It's our weekend, and yesterday and today have been an adventure full of magic; mystery, and mayhem. The intrigue began yesterday in the form of huge balls of hail raining down from the sky, always a mystical phenomenon. I spent the day wandering around all three towns (McLeod Ganj; Dharamkot; and Bhagsu), enjoying the people and events which I stumbled into or who stumbled into me. I had a sweet connection with a very old Tibetan lady; had a sketchy Indian man try to talk me into going off to sit in the woods with him (yeah right); had a long talk and a cup of tea with an elder American archeologist of Tibet, on consciousness; the soul; and the nature of life.... And I was hijacked by a 90 year old British woman to go bush whacking through the forest. This was definitely the most interesting part of my day. I was just walking up the steps at the Vipassana center, when she sidelined me and told me to follow her into the woods... She is my new inspiration! She hiked all around and she told me that her family was still trying to get her to "settle down"; that she is too old for this... Yeah, my arse. She is as agile and fit as someone my age. She pointed out a house way up in the mountains, accross the valley, where she used to live. She said they rent it out by the month, and I declared I would love to live there! I'm determined to find my way up there and look into this little mountain hideaway... My day ended with a synchronistic meeting and dinner with my good friend Halo, and some incredible guitar work from another traveler who has an amazing style of playing the guitar like a cello... It was a long day that didn't see me to bed until midnight... But I reassured myself with the promise of a long awaited morning sleep in... The first in two long, exhausting weeks. But, as the Universe would have it, my plan was spoiled...
5:30am erupted in an explosion of drums, horns and cymbals, in some kind of dramatic ceremony right outside my window. For two hours I lay in bed, exhausted, wondering what kind of insane Indian event was requiring a marching band at 5:30 am on Sunday morning?!! The procession finally moved on around 7:30 am and unable to sleep, I walked out of my room and asked some of my teachers what the heck that was all about. Apparently, it was a celebration/offering to the deities because some wish had been granted. Unfortunately for my heart and that of a sweet being, they sacrificed a poor goat! If you look at my Facebook pics, you will see a pic of a goat that has funny hair like a wig. The caption mentions that "this goat has a wig on ". It was this very goat who no longer bleats upon the world... Poor goat. This culture has some of the most radical practices and traditions I have ever known. What a crazy world we are creating....
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