Movin' On Up

So we've recently moved in with our homestays up in McLeod. It was a very tearful goodbye at Sarah but I totally lucked out with my famiy. My Pa-la is the only major electrician in town and so I think he's really well off. They have a washing machine and a stationary exercize bike. My Ama-la is the best cook I've ever met. The first dinner I had there I thought to myself "so this is what its like to have a home-cooked meal with love by mom"...no offense mom - but its probably the MSG that makes me like it so much. And they are ALWAYS trying to feed me. "Eat more! Eat more! Finish this!" I finally asked my language teacher to tell me how to say "No. Its impossible." (It's "meh. di mi cipa rey", in case you were wondering).

I have a 13 year old brother, Tenzin Kunga, who quickly became on of my favorite people in the world. He's English is amazing but he can't seem to get my name down. The whole family can't really seem to get it. They called me by my Tibetan name for the first few days, which I loved, but then they decided my English name sounds more like "taxi," so thats what Pa-la still calls me. Little bro just calls me Aja-la now, which means big sister, which I also love. The first day he helped me carried my backpacks to the house, but first put on his muscle shirt, insisted on carrying my huge trekking backpack, and kept telling me how easy it was as we stumbled our way through the forest to the house. What a cutie. Unfortunately, he went off to boarding school for the first time on Friday. He was super nervous, poor kid. I'm surprised at how much I miss him. He wrote me a very sweet goodbye letter saying that I'm his sister and he can't wait to come home to hang out with me next month. I've never had a brother before!

I also have a little 7 year old bundle-of-energy sister, Tenzin Sangmo. We were unbelievably fast friends...she's never had a sister before. She immediately stuck herself on my hip. The first night she told me she wanted to show me an Indian dance and started a little song-and-dance routine. She's quite good at dancing...but half way through she got a burst of energy and started jumping up and down on the bed yelling and giggling. "That's not an Indian dance." - Me "I know! I know!!!" -Sangmo. Yesterday I took her up to Bhagsunag to play in the waterfall. She giggled and squealed and ran around splashing pepole uncontrollably (I, of course, joined in with bursts of inner-child energy) in her underware and refused to dry off and denied being cold even as her teeth chattered. I taught her and Kunga "Go Fish" the other day. Big mistake. They went nuts over it. Every second I'm home its "Goldfish! goldfish!!!"

I have a 17 year old brother too, but I've never met him. He's at boarding school and shows no sign of ever wanting to come home, says Ama-la.

I think I live in one of the better houses in Mcleod. I have my own room with two beds and a tv, which is really fortunate as I now have girardia (ameobic dysentery was SO last week), so I'm free to groan and hate myself and curse my stomach in private. Many of the other students weren't so lucky with their families or their homes. Lauren is in a one-room house shared by 5 people, including a 1-year-old. Josh's family stuck him in a room with a 26-year-old woman whom we think they are trying to marry him off too...awkward. Elinor, who has a very strong personality, shares a room (which she affectionatly calls her hut) with a very bossy 30-year-old sister (whom she not-so-affectionatly calls The Nazi) and her mother. Casey was ridiculed by his sister for not being able to eat as many momo's as his host-grandfather. Carrie has to walk 20 minutes to get to a bathroom. So, yeah, I lucked out.