Happy Losar

For those that may not have been aware, today marks the start of the year 2136. Today is the start of Losar--the New Year's celebration in Tibet. Ordinarily, this is a very festive occasion, but this year it was more restrained. Some may remember the crackdown on Tibetan protesters prior to this summers Olympic games in Beijing. In solidarity with those protestors and others in Tibet who are not allowed to practice their cultural traditions the way that they would like, many in our community decided to skip their usual Losar celebrations. Most of our Tibetan, Bhutanese, and Nepali students wore traditional clothing (all three countries celebrate Losar to some extent), and we had a traditional Tibetan dish (shaptak) included in our lunch menu today. Other than that, there was very little fuss made about Losar. The next time that we trek up to Flag Hill, there will probably be some more prayer flags--it would be nice to have peace in Tibet by then, as well.

Dave and Beth