winter wonderland

just 2 days ago i wrote an email to gerlandon saying that i was really wishing tha i could enjoy some snow. it’s been lightly snowing on and off in between hail and rain up here, but the snow has always melted as soon as it hit the ground. i kept looking at the distant mountains, covered completely by snow, and wishing that the snow would fall here too. well, it finally did. last night it started snowing pretty hard. we walked back to our hotel room and i was a bit bummed that probably by the time we got up, the snow will have melted and we wouldnt be able to enjoy it…

i was totally wrong. i woke up, looked out the window, and the world was white. snow everywhere!! the trees were covered, the roads were covered, buildings were covered.. everything. it was all incredibly beautiful. as we walked throuigh town, it was amazing how different everything looked. red robed monks plowed through the white powder, trying to shield their faces from the snow w/ umbrellas or with just their cloaks. snow sprinkled cows wandered about. amazing!! at one point i felt a few snowballs hit my back. when i looked up, it turned out that a bunch of monks standing on top of the monastary were throwing snowballs down on the people below while yelling cheerful “good morning!!!” too funny. actually a lot of people in town seemed to be 5really excited by the snow and lots of people were running around, playing, and having a blast.

cow, braving the snow

monk

caryn

the walk up to the meditation center was a tough one. the road is steep as hell, and is tough to walk up on a normal day, but being covered with snow, it was extra difficult. we walked up the road taking in the spectacular scenerey, and shivering the whole time. even the monkeys were cold today, and instead of digging in the dumpster as usual, they were all huddled together under a buildings overhang. one of them was stealthily trying to break into the hotel! it was pawing through an open window, trying to squeeze into it, and after giving up, started trying to steal the curtain hanging inside! this was definitely one of the many times where i had to wonder.. is this really my life?? walking through snowy passes in the himalayas while watching monks plow through snow and monkeys huddle around… that’s stuff that belongs in a movie.. not my life.

monkeys

monkeys

me, trying to stay dry!

we spent the day in the meditation center, where we all struggled desperately to keep warm while we meditated or listened to the teacher. the snow kept falling and falling all day, and judging from the amount of snow on the rooftops, i’d say we got about a foot and a half of snow!! we started our treck back to town. b this time, the snow had stopped, and a lot of it was tuening to ice. it was nearly impossible to get a good grip on the road, and people were sliding and slipping the whole wa down the steep road. in town, it was moe of the same. the roads were so slippery!! every step you took had to be very slow and clculated to keep you from falling over. we had so many close calls, but luckily never actually fell to the ground.

the stupa at Tushita meditation center w/ prayer flags

all in all, it was such a cool day. i’m so glad that i got to see a least a little bit of snow this winter!

monks in the town square

temple in town (pre-snow)

this statue in our meditation center is over 10 feet high!

*v