This is monastic college and the monks here are separated into cohorts by their year for their classes and dormitories. We got to sit in on a few of their classes where they are studying and discussing different sutras. They also showed us a video documentary of Umansa. I found myself watching as a Telecom critic (focusing on their editing, angles, and shot choice) but I still learned alot about life in the monastery when weather here is a bit warmer.
A fun filled activity for the day was arts and crafts time. We made prayer beads and lotus flower lanterns. In true inartistic Brittany style I got tons of help from the monks, but my final product was an awesome lotus flower crown for our newly named King Ling Ling (my panda that I travel with...picture to come)
After lunch, we had a little down time to wait and relax before we would go on a hike to a nearby hermitage. We got to try our hand at the huge dharma drum and it was fun to watch everyone try to keep the complex rhythm. Ryan Friday won...of course he was the captain of his high school drum line so he did kinda have a leg up.
The hike to the hermitage was a long grueling hike much like the stairs at Carnarvon gorge in Australia. But the mountain road was filled with beautiful overlooks of the valley below. When we got to the shrine at the hermitage we gave our respects to the Buddha then had tea with the hermit. The long walk back down the mountain was the first time anyone on this trip has hit me up for UGA sports knowledge, but we proceeded to spend the next 2 hours talking about the upcoming seasons for football, basketball, and baseball and the next couple of recruiting classes. Like all good Athens residents, when in doubt for conversation fodder, refer back to Georgia football.
We rested for a moment, but then off to dinner. By this point we have been up for 15 hours and exhaustion was starting to set in...no one ate much at dinner and we were all ready to hit the hay....then it began.
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