"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered."
-Gilbert K. Chesterton
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| Just setting out on yet another hiking adventure |
Martha’s death overshadowed most of what happened
immediately thereafter, but there have been many fun and interesting things to
report. Before that happened, I had made plans with Ashley and Iman for them to
come here and we would all spend the holiday of Blessed Rainy Day together. I
did get to see them, plus some more friends on that day, however unfortunate
and incidental the circumstances may have been. Blessed Rainy Day was the day
after Martha’s cremation, so I was in Rangjung and had the pleasure of enjoying
the comfort and company of Sheal, Scott, Becky, Tim, Ashley, Iman, Martin, and
we stayed at the always-fun-and-hospitable casa de Vicky & Ian. All things
considered, it was the best possible scenario and I am so glad I was able to
see everyone again.
Martin and Iman came back to Autsho with me; so Iman got to
come after all, like we had planned. Martin was just an added bonus. We (and by
that I mean Martin and Iman) made a lovely dinner in my humble little room and
we talked and talked. The next day (Sunday), Martin was supposed to leave on
the bus that runs from Lhuentse to Thimphu, but after waiting for a couple of
hours and some detective work, it was ascertained that the bus driver was
“taking rest” after the prior day’s festivities, so there wouldn't be one. With
a smile and a big hug, and no hesitation, Martin set out to hitchhike all the way back to
Bumthang. What a spirit of adventure and good attitude! He
called later that night, having made it safe and sound, 6 rides later, elated
about his day’s escapades and sights.
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| Iman and me in our matching outfits; and my doggy, who follows me to class |
On that Monday Iman came to all my classes, plus a couple
extra, and she taught an impromptu lesson on Haiku using the book she recently
published and gave to me as a gift. In one class, we subbed for P.E. so we took
the kids out side and did some simple yoga. We wore matching kiras and wanjus,
purposely wanting to look like “sisters.” We were a huge hit! She’s got a fan
club over here now.
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| Iman leading us through chaturanga dandasana |
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| My dance group |
Then, the power went out for over a week. Radio silence. Our
school had been planning to host its first-ever variety show, that kept getting
postponed because we had no electricity, but the first day it came back, we
were in business. I coordinated a group of students and taught them a dance to
LMFAO’s Party Rock Anthem. I have to brag just a little bit here. It was
awesome! I will go so far as to say it’s the most fun, worth-it thing I’ve done
here this year! We practiced a ton; it took a lot to teach 15 kids how to do
totally new, really faced paced dance moves, but it was well worth it. It was a
showstopper. Since it took so long for us to learn, we only did one song (we
were supposed to do two), but it was such a hit, that after the first night,
the program coordinator requested that we go again, and that I would
participate. Twist my arm! I’ve always been something of a performer; love a
good song and dance routine! I enthusiastically skipped out onto the stage that
second night and busted some shuffling moves with my kids. Everyone went wild
and the kids told me later they have never done anything so fun, or been so
proud of themselves.
It’s moments like
that that I joined this profession for. And just when I thought my heart
couldn’t swell any bigger with pride and love for them….
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| Everyone's so excited! |
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| Free styling |
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| Shufflin'! |
The weekend after that there was a Long Life Blessing in
Lhuentse that I went to at the crack of dawn. There, I received a package that
had been sent months earlier by my Australian friend Bobby I met when she was
touring Bhutan in May. She took a keen interest in my students and me and took
it upon herself to make 40+ big tote bags, with her sewing club, for the
students to carry their books in and some more books to donate to the library.
The package had fallen off the truck and was sitting on the side of the road
until it was picked up by a man I had never seen or met before, who had it for
who-knows-how-long, just waiting to meet me to give it to me. Everyone knows
who the one and only foreign teacher is here. It was so quintessentially
Bhutan. Here, it’s all about luck. Bobby, if you’re reading this, THANK YOU!
You’ll be getting pictures and a more detailed account of the gifting of the bags
and book donation very soon.
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| Me, Melanie, Andy |
One weekend, I had some unexpected visitors. On a Saturday,
as our school was hosting an open volleyball tournament for the whole
Dzongkhag, I got a call from new friends of Martin and Tara’s, who had just
come from Bumthang, where they had been filming Martin for an educational TV
series they are voluntarily producing. They were cycling from Mongar to
Lhuentse and wanted to drop in and say hi. They are from London and named
Melanie and Andy. They called to just come meet me, but after coming up to my
school and into my little room, we decided they should stay and explore around
here a little bit. They were the perfect guests, and aside from David, the only
Brits I’ve ever met. Such adventurers! They’re voluntarily working for 4 months
in Bhutan, and going on a year-long tour around the world, basically, as an
extended honeymoon, after quitting their jobs and selling most of their
possessions in London. Sounds familiar. Birds of a feather, eh?
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| Andy took these cool shots on their fancy camera. I got some great pictures of the Autsho area from them! |
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| A spider we saw on the way to Ladrong- colored like a tree frog, sitting in its yellow web |
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| Trekking through the jungle |
They asked a couple of my students to take them to Ladrong,
one of the most remote villages in Lhuentse District. They wanted to collect
information for a potential future funding project of the school. Incidentally,
that is the same place I found myself the following weekend. My friend Sonam
and I decided we wanted to do something different, and she has a friend who
teaches there, so we decided to go. What an ordeal that turned out to be! It was a
5 hour trek and some of the most spectacular land I have ever gotten to see
here. The wildlife, and natural scenes were breathtaking. However, for an
out-of-shape girl, it was quite a haul.
When we got there, the first thing I heard was “Madam Reidi!!!” some of my
students from AMSS who live there had returned the previous night and were more than excited to have me show up.
We played volleyball, watched a football match, and enjoyed the day, beauty,
and people of Ladrong immensely.
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| Sights of the hike to Ladrong |
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| A typical village, Jarrey: 6 houses, some animals, and a chorten |
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| Ladrong school, and students coming to watch our volleyball skills |
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| Some students who took me up to the prayer wheel and Lakhang above the village, amazing view! |
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| Ladrong, tucked away |
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| Loaded in the back of a tipper. This is turned out to be the scariest thing so far this year! |
The trip back was a whole other story. To my chagrin, we were coaxed into spending the night. We left
around 8 in the morning, thinking it would take about 4 hours to get back and
could be back by lunch so we could have the day to prep and get ready for the
upcoming week. There isn’t a road that connects the village with the rest of
the country, but one is being currently blasted into the side of the mountain. After
walking for about an hour, we came to the place where the road was being made;
a truck was about to leave and go all the way down. Score! A ride! Several of
our students were also there, so we happily climbed in. After a short time, we
realized that our driver was totally inebriated. He insisted on driving as
close to the sheer cliff drops as possible. A few times, rocks would ping off
the side of the road and bounce down the drop, which allowed us to visualize the full depth of a plunge. Horrifying! So much so, that my friend Sonam
and I decided we had to be responsible for not only ourselves, but the lives of
our students. Much to the driver's dismay, we got out. That left us stranded on the
highest, steepest, most dangerous road I’ve ever been on in Bhutan. And that’s
saying something! We spent most of the afternoon carrying the boxes and bags
that the students were bringing back from their homes, walking up, up, up,
freezing, waiting for another ride to come along. At no point did anybody I was
with ever seem alarmed, or even out of good spirits. We made a
fire because it was so cold, and had to huddle together to keep warm. All were
laughing, smiling, and singing throughout the whole day. Quite a typical scenario:
something unplanned, potentially dangerous and aggravating, but nobody fusses
or minds. What I saw as an inconvenience, they were happy too see as a grand adventure. I love peoples’ attitudes! I've been here for almost a year, and still continuously am reminded that there's more to learn about patience and perspective.
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| This is taken from where we got out of the truck, miles up. At the bottom of the valley is Autsho |
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| Our roadside fire |
The next and last big foreigner adventure has been my mom
visiting me here. She came on the 18th of October, and spent two days
in the West, touring around Thimphu and taking in all the sights and activities
there. She met my friends Mel and Andy, only through a fluke run-in with Niall,
the man I met and stayed with while I was in Thimphu over summer break. I love
that Bhutan is small enough that all the foreigner chillips know each other in
one way or another: that goes for everybody, actually. Then, she came to
Bumthang, where I met her and we spent the next week staying with Tara and
Martin. Ashley came too and we attended the local festival of tshechu to see
the masked dancing and get a blessing. I loved getting to introduce her to some
of the culture and history of Bhutan, and introduce her to my friends. After
days of lounging, eating, walking, cooking, and generally making merry, we
headed back on the bus to Autsho together. This was personally my favorite part
of having her here- getting to show her my village, school, and most
importantly my students. They were more than polite to her, and melted her heart
as much as they have mine. She brought dimes as a small gift from our country
to theirs, and spoke to the whole school at the morning assembly. She came to
all my classes with me and spoke to my students about our home, family, and
shared pictures of our land and me when I was their age. They absolutely loved her; the
night before she left, my room was flooded with kids coming in and out, wanting
to wish her safe journey and bringing her gifts. Here's something a student wrote about her in a journal: "She looks simple and nice. She talks soft, kind, and smart. We think it's our good karma to meet her..." If it’s going to be anything
like that when I leave, I don’t know how I’ll actually bring myself to get on
the bus and go. I was very moved, touched by the kindness and warmth with which
they welcomed her; I know she felt the same way. (I really wish I had more pictures, but they were accidentally erased in my ongoing battles with my technology!)
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| My beautiful mama, all dressed up in the national dress |
That pretty much brings it up to date. I have really glossed
over the details of everything because there was so much to cover. Now, we will
head into the exam frenzy. Now knowing how long it takes to mark papers, I am
well prepared and just hoping to avoid another computer (or any other kind of)
catastrophe! Fingers crossed! Overall, life has been treating me extremely
well, and I am so grateful for the lessons and experiences this year has
brought me, and cherish the remaining time I have left.
