The Jokhang Temple in Lhasa

Tea with my new friend Dorjee

Walking in Kathmandu

I walked down to the Bouddenath Stupa today and a nice monk started talking to me and we walked around the stupa three times together and did some simple chanting. He said a prayer for me and my family and gave me a little red blessing cord before I went on my way.

Tonight I went for a long trek with Detchen, through neighborhoods and backroads that I never would have seen on my own. We wound our way up to the top of a very steep hill and arrived at the Kopan Monastery just as the sun was setting and a nice 3/4 moon was high in the sky. It is a beautiful, large monastery overlooking the whole Kathmandu valley. There were monks of all ages, a small restaurant, an internet cafe and the grounds were incredible. I will look forward to going back one of these mornings when the monks chant and do their prayers in the temple. We thought we may have to spend the night because it was so dark and there are no taxis up there, but a nice man gave us a ride down the hill and dropped us close to home.

When we got back, I sat with the sisters Detchen and Dolma in the garden and drank homemade warm wine, we ate noodles and laughed until our bellies and our faces hurt. Life is pretty great here.

Tomorrow I will see my friends at the clinic for lunch and meet Som and Sajani in the afternoon.

Happy Halloween to everyone back home!

Good morning sunshine

If I sleep too long, my adopted mother, Oma-la in Kathamandu comes to wake me and says to me in Tibetan, "Time to get up. The sun is in your butt!"

She's so great. She is always saying funny things and has a wonderful sense of humor, just like my mom. She is always concerned about time. I told her that she and my dad would get along great :)

Tibetan artist Nortse, with Dick and Ann and a painting that they commissioned.


Me at The Potola Palace in Lhasa

Finally, some photos!

And then there was one....

Just got back from taking Susie to the Kathmandu airport for her flight home. Our group of 10 slowly dwindled down with Bubba, Scott and D'arcy leaving us in Chengdu, and saying goodbye to Tsering and Himay in Lhasa. Dick, Ann and Beth left this morning and now Susie tonight. Wow. Strange. I have felt so emotional the last few days and am moved to tears so easily. I feel like I want to sleep for a week. But in between sleeping, I will visit some friends here in Kathmandu, go and help out at the clinic and do some more sightseeing. I hope to sit with the nuns again too. Yesterday as they were chanting, I sat with them and it was a truly amazing experience. They play a drum, blow on horns, and throw grains of rice as offerings to the spirits. Very foreign and new to me but it felt so good to be in the room with them. It felt like having a little spiritual shower.

Before Susie left, we had fresh tomato soup that Dawa made with Oma-La's help (that's Dolma's mom). She has a great sense of humor and was giving us a bad time for not leaving for the airport sooner. Dolma's sister Detchen arrived yesterday from India and will be here for 3 weeks before going back to her home in Colorado where she runs a Tibetan imports store.

Susie and I had a fun day exploring the Tamal area of Kathmandu and visiting the largest Hindu temple in the world (so we're told). It sits at the beginning of the Ganges river, and they bring their dead to be burned there. It was a whole new experience for us. It was beautiful in its own way. There were monkeys hanging around the temple that freaked me out a little and very persistent women who wanted us to buy necklaces from them.

Dolma's house and the nuns

I am here at Dolma's beautiful haven in the middle of Kathmandu. There are about 15 Tibetan nuns who live here too and they are singing and chanting and playing a drum as I type. They dress like monks and shave their heads. Incense is heavy in the air. The nuns wash my shoes at night while I sleep and serve tea and toast in the morning. Dolma's mother is here to help too and well as Dawa, a girl of about 18 who helps with the household and baby Tenzin. She's beautful and sweet. I will stay here for the next few days and write and read and process all that has happened so far. Which is a LOT!

Kathmandu

Yay! I can blog again. It was strange to not have access while in China. Something I did not expect.

I am in Kathmandu at my new friend Dolma's home, where Susie and I are staying. She is a friend of Dick Grace and is one of the kindest women I have ever met. She has a nice big home and a rug factory here. She used to run a kindergarten too, but had to put that on hold for a while. She has a beautiful little son named Tenzin who is a little older than Julian so I can get a little bit of the baby love I'm missing. He's adorable.

My first impression of Kathmandu was of being overwhelmed by the traffic, the noise, the people, the pollution. It's pretty crazy, but I am keeping myself open to everything and there is beauty all around.

We went to visit the Setchen Clinic today and it was a dream for me to see it in person. Dick and Beth both were instrumental in creating this free clinic for the people of Kathmandu and it is so well run, so clean and so full of love. It was wonderful to see my friends Manosh and Kiran who work there. I haven't seen them since they came to San Francisco earlier this year, when they were both honored at our Unsung Heroes event. It was great to see them in action and know that they truly are heroes. We were so giddy and happy to see each other.

We went to dinner with other friends, Dominique, Dr. Anil and some new friends and it was lovely. Now going to turn in before another big day tomorrow. We will visit another hospital and a school for disabled kids. My heart is so full from all that I have experienced on this trip. It's absolutely amazing. I dont know how I got so lucky.

Three days in Lhasa. Potala palace, Jokhang temple , sweet little hotel room. It's different than I imagined. I feel sad here but glad I could experience it. I ve met famous tibetan artists a famous novelist and visited the school from the film "blindsight'. I feel very blessed and lucky to be on this journey. Kathmandu early tomorrow morning.

We had a wonderful couple of days in chengdu resting in a real bed, having running water and a flush toilet. I had some mashed potatoes yesterday and they were the best ever. We went to the panda preserve and out for Indian food last night. Now at the airport waiting for our flight to Lhasa. I'm so excited to see this place. I'm feeling a little rundown and tired from the fast pace but I'll catch up one of these days.

We are back from the far outback of Tibet. Spending the night in Luding about 5 hours outside of Chengdu. It's been a wild, wild adventure. Ive been to 14,000 feet and back, dined in tibetan homes, had tea with officials in monestaries, survived a snowstorm and 50 hours in a car with my new best friends. i never want to eat yak meat again Still unable to post except via text. Hope to write more and post photos once I'm in Nepal. Sending lots of love to all back home.

We are at Shechen monestary in Tibet. I never knew the meaning of the word remote until now. We are so far from anything. The monks keep the fire going and make sure we have what we need. It is snowing here at 13,000 feet. I wonder if we will be able to leave tomorrow. I am having such a great adventure. I have never felt more alive.

I am having lots of trouble accessing my blog directly here in china. Hope that will change once I get to Nepal.
I can't wait to write about my experience here in Tibet. I am forever changed by it.

We met the rest of our group last night that we will be spending the next 18 days with. Dick and Ann who are responsible for us being here, Dicks dear friend Bubba from Atlanta, another friend Beth from california, Tsering, a beautiful Tibetan woman who I've met twice before and Scott and Darcy will arrive tomorrow.

Flight to Chengdu was great. Flew through customs and were picked up by Fu-ching our driver and driven to the most gorgeous hotel the Sofetel I. Downtown Chengdu.

Hong Kong: Chasing the morning and losing a day

We're here in Hong Kong after 14.5 hours in a huge hunk of steel hurtling through time and space. It was strange to not see any sort of light in the sky until now. We feel like time travelers. It's now 7:20 am on Tuesday here. But it's really 4:20 pm on Monday in California.

We had a good flight with little sleep, lots of movies and ok food. We'll hang out in Hong Kong for a few hours before we get on a Dragon Air flight to Chengdu.

Oh, look, there's a Burger King and a Starbucks to keep us occupied. :) And free wifi. And a long walk around the airport please.

Susie and I are at SFO waiting for our 1:20am flight to Hong Kong. We've both been on the phone for the last 2 hours. Thanks to all our family and friends for staying up late with us!

Today's the day

It was my last night in my temporary home at Sabrina's, which has been so wonderful. I stayed up way too late. Too giddy and excited to sleep. Her husband Gerry made me a delicious breakfast this morning. It was so sweet. Salmon, onion and caper omelet, potatoes, toast, yummy hot coffee with cream. We had a nice visit. I am wishing him the best on the challenges he's about to face with a medical procedure next week.

I'll finish packing, printing out what I need to on the computer, run some things up to my storage unit, pick up a few last minutes items to pack and will be ready to head to the airport with Susie later tonight. We are like a couple of school girls. So excited!

I've been feeling very emotional the last few days. No matter what happens on this trip, I think my life as I know it right now is finished. I huge chapter is coming to a close and I'm about open a new one. The way that I view the world will be different after today. It's so exciting to open new doors!

Saturday

Oh my god. How did it get to be Saturday already? That means I leave tomorrow. Yikes!

I feel like I have a lot to do, but it will all get done, for sure. One of the things I need to do is go for a long walk. I have not been taking the time to exercise lately and I sure do feel it. I want to walk in my favorite places here in Marin before I go.

Either the 4 mile round trip walk to Tennessee Beach, or Ring Mountain, or Sausalito. Tomorrow I'll go to Cascade Falls, among the Redwood trees and see what wisdom they have to impart. I have a certain place that I sit in the center of 3 tall old Redwoods and I get my questions answered there.

I have stayed up so late the last few nights attending parties and film screenings that are part of the Mill Valley Film Festival. It's been very fun to see all my old friends that I used to work with, got to see Clive Owen in person (very nice!) and attend 3 really wonderful parties. I figure I can get caught up on my sleep during the 14 hour flight to Hong Kong tomorrow night :)

family photos

Sea Level

I am back in California after such a great trip to see my family. The night before I left, Taylor and Dylan cooked a delicious Indian food meal that we all shared and then we settled in to watch Slumdog Millionaire. It is such a good movie but I think it made my mom and dad a little nervous to think that I'm going to such an intense place.

I'm back at Sabrina's in Mill Valley for a few days before leaving on Sunday. I have loved my time here. The comfy bed, the way her home smells, the view of the San Francisco bay from the deck, hot tea in the morning, Diamond the cat wanting her breakfast. It has been very much a home to me for the last month and I so appreciate being here.

I have to go into San Francisco today to pick up my Chinese and India visas, get some travel $$ and finish packing. I'll go to some of the events of the Mill Valley film festival over the weekend, take my car to Petaluma on Sunday, where it will live for 3 months and then Susie and I will head to the airport Sunday night.

The butterflies in my stomach are awake and fluttering....

The Wright Family

I'm so glad to be in Utah with my darling family. My mom and dad and brother Jeff picked me up from the airport. We all had a good visit on the hour drive to moms house. My sister and her wacky dog Coco were there. I haven't seem Teresa in over a year. She's closest to me in age out of my 5 siblings. We slept in the guest room in our old twin beds that my mom has had for a hundred years. (not literally but probably close).

On satuday the rest of the crew arrived. My daughter, her boyfriend Dylan, the amazing Julian (my grandson), sister Lisa, brother Mike, mom, dad, various nieces, nephews and friends. 13 of us in all.

We had a great time catching up, laughing at Mikes jokes and enjoying he and Jeffs bald heads, eating chili, chicken noodle soup, yummy bread, funeral potatoes ( for anyone who hasn't had funeral potatoes, they are the most comforting, delicious things ever). I am so lucky to have the family that I do. We are all supportive and sweet with each other and we really LIKE each other. That's pretty cool.

I got to spend some quality Grammy time with julian last night and tonight. He's getting so big and beautiful and curious about the world around him. I have always felt a special bond with him. We understand each other even though he's just over a year old.

Today my mom and sister and I got out some old quilt blocks that my grandma had made and that Lisa and mom made. They showed me some different ways of making quilts so I can show it to the women at the school in Calcutta who are making quilts out of recycled saris. I would love it if we can incorporate some of these ideas and quilt blocks into theirs.

I had a lovely night and morning volunteering at a fundraiser in Glenn Ellen in sonoma. The fall colors in the wine country just can't be beat.

It was a bright, almost full moon last night over the grape vines and after a glass of nice Cabernet I felt like running naked through them. But I didn't. Am now in LA waiting for my fight to Salt lake city. Can't wait to see my family!

Pre travel travel

I'm off to the wine country today to do a couple of volunteer shifts for my favorite Bay area non profit, Bread & Roses.

Tomorrow I will go from Glen Ellen to the Oakland airport to fly to Utah to see my family before taking off for Asia. My mom and dad, sisters, brothers, daughter and my beautiful grandson Julian. We get together at this time of year between Halloween and Thanksgiving and we call our celebration Thanks-a-weenie. It's so much fun. My family is so wonderful and supportive and we have a great time together.