Uprising Day

So I first saw the Dalai Lama the Day before uprising day at a long life ceremony in honor of His Holiness. I was no more than 10 feet away from him when he walked by. The ceremony itself was interesting, listening to their chants. but i was too far away and could not see the action. someone told me that one of the oracles went into a trance during the ceremony and had to be carried away. Then the next day at the uprising day, he did a long speech and i say himn again from further away. He looks just like the pictures, only a little bigger than i thought he would be, haha. His smile though is great to see. Now that i have been among his people, hearing about all of the things he has done, i have so much respect for him, even though i already had a lot of respect for him before. today when we went to the tibetan childrens village, the man who runs the entire program and all of its education facilities said, the greatest gift his holiness the dalia lama has given us is education. and after visiting there, i can see why. I'm constantly impressed with how the tibetans in exile, in only 50 years and without their homeland, were able to pull together and organize themselves to create a future for their children. They are amazing people who are full of hope and good humor. And a lot of fun to drink with! hah! ^_^

So tomorrow we begin our journey home. I have so much more to say about htis trip though, but now i have to concentrate on my paper.

Lots of love

lacey