So it goes

Today many of the Tibetan men and boys shaved their heads to show respect for the monks who have been killed in the protests against the Chinese occupation of Tibet. Most of the women and girls wore black. Around the stupa there were some creative spins on this gesture, like shaving the words "save Tibet" and the shape of the Tibetan flag onto boys' heads...hopefully tomorrow I can unobstrusively catch some pictures. The political heat continues to rise locally as well, what with elections being three days away, and transportation ends (non-government vehicles are officially banned from the streets) starting on the 9th. Until then, the parties are making the most of the public roads, with bullhorn-toting political activists in parades and cars plastered with posters at every other intersection. A few days ago five bombs went off in various government buildings--just pipe bombs, nobody injured, maybe a few exploded walls--and the U.S. Embassy sent out warnings through email. Email or not, I'm sure we'd all be staying indoors on the 10th, but I am looking forward to seeing how the elections actually go down. This will be a really historic time if things happen in a fairly fair way, and it could mean good progress for the country, or at least a prediction of good progress in two years' time (when this assembly is supposed to finish the new constitution).

Sadly there's nothing up-to-the-minute to report as far as classes are concerned because I've been sick with a fever and other ailments for the last few days. My best guess is that it's related to the strange weather, which went from increasingly hot to absurdly cold and stormy in the last week. Hopefully resuming yoga and spending some time in the sunlight will help finish off the last of whatever bug took hold of my insides.

Before I got sick most of my classes were on various details of Ayurvedic pharmacology that I think few would be interested to read, so I'll refrain from posting the lists and details. Among the more fascinating topics was the kinds of preparations used to purify heavy metals used in some Ayurvedic preparations (gold, lead, mercury, etc.) which have received very bad press in Western medicine. Of course, these preparations aren't meant to be used long-term (Kopila said only one month out of the year and depending upon all sorts of things), but even with qualifications there have been side effects due to dosage or simple misuse. After hearing about the methods used to make them suitable for ingestion, I still have some reservations, and would certainly have to know that the doctor was exceedingly trustworthy and attentive. Fortunately, my impressions of Dr. Koirala go beyond that, and learning from him and people he considers highly makes iffy questions like these easier to learn about and explore with an open mind.

As there's no electricity right now and the laptop's battery life is rapidly dwindling, I'll update with juicier news soon.