Note: The photo does not correspond to the situation. This red fort was in Delhi. I'm not in Delhi anymore, but these guys make me put a photo up.

Friday 2nd May, 2 months have passed. Pretty quickly and pretty slowly. Quick in the sense that its quite easy for days to pass without too much of an effort, but slowly, because it feels like I'm at home and life is nice and sloooooooooow. On Wednesday, after a morning puja (prayer session), the boys were exempted from class and given the oppertunity to walk to the nearby lagoon, where the water is quite shallow and there are giant rocks all around. A lot of this place and its climate reminds me of Northern Australia. The water seemed pretty clean. After we dried up, we all climbed up above the lagoon and celebrated the day and the coming big holiday by getting stuck into some dahl and chappati with sprite. There was only enough sprite for two kids to share a bottle each, so there was a big chaotic scramble as the monks worked out the pecking order. Then it was very quiet and we all sat under the sun, and enjoyed some good food. On the way there, the monks all tried to hold our hands, but there was only enough hand for two of them. Even though we were sweating profusely, they still felt quite comfortable holding hands. One of the boys I was holding hands with was 16 years old. While I wasn't used to it, he made it feel quite natural, like it wasn't really a big thing. Interestingly, the Tibetans are only affectionate in public to people of their own sex. You never see married couples holding hands or hugging (let alone romping in the corner), and they don't really even walk together. Its strange, because the monks are very affectionate to me, and I feel very comfortable around them. You'll often see a few of them walking down the street all holding hands. This is the norm.

Anyway, while we have settled in well, we're about to head off for some travelling, because the boys have a big annual holiday, starting in about a week. Looking forward to being on the move for a bit. Can't say I'm dying to get away. Everyone in Tashijong is warming to us, now that they know we're not really going anywhere for a while. The girls are cute, and very shy. I talked to one of them the other day, she works in the restaurant, and her english was really good. She's really nice.

Thanks for sending the Footy, mum and dad. Its great having it around to teach the locals. They have quickly adapted to holding the ball in the hands and passing quite well. Its really good fun. I don't think I've ever liked football this much