20 July 2016 Took a cab with Jeanette and her learning partner to the waterfall trailhead. Then we hiked up. Realized I committed yet another faux pas when I touched a Sikh man and offered to take his picture with his camera. He had been taking pictures with his three friends, but wasn't being included in the pictures. But we finally communicated—I offering to take his photo. Then at the waterfall he was taking pictures of his three friends balanced on the rocks. Again I touched his shoulder and motioned for him to be included, which he did. Finally, he asked me to take a picture with him and his friends after he saw me offer to take a picture of an Indian man and his wife (girlfriend?) who were also dangerously posed on rocks in the middle of the flow. So everyone was taking everyone else’s picture by the end. Still, I realized I should not have touched him—perhaps saying “ji” instead. Tsering and I had lunch at a fancy new hotel. It was okay and over-priced. We were the only people there at noon. We agreed that it probably catered to the weekend Punjabi crowd. Back to the guys at the waterfall: three wore turbans, so were undoubtedly Sikh. It helped that the three women in my group were either: 1) 65 years-old; or 2) Tibetan; or 3) Hispanic. In other words, we weren’t young and blond. I guess there are some advantages to growing old. Comments are closed.
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Author Rebecca Moore is Professor Emerita of Religious Studies at San Diego State University. She is currently Reviews Editor for Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions and Co-Director of The Jonestown Institute. Archives
December 2021
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