Lhakar to the extreme

Dear Lhakar Diaries,

Today was an incredibly “Lhakar-ish” day. Here’s how it went:

8:00am: Woke up in Montreal and put my new favourite chupa on with a white shirt (whonjoo). LHAKAR!

9:00am: Gen from SFT Montreal came to pick us up in her car and we all headed to Uniprix Tennis Stadium to prepare to table for SFT at Kundun’s public talk. LHAKAR!

11:30am: The gates for the stadium opened and in rushed hundreds of Tibetans and Tibet supporters into the stadium. We were able to gets lots of petitions signatures for our Stop Mining Tibet and Nomad Rights campaigns as well as for the release of Dhondup Wangchen, Rungye Adak, Norzin Wangmo and Tenzin Delek Rinpoche. LHAKAR! It was great to talk to supporters and discuss Tibet with new supporters. We have so many supporters in Quebec, so it was great that I had 3 amazing Montreal SFTers to help do outreach and perfectly explain the Tibet issue and campaigns to the French-speaking supporters so in depth (my slowly-fading french can only do so much!)

1:30pm: His Holiness the Dalai Lama entered the stadium nearby where we were tabling so we were able to go welcome him as he stepped out of his motorcade. He faced the small crowd that had gathered to welcome him and waved and smiled to all of us. Maybe I have bad eyes, but I could swear we made eye contact. I felt content. LHAKAR!

2:00pm: I went into the stadium to listen to Kundun speak for a little bit before it got crazy back at the SFT table again. LHAKAR! It was so great to see so many supporters and followers. Apparently there were many Quebecois celebrities at the event (so the Montreal SFTers tell me)

3:30pm: It got crazy again at the SFT table. People seemed to be even more interested in hearing about our work after listening to Kundun’s talk. Not only did I get to practice my French, but my Tibetan as well! LHAKAR!

5:00pm: After taking down and cleaning up our table and tent, I met up with my family who had come for the talk as well. They fed me and my SFT friends from a tiffin they brought from home containing channa, alu pingsha, rice, and bhaklep –  a very Tibetan-parent thing to do :p They also had bhoeja! LHAKAR!

10:00pm: I’m now trying to keep my eyes open and force my fingers to keep typing as I finish writing my Lhakar Diaries post after this incredibly eventful and tiring day. I’m sure there are more “Lhakar-ish” things I’ve done today since I recall shouting out “Lhakar!” a lot out with my friends every time I did something that could be considered a Lhakar action. I am now posting my Lhakar Diaries entry for the week, and wishing every Lhakar could be like today. LHAKAR!