Today is the 48th anniversary of TCV, and the Dalai Lama is the guest of honor. All of the Bridges to Understanding mentors and staff were invited to attend as VIPs.

Over 5,000 people attended the event and the campus was packed. Luckily we arrived early and settled into our front row seats in plenty of time. The crowds of monks, nuns and students in traditional costumes and school uniforms got louder and louder as his car drove into the arena.

The Dalai Lama nimbly ascended the staircase right in front of us. I was very overwhelmed but my husband Chris amiably said “hello” to him. The Dalai Lama grinned and returned the greeting!

The cultural program consisted of a parade, marching bands, dancers and (the highlight for us) the middle school performing a calisthenics display of which they have been practicing for hours and hours over the past few weeks.

We looked for our 12 Bridges to Understanding students as they created amazing formations, including spelling out Tibet Will Never Die, Inner Peace and World Peace:

The morning finished with a politically charged speech by the Dalai Lama in Tibetan. However, as my Tibetan is a little rusty (or actually non-existent since I don’t speak Tibetan) , Choeppel, one of the teachers, gave us a rough translation.

After lunch of traditional food and Tibetan butter tea (salty and undrinkable in my very British opinion) we were lucky enough to spot another VIP up close – The Karmapa.

We meet back up with our kids who are extremely excited to think we spotted them in their performance and I am reminded once again of their absent parents.

We decided as a group to ditch the three hour (fairly obscure) performance of the Tibetan opera and headed out for our last afternoon with the kids. They don’t get outside of their school walls more than once a month or so, so this was considered a huge treat.

They decided they wanted to go to Bhagsu so we started the long trek. We spotted many black faced langurs along the way and at one point ended up running from a bull near the church cemetery.

Some students and mentors went up to the waterfall we visited yesterday. Lhakpa, the constant guide, took us to a local Hindu temple. We had seen a few Hindu temples in Delhi but nothing like this. It was completely bonkers, starting with an entry through a lion’s mouth. Then you had to crawl on your knees through dark tunnels before reaching a shrine. This was all gleefully described by Lhakpa as the “Disneyland of religion.”

While we waited for the others near the temple pool, we finally discovered what a monk really wears under his robes:

I made a comment on the walk back into town that the kids must be getting tired after their performance and now a long hike. Menhla Tsomo replied back quietly, “Yes, it’s a long way. But not as long as our walk from Tibet.” I didn’t know what to say.

The mood picked up again when we reached the restaurant. We let the kids know we were treating and they ordered enough food for a small army! The evening was made even more special with the kids started making speeches to all of us, thanking us for the experience. Always fighting for the spotlight, Tenzin Seldon and Lekphel kept us entertained. At one point I thought Lekphel was going to thank the academy!

I looked around and the entire restaurant was watching us. I suddenly realized that the Bridges program had been a success and these kids had truly found their voices.

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Today is the first day of our big photo shoot! We met the students after an early breakfast and went down to Mcloud Ganj to see if our compassionate nun was home. We knew we were in the right place because we were greeted by an abundance of dogs but no one else was home. When the dogs started to growl and circle us, we quickly exited the area.

Picture by Tenzin Lhakpa

Because the nun is central to our story, we are a little lost on what to do next. First we decided to find out why she is not at home and she had a good reason. His Holiness, the Dalai Lama is back in town after being hospitalized. The whole town is going to greet him, including our nun. We decided to follow the steady stream of nuns, monks and backpackers to the main street by the temple.

While we were waiting, the students practiced their photography techniques, including portraiture, framing, capturing the “sweet light” – a popular Josh-ism – and even asking nuns and monks to pose as a back up if our other nun didn’t appear later.

After an hour wait, His Holiness arrived in a motorcade and we got a fleeting glimpse of him. One of our students even got this snap (look in the front seat):

Photo by Phunima

Then, we visited the temple where His Holiness lives before heading back to complete our task for the day.

Yep, back to photographing the dog lady.

As the students (and myself if I’m being completely honest) are still nervous from our previous, angry dog encounter at the house, Lori – one of the Bridges to Understanding staff comes with us. She quickly earns a new nickname – The Dog Whisperer.

This time at the house we call out in unison (and in Tibetan) to the nun, Sonam Tsering, to come out of the house. She suddenly emerges in a mass of barking dogs and climbs up the dark, narrow steps to meet us. The kids jump into action (except Lhakpa who is busy hiding behind me) and a very chaotic paparazzi moment begins. With bulbs flashing and dogs barking and the children yelling in Tibetan.

It gets dark quickly and we have to leave. After cajoling a reluctant Lhakpa into a quick shot with the nun:

Photo by Tenzin Dadon

Chungdak finishes recording the dogs for some ambient noise for our digital story. We shout our goodbyes leaving the nun alone among the barking mass once more.

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