and I compared wedding rings/ bangles, they helped us get food...so many sincere moments like this which make you see that human beings are full of basic goodness/ kindness...

Thailand: Thank God we got sick in Thailand! the Hospital was super modern, cleaner than many I've seen in the West, excellent service (I ask the staff if there's an internet cafe in the area, they take me upstairs to their admin offices and give me one of their laptops--imagine that!) Haven't seen much so far, but I'm in love. It was also the right thing to plan our trip in this order, with Thailand last! Imagine things like air-conditioning! No shit--either human or animal--on the streets! Tons of edible food! And I think I love the food here even more than India--it's all made last minute and delicious! the climate is more tropical, humid, which is difficult. After so many years outside of georgia, I've lost my ability to deal with it! But I'm happily reminded of home with the luxuriant greenness everywhere, the slow pace or you faint, the Iced tea everywhere. I'm starting to wonder, why do I ever spend winter in Europe? It's cheaper to be here! So, we're trying to get organised--and healthy--before going to the beaches. I'm having a hard time deciding between 'beautiful beach but filed with tour groups and tee shirt vendors' or the 'laid-back castaway but not so pretty beach' choices. Oh the difficulties of being on vacation! and to be honest, as totally insane as this must sound to those of you who are working hard, I need a vacation from my vacation: India is really exhausting, and I was a bit stressed out to see Jean Yves so sick--it's always me that gets sick, never him!

love to you all and thanks for your comments: it's good to know someone's out there! :)