Road Trip

in misted distance

white wings carve, landing lightly

to rest from peaked flight

On Wednesday, Dave, fellow BCF teacher posted to Pakshika MSS in the south, showed up in Rukubji to visit. Amazingly, he got access to a car and survived the roads and distance, and found the insignificant turn off to Rukubji's dirt road in the dark. It was great to catch up and share stories. The next day, after giving Dave the grand tour of the village and environs, which made him exclaim with envy, Martin and Tara showed up from Bumthang. They had, amazingly, caught the bus going toward Thimphu, and after 4+ hours on the road, ended up in Chazam, 4km from Rukubji. We hurried up to meet them for lunch at the hotel/restaurant/store in Chazam. After a great and filling lunch, we headed back to my house and laid out on the grass in the bright sunshine to plan our next moves.

We decided to make a trip to Phobjika to see the Black Necked Cranes that spend the winter there. It is only about an hour and a half away, so we started off around 3:30. As we drove, we passed a Khuru (darts) match in Gangtey, got a little turned around, bought some eggs, finally making it to Phobjika. We knew we were in the right place when, in the distance, we spied white wings in flight. We found the Black Necked Crane center where we spent some time ogling the birds through telescope. As the center closed for the evening, we walked down to the field for a better view. These birds are huge, but we could not get very close, the pictures do not do them the justice they deserve! While I watched them pecking the valley floor or rising and twisting in flight, I thought about how these birds fly across Everest from Tibet to come to THIS valley. What a journey they take, twice a year! The whole valley is protected for the cranes, there are no farms. If I were a crane, I'd come to this valley too. I thought of the intensity and difficulty I undertook for my own landing in Bhutan. I didn't fly over Everest using only the strength of my wings, but I did leave my home and the familiar for an unknown and challenging, but ultimately beautiful experience.

As dusk descended and it became colder, we piled back into the car. As we climbed the passes to Rukubji, a great fog began to grow and obscure the road. We could not see a foot in front of us! Dave did a marvelous job keeping the car on the road and safe from the "abyss" (roads here hug the mountains, thus one side is usually a severe cliff). After one false turn off, we found Rukubji's access road (incredibly). Once back in my house, we all took a moment to breathe normally before starting the bukari and dinner. What joy to have my house full of people, conversation, and music. Martin offered his talents and hooked up my drain in the kitchen, so now, though there's still no indoor water, I can do dishes inside! And he fashioned a stopper for the tub out of wood! A real bath is in my future, if I can heat enough water... He also made me a cutting board from some scrap wood in the shed and gifted me with a loaf of home-baked sourdough bread!

We all spent a night of mediocre sleep laid out around the bukari. In the morning we feasted on Martin's bread, toasted on the bukari, and eggs. Dave left after breakfast, I headed to school for the parent teacher meeting, and Martin and Tara spent the morning exploring Rukubji. When I returned home, I soaked up the sun and their company until they too left to find a ride back to Bumthang on the road.

Now my house is empty again, Angey is still in Thimphu (she'll be back next week I'm told), but I am left feeling the gifts of friendship and a new appreciation for my village life and beautiful surroundings.

Losar Tashi Delek

Patiently begin

anew in the light of dawn

as the sun's light builds

Happy New Year! It is Losar, or the new year, of the Water Male Dragon in Bhutan. Thus, we have 2 days of holiday from school. In addition, it was His Majesty the 5th King's Birth Anniversary as well as National Education Day yesterday, which we celebrated with a cultural program put on by the students at school.

We spent the past week preparing dances and songs with the students for this event. I took on teaching an English song to a group of Class 3, 4, 5, and 6 students (about 24 in all). They learned the song "Imagine" by John Lennon, which I thought fit well with the theme of education. The song is all about imagining a better world free of the suffering we bring on each other. This type of imagination is often the gift of education- the ability to imagine alternate and better worlds, as well as the means to create them. In teaching the song, I found the students to be very excited to learn and they took the task very seriously.

Even so, in these grades you always have a couple of boys who like to swat at each other when the teacher turns their back (this must be universal among young boys- it has happened in all of my teaching experiences!). Once I saw this happening, I took it as an opportunity to underline the message of the song and the importance of non-violence in education. I told the students that the song was about a world without violence, full of peace, and that to sing the song, we had to have peace in our hands, in our feet, in our hearts, in our minds. If they were not able to hold that peace in their bodies, hearts, and minds, then as a consequence they would not be able to join us in singing the song. I also told them that violence is like taking a step backward, and education and peace are steps forward. So if they hoped to continue on to bigger and better things in life (higher education, a happy life...) they needed to take steps forward, not backward. This stuck, amazingly enough, and so the next time I saw a boy raise his hand to another, I held up my two fingers in the sign of peace and the boy stopped and did the same, saying "oh, yes, peace, peace Miss". The next day, as I walked up to school and the children were greeting me, many of my roughhousing boys greeted me with "Peace!". I am not going to let this drop throughout the year. I am going to continue to push the message of peace as moving us forward, it is already taking hold and all I have to do is continue to reinforce it and make it part of our school culture.

Now, on to the other facts of our school: we have a small staff and small amount of students compared to what I am used to. There is the Principal, 3 women teachers (including me), 2 other male teachers (3, if you count the principal, who also teaches!), and a support staff person. There may be one other woman teacher coming to join us if she does not begin a training program this year. There are about 130 students in our school, compared to the 570 something at Anwatin. This encompasses Classes PP (Kindergarten)- 6.

A big difference I have noticed in being at school here is that the students are given a great deal of responsibility, and carry it out. They are invested in their school. They clean the grounds and the classrooms, they raise the flag, they open the building, and so much more. I remarked to one of the teachers that my students in the US would not believe their eyes, but also that the teachers in the US might not trust the students to carry out this work with honesty and diligence, as they do here. Taking care of your physical environment, investing in it, makes you less likely to destroy it and more likely to show the space respect, this is an observable fact here.

We have not started official classes yet, but each morning we have met to practice the cultural program and prepare the grounds, the students have lined up by classes, raised the flag, sang their prayers and the national anthem. The first day I saw this ritual, tears welled up in my eyes. It is incredibly moving to see the whole school lined up singing and praying. Again, teachers and students alike in the US would likely hold reservations about the workability of such an assembly in our country, but from what I've seen, it sets a wonderful focus for the day and gets everyone together for a common purpose, which is what we are always trying to do in school (the common purpose being learning).

On to the cultural program: The students showed up at school at 8am to prepare the grounds more (we did it outside, despite the cold and cloudy weather). The guests arrived until 9am (including the Chief Guest, the Gup, the head of our Gewog- or assemblage of villages). Also in attendance were a Lama and a few monks to conduct a Puja.

The students sang the National Anthem, and then "Happy Birthday" to the King while some Class 6 students offered white scarves to an image of the King set in front of the tent. Then the Puja was conducted for the Principal's new car, and everyone offered money and white scarves. The Principal provided everyone with a series of offerings, including suja (butter tea), a tea with cheese blocks in it, holy water, rice, and many treats (pictured on my lap). After this ceremony, the students performed a welcome dance in honor of the King and then after another dance, we moved the whole celebration inside due to the cold weather (though it isn't much warmer in buildings here- no central heat like in the US). My song was up right away once we were inside, and the students did a wonderful job! I got it all on video (thanks to Chimi, our support staff), but I doubt I'll be able to upload it until I get to a faster internet connection or just have the patience to wait an hour. After the performances, the Gup sang a song and then the Non-Formal Education students (adults) performed a traditional dance and song. It was lovely! After all of this, we were provided lunch by the Principal, which was absolutely delicious (rice, ema datse, meat dishes, dal...).

While everyone was leaving, Chimi told me that there was going to be an archery match, so I asked if I could tag along. He and Principal took me with to the field, about a km long, just above the road from my house (I had no idea!). Incredible. I have no idea how they even get the arrow down to the other end, much less ever hit the target. I also have no clue how they don't hit the people who are always walking across the archery field, or the cows for that matter. Once an archer is done with his turn, they begin walking to the other end (the target switches from one end to the other after each archer has shot 2x), and people are still shooting! Quite an experience to have arrows whizzing over your head as you walk down the long field! The rules, though I am still learning them, are that there are two teams and the first team to get 11 points wins. However, you shoot in pairs of opposing teams, and if you both hit the target, I think that point is cancelled... something like that. They use these high-tech bows too, which was also incredible to see- I have only seen them used for hunting in the US!

Looking forward to hiking a little today and more archery, since it is Losar. Even if you're not in Bhutan, take time to celebrate new beginnings with me (they are always happening- Al and Krista, my cousins, had a new baby!).

At Home in Rukubji

Best intentions set

and now I’m the one in need

kindness flows two ways

It has been one week since my arrival in Rukubji, the village where I will live and teach for the next 10 months. The village is in the Wangdue Dzongkhag (or District), but it is about as far from the seat of Wangdue (which is a town called Wangdue) as you can get- it is almost in the next district. The village is situated up in the hills leading to mountains and a river cuts through it. The river provides the village electricity through a mini-hydroelectric plant. The school I teach at, Rukubji Primary School, is up on a hill (windy!) and only a 3 minute walk from my house. Most villagers have a few cows and the main crop, the fields of which lie just above the village, is potatoes.

I am renting the lower half of a large village house, built in the traditional style. It is owned by Angey Tandin (or Grandma Tandin). Angey could be my Lebanese grandma- she even talks with her same cadence! Like my own grandma, she works hard, all the time- cutting wood, gardening, fixing things, making food. And like my grandma, she prays every morning and evening, the only difference is that her string of prayer beads has 108 beads while my grandma’s has 54. While they might be praying to different enlightened beings, but I think the intent is the same. She also doesn’t speak English, like my grandma, so I am trying to learn Dzongkha as fast as I can to communicate with her better. The language she speaks is different from Dzongkha though, it is called Henki (the language of the village).

Though I came to be of use, to teach, this first week proved that I was the one in need of help. I came without knowing how to do things the way they are done here, in need of guidance. I also came feeling under the weather, and so Angey was the one who helped me, cooked for me, and let me rest. I could not have easily gotten my feet on the ground without her telling me where to get wood, food, water. How to wash my clothes efficiently, how to get my bukari (woodstove) up and running. I feel so blessed to have landed in her capable hands and I hope that during my 10 months here I can give back to her as much and more.

So I am settling into the rhythm of life here. Adjusting to getting my water from the tap outside, to warming my bones with wood heat, to washing laundry by hand, to not having a variety of food, to putting on my kira in time to get to school, to the cold nights, to the silence. Things are simpler here, but also have a complexity that evades me still. There are systems to doing and getting things, and I am learning them.

School starts officially today, the students will arrive (at least most of them). It is not like the start of the year for students in the USA, the first week will be spent preparing a cultural program to celebrate His Majesty the 5^th King’s Birth Anniversary, National Education Day, and Losar (the New Year). This will give me time to plan out my year and dig into the curriculum. I will be teaching 4^th and 5^th English (and maybe 6^th) and will also be the Literary In Charge, which means I will be planning an English related activity once a month. I am excited to begin, to meet my students, and to contribute everything I can to the students and the school. (More about school in the next posting, stay tuned!)