Life Lessons

This post is going to be short because I'm in between classes, but there should be a really long one coming.  A lot happened yesterday.  Top on that list was our 3 week trip to Tibet being cancelled.  Admitting a group of young Americans to the TAR was apparently a security risk the Chinese government was not willing to take.  Instead they opted to deny us one of the permits we need.  We had already received the military and foreign affairs permits but the bureau of tourism denied the paperwork we needed from them 36 hours before our flights left Kathmandu.

The precautions we took to avoid this were extensive and the fact that our plans have crumbled anyway is a good indicator of just how volatile the situation in Tibet is.  Adding to the grey mood is the fact that our instructors are seriously concerned for the well being of the SIT contacts we had made in Tibet as most have now been black marked by the Chinese and some are likely in very serious trouble with the regime for their association with us.  In a way what we are experiencing is more genuinely Tibetan than our trip could possibly have been have been.  We are feeling a small fraction of the pain that our language instructors and program aides -nearly all exiles- must feel.

Still, I cannot say enough about the organizational skills of the crew here.  Literally overnight they organized a 3 week trip to Mustang, Nepal which I'm sure will be incredible.  We leave on Saturday and since this post is getting loooong I'll stop talking now.

Also I've been horrible about taking photos, but since I'm here, It's pretty easy to snap a quick photo of the classroom (with a few of my classmates in it):