Also, It's Very Cold Here At Night

Live from Dharamsala

The internet is a little unreliable, but I am posting from Dharamsala after three days of traveling. I'm up at 7:30 am because my body is very confused but I don't intend to correct it. It's very cool here, and by that I mean it's freezing at night. I'm going to rent a space heater. I know it makes me look like a wuss but I'm going to do it so I don't have to wear my winter jacket to bed.

I can see the Himalayas from my house!

Otherwise things here are very nice. I think I found a nice place. Yesterday Noah from my volunteer organization was explaining that I had to remember to lock the windows and door all the time because of "monks."
Me: "You mean bugs, right?"
Noah: "No. Monks."
Me: "You must mean bugs." (even though it isn't that buggy here)
Noah. "Not bugs. Monks."
Me: "You're telling me monks will get in here and mess up all my stuff ... do you mean MONKEYS?"
Noah: "Yes, monkeys."
Me: "Because I don't know how monks would fit through the window."

And we had a good laugh about that.

To be fair there are a lot of monks, though some of them are nuns.

Up for today: Renting a cell phone, getting in contact with friends who will help get the project going, figure out what I'm doing at the Tibet Post maybe. Also I bet I'll get lost a bunch of times even though McLeod-Ganj is tiny because there's no street signs. It's already happened twice.

I don't know why this video came out smooshed and red. There's some settings to change but I didn't have time to figure it out. Too busy packing. I'm sure when my body is up at 4 in the morning in Delhi because it doesn't know what time it is or where I am, I'll have more time to work on settings.



Other news:
- Shabbos in Dharamsala this week is at 6:05 pm IST.
- I am very tired.

That is all.

Packing

Since packing is the most interesting thing in the world, I'll post about it.

Over the past week, after a long virus, I've been picking up random things that I need for traveling as I think of them, because some of them are cheaper on the internet and shipping takes time.

From my personal accounts:

- typhoid vaccine

- anti-malarial pills

- new mezuzah scroll (ouch, $45? Suck)

- traveling Kiddish cup, because all of mine are glass or real silver

- cheap travel watch

From my Kickstarter money:

- plane ticket and travel insurance

- reservations for transportation from Delhi to Dharamsala on the 27th

- Visa

I have my on a camcorder, but being ill kinda prevented me from actually going to teh store and trying it out. Plus it needs an external mic and other accessories. For audio recording I'm fine with a computer and USB microphone.

VISA!!!

Yesterday I waited half an hour in the pouring rain, but I got my visa!

For security reasons I had to blur pretty much all of it, but there it is.

Generally when Americans travel, we don't have to obtain a visa beforehand. We just walk into the country and get our books stamped and sometimes we pay a visa fee on the spot. I didn't appreciate that until I went to India in 2009 and found out I had to go to the consulate's outsourcing center in Manhattan, or pay a lot of money to have it mailed and mailed back, and fill out a long form explaining what I was doing in India and what my contact information would be. The US is on fairly good terms with India, but India's not too thrilled about our relationship with Pakistan, so there's some bureaucratic to go through. If you're from friendlier-to-India countries like Sri Lanka or the Philippines, the costs are lower. I have to make an appointment a week ahead, fill out a form, provide proof of address and my passport, stand in a long line, submit my visa, then come back 2-3 days later and stand in another long line for the brief 1 1/2 hour window where they let you pick up your passport. India also won't let you take their money out of the country, so you can't change money at the bank ahead of time for better rates.

Some of this has to do, believe it or not, with our own stupidity during the Cold War. When everyone had to pick a side, India decided it wanted nothing to do with the whole thing (being socialist, not communist) and declared itself "neutral." The US decided that anybody who declared themselves "neutral" was as red as the Russian flag, so the US allied with Pakistan because Pakistan was in a constant state of near-war with India and we had to pick sides. Over time, these relationships have not panned out well for the US, but it's very hard to switch sides and have someone believe you. Also, we don't want to pull out of Pakistan and stop helping their military because we think, somewhat fairly, that if we did, they would slide further into an radical Islam and just outright help the Taliban in Afghanistan instead of doing it secretly. Also, the US does a lot of business with China, and China and India are kind of racing to see who will be the top economic powerhouse in Asia, so there's some tension there.

Some Indians have pointed out that if Tibet was independent, it would serve as a buffer zone between India and China with their border disputes, but they probably should have thought of that in 1950 when the Communists were invading and the Dalai Lama's government was begging for help. None was sent, though honestly, India probably couldn't have afforded to do so.

Update Video

Reading Material

Man, it's going to be a busy 6 weeks until the trip - already is, pretty much, with work and also writing a new book before I leave to hand to my agent. And I need to read, read, read. I read a lot about India for my last trip and Tibet is an ongoing interest of mine, so you can check out my Goodreads list to see what I've already read and reviewed, especially the stuff with the Tibet tag.

I've got some Travel Guides (for India, Nepa, and Tibet) but I won't be bringing a lot of them with me, as past experience has told me that they are (a) heavy and (b) ridiculously easy to get for a few bucks over there, and I have other things to bring, like a computer and of course some Talmud. I also have a Kindle, which hopefully will not die on this trip like it died in Tel Aviv. I don't use it much when I'm not traveling, but man is it something to have on a trip.

Reading list:

Dharamsala: Tibetan Refuge (non-fiction)

Dharamsala Diaries (non-fiction)

Among the Tibetans (non-fiction)

Sky-Train: Tibetan Women at the Edge of History (non-fiction)

A History of Modern Tibet, 1913-1951: The Demise of the Lamaist State (history)

A Place Beneath the Pipal Tree (Nepalese historical fiction)

Faulty Glasses and Other Stories (Nepalese fiction)

Dance of the Snow Dragon (Tibetan historical fiction)

Some Books on Oral History from the library

I am really looking forward to being able to buy Indian books again. India has a tremendous English-language publishing industry but the books are rarely brought to the States except as expensive imports. In the historical epic and fantasy categories they really excel. The inter-state airport has an incredible selection. I was very surprised when I got back from India at how few of these books I could find in America, even with Amazon, where I buy most of my books used. I won't lack for Shabbos reading material while I'm there, that's for sure.