The Launch

A very busy day, starting off with some very serious shopping for a launch outfit! Well, ok, it wasn't that serious; it was fun, and not something I do that often in such high speed. Accompanied by my big sis, Su, we sped round assorted shops in Angel, Islington, and much to my amazement found 2 tops and a fab pair of sandals in about 5 mins! Exaggerating? Me? Hmm, ok, maybe it was more like 30 mins, but seeing as it usually takes me 30 mins in a shoe shop before walking out emptyhanded, this was a miracle. And the final top I purchased was incredible!!! Purple sequins on a stretchy tank top- ab fab or what!

OK, I know, this is supposed to be about the launch...

Had lunch with Trinley, the mad monk, our tame printer who'd come down from Scotland just to help out. Little did he know, but after lunch I was going to drag him round Sainsbury's then lock him in the kitchen so he could prepare the food. Well, it's his fault for being an ex-chef!

And to his credit, he didn't complain, and he did in fact turn out some gorgeous grub, which assorted trustees and helpers trotted round to all the guests who arrived. I think about 100 people came to support us, friends, family and odd people off the street too. Ama-la came and was duly treated with the respect, importance and adoration given a celebrity these days, and it was lovely to see a good turnout from the Tibetan community too. I suspect that a good few of them were there to chat to Tsering, as a couple of times I had to run off to find him for translating duties when a guest wanted to talk to Ama-la, and he'd wandered off to chat. Ama-la brought with her the elder of the family she is staying with, so we had 2 Ama-la's to entertain, and Ama Rinzin was wonderful- such a great twinkly smile- she is so adorable!

And there was the hilarious offering of kata to all the important people. Slight misunderstanding as I wanted to give them to Ama-la & Tsering for coming over, as well as Gonkar for letting us have his gallery, but Ama-la wanted to give them to all the trustees and helpers! So it was a slightly chaotic ceremony, with lots of laughter, and kata being thrown around necks galore. Ama-la also gave a short speech thanking everyone for showing up and supporting Art Refuge, saying that she wouldn't talk about her story because she would be doing that the following day.

And that was it. By the time we'd cleared up, it was time for a late dinner across the road, where we found many other people from the launch already digging in. What a tiring day, but a big success :)