School Dance

We're still moving along in our lessons at school. We are learning the 'be' verb this week, and I was asking for students to complete the sentence "We are..." One response I kept getting sounded to me like "We are monkeys" and it was only until I went back to "I am..." that I realized they were saying "We are monks" and "I am a monk"! In Tibetan, consonants are not usually placed together, so sometimes it is difficult for them to pronounce certain consonant clusters. 

The school days are long, starting at about 6 am and going until lunchtime. There's a break until 3, and then school continues until 9:30 pm. It's not all class time, and there's time for homework and exercise. Most of the students live at the school in dorms, as well as the teachers. They don't allow cell phones in class (thank goodness) and inspect the students' pockets before they enter the school. Between some of the classes, the entire school dances together outside, which I really enjoy watching. They make two large circles and dance to some Tibetan songs, and some students are more enthusiastic about it than others.

School Dance

I think the weather is getting a little warmer these days, if only slightly. I'm still wearing all my layers, but sometimes the afternoons feel to be almost 70 degrees, at least when the sun is shining. And then 5 minutes later the clouds come in and it rains and cools off again. 

I took my morning walk around the stupa after breakfast today and got swarmed by a group of older ladies who wanted to feel my hair and my skirt. If one person comes over to me, usually a trail of otherwise timid people follows. They've all been friendly though and I'm able to explain who I am well enough for them to understand.