familiar faces, sacred places

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've finished everything (paper and all) and have been spending time tooling around/lazing around Darjeeling with ten other students. I met this group of wonderful people in Kolkata and they just showed up at my hotel here in Darjeeling, so we've been doing the tourist things together, which has been great!

We went to this place called the "Happy Valley Tea Estate" and got a lesson in tea harvesting. Everyone rode these sad little ponies but, because of my intense animal-rights values, I decided to walk to the estate. It was, to say the least, a "trek." I got lost, of course, but ended up there eventually and everyone talked about how the ponies felt like they were going to fall over under the weight of humans, so I felt good about my decision. After the tea estate we tried to go back to the "Hot Stimulating Cafe" where warm local beer is served, unfortunately it seems they are never open.... maybe tonight??

But, we had a great night regardless. We ventured back to the hotel and sat on the roof drinking hot chocolate (with just a speck of rum/brandy in it) and sang Christmas carols. There is a little teeny baby here at the hotel who is the granddaughter of the owner. She came out and said things like "Good night" and "see you!" which was also precious.

Then yesterday we woke up at 4 am to venture to Tiger Hill, where you can see views of Everest. Unfortunately Darjeeling and the surrounding hills have clouded over in the past few days so we just saw the tip of Kenchengdzonga... but it was still beautiful. We saw the sunrise and then we walked 5 km back to Ghoom, then took a jeep to Darjeeling because we hadn't had breakfast yet.

Today is another site-seeing day. I have a routine in which I edit until about 10 am (editing/finishing up the paper) and then I go off with everyone. We're heading to the Mountaineering Institute to see the Everest exhibit, and then it's back to the hotel, most likely, for a little r & r.

I leave for New Delhi on Sunday (2 days)... it's strange because it almost feels like I'm going home, but then I really DO go home a week from Monday! Wow. The time passes quickly.