After our night out with “Brother” and the rest of our Tibetan friends, “Mama” told us she wanted pictures of us so she could hang them on her wall. Marian and I agreed and went off to print some.
When we got back “Mama” invited us to lunch with “Sister” (Sister is Mama’s niece). We talked to the two women for the rest of the afternoon when we decided to join the rest of our team in our rooms.
When we all decided we were going to dinner, “Mama” and “Sister’ walked into our room and told us to have dinner with them. That night “Mama” and “Sister” made us dumplings. While we were in the middle of dinner “Sister” and “Mama” called the girls of Fuego over and dressed us up in traditional Tibetan attire.
They took several pictures with us and enjoyed the fact that we looked a little more like them. While wearing their clothing it was the first time I had the feeling of being completely welcome into the Tibetan culture.
Despite our disability in able to adequately communicate to these people we became close to them. Words are truly not as necessary to communicate as actions are. The next day we hung out with “Brother” and “Cousin” at the river and once again had dinner with the family.
The next day when we were headed back to Location D, “Brother” decided he was going to take us to the bus station in his car. While we were packing up the car and saying our goodbyes, “Mama” and “Sister” started crying.
We were very sad to leave our Tibetan family. It was most definitely my favorite place we stayed during the month. It hurts to know that we will probably never see them again, but I am happy to know that I will never forget my time there.
