Stay in Texas

Stay in Texas

Click here to see the next page in this series.

Click on the back button of your browser or click here to see the previous page in this series.

Click on any of the little pictures to see it full size (as big as it goes).

On Christmas Eve we went driving through North Dallas looking at Christmas lights. We took Mike's Previa (the Toyota minivan) as it seats seven. There were Mike, Lama La, Tacho, Tashi, John, and me. On the left is Tashi in front of a 'Merry Christmas Yall' sign.
There were lots of really nice houses (too many to take pictures of), but we saved the most grandiose for last. On the left are Lama La and Tashi exploring the lights there. Then on Christmas days a group of people from the KTC Center got together to put up the tent which Lama La brought back from his recent trip to Tibet. First we laid out all the parts.
Then we took the roof sections out of their bags and started assembling the poles. There were lots of ropes to attach and Lama La, being a good teacher, taught us new knots that easily come undone. Then we raised the poles by pulling on two of the support ropes. Then the top roof shaped up as the ten support ropes for it were staked.
The tent is made of cotton for most of the fabric with yak wool for the edges and attachments. There are two layers of roof with the top one to drain off the rain and keep the lower one dry. We raised the lower roof (another ten ropes to stake) and then hung the walls with hooks to the lower roof. Isn't the result beautiful. When they stayed in Tibet they lived in this tent for several days.
Once the tent was up we had snacks. Then there was a 'Chinese Gift Exchange'. Each person brought a present which was put into a pile. Then we took turns choosing and opening presents. The thing was that a person could choose to take any of the already open presents or a new present. So popular presents were often taken away (or stolen). The person who lost the present could then choose a new present. However, they couldn't take back the stolen present directly and each present could only be stolen three times at most. As you can see, it was quite lively and a lot of fun. I gave away a plant. I got chocolates. That was perfect as it makes less for me to travel with (always good when you are sleeping in your car).