Learning a language gets you closer to the people who speak it as you learn how they structure what they say. And its just wonderful to be able to understand odd things people say.
Sitting in the sun, I chat to boys who tell me they came here without their parents at incredibly young ages - 6, or 10 years old, entrusted to strangers to walk over the Himalayas. Whatever must it be like there that their mothers will send them on such a journey, rather than keep them safe nearby? What is happening there to sever that mother's bond, that primeval instinct to keep your young close by and safe? They tell me their mothers know they will be OK, that the Dalai Lama will look after them.
Its hard to describe the impact of living in a lovely, peaceful place surrounded by smiling people quietly going about their business. You never see people arguing or fighting, or pushing and shoving, only laughing, talking, walking and sitting together, warm and companionable. And they tell you these stories which speak of such cruelty and repression and you wonder how they can be so open and warm.
GOT to go there some time.
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