Last pictures from Tsondue. This first one is the bedroom and although it shows 2 beds, we were told we would be having private rooms so maybe one bed will be a spare
This is a picture of my bathroom in the residence hall
Here's a picture of the upstairs veranda outside of the rooms
Did you ever really think about the number of medicines you need to take to visit India? I went to the TravelWell Clinic at Emory University's Crawford Long Hospital yesterday. OK, so I had the tetanus booster during my annual physical in February and didn't need that yesterday. But, I did get hepatitis A and hepatitis B shots as the first round....have to go back in about a month. I also got a polio booster, a prescription for malaria medication, a prescription for Cipro (in case of "Delhi Belly"), and a 4 day vaccine for Typhoid Fever that I need to keep refrigerated and take once a day every other day for 8 days.
They told me that I could skip the Japanese Encephalitis vaccine since I won't need to put myself at that risk. Evidently the risk of complications from the shot is high enough that if you are not necessarily going to be exposed to the disease, you should skip the shot....but the papers on this illness say that 30% of those who contract it die, and another 30% suffer permanent brain damage...oh, joy!
I was also told that rabies is rampant (and they don't pre-treat in any way for that, maybe need to see my vet...(just kidding)) and I was told to stay away from birds since Avian flu is traveling thru the country. (They probably mostly don't want anyone bringing it back to the US). Knowing, however, what people might be like on a long flight, you never know who will be next to you, I might rather take my chances sitting next to a bird than some who knows who on those long flights.
Off to take the next typhoid capsule...
More pictures from Tsondue taken on site
A picture of the classroom. No need for furniture, Monks and Nuns usually sit on mats on the floor.
A picture of the residence hall where we will be staying.
OK, so it's a far distance to Dharamsala. There's no quick or painless way to get there so I'm making my trip arrangments. Delta Airlines says it's about 9500 miles. I can already feel the pain in my behind!
I can fly on Continental Airlines and they go directly from Newark....who wants to go to Newark??... or I can fly on Delta and do a lay over in Paris....hmmm....Newark or Paris....Newark or Paris....is this such a tough decision?
Well with a bit of searching, I'm set to leave on May 31st (a Saturday) and will arrive in Paris on Sunday morning, June 1st at 6:30 a.m. I have a short 2 hour layover, so too bad I'll miss the cafes and croissants this time.
It's just enough time to stretch my legs and reboard a new plane that will get me into Delhi around 11:00 p.m. Sunday evening. Bryce said someone will meet me after I clear customs and will take me to a hotel for the rest of the evening (what little there will be). I then take an Air Deccan flight the next morning on Monday from Delhi to Dharamsala and then a short trip down the road to the Institute for Buddhist Dialects, Sara College, the place where I will be staying and working. I'm supposed to get in around 4:00 p.m.
Will have to check out the time difference between there and Atlanta!
