Four weeks in two paragraphs

Due to the high cost of internet in Padum, the capital of Zanskar, blogging became somewhat of a luxury. I apologize to those who worried that I had been crushed by a rock, eaten by a snow leopard, or sick with a deadly illness, for I was only trying to save a buck or two. Let me begin by saying that life in a Buddhist nunnery was surprisingly normal. If you were thinking that I was up every morning at 4 am meditating on a mountain peak, I'm sorry to say I was fast asleep. If you were imagining me doing yoga daily, I'm sorry to say I was quite lethargic. If you are anticipating me returning with a shaved head and maroon robes, I'm sorry to say I'm still the same layperson I was when I left for India. I, along with all of you, had many mystical expectations about the opportunity to live and teach there. However, in the most Buddhist fashion, my personal "change" was entirely internal. Simply put, the fact that life in the nunnery didn't change me changed me.

I will do the past month justice if I simply tell my stories when I return home. This includes my experience teaching the nuns, being welcomed as the "guest of honor" at the Zanskar presidential inauguration, contracting food poisoning, hitch-hiking, celebrating my 19th birthday, and helping distribute government-issue solar panels to locals. Each one of these events, plus countless others, deserves its own full length post. I'm not going to spend my last few, precious days in Leh staring at a computer screen, so I'm going to ask you to be patient. 

Tomorrow or the next day, in my last post from India, I will write about my experience trekking through the region.