By tierneybb
So just imagine I'm having a splendid time trekking through the Tsum mountains (I've now looked them up, they are not gradual or little mountains, gah), pulling leeches off my legs (apparently leech season is almost over, but you especially can't kill them here as they're representations of water spirits from another dimension), and bathing in a stream wearing a petticoat ( I wasn't clear on this either, but apparently not like victorian underwear, but bathing shifts like the Tale of Sir Galahad, unfortunately no one here has heard of them either so some helpful monks tried to assist in my shopping for a "nightie," but I got one eventually).
I don't think I've spoken much about language (ouhhhh, getting meta) which is surprising to me at least, as we have three hours of intensive Tibetan study everyday, often followed by a lecture from the brilliant-but-detail-oriented Oxford Sanskrit graduate who teaches us the origin of all words and meanings (as we learned that "meta" in fact just connotes "after" and the Buddhist concept of suffering known as dukkha originally implied the metaphor of an off centered wheel [I obviously am similarly detail-oriented and enjoy these talks immensely]). But being immersed in another culture, and here inKTM, many other cultures, language becomes a major point of daily existence.
Tibetan is a fascinating language to study the concepts of, and a frustrating one to actually learn. The script can best be understood as an adaptation of the sanskrit that was brought over the Himalayas with the Buddha's teachings, adapted to suit the sounds and aesthetics of the region(s). Isabelle (our director and the aforementioned Sanskrit scholar extraordinaire) assures us that the spelling system is "much more scientifically accurate," but for now it just seems like a rather large prank that Tashi Delek is in fact spelled "bkra shis bde legs." Similarly, it can take well over ten spoken syllables in order to spell out the letters required for one syllable. Finally we have the reassuring knowledge that while there are many dialects of Tibetan, they are all more or less spelled the same way... just rarely in the form of this particular script we've learned, if we want to move beyond religious and official documents and into handwritten things we have other scripts to learn. Oh dear. But I will say it looks so pretty.
Spoken Tibetan is a good deal easier, especially with our three great language instructors. The only real catch so far is that rather than conjugate based on 1st/2nd/3rd person, Tibetan is largely conjugated based on the ways of knowing involved in the statement: personal or impersonal, habitual or new, etc. As we live in a largely Tibetan community and are staying with Tibetan families the opportunities to learn an practice are infinate... perhaps a little too infinite, as my adja-la is an English teacher at a local nunnery (which always makes me think of the Hamlet line, but I asked and "convent" is never used and no one else is up on their Shakespearian slang) so to facilitate conversations that move beyond basic vocab I have resorted to English at home.
If I were an armchair anthropologist of yesteryear, observing the interactions of my homestay from afar, I would have to conclude that there is a major linguistic rich point around farting. The ten month old baby in this way provides endless entertainment. While my family taught me one word for the act (tsema drowa) on the first night of my stay, I have yet to hear them repeat it, as indeed each occurrence results in a completely different outcry, but inevitably fits of laughter lasting for honestly ten minutes, while even the silliest of mistakes by the inji (foreigner, I have accepted this title and am self-identifying as such) will result in only suppressed giggles. But there's a lot more openness here about bodily functions. Something I still can't help but laugh at immaturely, which is why I may laugh too whenever the baby performs his most impressive feats.