Losar

Hello friends,
I have really been enjoying myself these past few days. I am sorry I have not been able to e mail everyone yet but the internet situation is a bit frustrating at times. For example, right now I can post on my blog but I cannot access Hotmail for some reason. I heard rumors that Kalimpong has just upgraded to broadband but I will believe it when I see it. We have been celebrating Losar for the past few days and it has been great fun. Losar is the Tibetan new year. It is the tradition to celebrate for several days, sometimes up to fifteen. I have taken many pictures but I will have to wait until they get the new connection at His Holiness' house to upload them on the site. Maybe they will get the rumored broadband I have been hearing about. For those waiting for me to Skype them pease forgive me. Losar is like Christmas here so it is a pretty big deal. This means that things are a bit more complicated at the moment. I am sure I can get regular access to the internet in the coming future and I will set up times when we can Skype. For those who are wondering " what the @#$* is Skype?", Skype is a *free* program you can download for *free* and speak over the internet with your friends and family for *free*.Oh yeah, did I mention it is* free*? It works pretty well and I encourage anyone interested to download it(www.skype.com). There have been hundreds of people from all over the world here celebrating Losar. The monks have been staying up late lighting fireworks and enjoying the company of so many visitors. I too have been enjoying the celebrations but I have to admit I am ready for it to be over so I can get to work. I will be teaching english to the monks as soon as the celebrations are over and I am very excited about this. I also will give private teachings to HIs Holiness Trinley Thaye Dorjee XVII Karmapa but I have a feeling I will be the one receiving the teachings. When his english is up to speed he will be giving regular teachings and answering Q & A for the website www.Karmapa.org. I have met many special people here and I cannot wait to share more of my experiences with you. I have to thank my friend Wes once again for setting this blog up for me. I really feel connected with my friends and family thanks to this and I hope you all feel the same. Take care of yourselves and I will be in touch soon. Please feel free to post questions in the comment section of the blog. This will give me something to write about in the future posts.
Love you all,
Derek