An interesting life - NOT!
Wow! Nearly three days with out posting - you'd think I'd have a lot to report by now. Sadly I don't. I have to scratch my head thinking of where the time went.
Sunday was spent recovering from last week and spending time with the cutest little monkey, I mean girl, from the Tibetan Children's Village (TCV). Only four and a half, her mother left her at the boarding school and returned to Nepal to work (I am not sure what the deal with her father is). My friend promised to look out after her so she took her home for the day to give her a little extra attention.
The TCV is mostly for orphans, destitute children, and those who's families are still in Tibet but send their children to get an education not dictated by China. There are also day schools for children who's families live near by. The point of this education is to keep Tibetan culture alive while in exile. Today I interviewed a woman who said that she felt as long as children were learning Tibetan (and learning in Tibetan), using it every day, the rest of their culture would be around. For those who aren't so sure it all rests on the language, the TCV also has cooking, dancing, drama, singing, and all sorts of other clubs to help interested youth learn more about the traditional arts. Having been to a few TCV performance, I think they are doing a marvelous job. As well as Tibetan things, the children also learn English, Hindi, computers, and all the regular subjects.
Since it is tough being away from your family, sometimes for years, the school is organized into "homes" of 35-40 children (they would like it to be less but the children seem to arrive faster than they can build new homes). The children are aged between four and fourteen (after that they live in hostels) and live with two "home parents." The older children look out after the younger ones, the parents look out after every one and they all have chores that help keep dinner on the table and the home clean. It is a remarkable operation but my friend worries that Nautu, the four and half year old, doesn't get enough individual attention. So she visits often, brings presents, teaches her to count and the abc's. Sunday she managed to take her home for the whole day. They bought candy, played in the playground, played with cars and balls, ate chicken (apparently a real hit) and other things.
The rest of the week was spent, um, reading, yeah that's it... reading!