NOTES FROM THE FIELD continued
views of the surrounding valleys.  I was fortunate to see many beautiful Indian sunsets walking down that trail.  More memorable though, is the time I spent with the students of the T.C.V. photography club and their teacher, Mr. Tenzin Lhawang.  
 
Near the end of October the T.C.V. school celebrated it's 44th Anniversary with a two day festival showcasing Tibetan cultural performances, athletic competitions, and an exhibition of photographs by students from the T.C.V. photo club.  Mr. Tenzin Lhawang and I helped the students to design and install a high quality exhibition of their work of both color and black and white pictures.  I was amazed by the students commitment to getting the exhibtion ready in time for the Anniversary; they spent many late nights transforming a musty, dark class-room into an extremely well-lit, beautiful display of their works.  
 
About half-way through the first day of the celebration, two security advisers for the Dalai Lama came to inspect the gallery, telling us that His Holiness would be walking by the exhibition on his way out and that he might want to stop in for a look!  Upon hearing this, the students, Lhawang, and myself all became quite excited.  We had to kindly ask everyone currently in the gallery to please step out. After the hall was cleared we spent about an hour wating around in hopes that His Holiness would grace the exhibition with his presence.

The Dalai Lama then approached down a nearby staircase, surrounded by his entourage and heads of the T.C.V. school.  Students from the photo club immediately ran out to start taking pictures.  As His Holiness descended another ajoining staircase, he stopped to talk to two of the photo club kids.  I was quite surprised by the gruffness of his voice and his beaming smile.  He asked the photo students if they had been taking any good photos, to which they replied, "yes."  I hung back a bit during this and took some shots of the Dalai Lama talking to the students.  
 
After His Holiness had passed by, the two students came running back to the gallery entrance, where the rest of us were waiting.  Their smiles were immeasurable and their classmates were all clapping them on the back.  I found that I was beaming as well.  The students excitement from this encounter was contageous!  Whenever I remember working at T.C.V., I remember smiles!

To view Mike's online journal please go to:
http://www.bridgesworkshops.org/notebooks/journal_tmpl.php?id=18&participant_id=
48&page_id=200