Israeli salad now served in Bhutan!

Recently here in Thimpu, a totally new experience for me, I taught Junu who owns Ambient Café (my favorite hang in town, and where we often hang out with Lama Shenphen) how to make Israeli salad, using cucumbers, tomatoes and bell peppers, the salad that my mom always makes. As simple of a salad as it is, they want to expand their menu, as salads are a relatively new thing here. So, here I am, on top of everything, I’m giving them cooking advice. I know many of you out there are chuckling!!! Especially since you know what kind of a cook and "picky eater" I am.

We prepared a small sample of the salad, and it turned out quite good, better than I expected (I think the lemon must really make a difference). Everyone liked it, including Lama, and I felt quite pleased that it was such a success and that they were happy and that it was going to be useful for their little café, which I have gradually (because of their friendship) developed a vested interest in. But, it felt odd, because I know nothing about cooking and here I am giving them a recipe which they will now serve to many others.

So, if any of you are interested in trying this salad without going to Bhutan or Israel, here is the simple recipe. You'll have to experiment, as I don't know how to explain about exact quantities and such.

Chop up cucumbers (if you can get what Trader Joe's calls "Persian Cucumbers" you'll be better off), tomatoes, red bell peppers and white onions REALLY REALLY FINE, mix it all together and apply the dressing. The dressing is made out of olive oil, salt, black pepper, squeeze some lemon and voila! I would say that in terms of balance between vegetables you want to have a good balance of color between the green (of the cucumbrs) and the red of the (tomatoes and bell peppers). Stir the salad, so the dressing gets to every corner, and then let the salad sit for a little while, this last part makes a big difference!

Good Luck!

Noam

Dungse Rinpoche's Visit

I've been a bit behind on sharing some new stories with all of you...this one is from ten days ago...

In the last few weeks my neighbor Chimmi and her friends have been working very hard on preparing the area around our house and the temple near by for the arrival of an important Rinpoche. I heard about this for the first time not long after I arrived, but only in the last couple of weeks have I connected the dots and gathered that the Rinpoche who is coming from the US, is the father of Dzonghsar Khyentse Rinpoche and his brother (who is the lama that Chimmi follows). Dungse Rinpoche has been living in the US for quite some time and this is his first visit to Bhutan in many years. I didn’t realize at first how big of a deal this was going to be. Chimmi mentioned that he would hold a Puja at the chorten, but some reason I thought, oh their rinpoche is coming, and they’ll hold a Puja but it won’t be a big deal…not a big deal? Think again…

Thousands of people came to see him at the Chorten (and thousands went to Paro when he arrived), the Chorten was packed with devotees, and outside of the Chorten there was a crowd waiting to get in. I joined, and waited, there was pushing and shoving and general disorderliness in trying to get through the Chorten gates, the police having to work very hard to try to make sure order is kept and no one gets hurt. People were trying to leave the chorten and the police had to try to make room for them. People from all walks of life were there, older people, young people, young parents carrying their babies on their backs, and even a few students from KILU Music School.

I made it in to the Chorten and glad that I did, as the singing that I had been hearing from my room this morning was still going on. A big crowd of practicioners was gathered, sitting in rows (mostly women) with the monastic dark red covering their shoulders, they had these drums and bells and were reciting mantras, learning songs, and ringing their bells, hitting their drums. Apparently this is unique to the Nyingma tradition of which Dungse Rinpoche is one of the most pre-eminent teachers.

Indeed I found myslelf listening to these mantras and drums and bells and found myself totally engrossed by these sounds. I eventually moved to sit right in the middle between the women, so I could be surrounded by these sounds. I was imagining a piece in which these mantras are recited by a chorus as a kind of underground layer of dronal music, upon which more layers are constructed.

After the mantras were done, it seemed to be time for lunch, I went back to the house to get a few things and head to wisdom tea party, when it appeared that things were being prepared for Rinpoche’s arrival near my house, where he’ll be staying. Yes, I walked back down to the Chorten and there people were lining up hoping to see a glimpse of Rinpoche as he was walking out of the Chorten grounds and towards his car. When he finally made it, all of us rushed towards the SUV, surrounding it, hoping to catch a glimpse, I definitely saw him as he was being lifted up and into the vehicle. Some devotees were so clearly moved, they had their hands on their mouths as they watched in awe, many moved so close to the car, once he was inside and the door shut, windows sealed, and put their foreheads to the car, or kissed the car, some were making prostrations. Clearly this was important for these people, to be near him, in any way shape or form. There was an aspect of this of kind of mass mentality, reminiscent to me (at least) of celebrity following in the US or West. I ran up the alley towards my house, and there, my neighbors all stood, quietly, respectfully, not getting to near, watching as he was moved out of the car and into the compound to get some lunch, in this instance there was no rushing to the vehicle or anything like that, just a whole lot of respect.

Here is a news article story about Dungse Rinpoche's visit to Bhutan!

More to follow soon! (and more pictures as well)

Noam

Radio appearance on KALW 91.7 Bay Area Radio

Hi Everyone!

I'm excited to report that a radio story about my work in Bhutan has just come out a couple of days ago on KALW 91.7 in San Francisco. On their show Crosscurrents. I was interviewed there at the station a couple of weeks before I left for Bhutan. It's a nice piece and I want to thank Laura Klivans for doing such a great job on it and for expressing an interest to do the piece in the first place.

Check it out! and enjoy:

http://crosscurrentsradio.org/features.php?story_id=3689

Much love,

Noam

"Deep Listening" On Centennial Radio 101 FM (Bhutan)

This piece of news is already a little bit old, but i've been so busy updating you on other adventures that I didn't get a chance to update you on my radio work here in Bhutan. I am now hosting a weekly radio show here on Centennial Radio, 101 FM. (one of the four main radio stations in Bhutan). This has been avery exciting development for me. I was delighted when I was asked to do it; little did the owners of the station know that I had always dreamed of doing radio!!!

"Deep Listening" as my show is called, airs every tuesday at 9:00pm with a re-broadcast every morning at 8:00am and every night at 11:00pm. The show features mainly classical music, jazz, indigenous music from around the world (and everything in between) with the goal of bringing music that is not generally heard on the air waves of Bhutan to it's listeners. The music is supplemented with explanations and educational information about the artists and the different styles and types of music aired. In addition the show presents interviews with local Bhutanese musicians and other active individuals in Bhutanese society.

Well, we've already had three shows, with the first show airing on September 15th, and in subsequent weeks. The first show was dedicated to my own music, as Yuki one of the owners of the station asked me to introduce myself by way of my music. The following two shows have been dedicated to a continued introduction of various styles of music, sharing an eclectic mix of some of my favorite music. Starting this tuesday my show will be airing live!

I have started a Facebook group page for the show, to have a place for the listening community here in Bhutan to come and express their thoughts on the show, give feedback, ask questions, make requests, etc. And, i'm also posting my playlists from each show for those of you who are interested in following the show and the music I air.

The group is at the following website:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=176320583676&ref=mf

I guess you have to be a member of facebook to join the group, but you don't have to be a member the view the activity and look at the playlists.

So, you might be wondering, how did such a remarkable thing come about?

Well, Yuki is a Japanese woman married to a Bhutanese man, and their children study at Kilu music school where i'm teaching. I met them these last few weeks. A few years ago, Yuki's husband who works in media started this radio station, and the station was quite successful during the election last year, but since then, he has been appointed Press Secretary for the King and has had to leave the station. As a result, and as a result of some financial difficulties the station had to compress a little bit and is now trying to rejuvinate itself. So, in conversation Yuki asked me if I would have anything interesting to present on a radio show and if I would be interested in doing such a thing. Little did she know that i've always wanted to have a radio show, and that I have a great love for radio in general. I jumped on the offer.

So here we are now - this gives me further opportunity to share my love of music with the broader community here in Bhutan, while simultaneously learning about Bhutan, it's music, culture and society from all the people that i'll be interviewing and interacting with on my show.

For now, signing off -

-Noam