My face was burning as I sat facing the campfire, next to a field of yaks. The sophomore class was on edge because the staff at the Heifer International farm in Massachusetts had told us that yaks attack when provoked. The farm had different “camps” dedicated to areas of the world their organization helps. In the “Tibet” camp, a group of us had started discussing how the Dalai Lama wasn’t allowed to return to Tibet when one of my closest friends Mary walked up to me. Mary was an energetic international student from China with an infectiously optimistic outlook on life. “The Dalai Lama is a terrorist,” she informed me with the same tone as one remarks that the world is round. “What?” I spat out as my eyebrows jumped to my hairline. “The Dalai Lama is a terrorist,” Mary repeated, convinced I didn’t hear her correctly.
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“The Dalai Lama from Tibet? The one with a bald head?” I asked incredulously. She must have confused the Dalai Lama with someone else, I thought.
“Yes, the Dalai Lama. The one with suicide bombers in his name,” Mary replied matter-of-factly. My mind was swimming and blank simultaneously. I knew that the Chinese government censored information, but knowing and experiencing the effects through my friend were quite different. The Dalai Lama is famous for being a preacher of coexistence between all people. How I could explain to Mary that what she considered to be a fact was a complete fabrication?
I tried to put myself in her shoes. What if I had gone to study in Russia or Nicaragua and the people there told me that Osama Bin Laden wasn’t a terrorist, but an activist for peace? Would I have believed the people in those countries? I doubted it. I was at a loss for words, but I heard myself respond.
“Mary, the Dalai Lama is not a terrorist,” I explained, like a mother telling her child Santa isn’t
“The Dalai Lama from Tibet? The one with a bald head?” I asked incredulously. She must have confused the Dalai Lama with someone else, I thought.
“Yes, the Dalai Lama. The one with suicide bombers in his name,” Mary replied matter-of-factly. My mind was swimming and blank simultaneously. I knew that the Chinese government censored information, but knowing and experiencing the effects through my friend were quite different. The Dalai Lama is famous for being a preacher of coexistence between all people. How I could explain to Mary that what she considered to be a fact was a complete fabrication?
I tried to put myself in her shoes. What if I had gone to study in Russia or Nicaragua and the people there told me that Osama Bin Laden wasn’t a terrorist, but an activist for peace? Would I have believed the people in those countries? I doubted it. I was at a loss for words, but I heard myself respond.
“Mary, the Dalai Lama is not a terrorist,” I explained, like a mother telling her child Santa isn’t