Typical Valentines Day

Hello, namaste!
So we are in Mcleod Ganj, Northern India 10km north of Dharamsala. This is where the Tibetan Government of Exile resides. This Valentines day was also Losar the Tibetan New Year and we got to see the Dalai lama! We waited two hours standing in a huge crowd of people to see him and hear him give a speech to celebrate and start the new year. It was worth it. He was so calm and cool and almost as surprised to see everyone waiting to see him as we were excited to see him.
McLeod Ganj is small, calm, built on the side of a mountain and more Tibetan than Indian which was really nice to see again.
Since we arrived in India we have been to two cities Varanasi where the Ganges river runs along People bath and get burned (after they have died) in and near the river to release their sins. The other is Bodhgaya where the Buddha reached enlightenment. At first I felt quite comfortable in India. Katmandu really help with the transition. It was a bigger initial shock going from Tibet to Nepal. Nepalies look more like Indians than Tibetans and Katmandu had a lot of garbage, obnoxious car horns, and dogs and cattle on the road, which is also typical of India thus far.
The big difference I feel though is the people. Until the last few days I haven't been as happy with India as other places I've been too. In Katmandu we were overwhelmed with hospitality. The people were so friendly and accomodating. Thanks guys at Panda Palace you are great! India on the other hand seemed very friendly, many people would come up to us asking where we were from but it seemed to always end with they needed money for something. People always offering to guide you and if you tell them where you are going to stay they've often said that it is full, underconstruction, really expensive or other complete outright lies. As well there are many beggers, much more than any place we've been before. I thought that I had prepared myself for this, I definitely was told about such things, but I guess not. I really want to trust people and hate feeling suspicious of people all the time.
The other major thing contributing to my uneasy feelings is that recently Kyle and I have been discussing about whether to give to beggers. All through China I often gave food (never money) to beggers but perhaps sparked by the shear number of beggers here Kyle began thinking that food is also perhaps not a good idea for it is supporting the system of begging. The more people that give to beggers the more it becomes an option for other people and the more people that rely on it. And really food for one day is not really helping them in the long term. Instead I've given to a school for poor children and to an environmental group here in Mcleod Ganj. However, telling people begging that we won't give them money or even food has been quite difficult. When I gave in the past it felt really good and there weren't as many people begging. Being asked so often and not giving is hard on me but I think it is the best thing to do. I give respect and as much positive energy as I can muster but it is still tough.
On a good note though I've been feeling better about India just in the last few days. Here in McLeod Ganj it is definitely calmer and there are fewer beggers but I'm hoping it is more that I
have been reading a lot about different organizations that I can potentially volunteer with. As well I've become a member of wwoof India and the host sound really cool. So I feel like I will be able to help people in a more significant way. Plus just yesterday Kyle and I went for a walk and found a cricket field and a match going on. After watching I saw some boys playing a small game of cricket and ask if I could join. We played and had a really good time. It was one of the few times (but there have been some previously) thus far that I've been hanging out with Indian people and had a good time having good clean fun. I really enjoyed it and didn't feel like anyone wanted money from me. One of the boys invited Kyle and I to his place for Chai. He lived in a very poor tent village and he along with many of his brothers worked as shoe shinners. He was really nice and gave us chai and biscuits and he helped me with some Hindi. We then road a bus back to McLeod Ganj together and Kyle and I offered him to have dinner with us but he declined and wished us a good night. He didn't ask for anything in return and just hoped we would see him again. It was really refreshing and inspiring.
However, today on our way through the streets we met one of his brothers and friends that were shinning shoes. We started talking and then decided that we could use a shoe shinning and support them a bit. I had some nice conversation and everything was really cool until it came time to pay. The boys tried to charge us a lot of money and I ended up paying $20 for less than an hours worth of work. "Damn it India, I was just starting to like you", I sighed to Kyle later on down the road. Lesson learned (although I thought I had already learned this lesson before, welcome to life) we really need to ask the prices of things before doing them even if the people seem really nice and friendly.
Still I'm feeling better about India and think there are a lot of good people that are genuinely interested in meeting new people and helping others for the sake of helping others. We just have been meeting many people in the tourist areas that are making a living off tourists. I feel I've been (hopefully) unrightfully cynical of India so far and am hoping to be proven so in the time to come.

Another day of learning.
I hope this finds people well
Pleace feel most welcome to share your thoughts on begging and giving and making a effective and positive contribution.
Peace from the east,
Kelly