Blessings

Oral health day! Today in class we learned how to conduct an oral exam. Complete with tongue depressers and all. I did my best to make my patient, Audra, feel at ease. Thanks to her impeccable oral hygiene habits, she passed with flying colors. But let's just say there are many reasons why I would make a terrible doctor. I stole some pictures from Audra...my scary face in a mask is just one of the top contenders.

Later in the day Ravi arranged for some of us to have a tour of the temple. Going back at night and with a guide was a whole different and beautiful experience. We observed and participated in a few different blessings by the priests and received both white dust and red dust. The two dusts represent sort of the circle of life--destruction and life. The idea, as I understood it, was to be a reminder that life doesn't last forever, so remember to live while you can. It was really interesting to watch the rituals and think about the symbolism behind them. So many things were similar to the Christian ceremonies I've been to-- inscents, fire, chanting...sort of seems like, when it comes down to it, all religions are probably based on the same things...and perhaps I should just leave that there.

The most interesting thing for me was the elephant who blessed temple-goers. Including yours truly. The elephant put her trunk on my head and breathed on me. Now, I'm used to feeling short, but standing under an elephant is a whole other thing. She was so wonderfully gentle and graceful, though. It was a really spiritual thing to watch her with people. So there, Mom, I finally went to church and was blessed. How's that?

Other than that the night ended with an unsuccessful hunt for more pineapple. It would have been my third whole pineapple today (in addition to a sweet lime, an orange and a pomegranate), so perhaps that was for the better...