World Wanderers: Life is an adventure. It’s not the destination that’s rewarding, it’s the journey.: Tibetan Babies and Momo Party!

We wake up every day to either massive groups of children singing beautifully from the schools nearby or to herds of goats baa-ing. Strolling the streets of McLeod Ganj, we constantly come face to face with cows (they are holy in India) which have free reign over the pedestrian streets. We watch people walk their goats on a leash, one man skins and cooks goats feet everyday to make soup at one particular stall (the head left on display for all passer-byers to view), eagles soar overhead, monkeys create mayhem, paragliders sail over the himalayas, many lepers beg for money (very sad and disturbing), prayer flags blow in the wind, the base from chanting monks and buddhists in a very low baritone fills the air, the sun warms against the cool mountain air, waterfalls of garbage cascade down the hills, people sell stunning goods, fruit and jewelry in street stalls while remaining non-intrusive (something that we have not experienced in other parts of India from sellers--usually they harass you relentlessly to buy something from them), people chop meat in tiny closet-sized shops as if they are hiding what they are doing from the many vegetarians here,and then stuff it in sports bags, giant logs create scaffolding to hold up buildings, women carry babies while carrying sand or food on their heads, men carry unreasonable amounts of items strapped to their backs up very steep hills, donkeys and mules pull sand and rice, the smell of sandlewood and tobacco follows us and little ladies selling their momos are on every street corner!

Momos are a traditional Tibetan dish which are little dumplings (like Ukrainian parogies) filled with everything from vegetables and cheese to mutton to chocolate and peanut butter. They are steamed or fried and they are scrumptious! It was therefore to my delight that when Des and I started volunteering at a Tibetan baby daycare, we found out we would be learning how to make momos!

The place we were volunteering is the Rogpa Daycare Center which takes care of babies who don't have parents or whose parents are Tibetan refugees and need to go out to make a living. It was a short lived but amazing experience. (We got violently ill following babysitting--we don't know if it was the babies and germs that are sure go with any baby or something we ate). However, it was a brilliant experience. They were the most gorgeous, gentle, adorable, bright little things ranging from 8 months to 2 years. We hugged and held them lots, sang to them, danced to hardcore techno with them (their selection, you should have seen their excitement!), played blocks and balls, watched Tom and Gerry in Tibetan, fed them and basically just loved them! Of course, as always, many of them came straight to Des, especially when crying and adored his games and attention! The women working there were lovely and organized a momo party for us in the evening.

We sat around in groups and made the momos from scratch, pinching them into many different shapes. Then there was a dance party in the daycare where they forced us to dance to hardcore techno (again). They steamed our momos and we ate them--delicious and well-deserved!

I am disappointed to say that that night I went home and got violently ill for the first time since being in India for nearly a month. Thank god our lovely 3 euro a day hotel room had premium cable (I needed a distraction and couldn't move or read for 3 days). Des went back to the daycare center without me a few days later and they sent him home from school telling him he looked too pale and sick to volunteer and needed to go to the hospital. And so we did.

We ended up seeing a Tibetan doctor who I thought was going to prescribe antibiotics to us but surprised us. Sitting in the waiting room, all the doctors and workers gathered in a room and chanted sand script for about 15 minutes. We then went in to see the doctor in his office with healing incense burning strongly and he put his 3 fingers on our wrist and felt our pulse or blood or aura or whatever he was doing and diagnosed us. (We of course also explained what was wrong). He prescribed us different and very definite prescriptions which we obtained just outside the office where there was a plethora of different jars on shelves filled with different little balls. We ended up getting little mixtures of different sized black and yellow pellets that we take at different times of the day and the are ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING! We have to chew them with hot water and so taste each and every bit of them--it is like chewing aspirin mixed with seaweed and chalk. Last night we had to mix a sachet with hot water that ended up looking (and tasting) like the thick black sludge off the bottom of a lake---again, revolting---but we're on the mend, so it looks like Tibetan medicine definitely isn't too be laughed at or taken lightly! Happy Days!