Dreary Drizzle turned interesting

The day and election weekend looked cold, wet, lonely and dull.  No power, no water, no gas for my stove. . .

 SUPW digging a trench for the drain

Today we had SUPW instead of class in the morning, then everyone was "cut loose" for election holiday for 3 1/2 days.


Dave from Pakshika and Peldon helped me get a gas cylinder.  No easy task as it is about 5 kilometres away and no one who has a car is around.  They are all away on election duty.  We ended up getting a taxi and then other people popped up on the road to hitch a ride with us.  An event.

We then got on the motorcycle and went to a village called Lobneyka.

Supposed to be a "model" village.  Very high up on the  mountainside, with terraced fields full of potatoes and  the village has a central park area.  Stunning views of lakhangs, villages, mountains and rivers.  A bit like the Bhutan I imagined after reading Jamie Zeppa's book, the rain the mist, the villages perched on mountains.

A Walk To Gaselo

On Friday after school I had a delightful ride to Thimphu with a P.P. teacher from Wangchu.  PP is pre primary or kindergarten.  Generally the students go for a half day and they learn English and Dzongkha, reading and writing . . .  in two languages. 

In Thimphu I met up with Matt and Lucy from Australia and Dave from Canada.  In the morning we left Chemgang (Matt and Lucy's) for a walk over the pass to Gaselo.  We had heard reports that the travel time would be 5 hours, 8 hours or two days. Five of Matt's students accompanied us to Hilela pass, where there was a chorten built by Drukpa Kinley, the Divine Madman.  It was a delightful walk with 2 yaks (zaos actually, which are a yak/cow hybrid as yaks cannot live at this low, 3,000 m elevation).  The boys were delightful, fed us local plants, told local stories and were grade 6's and 7's acting as tour guides. 

From the top down there is a new mountain bike trail.  Apparently there is a way to drive up there to drop cyclists.  Pretty muddy and we think we may have walked 20 kilometres down, including 4 on the road. (only 8 km up)  We did not make it to Gaselo.  From Nahi, the remote village where we came off the trail, it was another 2 hours to Gaselo and we had been going for about 8.  We did go up and down the mountain at Nahi looking for the short cut to the bridge which added some time. 

Arwen, another BCF teacher, sent a taxi up the 11 km road and we arrived in Bajo on time for a great dinner with 10 BCF teachers.  Yum and thanks to Sarah in Punaka for putting 4 of us up at her place.  Swam in the Pochu River beside the Punaka Dzong prior to heading back home via Thimphu On Sunday. 

 At home I had Dave in for supper and Palden for strawberry dessert.  I learned how to make custard from a package :) You need sugar . . .

The flower is yummy.  Looks like honey suckle, is not sweet and grows on a tree. 

Leaf hat and Rhododendron - etho metho 

Drukpa Kinley Chorten in the mist at the pass

Water Prayer Wheel and lunch site 

We all bathed here waiting for the taxi.  It was really hot in the jungle on the way down.  Tooth brushing too!

Cultural Arrogance . . . mine

     I was struck the other day by how intelligent one of my Bhutanese colleagues is and I realized that I was being a bit arrogant.  It happened again today.  From the moment I arrived, I recognized intelligence, however, language gets in the way of conversation.  I hope my arrogance does not show outwardly, as I am aware of it and do respect the Bhutanese knowledge, culture and experience. 

     I think my problem is that I can only communicate in an English full of cropped sentences and grammatical differences.  This tends to limit the conversation somewhat.  Somewhere in my brain I get frustrated with the way things are done, or the lack of depth of discussion, or a cultural quirk and part of me dismisses or looks down on the Bhutanese and their experience. Not actively or outwardly or even truly, as I have lot of respect for them. When I first began orientation I was startled by the depth of thought they had invested in education.  All of the educators I met during training were amazingly thoughtful and intelligent.  

The other day I was once again immersed in that intelligence.  We had a pd session on preparing test questions and Blooms Taxonomy.  Tests - or midterm and final exams are pretty important here. 80% of the mark.  In Class 10 failing means not going forward in the public, funded system.  High stakes.  Our discussions were thoughtful and it is obvious that they put a lot of effort into creating balanced exams.  Personally I think that an 80% weighting for exams is not a good practice, but since that is the way they do it, it is heartening to know they take the process seriously. 

     The system of education is new and each one of the teachers I work with seems intent on making it work.  The intensity at a professional development  workshop where the material is hands on like today is high.  I cannot imagine teachers at home engaging in a discussion of the application of Bloom's Taxonomy to the test questions as actively as I experienced today. 

    There were some points on grammar in the test questions and I became frustrated with the argument and was a bit vocal (moi??).  There are so many quirky grammatical habits, amongst both the Bhutanese and the Indian teachers.  NOT that my grammar is great, however, there are some things that drive most of the Canadian teachers crazy.  I often contemplate the evolution of language as I have seen in my lifetime many changes in the colloquial use of words that are now found in the dictionary.    (Is Party a verb?  Not when I was a child :)  In that contemplation I wonder how much to work at changing the language of my students.  Will the language evolve here to hold the expressions they use and I find horrid?  On the other hand, if Bhutanese want to interact with the rest of the world it feels important to teach the correct usage of the phrases that have been corrupted in translation from Dzongkha. 

What brings me back to a sense of wonder and amazement is the short time and lack of experience the Bhutanese have in the "modern" world and the way they negotiate everything from technology to technocracy so easily.  It is as if in completely missing the industrial revolution, they have managed to bring ancient wisdom directly into the information age.  It makes for a fascinating intelligence. 

More photos

Was thinking of taking more pictures with me moved in, but the place looks basically the same as I only have a bed and a desk!!

Balcony table is gone

Kinley Pem cleaning before I shifted

living room

extra bedroom

from living room to kitchen and wash room

Insects and Tests

My classroom is small, the students are squished together two or three to a desk. Tests are a problem, so we go outside to the assembly ground to write. Today it was hot and sunny, if you can believe it the students do not like going out to write when it is hot.  After a wet night there are these bugs that look and behave like earwigs, but are larger and all black.  For each period that I was outside with a test, an earwig emerged from another part of my dress.  My neck my wrist, my hair.  The students and other teachers do not like these bugs - so it is not just me who is a bit squeamish when it comes to earwigs. 

A hot sunny day.  I walked the trail to the Dzong at lunch to go to Telecom  and I now have broadband (a telephone line) Internet.  I can Skype, download and everything.  At all hours.  I am promising myself I will not stay up all night tonite on the computer.  Too many tests to mark!! 

On my walk, I was in bare feet and sandals.  When I was out of view I hiked my kira up above my knees.  It was a glorious day.  Now I am in a turtleneck and have the heat on in my room.  More to cut the damp than the cold.  Mountain weather.  It is hard to believe the damp. My towels were out in the sun and the wind all day and right now they are clammy wet.  Pages sometimes tear or disintegrate it is so humid. 

I do not think the itchies are fleas anymore.  Palden was just here and she is going CRAZY  with a similar thing to me.  Small bumps all over that turn to large flea-like bumps after you scratch. But we have so many and they only flare during certain parts of the day.  Also I cannot find a flea and for the number of "bites" I have they should be evident.  Palden has done all of the blanket washing and things that I have!!  

SHIFTING

Moving from one "quarter" (as in staff quarters) to another is termed shifting in these parts..  I will be shifting to my new quarter tomorrow, Sunday May 19th.  On Friday after school I had a team of students help me clean.  Mostly the floors were covered in concrete-like sand.  I had planned to move today, Saturday, but it was not an auspicious day for shifting, neither was Friday.  I am hoping Sunday is.  No one could really tell me today.  I think I could find it on the Keunsel website (newspaper) but do not have  internet today.  Saturday when I would have moved it was puking rain anyways and the floors had not yet dried in the house. 

Stuff to shift 

New Bedroom - the light is lovely 

New Living room 

My new place is very nice and cute and bright.  I would say clean but the mystery mould/fungus has invaded because of the time of year and of course it was pretty filthy after construction.  There are a few anomalies.  It is on the second floor and the family that will be living downstairs was also cleaning on Friday.  They have 5 daughters and will be living in a space similar to mine.  When they had the water turned on, I had no water upstairs.  Interesting. 

I am about to go to bed in my old place for the last time.  Mixed feelings.  I almost said to hell with it -I want to stay here. Part of me still does.  I am used to the location (half a block away) and being here - my routines.  I do want to move for the light - the new place has much nicer light.  I was looking forward to the geyser - hot water tank, but at the moment do not care. I am hoping to leave the small bugs that are eating me alive behind.  The bites look like flea bites, but I cannot seem to find any fleas and the bugs that I do find are much tinier than fleas.  A bit like no-see-ums. 

There are 2 small mirrors in the new place.  I have lived without for 3 and a half months.  I may trim my hair more often.  Being able to plug in a kettle and rice cooker without blowing all the fuses in the apartment is appealing. I am also looking forward to having friends for dinner - tomorrow night.  It has been a long time coming.  The balcony already has a small chair on it for eating outside on nice, or not so nice, days.  

I went to Bhutan Telecom on Friday to start the process of getting internet.  I had been assured that there was already a phone line and it would be easy.  HA.  Not only that, it was international something or other communications day (World Telecom and Communications Day) and some big 25 or 50 or 75 year anniversary of Bhutan Telecom.  (Golden Jubilee)  Celebrations mostly consisted of huge bonuses for reloads on your phone, so it was crazy in the office.  the stores that sell vouchers were nuts too. Somehow my 50 percent bonus loaded as 40 percent, but I cannot complain. 

Wangchu

     After clubs on Wednesday I took a ride with another teacher to Wangchu, the village at the powerhouse in the valley bottom.  I had seen the village from aboe (dam view) and thought it was a bit of an industrial, planned town.  Although it is a planned town, eerything feels so different.  It is 14 kilometers down a windy road that takes you down the mountian.  You can actually see it from above Tshimilaka.  It is green, lush and the river is beautiful  No fog.  No leeches.  Warm.  Dave from Pakshika brought supper from the Dantak (Indian road building) canteen.  We had a picnic of dosa and samosa. There is also a temple (Lakhang) that was built recetntly on the site of an ancient dzong.  I had been asking about the ruin site, as I found the coolest book  An account with multiple drawings and painting of an expedition into Bhutan in 1783.. In this book there are drawings of the dzong at Chukha and one of the four iron bridges built by a Tibetan monk in the 1700's. One of the bridges is/was around here.  Although none of the bridges are intact, sections of each one are being used elsewhere.  The drawings look as though the iron bridges were made of chain-mail. 

    Update - my new quarter was handed over and the students were supposed to help me clean it today so that I could move in tomorrow, but no one can get their hands on a key yet:)

Some Thoughts

       Walking to Tshimisham yesterday to go to the ATM and withdraw some cash for the book fair, I was passed by a dump truck full of indian workers returning to their shanty home after their day of breaking rocks on the side of the road for road construction.  Such contrast.

The landscape is indescribable.  In the bus looking at a monastery on a ridge.  It dominates the landscape for about 40 minutes of the drive from Chukha to Thimphu.  Trying to see a route to walk up there, thinking I can see one, then realizing that there is yet another, then another, then another ridge before the monastery.  Covered in jungle, yet power lines wind their way up the mountain. 

Monkeys.  I have seen a few small ones; in Gasa, on the road to Gedu (south of Chukha).  Once I was gazing out the window into an orchard and thought the monkey was a cow or something.  Today I saw a troop of large monkeys - no they are not as big as cows, bounding across the road.  Their tails are very large and long.  They were . . . ? cougar ? sized. 

Book Fair

Book Fair 

   This morning dawned a stellar sunny day in Tshimilakha.  After an afternoon and night of fog so wet, cold and dense I thought I was in some weird movie.  I walked to the market and a friend asked if I had just had a bath.  The fog was so dense, my hair was dripping wet. 

The school bus was scheduled to leave at 7 am to go to Bajo (Wangdue) for the book fair.  We left at 7:17 - which is amazing.  considering the bus driver does not live in town, he drove to Paro the day before and they came back late, and representatives from 4 other schools joined us :)  It was a beautiful drive, sitting in the front seat of the bus I had a great view and saw some things I have not seen on previous drives.  It did take us a long time, however, as we had to stop at various canteens and noodle houses., pick up friends and drop of things for families along the way. 

The absolute best part of the drive, apart from the view, was that we received a blessing from the Je Kempo. He is the highest lama in the country.  In the winter the monks move to Punaka as it is not as cold, and today they are beginning their return to Thimphu for the summer months. We had to stop on the road to let the entourage pass (there is rarely room for a two way traffic flow).  We heard it was the Je Kempo and the Bhutanese jumped up, put on their national dress and we all stood on the side of the road to be blessed.  He drove by at a crawl and touched us all on the head with his blessing. He has a special red vehicle with plates that simply say "BHUTAN".  He was preceded by police, and some temple like parts in trucks, followed by special monks in special cars and not so special (I assume) monks in buses.  Then a large TATA dump truck full of their stuff in rice bags, tied in. 

Book fair:  is a tent event, which was all fine and well until the huge thunder and rain storm.  Streets running like rivers, I got drenched. Met up with Aussie Andrea, Bob and the 2 kids who are living in Chume, Bumthang and a friend of theirs drove us to the hotel she had booked.  A bit far from the book fair, but pleasant.  I had a hot shower as I was soaked to the skin.  Will have to wear my Kira (national dress) to dinner and I only brought one pair of pants :) 

A second day at the book faire, more frenzy and lots of buying books for the library.  Senge, the one of our BCF colleagues who is a buddhist monk, joined us for the evening.  The next day we went to Chimmi Lakhang near Lobesa for a picnic, then visited the dzong and the suspension bridge in Punakha.  Back to Bajo for dinner with 15 of us BCF'ers!! Nancy Strickland joined us and we had a great evening. 

picnicers at Chimmi Lakhang 

Jacaranda trees at Paro Dzong  Just like the brochures 

Chimmi Lakhang

Anecdotes

I asked where a student was.  Response: "Toilet ma'am, shooting diarrhea ma'am." I explained the expression TMI  - too much information. 

I went to pick up my plastic handled book bag after class and it was dripping wet.  Went to put on a sweater in the staff room and looked up to the ceiling for a leak.  None.  When the fog rolls in (almost every afternoon), it is so humid and clammy that everything becomes damp.  A new kind of damp for me. 

There are these large thunderstorms that sometimes cover the entire country and last night I thought that what it was.  So dark.  So . . . stormy.  But no, just past Chapcha (20k north) it was not raining and had not rained.  Our poor students, yesterday was sports day and the basketball and volleyball are outside.  It poured on their final matches.  Which they won!  The uniforms are fluorescent green, easier to see the players in the fog.  Unbelievable but true. 

Sports day took me to the badminton hall.  I was a bit bummed as it was t-shirt weather outside by 8:30 am.  Sunny, warm. Yum.  However the other teams had not arrived and so I played badminton to help warm up the team members.  I loved the action, movement and working up a sweat. When I went out to organize tea, I had to put on another layer.  After lunch I needed 4 layers plus raincoat and umbrella :) 

New challenge: fleas.  Actually I think I brought them home from a hotel 2 weeks ago when I had crazy itchiness and bites.  Now they are here.  I had just recovered from the last round of scratching and it starts again.  How to get rid of them I do not know. 

Living alone:  I cannot believe that I am still using the 2 tubes of toothpaste I brought from home 3 months later.  One bar of soap.  Washing in a bucket my clothes never come clean.  Do not know why.   Scrub, scrub - a - dub. 

Hoping to go to a large book fair where librarians and English teachers purchase books for the school library.  Tomorrow I will be doing professional development for English teachers at the local Lower Secondary School.  I need to plan so good night all. 

Science Exhibition

Science Exhibition 

This day was a cluster science competition: 2 Dzongkhags (Samste and Chukha) competing in a science fair for decent money.  The winning school received 20,000 nultrum. A sum that would boost a school budget significantly.  Our school had won last year so hopes were high, however my colleague Dave Plant in Pakshika created a star lab and it was a big hit.  His school came second.  Each school had 3 entries and I am not sure what the winning school had, except for a rocket display.  We got 4th prize - 3 schools get 2,000 nultrum.  Many of us expected Chukha school to do better because of 2 displays.  One being a great invention of a squishy speed bump for corners using magnetics and electricity to flash a light for the oncoming vehicles.  You have to drive these roads to believe the corners, however the model is pretty realistic.  Also a group created a "perfect society" that combined many of the popular projects:  rain collection, flood warning, power generation.  It was extremely well done.  

More assembles, special guests, speeches and of course refreshments.  Momos both days:  a little dough pouch with meat mixture inside.  Sounds dull but is yummy.  The lunch today was catered with really good curries, ema datse, meat; vegetable, beef and chicken curry and papa dams. I did not need anything else all day.  I have convinced the caterer to sell me some of his ground meat mixture that he puts in moms so that I can make a meat spaghetti sauce. 

  There was also the local sports competition this weekend.  One day was football, another athletics and tomorrow I have to work at volleyball, basketball, badminton and table tennis.  Unfortunately I am working in refreshments, which does not interest or suit me.  Today I played table tennis with my class 9 boys.  Good fun. 

  I also went for the Dzong walk through the jungle to the Dzong then back via the road with five TP (teaching practice) teachers and Palden.  It was a super pleasant 2 hours, including tea in Tsimasham. The walk is about 5 kilometres round trip, but we wandered and chatted and one of the TP teachers told us all about the plants and what they are used for.  Ate some tiny wild strawberries.  

Palden, Chencho, Passang

Same with RNB and me 

Prayer water wheel 

Dzong fire alarm

My favourite the road warning system

Teacher's Day

Teachers' Day 

Teachers' day is a national holiday created by the third king. However we are all at work. Students have been busily colouring cards and creating performances for days if not weeks.  The day prior to TD classes were shortened and we finished at 1:30 pm.  Set up began, I watched students practice their dances.  There are 4 houses at school:  Druk (dragon), Singye (lion), Taag (tiger) and Chung (mythical bird).  Each house prepared a traditional and a modern Bhutanese dance for a competition on Teachers' day.  Imagine Thai dance with a bit of Korean mixed in.  However it is all uniquely Bhutanese - the music, the rhythm and the movement of the hands and feet.  Then I coached (ha) girls soccer because the regional championships are Friday and the coach was working with her house on their dances. Students set up the hall and practiced until 10:30 pm.   

In the morning - walking towards the school there are elaborate cards to teachers on the trees and flowers, on the walls, everywhere.  Each class has created a banner with quotes about teachers, and they have been hung around the assembly ground.  Special guests arrive for assembly and then the dance competition begins.  Beautifully done, costumes, choreography and execution.  Fiercely competitive - the house  masters are going crazy hoping they will win.  There is a huge lunch for the teachers.  The students have set up the tables outside (YES we had great weather) and teachers are spread out to eat with the students.  The boarders have given up meat for a lunch and a supper during the month in order to budget for this special meal, which included 2 meat dishes.  I cannot believe the pile of food some students could eat.  Rice piled up - probably 4 cups of rice. 

The afternoon is a program put together by students.  Three hours of entertainment.  Some teachers had "numbers".  The very best was one of the indian teachers who did a magic show to Bollywood music.  GREAT magic show.  The kids went wild.  He was truly very good. 

The day was exhausting - loud music all day and lots of picture taking me with students, me with teachers.  All day greetings:  Happy teachers' day, hand shaking - amongst teachers and between teachers and students. 

Teacher's Day

Teachers day is a big event - dances, dance competitions, masked dances, cards for teachers in all of the trees, banners, ouches, snacks.