Dharamsala

Well we haven't actually seen him, but he's our neighbor. No. Not Santa, but the next best thing - the Dalai Lama.

Although, the truth of the matter is that I don't frankly have much sympathy for the Tibetan struggle. I do not ignore the tremendous human suffering that has been inflicted upon these people, I simply just do not get into the game of slogans and t-shirts that are more of a fashion statement. I would also like to add that one should be highly critical of the attempts of neo-conservatives and other nutters to use Tibet to simply attack China while simultaneously ignoring the suffering of groups, like the people of Chechnya because they do not uphold to the superficial mantel of Gandhi, King, and Mandela. I believe there is an artificial notion that Tibetans are somehow superior to any other displaced people, but that is just bullshit and a cliche. If we go by the simple assumption that all human suffering is equal and must be prevented, then would it not make sense to privilege those that hold the greatest potential to be prevented? Upon that assumption, the growing strength and clot of the Chinese government would not be the settings for a potential shift in human rights policy. So, if you care more about human rights and less about t-shirts, then look elsewhere to make a change.

Any-who, this political shift in our blog (this is not to imply in anyway that Sasha either endorses this view or supported me even writing it) is reflective of the city we are in now. We're taking a break from going from one city to another in favor of just chilling out for a couple days. As a result, we're doing some reading and eating well. Our room is a couple hundred RB cheaper then most of the places we've stayed in because it isn't in a major city, so we're doing a little more stuff. I'm finally reading Said's Orientalism and, I think, Sasha is reading some Richler.

It is an interesting city to be in because there is a lot more tourists here. After three weeks of playing the game of "I spy white people outside a hostel", there's a great abundance of them here. Sadly as a result of the high number of white people we now forgo the customary "hello" and possible conversation that follows for being such a small minority. Equally so, we've not been regularly asked for either hugs, handshakes, or have our photos taken from different people. In sum, it is a little lonely to be honest. So when we return to Canada, we're undertaking a massive campaign to bring back the Seinfeld idea of having people wear name-tags so they can greet each other and say, "hello". We believe this will create a more friendly and homely Canada.

Love
Pat and Sasha