Living Bhutanese...88 days down and 87 of them have been an adventure!

1/2 of my students in class 6B

           I have been here for 88 days and as many trials and tribulations I have encountered I am thinking about staying for another entire year because of my students. I will begin with how life has been here and I will call each portion by a certain aspect of living. These will include the teaching, living, and the eating.

  The teaching: Students equal consistent love, I couldn't ask for more motivated and energetic students my first year of teaching. My students are what get me up in the morning and the constant "bows" of "Good Morning Madam" will never get old. I think when I return to the United States I am going to expect the same from my western students. The respect they have for me is something that I never thought I would receive from ANY students. I have over 150 students between two grades and 88 days later I have FINALLY learned each name and I feel so connected to them that I prefer spending my free time with them! Majority of them have visited my home and have invited me to their Khuru Tournaments and its amazing that I spend 6 days a week with them and they still want to spend their only "free" day away from school with ME! I feel privileged to spend time with them and their families; they have truly made me feel so comfortable in this place that I now call home. Each morning we have the traditional Bhutanese Morning Prayer in my School (Kanglung Pry School) and this month was my student's turn to recite speeches. They are required to have (1) boy and (1) girl recite a speech either in the national language Dzongkha or English. This is a big deal in my school and each morning my students arrive early to make sure that I hear their speech first (even if it is in Dzongkha, which I cannot yet understand very well) and English... I help them with their 

English storytelling competition

grammatical errors or just plain public speaking aspects. They are doing quite well and not in a biased view we have the best class speeches thus far! I am also administering a weekly spelling test to each class. This includes my 5A, 5B, 6A, and my 6B classes. I usually try to assign 10 -12 words per week using the words found in our text and words that might be applicable from the dictionary. Recently, the students have asked for MORE words and even though some of them do not score as well as expected, they LOVE the challenge and being tested on things they enjoy. I am also the Literary in Charge. This means that I incorporate English competitions between houses. I know, what are houses?? HA! In my school at the beginning of the year the all the students are assigned to a certain group. These groups include Singye, Druk, Chung (my house- (4) teachers to each house), and Taag. The students then work together throughout the duration of the year in landscaping the campus, house competitions, morning work, and many other aspects of student life. These houses have captains that are in charge of making sure the students are doing their work and practicing for the upcoming competitions (usually a class 6 student.) We have had (4) competitions in my school (2) of which were English Competitions. I had no idea how this process worked and I happened to be in charge of the first competition of the YEAR!! hahah...I was nervous for the first time in Bhutan! Needless to say I survived and the competition went better than expected! It was an English storytelling competition... so this entitled the students to read a story judged on intonation, pronunciation, confidence ,expression ,and fluency. Yes, it may sound simple because the stories are quite short, but as an ELL student this is quite the challenge especially in front of the student body and the entire faculty. They did very well and my vice principal said that this competition was better than perfect! I was soo relieved and it made me feel much more confident for my next competition. Did I happen to mention that I am also continuing the Kanglung Pry School Observer?!?

Newspaper staff at KPS

This is a newspaper that was started by another fellow BCFer the prior year that was a huge success. I felt almost obligated to do it (considering I teach 36 hours per week) ,but I knew it meant a lot to my school, so I agreed. I have 20 students on my newspaper staff and only (1) has worked with a camera, computer, and has written an article! Yes, I have my hands full. I started from "square one" teaching them how to interview and we studied other newspapers like the Kuensel offered in Bhutan. My students, classes 4-6 have just finished our 1st issue after 2 months and I couldn't be more proud of them! Even though it took many  days of motivating and lots of work on my side...I am so proud of these students for pulling the whole newspaper together. I will say I could not have done it without my close friend Karma Tenzin , who is a student at the Sherubste College. He is head of the Media Society and produces a newspaper for the college called The Tower. He offered to help me format the newspaper, gave me ideas for articles, and even came to my class to motivate them on how far English writing can take them in this world. He has been more than a friend... I cannot thank him and his team for helping me on this project. They are a very prominent club in the college and they even travel to neighboring schools to show students how much of an impact Media can make on each of their lives! I traveled with them once and I was very impressed on the impact they were able to make on the students in such a little time and they even wrote a column on me in their college newspaper. Oh, did I also mention that I am also in charge of the Teacher's Day celebration? I know, again...what is Teacher's Day? It's actually a national holiday celebrating the impact teachers have on the students’ life. The students bring the teachers gifts, letters, and thank the teachers for all their hard work! I am very excited for this even though I am spending my holidays in my room planning for an event that I have never been 

Karma Tenzin (left) head of Media Society & (right) Kesang Om

to or heard of! I think this a great way to motivate teachers and remind them of how important we are to the the students' lives. I said earlier that my students are the reason I get up in the morning, well take note fellow colleagues WE are part of the reason the students come to class! However, the event is in (2) days and I have a whole schedule lined up for this program...I think my principal thinks I am going "overboard", but why shouldn't we celebrate educators in a big way? America: take note!! A busy life makes time fly and I feel quite productive so I am also incorporating a school wide Art Project celebrating 100 years if Education in Bhutan...yes I said 100, only 100 years!!! This project was funded by VAST, an art company from the country’s capital in Thimphu. I wrote them a letter of proposal explaining my plan (an artistic timeline made of pictures ranging from 1912- 2035.) They immediately wrote back and agreed. They recently sent over 10,000 Nu of art supplies to my school to incorporate this project. They included NEW paints, paper, chalk, paint brushes, crayons, markers, and much more! My school is now working on this timeline explaining through art how education has evolved in this country! Each picture depicts a milestone in education that Bhutan has reached. I am very excited and I hope my vision becomes a reality. My class students have the best ideas for how education will be in 2035 and I can’t believe their imaginative spirits! I have said this before and I will say it again,” Bhutan: your students and people have changed my life forever.” 

Dorden my landlord's son

            The “living” has changed my life forever as well. I am currently living in what I consider the “heart of Kanglung.” I live in the Upper Market ,there is the Lower Market as well. This means I live a few “blocks” up from another section of this village. I live in a small apartment above the Snooker hall and the Cheda shop. The Snooker hall means billiards in America and the Cheda Shop is one of the most popular shops in Kanglung. They sell everything from Nike shoes, cups, plates, laundry soap, shoes, buckets, toilet paper, carpet, and anything else you could imagine! They are also my landlords. They have the most adorable son named Dorden, who I am currently attempting to teach English. He is only 2 years old, but I must call him the “Golden Child” because he is just that cute. He brings a smile to face daily and I can’t imagine living here without him screaming my name across the street every day. My living quarters may possibly the most of my worries here.  Although I have successfully adapted to the living here I must say that, the quarters are something that stress me out. The construction of buildings here is quite different from an American home. They are usually constructed either with complete concrete and a flat  wooden sheet roof, and then a triangular tin roof or the traditional home made of wood, mud, and manmade bricks (this process is mind blowing). However, the roof is not really attached so the BAZILLION pigeons that live here have a great place to nest; right above me. Consequently, my roof leaks every time it rains (which is quite a lot) and the pigeon droppings so carefully run down the sides of my walls and into my room! I know this can be very dangerous and to me Pigeons are like living with rats that have wings. 

Where my "pet" pigeons safely fly "home"

I wasn’t too concerned until recently I became ill. I was sick with strep throat, fever, cough, cold, and vomiting for 3 and ½ weeks!! I took medicine from America, Japan, India and finally after missing (2) days of classes I knew I had to go see a Dr. I went to Youngfula (an Indian hospital) for a checkup. They prescribed Pain Meds (the strength of Tylenol and administered for EVERTHING) and antibiotics. The second week of sickness I went to visit this hospital I had already been on antibiotics for a week and with their prescription this would be week (2.) I took them and began to feel a little better, until after 3 days of being off medication I was sick again!! I went back to the hospital to see the same Dr. and he gave a referral to see another Dr. at Trashigang and another at Mongar. These are some of the largest hospitals in this country and from my knowledge they only have (3) major hospitals throughout this country! I have been to 2 out of the 3 as of today! Anyways,

prescribed medicine from Bhutan

I went to his Dr. they gave me a blood test and to my surprise it came back ABNORMAL! My white blood cell count was much too low and my SED rate which is supposed to be 1-15 is currently at a 37!! This Dr. at Trashigang had no answers for me, but once again prescribed me more antibiotics and pain meds. I eventually had to make my way to Mongar even though I was feeling much better; I had to know why my blood test was coming back abnormal. Mongar is a 3 hour drive from where I am, on unfinished, rugged, and narrow road. Boy, I never thought getting proper medical treatment would be such a hassle! It was!! I had said before that it rains everyday here in Kanglung and it’s not even Monsoon season yet!! Well, being that these are unfinished roads, due to the Indian laborers that are supposed to be widening the roads, but the work is not done making the wet roads terrible and dangerous to travel on! My Vice principal took me on the most epic road trip that I will never forget! This was a 3 hour drive that ended up being 5 ½ hours because of the landslides and treacherous road conditions! When I say treacherous I mean boulders that have fallen, roads washing away with no guard rails, and only one bulldozer to clear the debris! I have never been so scared in my life…here I was risking my life, to get to the hospital to “save” my life. The 30+ cars and trucks lined up trying to make it way west on the only road offering this direction was a sight to see. This is most definitely one of the most regrettable times I didn’t have my camera! We finally made it only to forcefully stay in a hotel. I paid 550 Nu for a one nights stay at the Druk Hotel, which ended up to be quite the adventure as well. I ended up staying at the same hotel as the curriculum specialist, Mr. Wangchuk Rabten. He is a very passionate man about education and very frank when it comes to any one who wants to discuss education in Bhutan. We spoke over dinner and talked about the differences of American Education and Bhutanese Education and possible improvements in the upcoming year. The next day was my Dr.’s appointment so I woke early enough to explore the town while I was here. WHAT A SIGHT TO SEE, much different form my “home in Kanglung.” First, the stares I received!! I am African American so I stood out like a “sore thumb.” Everyone was asking me where I came from and why I there. It was either because that is protocol for a foreigner OR because that was the only English they knew. I answered their enquiring questions and went on my way (looking for a Raichu,I may have misspelled this),

My ceremonial Raichu

 something you wear when you meet prestige religious figures. I ended up finding the ADO, instead! He took me to find Apples and fruit instead and there was no sign of what I was looking for! After, hours of shop browsing it was time for my appointment! Arriving at the hospital was another story. I was scheduled to see the ENT and then have another blood test. The ENT was 30 minute late, so I decided to go get the test I was scheduled to do, but to my surprise the test I was supposed to get they had ran out of supplies to test for it! So, there I was 3 hours from home and not getting the treatment I was scheduled to get! I ended up having another blood tset. This was not successful, seeing as my blood still came back abnormal. I am currently waiting on my throat culture test results and in 2 weeks I will go for another blood test. I received no answers from the Dr’s at Mongar hospital; I was just given more medicine! I am feeling much better, but I am still curious about what my body is fighting here; is the pigeon droppings in my lungs or am I just fighting the bazillion germs here? Still sitting uneasy until I receive answers and NOT just medicine! One great answer is that I found a new house to shift to after 4 months. In 3 weeks I will be proudly moving to home located on the Sherubtse campus! No more Pigeondroppings in my house!!
             On another happier note about living here I have met some of the most amazing people and friends. Two in particular are Sir Allan Smith and Madam Rika Tateno. Both are also foreign teachers that have helped me to adjust here and have been there for all my many ups and downs. Rika is a 28 year old JICA volunteer from Japan, who also works at KPS as a Physical Education Teacher. We connected immediately and she has helped to learn Sharchop, point out the best shops, and has introduced me to some of the most amazing people here. She has been here for 10 months and is well adjusted to living here. In fact, I am living in her old quarters, she suggest I move ASAP… haha! I spend every weekend with her and we are currently planning a trip to explore what Bhutan has to offer. I couldn’t ask for a better best friend here. Thank goodness I have someone I can relate to and fully understand what I am going through here! She also helped me with my first time hitchhiking! Yes, I said hitchhiking! Here in Bhutan it is called a “lift” and people are just accustomed to doing it. As she has taught me, all you have to do is put out two fingers, stand slightly in the road, and wave the driver down. It works! For a small fee you can get where you need to go and sometimes you may not have to pay for a lift. It’s much different than America you can trust the people here to get you where you need to go safely! I have thoroughly enjoyed the times we have spent together thus far and we both plan on making our time here worth the while together. Allan Smith, is a lecturer who teaches at the Sherubtse Collegealso head of the sociology department. He is like a second father here. When I have any problem or sickness he is there to help at any cost. He is from America and we have shared many stories and laughs about life here. He is someone I constantly “vent” to and is always there for a laugh, a dinner, and an ear. In addition,  there is another foreign teacher from California named Samir Patel. He has been here for 2 years and I met him through Rika. I consider him a very close guy friend. He is always there for an ear and not to mention he is one of the best chefs in Kanglung besides Rika. If he wanted to, he could open a restaurant in Kanglung. Carrot cake, pizza, garlic bread, and anything else you can imagine he can make it! He has an amazing “balcony” that overlooks the mountains that I utilize when I can. We also have about the same taste in music, so that aids in our friendship! Through them I have met many lecturers at the college who are my closest group of friends here. Rashme, Jamyang, Sonam 1, Sonam 2 and Poonam are all girls that I consider great people to be around here. We are all very busy with our work, but when we have a chance to meet, we ALWAYS have a great time together! Thank goodness for the people I have met here who help me to consider this small country my home. However, I can’t leave out my co-workers. They are great people as well. Baby showers ( here they celebrate AFTER the baby is born) , meetings, and our passion for education has all brought us quite close. Lastly, my neighbors and surrounding friends inviting me to the many Pujas ( a way to celebrate, bless, or receive well wishes for all people) incorporated on any given day with food, family, friends, and alcohol. Pujas may happen every day if they wanted. I think I may do this when I return for an excuse to get together with family and friends!

                The eating:  One of the most important traditions in Bhutanese culture is the eating portion. It applies to any occasion, at any given time. I must first comment on the use of chilies in every meal given to me. I could not take the chilies when I first arrived in Thimphu, my eyes, nose, and mouth all continuously watering. Everything in my body telling me chilies are not good for you! Then, after 1 month and 1 week in Bhutan, I PREFER very little chilies in my meals. I have even begun purchasing them at the stores to add to my recipes that I have brought from America. In addition to the chilies, one cannot forget to mention the rice. Red rice or white rice either is served at each meal of the day. I love rice, but in very small doses. There is very little nutritional value and trying to stay as healthy as possible in Bhutan, I would prefer to steer away from so much rice and firmly stay with the many fresh vegetables the stores offer. I have already lost over 20 lbs!! I have been blessed to have so many wonderful people cook for me and the restaurants here are just fantastic. The Shonzy being one of my first favorites and the second being the college favorite Keungor restaurant have both aided me in having meals on days in which I was too busy to prepare. I have learned three Bhutanese recipes and I plan on learning many more as my days continue in this beautiful place.