Jon taught here with Tenzin (who is now in Kangding proper) and Satina, whose picture is prominent two posts below. Jon kept an exquisitely eclectic website while he was here. Among other things, he writes heavily about the unique language derivations of this area on the aptly titled Catching Patois
[Patois / pronounced patwa / n. (pl. same / pawaz) regional dialect, differing from the literary language].
- Thanka Painting
- Beyond Good and Evil
- Jon's firsthand account of a street protest in Chengdu
- a weird story by a certain Wez Mond about eating pot
- a Post-Colonialist reduction of the Orientalism of The Dao of Pooh
sun got big 'gain today. warm enough to go without the long underwear that's been on everyday all day for some four months, and so the cool noon breeze rolls in through my sweater and loose button-up. a sweet feeling; like that time planting trees and awoke in mid-night, stumbled down in darkness to the cold lake, undressed and dove in. and the water rushed over my body and balls and in between the toes.and
There is a realm of cannibal spirits, where ogres wander about feeding on each other. And there are Buddhas with wide eyes, fire in their hair and skulls tied round the neck. I find comfort in the thought that these are gods too and might sometimes have their time, and better days are not far away.and
Tom and Jerry speak Sichuanese too, and right lively like. And children crowd around a tv on the street to see the show and hear the words they use at home, and in their dreams and with their pets. And the older generations enjoy it too; there are few other television programs in a language that many of them understand.
At the top of July I hope to visit Jon in Yushu, where he pulls his water from a well each morning and has holidays to allow the nomads to dig the medicinal fungal hosts of dead caterpillars.
When July ends I will be celebrating my older brother's Golden Birthday in New Orleans. I intend to be sopping with Abita-laced sweat.
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