Making a difference (inside and out!)

I participated in the VIN program that allows you to live in a Buddhist monastery or nunnery whilst teaching English to the residents. My nunnery looked out over the Kathmandu valley, and provided me with an amazing experience - aside from the teaching, I was attending the prayer rituals and ceremonies and the absolutely fantastic Losar New Year festival celebrations as I was there in Feb - March. The difficulty of living in a nunnery is that you need to be able to deal with time by yourself - it is a quiet life, a great opportunity to look inside yourself a bit, whilst taking in the Tibetan Buddhist culture around you. The beautiful nuns who were my students but became my friends appreciated having a live-in English speaker, as I appreciated how much they taught me. This is a fabulous program for people wishing to experience Tibetan Buddhism and have a peaceful, reflective experience - but on days off you can always go into the city to meet up with other volunteers for a catch up and a night out.