You guys got any bikes?

I'm finally remembering to take my camera with me sometimes when I go out. I assume this is some kind of bicycle repair shop ...

Lumbini Photos II

The LIRI

Cutting the grass by hand

Gecko on books in the library (this was a 15 second exposure!)

Tibetan style books

Lumbini Photos I

Some monks at the Maya Devi temple (the Buddha's birthplace)

Me in front of the Ashoka Pillar

An unpainted Thai monastery (it's under construction)

More birds

Here's a bird from my porch today. Last post with bird pictures, I promise.

BIRDS!

Here are some pictures of pigeons near Boudha Stupa.

Some photos

I went on a long walk yesterday and saw a Tibetan monastery and a Hindu shrine. Here are some pictures:

At the Tibetan monastery

This is a huge tree / shrine thing at the Hindu temple. 

One of many stupas at the Tibetan monastery

Encouraging Slippers are Encouraging

Some days you'll take any encouragement you can get. Even from slippers. 

(Update: In case it isn't clear from the picture, they each have double thumbs up!)

New home

I'm finally getting settled in the new apartment.  When I arrived in Kathmandu I was staying in a monastery guest house. It was nice, and particularly nice for a friend of mine to have set it up in advance (there is a nice peace of mind in knowing you will have a bed!) but it had a hotel room feel and I didn't feel like I wanted to live there. Also, I was told there was a desk in the room, which is true but it's not exactly the kind of desk one could do work at :

The "desk" in my guest house ...

Maybe it's nitpicky, but for me I can get work done only if I have a decent desk (well that's not really true, but it makes working much easier / more pleasant). So now I'm living in an apartment rented by the Fulbright people which is really nice. It's part of a house and has an upstairs and downstairs. Here are some pics:

Dining room

Kitchen

Stairway

My room (it has a nice balcony, which is not pictured)

Now that is a desk ...

\

Living room

There is one other Fulbrighter in the house. She's also a PhD student so she's pretty studious, which is a good match and makes the house quiet and peaceful (I had worried before that it would be full of partying undergrads ...) Anyway, load shedding begins soon, so I'd better wrap this up.

India

I'm in Kathmandu now getting settled, but I thought I'd post some pictures from India. I landed in Delhi and went to Majnu ka Tila, the Tibetan refugee area. Unfortunately, I arrived at just before midnight and all the hotels and guest houses were completely full. Lucky for me I met a Tibetan guy who let me stay in his room. It was a small, unheated place no bigger than 8' by 8' but 4 Tibetans were living there - but it beat staying out on the street!

I took the train to Varanasi from Delhi and the train arrived about 10 hours late and by the time we got to Varanasi it was a bit over 26 hours late. I was later told that the trains are late because the track switching is done manually and in the thick fog of winter, they cannot see the signals. When they can't see they have to stop the train to go check the signals.

I arrived just in time to crash the Tengyur Translation Conference in Sarnath and talk to some people about my research.  The conference was interesting and I got to meet a lot of people. I also managed to visit the site of the Buddha's first teaching and catch a glimpse of HHDL before I left!  Anyway, here are the photos:

Trying to sleep on the train. I didn't bring a blanket so I had to use my towel!

The hotel in Sarnath. Looked like a level from some zombie first-person shooter

On the train

Me and a guy from the train

Riding in a tuk-tuk

At a Hanuman shrine

From the desk of ...

I found this pretty interesting (and short) documentary about the desk called Desk





Today was my first day in a while without teaching or grading to do, so I took the opportunity to clean up my room.  For what it's worth, here's a snapshot of my desk (well, one of my desks) in it's current state:

Now to try to do some work on it ...

New Guitar

While I was in Michigan this summer I got a new guitar.  I've had it for a while, but I've only recently been able to start recording with it (and blogging about it).  My previous guitar was a hand-me-down faux-Stratocaster made by Washburn called a "Lyon".  It worked pretty well for me for the last ten years, but lately it has not been doing so well.  In the summer, my dad and I went to our local music store under the pretense of looking at guitar strings.  I was very close to buying a Fender Jazzmaster.  After thinking on it for a few days, we came back and that day the store got in a shipment of Gibson hollow-bodies.  I was reluctant because my dad's Gibson ES-335 is so big, but the ES-339 is the same but with a smaller body.  Once I tried it, I couldn't go back. The fact that it was about as much as my first car was also cause for some deliberation.  Anyway, I bought it and managed to get it back to Providence safely.   Here are some pictures:

So far I really love it - sounds great (sustain!), plays great.  Now to make some time to record with it ... 

New Ukulele

I bought a new Ukulele last week and I like it a lot so far.  It was about $50 on sale from about $90 and I'm surprised at how good it sounds.  It's perfect for wandering around the house on hot afternoons.  Here are some pictures and a sound clip I recorded (I'm not too good yet so don't expect much ...)

Lhasa 2010 Pictures

I'm back from Lhasa now.  It was a really great trip, but it's nice to be back in Providence (humidity aside anyway).  Here are some photos from the trip:  

Prayer flags at Lake Namtso

Water show in front of the Potala 

Me and a monk friend

Wind Horse!

The Jianlibao can has Tibetan now! So delicious ...

Sunset at Lake Namtso

Me and my Tibetan mom & little sister

Tibetan little sister