Hello Dalai, Well Helllooo Dalai...

I won't lie, I literally spent about 5 minutes privately chuckling to myself after I wrote in the title of this entry. Then I spent another 5 minutes dying of explosive laughter after I invisioned the re-make of "Hello Dolly" that I plan to create called "Hello Dalai", where everything is exactly the same as the original, except instead of Barbara Streisand it's staring His Holiness. I really think he would do well in so much sequin. I just can't wait to pitch it to him.
Anyway, the real point of my entry.....are my new and improved plans! Man I'm excited!
So I was parusing my Lonely Planet India the other day, and looking at towns up North that I might like to get to after I leave Calcutta, and was looking into Dharamsala - where the Dalai Lama lives when he's not travelling around the world. It mentioned that Tibetan New Year is Decmber 10th, and that in Dharamsala (which is also where most Tibetan refugees live) there are huge celebrations and week long teachings by His Holiness for the public. Dharamsala is pretty far North, close by the Himalayas and is apparently as kind a place as Darjeeling. So, Ima go see Dalai! Currently I'm enrolled in a 10-day silent meditation course in a near-by town called Dehra Dun until the 7th of December, and then I'll head over to Dharamsala for my last week before heading back to Cal to fly out. Yeeehaw. And yes, I did say 10-day silent meditation retreat. Yes, I know I have a hard time not talking for all of 10 minutes, let alone 10 days. That's why I'm doing it. Oh and I have to get up at 4 am and meditate for 1 hours per day and can;'t have solid food past noon. Yes, I may go crazy. I just can't wait.
In other news, I volunteered at Mother House this morning, which is one of the infinite instiutions in Calcutta set up by and dedicated to Mother Teresa. It was great. I played with retarded kids all day, held a couple of kids down while they tried to bang their heads against walls, fed some, bathed some. It's just great to see that these kids actually have someplace to be in this city, because if they're not in a volunteer house they're either abandoned by their parents and left on the streets or out begging for money.
I start teaching english classes on Monday at the school for street kids, so I suppose I should go polish my almost-fluent Hindi and learn how to not swear every other word. Oh, and also how to teach English to a bunch of street kids who would rather throw crayons and large metal objects at me than listen to whatever I have to say. Shit. There goes that plan.
Be well,
Kato