Jr’ma La-nu means Beautiful Goddess. In the Tibetan culture all women have Jr-ma or La-nu following their name. All women have to be addressed as beautiful or goddess. I told my friend I would like to be simply addressed as Jr’ma La-nu. She laughed and didn’t object but mentioned to me that it’s not how it is done here. I told her it didn’t matter in my case because I am from somewhere else.
After lunch we went to her friend’s place for some lessons in Tibetan traditional dancing. I was taken into a Tibetan home. The entire house was busy with the work of toasting corn kernels. I was offered lunch number 3 but I passed because it may have been cooked in lard. Then I was offered toasted corn kernels by a 94 year old Tibetan elder man, he also offered whole baked potatoes. We ended up toasting corn kernels for a few hours and inhaled lots of smoke from the fire open fire in the center of the house without ventilation or chimney of any sort. To properly toast the kernels, a wooden large wooden stick was used to stir the kernel. I tried to toast but kept loosing kernels outside the pan into the fire and was politely removed from my post. Then we peeled corn husks and sorting corn for another hour or so.
The lady of the house was trying to be very hospitable by offering cigarettes to me. I passed and asked her when she started smoking and she said 26 when her mother passed away, at that time she also picked up drinking. Prior to adding such habits to her life, she claimed to be the best vocalist of YuBeng but such habits destroyed her vocal chords.
So finally we got to dance and when it came down to teaching me people were all shy and didn't do anything. So after hours sacrifice in inhaling smoke, and working for the food I ate, I didn't learn anything.
We sat on the deck and I watched the lady search for lice from her husband’s hair and he picked out ear wax from her ears. It reminded me of primal primate activities. Below the deck were lots of livestock. I watched their sons weave baskets, spoons, and sifters. I asked why the one baby piglet was deformed. He was crawling and could not stand. They told me the horse stomped on that particular piglet and so he can now only crawl.
We headed back and her father was unhappy that she hung out with me for the whole afternoon. She had to please her father by getting me to photograph her, her father, and the construction site to be used as PR for bringing in future business. I didn't enjoy that but I understood her position and did one photograph of her, her father, and the building all in one symbolically. A Rong offered me tea at the tent and then left. I got to drink some sort of random green tea and took off myself. While heading back to my room he insisted he needed to be a good host and chat with me. I insisted I didn't and needed to rest.
