Turns out that it’s not easy to find internet in this country. I have a data stick that is supposed to connect my computer to the limited 3G network, but so far no luck with that. I’m writing this from a nearby town, Bajo, which has an internet café where I am able to connect. It's funny, when I came to Bhutan I was looking to get away from the internet, but I didn't realize at the time that it would be my only practical form of communication with anyone back home.
I am finally at my school and moved into my apartment! And even better, the students come tomorrow!! I live above a general store and a restaurant. I have one room, a bathroom and a balcony. It is the perfect amount of space for me to live alone in. Since my last blog, I have spent about ten days in Thimphu and four days traveling halfway across the country.
Does the mess surprise you? I plan to buy baskets to put some of my clothes in because right now I’m still living out of my suitcase. The bathroom is a tease in the sense that it has a showerhead and a sink but neither work. There is a spicket (just above the wet spot on the ground) that I use to fill up buckets to do all my dishes, laundry, showers, etc.
Thimphu was a fun, yet teasing way to start my time in Bhutan. The sixteen other teachers and I all bonded very quickly. Two weeks in a foreign country can be a long time – long enough for things to start to feel familiar and somewhat normal. This Bhutan that had started to feel normal was Bhutan with my 16 foreign friends. Reality came hard and fast now that I’m settled in Thinleygang and not going to see most of the teachers until July at the earliest. However, there are two teachers within 2-3 hours from me that I plan to see before then. I realize that soon enough life in Thinleygang will normalize; I’ll make friends, and I’ll find a routine. But right now everything is new and life here is somewhat intimidating.
Highlights from my time in Thimphu include playing soccer with some local Bhutanese friends, hiking up to Buddha Dordenma, taking a hike up to a monastery through a crazy awesome alpine forest, visiting the Takin reserve, and nightly discussing with the other teachers if we should go out for Indian food, Bhutanese, or pizza for dinner. Most of what I’m eating consists of rice, veggies, ema datse (the national dish made of chilies and cheese) and lots and lots of tea.
The Thimphu valley, detail of one of the buildings in Thimphu (with an adorable kid yelling out the window, “Chilip hiiiiii chilip” – chilip is the Dzongkha word for foreigner) And our three buses packed to the brim with gas cylinders, stoves, mini fridges, and more buckets than you could ever imagine.
We left Thimphu early on Thursday morning and drove to Punakha. My school was first on the way, but after dropping my stuff off, I continued on with the group to Bumthang. The roads in Bhutan are incredible. I have had my breath taken away – both from fright of falling off the road as well as from the beauty of the views and mountain passes. Within a matter of hours we travel from tropical climates with monkeys to the top of mountain passes with snow and frozen prayer flags. My village is somewhere in between these two extremes. No snow, but cold enough to need a good jacket and warm clothes in the winter. I traveled as far as Bumthang, which is in the middle of the country before turning around with two fellow teachers also heading back west.
Some views from the drive East. The Dochu La pass (both mountains and clouds are visible), the Pele La pass with icy trees and frozen prayer flags, and a shot out the window of the bus as we drove down the road.
I have completed one week of being a civil servant for the Bhutanese government, and I’m not sure that I have completed very much. This is largely due to the language barrier. The first week was filled with meetings for the teachers only. Things like who is teaching which classes, school rules and policy, figuring out roles such as matron, club leaders, staff secretary, and more were figured out during these meetings. 90% of the meetings were in Dzongkha, which meant that I sat and looked alert and interested despite the fact that I only had a vague idea of what was being talked about. The process to figure out who is teaching which class involved teachers arguing all morning and finally coming to a solution in which most of the teachers compromised and were not entirely thrilled about their assignments. This is partly due to the fact that my school has become a central school this year. This means that the primary school and secondary schools are combined under one principal. It also means that suddenly there are 45 teachers in the school (a massive number) and each teacher could potentially teach any grade pre-primary to grade 10. I believe one teacher even has one section grade 10, one section grade 3, and one section grade 1. What a handful! Anyway, throughout the process my class assignment changed many times, starting with grade 9 English and ending up with grade 4 English. I raised my concerns about the fact that I am not necessarily trained to teach grade 4 and that I have no experience there, but this did not deter the principal and other teachers from thinking it was a fine idea.
On top of grade 4 English, I am leading the literary club for the secondary students, and helping to plan and implement the school-wide and yearlong reading program for our school. This last project I am especially excited about. Two other teachers and I are working on implementing 15 min of school wide reading every Wednesday morning, competitions between classes to read and review the most books, guest readers, literary festivals, etc.
School officially starts tomorrow. I have never seen the class 4 curriculum, and I have absolutely no idea which building my rooms are in. I am not worried though; I have heard that there is a very slow start to the school year. This year will be especially slow due to the New Year holiday and the king’s birthday celebration.
I feel so privileged to be in this country. Everyday I am more amazed by the landscape, the people, and the animals. I am also learning more and more each day. Among many other things I am learning how to put my Kira on properly, how to cook using a pressure cooker, how to hitchhike, and how to speak a little bit of Dzongkha. I’m also learning about the power of my space heater and how to avoid leaving my wool leggings to close.
The patch that I had to sew after burning a hole right on the butt cheek of my wool leggings – such an essential piece of clothing too! Actually somewhat of an ironic picture because they are right next to the space heater that is the hole-burning culprit. Although this time it was turned off! And, for your viewing pleasure, a picture of how I felt after spending 25 minuets trying to pin my Tago and Wanju (the pieces that make up the jacket) although I did get it eventually and I’m getting better every day …living alone makes you do weird things like taking selfies at 8am.
Until next time readers –
