Flying into the smoke

The smoke was denting as we flew closer to home from Vancouver.  Here are some photos. It was even denser in Castlegar, but the (female) pilots did a great job of the scariest landing I have had. 

The Takin Reserve

There is a reserve in Thimphu for rescued animals. The first photo is of a takin, the national animal. Everyone says they are lazy looking. They do seem to move slowly. The young ones were running and jumping and chasing and wrestling. They remind me of the Bhutanese people, slow, steady, strong, fierce looking and resilient. Although the people are not as unfortunate looking as the takin. The second picture is of a barking deer and 2 goats. 

Paper factory

Traditionally paper is made from the daphne plant. Here from white daphne, in the past from black daphne. 

Leaving Bhutan . . . Again

I am actually in the air nearing Taipai.  I left Bhutan on the 22nd of August and spent a night in Bangkok.

After Chukha we had a day in Thimphu. The Mountain Echoes Literary Festival is a big event for writers, both Bhutanese and other.  Actually I get the feeling that it is a lot of work for the Bhutanese.  There are speakers, book launches, films, performances and art.  On Saturday morning we went to a book launch. A very interesting book by Serena Chopra. She began photographing Bhutanese in 2003 in remote areas of the country. She spent  about 6 years travelling and taking black and white film photos with her Hassleblad camera. It sounds as though she made a personal spiritual journey through that time also.  She met the Queen Mother unknowingly at first as Serena was a business woman and was shutting her company and donating goods. She came across the Tarayana Foundation which was created by Her Majesty and donated a lot of household goods.  A book of her photos was published, but another publisher asked her to create a bigger book with text from her journals.  The three women were on stage, talking about the book, the process and the Bhutanese. The first edition was presented to the Prime Minister. Those of you who have been in Bhutan will be able to imagine and picture the ceremony and simplicity combined of such an event. Lots of standing and sitting and standing again as officials and royalty enter, stand and sit. 

Foggy Chukha

Visit to Chukha

On Wednesday night 4 of the 5 volunteer teachers travelled to Paro. We stayed at the Gamgtey palace. I had the room where Andrea and I first stayed in 2013 and the couple that was with us had the beautiful corner room that Rob and I were lucky to have before he flew out. 

The other teachers were headed up Tak Sang on Thursday morning. 

At 6:45 am Palden and I got on a bus that was headed to Samtse, and rolled down the foggy road to Tshimilakha. Luckily the fog lifted enough to be able to have a good view. We got off at the zero point and did the walk up to town that we did together so many times in 2013. We were both nervous and excited as we were surprising our old Chukha high school friends. Well the effect was overwhelming. My face is still sore from the enormous grin I had all day. First in the village, then I went alone to the staff room while Palden waited for Chimi Pem to get her a Kira. The look on teacher's faces when they saw me was heartwarming. We had tea, then my class 9 students gathered around. I also visited them in their classes and chatted. 

Anju planned to have Palden and I for lunch, but the women all wanted to hang out so we went to a new hotel in the bazaar for fried rice. Then to homes to visit the babies. I did not have time to return to the school for more visits and photos of the students, which I regret. The fog closed in and we took a bus to Thimphu. Passang, the BCF driver, called and the gang met me at Chuzom, which was awesome because Palden and I had time to say good bye. I have so many rich memories of my year at CHSS - it was a wonderful day.

Gas cylinders

This photo goes back to Bumthang. The night before the long drive west I did not sleep well. There was a lot of noise outside, all I could imagine was someone in the fields clanging  pots together to keep the wild boars and the bears away from thier crops. That would not be unusual in the countryside, however we were at the River Lodge in Chamkar. When I woke up there was a traffic jam in front of the gas station and lots of horn honking. A delivery of propane cylinders had arrived the day before and everyone had lined up to exchange their empty cylinders for full ones. They arrive by truck from Phuntsholing, so they make the trek across the bumpy road... 

Here is a photo of the cylinders lined up, in order along the highway below the lodge. 

Travel on Bhutanese roads

TThe country is undertaking the immense task of widening the road that crosses the country from the west to the east. If you have travelled in Bhutan you know that the roads are impossibly windy, steep and narrow. When Rob visited in 2013 he said "you were'nt exaggerating about the roads." That was prior to going east from Thimphu. It is actually hard to describe. 

Right now the road is mostly one lane wide. The process they have decided to use is to give 10 kilometre stretches to different contractors in order to increase employment and to spread the work throughout the country. This means the entire length of the road is under construction. Imagine trying to widen a road that already sits on a treacherous cliff. 

Here is a photo of a large machine (of which there are currently many on the roads) pulling rock down the cliff in order to widen the lane and fill gabions to help stabilize the cliff below. Shortly after this photo we were stopped in order to take photos of a spectacular bird. A pounding on the roof as some golf ball sized rooks randomly spattered the van rushed us forward.  The yellow headed large parrot like bird was shy, however we did see another red,bird. No photos. 

Frisbee

Both Catherine and I brought frisbee. On Saturday we gave the, to the school and right after assembly the staff started playing, figuring out very quickly how to play as they are athletic. They did not go to class for a while. Look for the frisbee. 

The photos below are progress on the altar being constructed for the Golden Jubilee celebrations. 

Interesting moments

While in the Tang valley we stopped to talk to some ex students of Tashi and her husband. They had just returned from Tibet, a smuggling run. They walked at night and let during the day. They sold wooden bowls and the belts one wears with a gho or Kira for immense profit.

Leaving Tang, we were in a caravan, with 5 cars following us, some teachers, a couple of kids, wives and even the principal and his wife. They were seeing us off. We stopped a couplr of kilometres from the school in a clearing on a height of land. Rugs and foamies came out to sit on and we were served tea and biscuits. There were two types of suja and milk tea with ginger in it. Yum. It was a special way they say good bye. We were told it was a school tradition, but later heard it is white common to see special guests off in this way.  Everyone (the Bhutanese) took  lots of pictures and laughed a lot. It was actually quite touching.  

Leaving Misithang

Once again I have to leave Bhutan, and it will be a long process. On Thursday morning I was asked to speak at the assembly: tips on writing book reviews. On Thursday afternoon, I gave a session to the teachers for their professional development. At the end of the session Catherine  and I handed out BC and Canada pins to the staff, they proudly wore them on thier gho and tego. That was the first set of speeches and thank you's. 

 Friday  morning Catherine said her farewells to the assembly. The men had erected a ( very) temporary flagpole for the Canadian flag. We distributed Canada pins to each student.  More thank you's and farewell letters. I made banana cake in the rice cooker and the staff ate it during interval (recess).

Friday after school Tashi, her husband and daughter took us the Tang valley. We saw a mill for the buckwheat, thingley, a plant that grows asort of Sichuan pepper which numbs your lips and leaves them tingling for about 20 minutes, and the primary school where they used to teach. When they arrived at that school, was no power and only a tractor road. Tashi had both her children there. 

We returned for a farewell dinner, with speeches, many, on both sides; a cultural program, dancing and singing on both sides and a lot of food cooked by the men. Shoo dates, fish curry, chicken curry, rice, red rice, dal, Emma dates and fresh fruit and veggies sliced and beautifully arranged. 

Saturday morning we will have our last assembly where there will be more speeches and exchanges of gifts, then we judge the debate and trundle down the valley to Chamkhar. After that a 2 day drive to Thimphu. 

Ground breaking ceremony at Kizom

Tuesday mornings there is no assembly at Tang school. The students are in their classes and all of the staff, including lab assistants, are helping with reading. Yesterday I was in class 3 reading "Little Hiawatha" when ther was a commotion- dog fight. Then the teacher disappeared. There was a big discussion and it was decided that the Canadian teachers should go to Kizom for a ceremony. The Indian ambassador was to be there as India is financing the building of rock walls to prevent flooding in the valley. 

 There is a tourist campground financed by the WWF and tents were set up. 

After lots of waiting the officials arrived, Catherine and I were treated like dignitaries. Speeches (not us) and then the students performed traditional dances as did the locals. There was a very local masked dance, with giant dancers.  A special lunch of local foods provided by locals included buckwheat noodles, which I had not had before. 

We danced as it seemed as though the dancing would not stop until we participated. The women who were spectators laughed hard every time we passed them with our rather clumsy efforts at a graceful Bhutanese dance. It was a very hot day and there are no hats worn at official function -several older men created shade from branches they wore on their heads. 

After the lunch people wandered home along the roads and pathways. We walked part way back to school, but were soon scooped up into a car and jostled homewards along the bumpy road. The older woman we were walking with arrived about 10 minutes after us, such is the speed of car travel. 

Some photos from the weekend and around the village

Rainy season, lots of water, siun for a couple of hours, then thunder and downpours. 

Sunday to Chamkar

 This  morning I really did NOt want to leave this beautiful valley to go to Chamkar. It was nice out and had not rained in the night. There were patches of blue sky above the mountains at the head of the valley on my morning walk. I was much more interested in a long walk up the valley, than a bumpy ride to town. 

However, that was the plan and a teacher and her husband had put aside the day to take us. I felt a bit better because we had hiked up the hill behind the guest house to the prayer flags yesterday afternoon. We walked along the "plain" on the top of the ridge, more like a meadow that had been cleared for grazing cows, and came down behind the Rimochen Lakhang down the road from here. The views were stunning. Later that evening we were treated to Bhutanese movie at the multi-purpose hall. Will all of the students and most of the villagers.  A romantic comedy we were told. Shakespeare and the Greeks could have learned a lot about tragedy from the Bhutanese.

So the adventure to town started fairly calmly. I noticed hos dry the roads were, with no rain for about 30 hours. In town we were served momos and did a bit of shopping before going to the Dzong.  It was "closed" for Sunday, meaning all of the government offences were closed. There were 2 young officers on duty and Sonam (Rinchen's husband) knows everyone so we were invited to go down to see the underground water source they were checking on. There was a sort of walled space with staircase after steep staircase winding down the back of the very steep hill the Dzongkha is perched on.  After many steps we went into a tower like building down a half dozen sets of stairs. Fortunately, these had been renovated and were no longer the steps cut out of logs pictured below.  It was a great adventure, with no power and only one cellphone to light our way, bats and slimy steps. I loved it. 

Later while we were having lunch a violent thunderstorm rolled through the valley.  A real Bhutanese storm.  On the drive home there was a tree across the road that had to be removed. Evidence of a lot of wind, with many trees down and the creeks and rivers were running very brown, with several areas of flooding, including one corner of the road. 

Just when things felt calm and the routine felt like a routine, everything changes.  We returned to beautiful blue skies here in the Tang valley, and I will now go for a walk albeit not all the way to the end of the valley.

Heather teaches PP

K PP is kindergarten. The students, tables and stools are unbelievably small, and cute.  My biggest challenge is that they speak and understand Dzongkha, but not much English.  Second challenge:  the wigglies.

Today was a special day at the school. The medical team visits once per year.  They do eye tests, a bit of hearing, take a blood sample (for blood typing I think) and there is a dentist.  The PP students all had teeth pulled 5 minutes before I was to teach them.  If I thought they were distracted before, it was nothing compared to bloody wads of cotton, comparing holes in their mouths and some genuine distress.   I soldiered on.  Too bad about the language gap because I would have loved to do something about the teeth instead of alphabet and Apple green Apple red, Apple fell on Dorji's head. 

Two teachers watched me and the entire gong show was  filmed on their phones. 

Most of the rest of the day Catherine and I worked in the library with the struggling readers.  Both of our sponsor teachers were there as much as they could be, and are sincerely trying to grasp how we are working.  They are going to ask the principal to have free periods scheduled while their English classes are in the library next year, so they can continue to assist the weak readers.  In my mind, if that is the only thing that comes from our visit, everything we have done is worthwhile. 

On the home front I made Chile for dinner. Soaked kidney beans, stewed up chile powder a la Bhutanese, peppers, onions and the world's yummiest garlic.  I even threw in a splash of Takin wine. Catherine and I are both FIGHTING the germs behind the green slime that is constantly dripping from the kid's noses.  Sometimes it looks like little snakes peeking out - constantly present, sometimes sniffed back inside for a rest.  The perils of primary teaching without Kleenex.  

Sunday at Ogyen Choling

,Sunday Catherine and I started walking up the Tang valley. In the village where we are living -Misithang- the valley is quite narrow. The Tang river runs behind the school and across the river, the mountains rise quite steeply. On this side of the road, the farms back onto steep hillsides, where the cattle graze and small fields are stuck to the steep hillside. As we walked up the valley, it opens to a stunning landscape. The river is larger and the valley bottom wide. Hills rise with small villages and large homes. Fields of pink buckwheat and yellow mustard.  There are even some high altitude rice paddies, growing since 2008, thanks to global warming. 

 From everywhere in the valley the wanderer can see a prominent structure - Ogyen Choling.  For many centuries,  20 generations, the same family held this property. In Bhutan, it was until the mid nineteen fifties that land owners were manor lords and indentured labourers worked the land. The third king emancipated the serfs at that time. It was a great change in the country.  Ashi Keunzang Choden was born here in 1952.   She was sent to school in Kalingpong, India at the age of nine. It was a twelve day journey by caravan as there were no roads. 

On Sunday she greeted us at the gate. We had a wonderful tour of the private museum. Her family manor is now part of a foundation and she and her family have worked hard to preserve artifacts and the buildings in order to tell the story and keep an important part of Bhutan's history available for both Bhutanese and foreigners. 

Tang Central School

The school has about 400 students  from PP to grade 10.  Some live in the hostel, even the youngest. There is a matron, a warden and a caregiver for the youngest.  She does activities with them, and helps them with things like their laundry.  "Central school" is a new designation as they are eliminating some of the remote schools and bringing students to a larger facility.  Boarders get almost everything paid for: 2 uniforms, shoes, mattress, blanket, books and shiny steel plates and mugs. 

We are each assigned to an English teacher, mine is named Tashi. She teaches PP, class 1 and 5.  Each week every class has a library period. Catherine and I are working with weak readers identified by their English teacher.  We were hoping for small groups, but have 10 to 12 at a time.  Next week I will have one period with each of Tashi's classes to work on reading strategies.  It all feels like a drop in the bucket, but it is enjoyable. Last week I taught 3 classes of English 7 for the principal as he was away at meetings. 

I go for a walk every morning. There is an important lakhang  5 minutes up the road backed by cliffs with beehives hanging.  The road follows a big river, moving fast. This morning I walked down the road to a suspension walking bridge and thrashed my way back through the forest on the other side of the river.