Blissful in the Himalayas

Just wanted to check in and say hello! Mcleod Ganj has been treating me wonderfully...getting away from the bustle and pollution of cities, eating lots of vegetables, going to bed early, hiking through some mountains...I'm feeling wonderful! Back to Delhi tomorrow on a night-bus, though.
Megan and I have seen the Dalai Lama TWICE so far, once yesterday evening and once this morning, though he was only passing in a car along with his large entourage. Although it wasn't a talk or anything, it was still thrilling and surreal seeing such a well-known face in real life! The energy was palpable as people would line up alongside the road, burning incense, excitedly looking for a sign of his arrival. We just happened to be in the right place in the right time twice. Also, I found out later that the man we saw going into a school that I posted about previously was His Holiness the Karmapa, second in status to the Dalai Lama. Such an exciting place! I'm a little sad to be leaving this little mountain-side town...we've been taking it pretty easy. Breakfast at the same place every morning, shopping (perhaps a little too much), hiking, then lunch on a rooftop or terrace overlooking the mountains, reading on the roof of our hotel, then a visit to the temple, dinner, then more reading snuggled up in the big comforters on our beds and the yak wool shawls we've bought. But tomorrow, back to the real India, the chaotic, rushed, crazy India that I've come to see as home. It will be strange to go back to the comforts of Virginia...but I'm looking forward to it nonetheless. Although this place is amazing, if nothing else it has made me realize how much I love my home.