T'EO! TWO DAYS TILL T'EO!

Those of you that have met me know that my organisational skills are in some need of development. You also know that while I like my living quarters to be tidy, my desire to just play just one more level or, as it was the other day, finish Anansi Boys to make sure that the ending hadn't changed since the last time I read it. If there happened to be a procrastination olympics, I'm sure I could successful represent my country but of course, they'd never get around to organising it and I'd probably forget to fill out the application form.

Fortunately, the day before I left Punakha to come to Thimphu was a holiday as it was the national day. This meant all the packing and tidying and setting free of the strange life forms which were taking over the fridge could finally take place without any excuses like that I was tired after school or had marking to do. I did actually do some work before that day but I seem to work better under pressure with only occasional tantrums, yelling at various inanimate objects and contemplations about just burning everything. I still had to get up at 5 the next morning to finish the last couple tasks which stupidly included defrosting the fridge. Hopefully the huge puddle of water will have evaporated by the time I get back. I'm also hopeful that my storage of things keeps them safe from any creatures which Eve finds cuddly and delicious. I haven't seen that many but I've seen enough that I'm contemplating bringing some of Eve and Padraig's old clothes to drape around.

On the 18^th the students finally found out their marks and sadly some year 6's and 7's will be having  another go at that grade before moving up but all 8^th graders passed which means they all must move to a different school. I wouldn't have minded failing a few of them just so I could teach them again and fortunately they understood what I meant when I said that to them. My greatest success of the day was that I was able to eat all the ema datsi on my plate at the farewell lunch and even took seconds!  

I'm currently in Thimphu and have finally finished packing and about to set my alarm for 4:15am in the morning (I loves my daddy) as my plane leaves for Singapore at 7:20 and it takes about an hour to get to the airport. Some of you may wonder why I don't stay in Paro tonight and the answer is that the farewell BCF dinner is tonight. I thought waking up early was an ok price to pay to have one last dinner with some fellow BCFers who I may not see again.

The other thing I should probably mention is that we all had tea with their majesties and it was happily much more relaxed than I was expecting. 5 year old Xavier adorably stole the show and informed them that they must visit Australia and when they do he would pay for their tickets. I also had the most difficult walk of my life because since we had to dress formally in kiras and ghos if possible it was obvious that my boots would not be appropriate. I had brought a pair of formal shoes but they aren't really suitable for the uneven, rocky streets of Thimphu. I managed to catch a taxi to the meeting place but couldn't find one to bring me back to my hotel so I walked not a great distance but great enough in these:

Yes, I got comments and strange looks from my colleagues

My feet hurt.

And now I shall have to depart or I shall miss the aforementioned dinner. It has been an unforgettable year and let's just hope I can learn from my mistakes next year.

Lots of hugs to all and I WILL SEE T'EO THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW!!!!!!!

It's the SpSAJACEA Awards!

I have finished marking the exams!  168 English exams, all done!  One thing I noticed was there weren't quite so many amusing answers this time which I'm going to claim is because they're improving in English.  Fortunately, however, there were enough to have

 The Second possibly Semi-Annual Jibjokha Amusing and Confusing Exam Answer Awards!

Hello and Welcome.  We have reached the end of the school year but certainly not the end of amusing and confusing answers. 

For the first award, we have another Wol's Award for creative spelling.  There was only one student who really met the requirements for this award with their effort of 'aulecuehole.'  This students did not believe that the traditional spelling of 'alcohol' was intimidating enough when warning others of its dangers so created a much more forbidding word.  Congratulations and may your creativity know no limits!

Next we have Ash's Award for Grooviness.  This goes to a student who was writing about a Diwali celebration they had attended and apparently how to deal with any Candarian demons which may happen to show up. Though the judges are not entirely sure what was meant by 'We play some boomstick' but it certainly deserves an award from Ash.

Now comes the Adorable Effort Award.  This award is given for those answers which didn't quite seem to answer the question but good on you for having a go. 

Third place goes to a slightly confusing answer to the question 'Describe Betsy's Mother.'  (Not technically a question but never mind) The Award winning answer was simply 'Knuckles.'  So well done to third place. Not sure what you meant, but well done.

For Second place I must first mention the poem that the question was from.  It was about a ghost who goes into a deaf woman's house one night and has fun breaking things and making a mess while the lady sleeps on.  The student was asked to give a description of the ghost's personality but unfortunately got confused by the line 'What a pickle the poor wife sees' because the answer given was the very sweet 'The ghost was kindhearted because he made the wife pickle.'  (In the student's defence, such figures of speech can be tricky)

But First place goes to the effort for the question which asked students to change the sentence 'Dorji was eating an apple' to begin with 'An apple...'  Instead of playing around with active and passive voice the student technically did what was asked and gave the answer 'An apple was eating Dorji.' 

 

The winner may have seen this picture which makes human devouring fruits make so much more sense.

So well done for all the Adorable Efforts.

It is now time for Bruce's Philosophy Award.  This is an award given to those students that wrote a sentence so deep that it really made the judge think about life.  And need a drink.

The runner up was a sentence which made the judge's question their sense of self in this digital age.  ' I am number and number.'  This sentence is clearly delving into the concept of humanity being stripped away and leaving people and mere lines of code as lives become more and more reliant on the internet.  Clearly.

But the winner wrote a sentence which made the judges think about if we do not give sustenance and help to others, can we truly be happy?  The metaphorical 'If we are no lunch are we happy?'  discusses the need for humans to be social animals and not only rely on others but have others rely on us.   Then the judges needed another drink.

So congratulations to the budding philosophers.

Now we have the 'You May Have the Position Slightly Wrong' Award.  This award goes to students who may have made a mistake but they might have actually meant that.

The runner up is the possible misquoting of a famous saying which many people say and far fewer believe.  In fact, many may prefer the students statement which was 'Money can buy happiness' but it does not quite fit with GNH.

The winner however, went with something which we probably all have wanted to say or write at one time or another but have lacked the courage to do so.  In the letter section of the exam 'Without due respect' was written as the opening line.  The judges were unsure if these two efforts were intentional or not, hence adding 'may' to the award title.

Time for Granny Weatherwax's Award for Witchcraft.  A first time award which has two students winning in a tie.  The judges were again unsure if the students meant exactly what they wrote but awarded them all the same for the efforts of 'This will be in the seance of our school' and 'That is your future seance.'  Interestingly enough, the two students were in different classes and writing on completely different topics.  Still, Granny Weatherwax was impressed and would like headology brought to the curriculum next year.

An Honorary Award of If I Read That One More Time I'll Scream goes to roughly 70 percent of class 7.  The award goes to all the students who told me about their favourite 'flim' to watch and, in another question, encouraged me not to 'loose' time.  So I shall try and find some flims to watch and make sure that I keep time nice and tight.

And finally we come to Miss Malaprop's I Don't Think That's What You Meant Award.  Many students tried for this award, including the student who told me all about their 'beast' friend and another who said that their friend was very 'energy' with them after a fight (didn't mention what type of energy but probably sound if it was about a fight).

The third place, however, goes to a student who encouraged their brother to go to 'clogged.'  Possibly a slight Freudian slip here as in college, your brain often does feel quite clogged.

The second place goes to a student who, at first glance, seemed to be encouraging us to associated with friendly and good examples of Canada's national animal.  'If you have good beavers you will be good.' was the silver sentence which has encouraged me to include 'behaviour' into a spelling list next year.

But the gold goes to a sentence which the judges hope is a malaprop but nobody could think of what the student actually meant.  Perhaps you can solve the puzzle of  'If we don't have knowledge then we cannot take our proper urine specially in the town areas.'    

And with that we end our Awards ceremony and say congratulations to all our winners.  Remember, with the right amount of not reading the question proper mixed with a dash of confusion, you too could be the proud winner of an award for an unintentionally humorous exam answer!

(I will just add that a startling number of students managed to get references to 'beautiful snakes' and 'cute lizards' into their essays.  At least they listened to some things I said!)

And I shall be leaving for Australia in 13 days!  T'eo!

Hugs to All and see at least the Australians soon!

p.s. References were made to 'Winnie the Pooh,' 'Evil Dead/Army of Darkness,' 'Monty Python' and 'Equal Rights' by Terry Pratchett if you were curious.

Frisbees and Evolution

Since I'm sure you're all on tenterhooks, I'll tell you that Dawson's screen is still broken but I can plug him into either the projector or just any old monitor and still use him.  So my continuous assessment marks have been saved! Plus all the really important stuff like My Little Pony and Left 4 Dead.

One week tomorrow the lucky kids will start their exams and in one month and eleven days I'll be flying out of Paro which the kids might also see as lucky.  Sadly, T'eo won't be able to meet me at the airport but Mom and Dad will be there so I guess they'll have to do.

Yesterday, (or the 9/11/13 in case I don't post this today) we had our school picnic down by the Pochu river.  Due to a slight misunderstanding, I arrived two hours earlier than any other teacher because I didn't realise that the principal was only talking to the students when he said to arrive at the picnic site at 8 o'clock.  But that was ok because I had brought a couple of frisbees, my ipod and its portable player so to the music of Queen and They Might Be Giants amongst others (Teo Torriatte and Love of My Life were the most popular), I taught the kids how to play catch with frisbees.  Sadly, by the end of the day both frisbees had suffered compound fractures and I had to reassure some students who looked like they had broken a Faberge egg  that it was alright and nothing from a 2 dollar shop ever lasted as long as they did.

I think Bohemian Rhapsody was playing when I took this one.  The frisbees are a bit hard to see but the are the blue things.

Technically there weren't meant to be any lessons yesterday but some of my students were puzzled by some “philosophical” questions which apparently had no answer and asked for my help.  Unfortunately for any philosophers who demand an absence of solid facts, both questions did have answers.  The first was the good old chicken and egg question so the kids go a very quick lesson on evolution and how egg-laying reptiles eventually became chickens.  I couldn't give such a good answer for the second one which was about which were first, men or women.  Well, the exact words were 'males' and 'females' so I'm not sure if the question was specifically about humans or if it included the entire animal kingdom.  I don't know enough about evolution to know when life got complex enough to have the different sexes so instead I went with an answer that the boys didn't like very much but the girls did.  I told them that there were girls first because everyone started out as a girl.  I didn't say that boys were therefore broken girls but there was a very brief lesson on chromosomes.  Colin probably would have given a much better explanation but they were stuck with me.

We also had a visit from one of T'eo's subjects.  A very excited class 4 student brought over the little reptile and I had to be quite firm with the other students to keep them from petting it.

As you can see, the little dragon was just thrilled to join the picnic.

I was very glad that the students' fear of tiny lizards was disappearing but the lizard's fear of the students was probably quite strong and I didn't want it justified.  This meant that nobody was allowed to pet the little guy but I did let the boy who found it have it on his shoulder.

That really tiny grey streak on his shoulder is actually a dragon.

The afternoon turned into one long photo session after one group of kids asked if they could have their picture with me and then other kids came and some kids wanted a picture of just me and them and so on.

I think some were taking the occasion slightly more seriously than others.  I must try harder to spread the insanity to all next year.

And here's one where some chose to display their gang affiliation.

I'm hoping my colleagues who are not returning were ok at their picnics.  I would have been a weepy mess if I weren't coming back next year!

I leave you with a photo that I should have put with my previous blog post but forgot to.

It's Adam helping Dad focus the picture!

Hugs to All and wish my students luck for their exams.  I'm afraid some of them may need it!

Hugs hugs

Dawson! Come Back Dawson!

Greetings all!  As some of you may have realised, Dawson, my faithful laptop is unwell.  I've come to Bajo to try and get him some first aid treatment but, probably since it's a holiday, all shops which advertise computer repairs are shut.  I've been told that they may open later but I'm getting increasingly nervous.  It won't matter too much since I can stay here another night but it will be another night of Dawson with what looks like horrific black goo behind his screen!
Anyway, I'll stop writing about Dawson's horrible disfigurement and move on to what has happened since I last blogged all those months ago.
Most importantly, my daddy visited! And he got to see my school's variety show! Twice!  To be fair, there were some different acts on the second night.  For example, on the first night my sixth graders sang 'Bound for South Australia' and on the second night my eighth graders sang 'Wild Mountain Thyme.'  And what some lacked in knowledge of the tune they made up for in enthusiasm!

And here are some of my class 8 students doing something more traditionally Bhutanese than Australian or Scottish folk songs.

And this was the Candle Dance done by year 8 girls.  You'd swear at least one knew she was having her photo taken.

After Samdinkha/Jibjokha it was off to Phobjikha!  (I've never looked it up or asked anyone, but I'm guessing 'kha' means village or something)  All my photos are on Dawson so I'll annoy you with them later.  We did go on some nice walks where we heard a cow, or possibly bull, which I'm sure was part tyrannosaur.  It wasn't the best sound to hear when walking in the forest.  Even after we actually saw the beast, I was still sure it would happily eat a lawyer sitting on the toilet (if you don't recognise that one, I feel very sorry for you).
Sadly we were too early for the cranes which visit the area every winter but some of us are going to try to go to the crane festival in November but since we didn't book ten years in advance, we will be staying in a farm house if it isn't already booked.  Who needs indoor plumbing anyway?
And since it is tourist law, after Phobjikha came Paro and Tiger's Nest.  And since I had successfully made it on foot, we decided to go on horseback this time.  I can remember dad's horse's name but mine was Tinka, who I dubbed Tinka the Flatulent.  He was a slightly badly behaved little horse and at one point seemed to want to push dad and his horse off the mountain but was fortunately unsuccessful and did manage to get me as close as horses are allowed to go.  Again, my photos of this are on Dawson but I'm sure you'll be thrilled to see them when they are recovered.

But I got this from Dad's facebook page

Then dad had to cruelly leave me but he did leave me with poptarts (supplied by Alexander. I love Alexander! Almost as much as poptarts!) and Mozart Kugeln which I trying to save for exam marking time.  I still looked too hard when daddy left thought (see Swallows and Amazons).

At school we are catching the odeargodtheexamsarealmosthere fever which is not entirely fun but we've almost finished all the work and can start on the revision soon.  And I did have fun with my year sixes yesterday when they had to design their own pony.  I've been sort of bribing them/using My Little Pony:Friendship is Magic as a listening exercise which they all love and decided that the herd had to increase by 22.  Well, 23 if you count Dragonfire, the pegasus pony with a fire-like mane and tail which I created to show them an example.  There were a few Dragonfire copies but I also got 'Rocky,' a zebra-like pony with a blue mane and a nose ring, 'Thunder Heart' whose cutie mark is a heart split in two by lightning and 'Stallion Thunder' who is an impressive green pony who is apparently best friends with Rainbow Dash (this part may be dull for those of you who do not appreciate MLP).  To help the kids with thinking of names, I wrote a whole bunch of words on the board which the kids could mix and match to make a name like 'Silver Rose' as one student did or 'Shining Diamond' or something.  Sadly, I realised that some words could be combined to make what sounded like a perfectly suitable name for a person who enjoys making a living dancing in decreasing amounts of clothing.  Fortunately, I don't think the kids thought that.
I'm also anticipating somewhat amusing answers in the upcoming exams.  I recently read an essay where the student was talking about staying healthy and avoiding diseases like tv.  Was it an mistake or social commentary?
Anyway, that's probably long enough for now so I will end by saying that I shall be departing for Australia in under two months (I leave Paro on the 21st of December) and leaving Australia at the end of January to come back for another year (if the ministry okays my contract renewal)!
Hugs and I still miss T'eo.  And Camille who I haven't actually met but is my parents' new rescued cat!

Oh yeah, blogs

Since you've probably forgotten who I am I feel that I had better introduce myself again (though did I introduce myself before? I can't remember). Hi! I'm Arwen and I love reptiles and sailing. That's probably how most other people would describe me, though the word 'insane' might be thrown in as well.

So I suppose if you're reading this, it means I'm somewhere with internet which probably means Thimphu, Kuruthang or Bajo (I'm actually in Thimphu). I'm writing this in Jibjokha which for all its positive points has no internet. Sometimes I lie awake at night worrying if the cats are getting enough cheezburgers.

Admittedly I have been on the internet since my last post all those months ago but most of my time I foolishly spent either on facebook or downloading pictures of swagmen, heather or square-rigged ships from the 1900s. I shall explain why later.

Things are going fairly well here at Jibjokha and I apologise to my family and everyone else who got dragged into my 'aaahh, I'm freaking out, am I really ok to teach, aahhh, panic, panic' nervous breakdown. I personally think I was just suffering pizza withdrawal after the holidays. Colin, Jonathan and Lee were very good nutritionists during the break and made sure I got all the pizza I could eat. I did not follow Chung Lu's (Sorry if I spelt that wrong, Lee) nutrition advice which included 'eat your own food bowl.' Yes, he's a dog. And perfectly lovely when he's not chewing on everything.

I also inflicted one of my brothers on Bhutan and some of the students still ask when he's coming back. Sadly he ran away to Singapore to get an education. Honestly! We did climb up to Tiger's Nest and I actually made it! Ok, I rested about a hundred times on the way but we still made it with plenty of time to spare before they closed for lunch. Alexander also did very well with the Bhutanese food but he couldn't finish the cup of souja (butter tea) that I made him try. I can't really blame him though as souja is probably the saltiest thing I've ever had and I once ate a big, heaping bowl of salt. (I'm going to be mean and not explain that reference)

I did have an interesting experience when I unintentionally made the students burst out laughing. I didn't realise at first but then it was a little hard to miss. I was wearing something which I had not previously worn to school and the students found this very amusing. What was I wearing that caused so much hilarity? A pair of sandals. And it wasn't actually the shoes which they found funny. It was these.

Aaaaahhh! She has two ghosts attached to her ankles! Help!

And I guess I should explain the swagmen/heather/square-rigger pictures. Well, I finally plucked up the courage and started to take my ukulele to class. I had been happily playing for the small groups of students who visited me at home but I hadn't actually lugged it up the hill yet. My sixth graders are learning South Australia, my seventh graders are currently struggling with Waltzing Matilda and my eighth graders are doing very well with Go, Lassie, Go. All three songs had to have a vocab lesson attached as words such as 'walloping,' 'coolibah' or 'lassie' are currently used in Bhutan. I'm hoping that all three classes will be able to perform their songs at the upcoming variety show but since most members of the audience do not speak English I thought it might be nice if during the songs, images of what the kids are singing about get projected onto a backdrop. It would be cute if I could have the year sevens act out the tale of the suicidal tramp but it only occurred to me to do this recently and there's not really time to find a jumbuck outfit and do all the necessary rehearsing. Ah well, next year.

We now have one week to go and Dad arrives in 5 days. Huzzah!

Happy Bilbo's Birthday to all and many hugs!

And I still miss T'eo

Whitegood problems

Did I tell you that I bought a fridge? In Gasa fridges are pretty unnecessary but in Samdinkha it is a tiny bit warmer. I never knew that vegetables could melt. Some sag (mustard greens or pretty much spinach) turned into a terrifying green puddle that looked like some sort of evil creature from a science fiction story that was going to eat my face or infect my brain. Or both. Also the insects, mostly ants, are really determined. So determined that they made it into my zip-lock bags, I still haven't figured out how, and enjoyed some foods like cheese and bread. Now, the cheese is easily washed but the bread, which is really difficult to get, was riddled with the little buggers. I know that I could have just eaten some extra protein but I just wasn't that hungry. Instead, I asked some of my fellow Punakha BCF-ers where they got their little bar fridges and went off to a store in Bajo (about an hour and a half away but there is a really good pizza restaurant and internet) in search of a really small fridge that would cost about 7000 Nu or 140 dollars. Now, I knew that I probably wouldn't get a fridge that day because my fellow Punakha BCF-er said she got the last one but they were willing to order.

After getting slightly lost because, after all, I'm still me, I found the store where they very kindly said they would order me the little fridge and it would apparently take one week. I'm not totally stupid so I assumed it would take at least two. When that passed I decided to check that they hadn't forgotten about me. They promised that they hadn't and it would be in on Monday. Obviously I gave them another couple weeks and lost a lot more food.

I have to admit that I was kinda getting annoyed (my mom may complain that my use of 'kinda' is a bit of an understatement and she had to put up with my ranting) and though I knew that I probably shouldn't be surprised at the slightly optimistic time-estimation being wrong, I decided to head to Kuru (much closer) and just buy the smallest, cheapest fridge I could find. I had also been told that the place had free delivery and as a cheapskate that's always nice. I went and found a fridge that was not quite as small but good enough. I asked the sales guy about free delivery, which having seen a truck with the store's logo and 'free delivery' I was pretty positive about, but he told me that the driver was on holiday for two months. That's fair enough. If there's no licensed driver then they can't really deliver and he kindly told me that there was another store which could do free delivery. I thought that was very 'Miracle on 34^th Street' of him (the Natalie Wood version not that crappy remake) so I went basically next door where the fridges were more expensive and they too could not deliver, for free or cost. I think this might have been when mom got a call and I ranted again. Don't you just love mommies? Fortunately, there was another way. See the first guy also said that I could find a taxi driver with a big enough cab to take the fridge. So back to that guy I went after finding a taxi driver who was happy to drive me and my fridge home. Now, the first guy knew where I lived and I had made it clear that I wanted the fridge on that day. When I turned up with the taxi driver he suddenly told me that he didn't actually have the fridge and would have to order it from Bajo but it should be in on Monday and no, I couldn't have the display fridge. I think he could see that I was not happy so he told me what I really needed. He took me to the little store next door which sold drinks and snacks and had a little fridge. He told me that it was exactly what I wanted and is what I should buy. He then followed that by telling me that nobody made that fridge any more and there was nowhere I could buy it.

I would like to say that I did not use any profanity, unkind or impolite language. I did just say thank you and good-bye in a slightly less warm and fuzzy way than normal. I went back to the second store, walked in and asked them if they had the fridge for the price they quoted me that I could put into the very patient taxi driver's car. Success!!!

I now enjoy cold water, non-insecty food and no more green puddles of slime. I'm still waiting for a call from the guy from Bajo. I will let you know if he ever calls.

It's time for the FpAJACEA Awards!

The First possibly Annual Jibjokha Amusing and Confusing Exam Answer Awards

Good Evening, or whatever time of day it happens to be when you are reading this, and welcome to the FpAJACEAAs. This year we have seen many sterling performances in the field of strange and/or funny exam answers. All participants should feel very proud of their efforts but, sadly, there can only be one winner.

The first award is Wol's Award for Great Creativity in Spelling (See Winnie the Pooh, the chapter which features Eeyore's birthday).

The bronze goes to the spelling 'Asulita.' Can you work out the intended word? That's right, it's 'Australia.' A great effort but points were deducted for only using letters which were really included in the word and for making a plausible looking word.

The silver goes to 'Pthoh.' This word is slightly easier to work out, being 'Pythons' but it was an amazing effort given that the exam paper had the word written correctly 27 times. Well done!

But the gold can only go to 'Hosticifctal.' This truly heroic spelling of 'Hospital' just laughs in the face of phonics. Congratulations!

The next Award is the Inigo Montoya Award for I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means. There were many contestants for this confusing, malaproping award but here are the top three:

The bronze goes to a confusing culinary effort or perhaps a sentence where the author wished to threaten his stationary by saying 'The notebook is mince.'

The silver goes to the slightly disturbing 'I will build bleading house.' This creepy sentence suggests that the author enjoyed Amityville Horror just a bit too much but I really have no idea what they really meant.

But the gold goes to the double malaproping of 'Prime minister is one of any goat.' and 'Our Bhutan is like a goat.' Well Done to this possible political commentary! (I think the author may have meant 'gold')

Now we come to the Shouldn't That Be a Word? Award. This is a special award only given occasionally to the truly accidentally creative. While trying to write the words 'prime minister' the author gave us the word 'primister.' Shouldn't all male PMs get called that?

Another special award is the I'm Too Tired to Think of a Name for This Award Award which goes to a student who not only invented a sport but what to wear while you play it. 'Becket boll coat' I'm guessing is the coat you wear while playing a game where the goal is to irritate the English King so much that he has you killed. I realise that Beckett was incorrectly spelt but I can think of no other logical explanation. (Apologies to Mark and Tim who probably tried a few times to get me to play a game with an orange ball which you bounce. What was that called again?)

The final award is the Wait, What? Seriously? Award. This award is given to the sentences, or things that kind of look like sentences, which made the judge assume she had misread but when she re-read it she saw that no, it really did say that.

The bronze goes to the verbing of a noun effort of 'I am turtle your work.' I really don't know what the author thought turtle meant and I don't think they did either. (I should say that I thought turtles lived in Bhutan but apparently they don't so I shouldn't have included it in a question. Oops. However the question did tell them that it was a noun and I adjusted marks equitably)

The silver goes to amazing effort that makes you wonder what the author thinks her mother might do in the future. In a letter to her mother the author wrote 'I love you so far.'

For the gold the judge went for a sentence which may be a profound philosophical statement, but she really doubts it. Can you work out what 'The Belle was longer the Belle is dead when the Belle is' means? I couldn't either.

Well done to all the winners and just remember, if you really neglect your studies you too could walk away with a completely non-existent award and the knowledge that you probably made your English teacher bang her head on her desk repeatedly. See you next year! (possibly)

4 in one day! You should feel blessed! Also there is a dragon in this post

A dragon! A dragon on school grounds! This morning (the 20^th of May) there was a large group of students gathered around something in the assembly area and I was told by some very excited students that there was a lizard. Of course, I rushed down as quickly as possible and it was a little aegamid! Its body was about the length of my middle finger (I realise that's not very helpful for those of you who have not met me, sorry) and its tail was longer again. Its complete length was about the same as Dawson's (who is a sony vaio notebook). Obviously the little dragon was much littler than T'eo but behaved slightly similarly. I was able to catch him or her who seemed quite happy to sit on my hand while the students and some teachers admired it but I wouldn't let them pet the little one as I didn't think that would be appreciated. The T'eo-like behaviour was when the dragon decided that it had had enough of sitting on my hand and decided that my shirt looked like a much nicer place to be. It jumped on my shirt and ran up on to my shoulder much to the delight of the students. Fortunately, I was able to pick him or her up again and let it go in the foresty bit on the edge of the school though it was very tempting to bring it home so it could catch the crickets who enjoy chirping as loudly as they can right when I'm trying to sleep. I swear that they're louder than any of the crickets which I gave to T'eo.

Hopefully I'll be able to post a picture of it at some stage as a teacher had their phone handy. I really should start taking my camera with me everywhere. But just in case, it was greyish-white with black marks and a longer, thinner face than T'eo's. It didn't have a nice, puffy beard but it did open its mouth once and I'm sure that it would have puffed if it could. On the back of its neck was the beginning of a crest. I think it wasn't really sure if it wanted a crest or not so it's just trying a small one to start and might grow a bigger one if it thinks the little one looks good.

So it was a pretty good start to the week. The weekend was fairly successful too. The nicest thing being that I was finally able to get a full gas tank. Even better, I got the gas situation fixed without a carpenter, electrician, glazier or painter having to be called round (See Flanders and Swann). And one of my students brought me some mushrooms from her village and insisted on cooking them for me. They were delicious, even though I didn't have any chillies which she found odd, but I felt bad as she had to go home before the food had finished cooking. I did make her take a bunch of cookies as I felt guilty that she didn't get to eat her own cooking. Some others came round too and asked if I had any cartoons. I don't think South Park or Futurama would be very appropriate so I offered them My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic or Adventure Time. MLP was chosen and we managed to watch the first two episodes. I'm going to continue the David Attenborough education but sadly I didn't bring that many with me and I think MLP fits in very well with the Gross National Happiness. I'm not too sure if Adventure Time always does though it should mostly. Helping people, studying science and things overcoming differences are all good things but I don't think sword-fighting is encouraged. Or at least, not until you've tried lots of less violent things first.

The only slightly annoying thing about the weekend was that for the first time in a little while I was able to sleep in past 6:15 and I was really looking forward to that. Unfortunately, my upstairs neighbour I suspect does weaving. At first I thought that there was construction work going on as the noise which woke me at about 6 sounded a lot like hammering. I've heard it before but mostly in the afternoons and evenings. What I now suspect it is, is weaving on a backstrap loom. I saw a lady do it in Thimphu and the loom is about 45 degrees off vertical and there was some sort of wooden thing which was used to compress the already woven threads. I'm not positive that it was weaving which woke me up but it was slightly irritating whatever it was. I did managed to get back to sleep but kept being woken up so at about 8 I decided that trying to sleep was too much work. I'm thinking ear-plugs might come in handy next Saturday night.

Just a quick update on Saturday the 25^th of May. Today was a holiday (normally we have school till about noon on Saturdays) and I was really looking forward to a sleep in and even found my earplugs so the loom wouldn't irritate but the earplugs are no match for my doorbell. It has quite a piercing tone especially at 6:20 am on a day off! One of my choir member thought she had left something, which she hadn't, last night and thought that 6:20 am in the morning (hello daddy!) would be the best time to come and look for it. When we couldn't find it she asked if I would play one song on my 'guitar.' She had brought me a handful of green beans so I played one verse of something, I really can't remember what, and then politely hinted that maybe she had better things to do which, fortunately, she did. I couldn't really get irritated with her because I think the idea of someone sleeping in on a day off was as weird to her as getting up early on a day off is to me! Argh! If someone could please send instructions on how to safely disconnect a doorbell I would be very much obliged!

Hugs hugs and congratulations to all who have managed to get through all my recent entries!

Sorry about the lack of photos. I keep forgetting my camera

Well, this morning started off wonderfully (no sarcasm. It's so hard to tell tone of voice when things are written!) because I got to sleep in till 6:15 and about two minutes into the walk to school the students who walk with me noticed the caretaker driving up and waved him down so we could get a lift. I was also glad that the students didn't have to carry my bag and umbrella up the hill. They absolutely insist on helping me carry my stuff which makes me feel very guilty. Some days I don't carry anything up the hill! I should say that the walk to school isn't too long but I do get a bit hot so it's nice to have a day off from it.

The walk to school is the main reason why I've stopped wearing my kiras to work. They were fine in the cold north and I was even still wearing my thermals in Bjishong, but here the heavy rectangle of material plus the two piece blouse is hot and not practical when walking up a sometimes very muddy hill. So it's been trousers and shirts. I've been too afraid to wear my pi and dinosaur t-shirts because, though they are both very educational, I worry that they might be too casual. Though if I return next year, nothing will stop me wearing my pi shirt on March 14^th.

Another thing that has happened is that my house has become the David Attenborough Theatre. Some girls asked if I had any movies, except they said 'pictures' which lead to a slight misunderstanding though they still seemed to enjoy the photos, and I just didn't think showing them Jurassic Park, The Big Lebowski or My Favourite Wife would be appropriate so I found some of my David Attenboroughs. Life in Cold Blood was a big hit, especially the parts with snakes and crocodilians and now we've moved on to The Blue Planet where I spend most of the time trying to explain the differences between sharks and dolphins, whales and fish and snakes and eels but the children are certainly impressed with the images.

I've also started a very small choir by accident. The kids who tend to visit each night are fascinated with my ukulele, which the either call a guitar or a 'laylay,' and so I've been playing them Yellow Submarine and various Scottish folk songs. They also take turns strumming it and singing Bhutanese songs. The strumming doesn't always match what they're singing but what they more than make up for that in enthusiasm. Yellow Submarine is the current favourite and they are getting much better. The first few times they each had their own speed, tune and occasionally lyrics but the choir is almost together now. A couple of the girls even brought notebooks last night (it is currently the 18^th of May) so they could write down the lyrics. I'm hoping they'll be able to perform relatively soon. Little brothers tend to come along as well but instead of singing, they dance which a few nights ago led to the cutest scene of the girls desperately trying to sing along, the little brothers were dancing like extras from a Wiggles concert while I was playing the occasional correct chord on my uke. I think Will You Go, Lassie, Go was the easiest as, though the girls kept getting ahead of the tune, it was easier for them to slow down than to try and catch up. Sadly, since I was playing the whole time, I couldn't get pictures but I'll figure something out.

Now for some incredible important information for Tom Dudgeon, Port and Starboard, the Death and Glories and Dick (I'm sure Dorothea would be interested too but not quite as much. Oh, and see Coot Club if you are unlucky enough not to know who these people are). I saw a white-bellied heron! I was on my way to Kuru from Samdinkha and it was flying very gracefully above us. The driver, who couldn't help noticing it after I involuntarily pointed and went 'Oh!' very loudly tried to tell me that it was a black-necked crane which would be a lovely thing to see but very strange as they don't come to Samdinkha. It also didn't have a black neck but he rightly knew the bird as something special to see. They are unfortunately an endangered species and you often see billboards asking you to help save them. Sadly for me, I didn't have my camera but I'll try to next time!

The other bird seen recently was at Andrea's place at Tashidenkha which looked like a baby of its species so I wasn't too hurt when it wouldn't tell me an Interesting Anecdote full of long words like 'Encyclopaedia' and 'Rhododendron' and it wouldn't spell 'Tuesday' either. It may not have learned how to not spell it right yet. It was, of course, a little wol (now see Winnie the Pooh, the original books, if you are confused. If you aren't it might be nice to read them again anyway.) Sarah Shmidt noticed him or her in the morning being berated by some bul-buls but it just sat, a bit more like Old Brown (Squirrel Nutkin this time) than Wol. It did react when we walked down the stairs but it didn't fly off and, even more surprisingly, it was still there when we got back. We were a bit afraid that it might be ill or something but the next morning its perch was empty so it was probably just afraid of flying during the day (I would make a Swallowdale reference now but I don't want to confuse you with mentioning too many books in one blog entry).

I'm still wondering when I'll be able to post all of these. Perhaps if I treat myself to a night in Bajo which has not only wi-fi but a pizza restaurant too!

Hugs to all and I miss T'eo. Hope he's not getting too grumpy in the cold weather.

This will hopefully explain the lateness

It's goodbye to Pigeon Post and hello to Wind in the Willows. Sadly I'll be leaving Gasa with its over-abundance of teachers and I'll be south to Punakha to a school which could use a few more. The school is in Jibjokha (people who make Flying Jibjokha jokes will probably get hit) which is about 14 kilometres from Punakha dzong. My new place is in an absolute bustling metropolis compared with Bjishong with about half a dozen shops, which apparently all sell the same things but it's still nice to have a choice of where to go, and I can see buildings from my window which have nothing to do with the school! It's Wind in the Willows because the Phochu river flows almost right outside my door. It flows a little bit fast to mess about in a boat on but it's still very pretty. I could also say it's Coot Club as the white-bellied heron which is sadly endangered lives in the area. Nobody shall be mooring in the wrong place or collecting eggs as long as I'm there.

Since all my things are still up in Gasa and it's Friday today (the 26^th of April in case I can't post for a while) I may not be able to start on Monday but hopefully I'll find a vehicle that can break the sound barrier. I'll also have to make sure the teachers look after Argus as I doubt he'd like the move. And the students too, of course. There won't be any takin about but because it gets much hotter here there are many more reptiles. T'eo is not to get jealous! I will try and get photos so he can see his new subjects. I promise I'll be very careful if I take photos of friends of Eve and Padraig. Mom won't see them unless she wants to.

Time has passed and it's now the 6^th of May. I'm having difficulty posting because of the lack of internet. I'm sure I'll figure something out. Would saving my entries on a usb and then posting it to Australia for my parents to post be too extreme? Possibly. I've started at Jibjokha, which is a beautiful little school just up the hill from where I live (Samdinkha). Because it's so soon before the holidays the principal and teachers have decided not to change the timetable until next semester and I'll co-teach with the current teachers until then. Lucky for me, the students are about where years 7 and 8 at Bjishong are so I don't drastically need to change my plans.

No dogs have adopted me but my neighbours have an adorable cat who behaved just as a cat should. You know, demanding food and assuming everything is theirs. I asked what his name was but, just like the cat in Coraline, he doesn't seem to need one. He seems to have accepted me as one of his slaves which is nice. The other day I treated myself to some chips and decided to enjoy them on the bench outside my place. The second I opened the bag he was at my side probably wondering why it was taking me so long to feed him some. He didn't quite get half but I'm afraid he did get a fair few. I'm not sure if I can cope with him not having a name though. At the moment I'm just calling him 'Jili' as that's Dzongkha for 'Cat.' It doesn't seem to quite work though.

My house is coming together quite nicely. It has almost no furniture but I have finally got curtains for my bedroom. I promise to have some for the guest room by the time Dad comes to visit. And I have a resident gecko! He or she is a darling little thing and comes out most nights. Really I have no idea if it's the same one I keep seeing or if there are a few but I've just seen one at a time.

I'm loving the school as well, though I still miss my old students. My first day was the 2^nd of May which was Teachers' Day and I can heartily recommend starting at a new school on that day. There were no classes and it was a day for students to spoil their teachers. First we got treated to a talent show with lots of singing and dancing from many students. It was very impressive and when one student sang I thought he was miming until he stumbled over the words. The students had also decorated the hall with posters which had quotes about how lovely teachers are. My favourite one was one that with less than perfect spelling where the writer had run out of room. It read

LONG LIVE OUR TEACH

AR

I chose to read it as the piratical statement, 'Long live our teach! Arrrrr!' Though that may not be what the writer intended.

After the talent show, year 7 treated the teachers to morning tea but I suspect they were also trying to fatten us up given the number of biscuits they insisted we eat. We were also given lunch but, despite my best efforts, I just couldn't finish it due to my wimpiness when it comes to chillies. Possibly the most impressive thing about the day was that it was fully organised by the students themselves without any help from teachers. Take note Australian students!

There is a very good reason why this is late, I promise.

I promised to tell you about the Rimdro and so here I go. Firstly, a Rimdro is an annual Buddhist ceremony to purify a building or place. It's meant to drive out evil spirits so everyone will be happy and healthy for the year. I've been able to see two, the National Park centre's on the 6^th of April and, of course, the school's.

I didn't really know what to expect at the park's one. I was just told that there would be lunch and then a ceremony. Sadly, I had a coughing attack due to a spicy bit of beef but fortunately, it was a fairly small one and I've learned to always carry a bottle of water with me in case of such an incident. I can't remember if I mentioned the terrible coughing attack at the King's Birthday and there was nothing to drink. For the last few staff dinners I have managed to eat everything, even the ema datsi, so I feel quite proud of myself!

After lunch was the ceremony. As a non-Buddhist, I didn't feel comfortable prostrating in front of the alter but I still gave a donation. The monks were there with their impressive drums and horns which look vaguely similar to alpine horns but are made of brass. Or it looked like brass, anyway. There were also two masked monks with burning torches. They had some powdery stuff which they threw through the flame which caused a puff of fire. They did this into people's faces and, I'm sorry to say, when they did it close to me, I got scared and hid behind a tall man next to me. I didn't particularly want to get set on fire. All this was to scare away the nasty demons and I suppose there must be something nasty demon-y about me as I felt quite scared. Maybe if I were a good person I wouldn't have been so nervous.

The following Wednesday and Thursday, it was the school's turn. Classes were cancelled on Wednesday afternoon to prepare and I'm sorry to say only some students took their preparation duties seriously and other stood around and chatted. I think that proved that they are perfectly normal students.

At around 5 in the evening, we welcomed the lama and the other monks who came armed with their horns and drums. The same trumpeting and drumming took place and it really sounded as if the wolf from 'Peter and the Wolf' had moved to Bhutan and added a slight Buddhist influence to his theme. The fire dancers were there again and one must have thought that I needed purifying as he threw a big handful of powder at me. Unfortunately, the powder, which I have since discovered is rhododendron bark, did not go through the flame so I got a face full of powdered bark. Since I wasn't expecting it, it got in my eyes, nose, mouth, all through my hair and clothes and even in my open handbag. It did not taste nice. And I still have remnants of it in my bag.

Later on, I discovered that they would be purifying, not only the classrooms and dormitories but the staff quarters as well. I hoped as a non-Buddhist that my quarters wouldn't have to be purified, but no. The bad thing was that, since I had been given no warning, my place was not exactly perfectly tidy. I had books that I had been marking all over my desk and piled around it, plus some laundry lying about. They should have warned me! My place would have been perfect then. But the lama and monks came in, waved some fire around and threw some rocks around. Now that they've done this, I'll be really annoyed if I get sick this year! Before I would have just been mildly irritated.

The next day there were no classes at all, just the continuation of the ceremony, including a fun bit where we got to throw rice around. I was very glad to be at the very back of the hall so not much landed on me. I was also told to prostrate myself before the lama 6 times. I wish that someone had told me that women put their rachus (scarves) around their necks when they do this because I just left mine over my shoulder and so it fell off every time I bowed down. If I had just been able to see a woman do it before me that would have been ok but there were only men around when they told me to bow. Ah well.

The next day everyone was exhausted but not all classes were on because of the clean up. Even on Saturday, people still looked like they needed a nap. I was very happy not to have to cook on Saturday night as I got to go to a house-warming where I got to try ara again. It certainly has a unique taste though I'd never had it with scrambled eggs mixed in before. I'm embarrassed to say that I couldn't quite finish the eze (spicy, salsa-type salad) as it was just a tiny bit too hot. Lee (fellow BCF-er) would probably have complained that it was too bland.

We also watched a football game, Norwich vs Arsenal, and I decided to go for Norwich just because it's pretty there. They lost but I did teach the others the correct way to pronounce it so it was still a win!

I've also found out that the park manager studied at Oxford, which is a small town in England which makes very good marmalade and apparently has some sort of school in it, so Dad will have to have a boat race with him. Dad, of course, went to the wonderfully brilliant and world renowned university of Cambridge.

The rains have started! Soon it will be monsoon season, joy of joys, and I haven't been through a monsoon since Pakistan so I may not be as cheery and light-hearted. I am planning to pretend that I'm in a sailing vessel that's just constantly rounding the Horn so that might cheer me a bit. One of my strongest monsoon memories is waiting for the school bus at a friend's house and the road had turned into a river. I had decided to take a large turtle shaped cushion to school because my teacher, the Magnificent Jane Sandquist, loved turtles. This decision was not smart as no umbrella could keep anything dry and the cushion just kept getting heavier and heavier. I can't safely say that the bus was late. It felt like it was but it would have felt like it was late even if it was actually early. I'm not planning on taking any large cushions to class so hopefully I won't have any similar experiences here. I'll probably still get soaked through several times though.

Fortunately, since I started this blog about a week ago the weather has occasionally improved though we did have rain and hail the day before yesterday and it's sunny now. I think Alexander (brother) must be sending Melbourne weather though as yesterday it could never make up its mind if it wanted to be rainy, sunny, hot or cold. Just because he has to suffer through it doesn't mean I do!

The whirl of gaiety has been continuing with another staff farewell and two more baby showers. You'll be so proud that I ate everything at all three functions! But I did bring a bottle of water with me in case of chili coughing attacks. I also tried the drink I was given whose name I can't remember but it was a home brew concoction made of millet. It was quite strong so I'm afraid I didn't drink too much of it. It was a pretty successful evening though, as I managed to get engaged twice. A lady said that I was too pretty not to be married (Aw, shucks) and so first she said that I must marry one of the bachelor teachers and told the nearest one available that we should get married (fortunately he got the joke) but then she said that I should marry her brother instead who is apparently tall and handsome. So two fiances in one night, not too bad! 

I've also been on another hike but on this one there were people who knew exactly where we were going so it turned out fine. One of the former teachers is running for a national council position and wanted to go to a local temple to pray for a good outcome (the elections are this month). We were able to drive about half-way but it was walking after that. Walking on steep, muddy ground. The father-in-law of the candidate very kindly made me a walking stick. I would have been covered with mud by the end of the day without it as my balance is not as good as the mountain goats I went with (the mountain goats being two other teachers from Bjishong and the aforementioned candidate and his father-in-law). I still got short of breath much quicker than the others but my exercises must be doing something as my muscles were not screaming in agony despite the steep ascent. Sadly, one of the teachers must not do any stretches as he was still in pain a few days later.

The view was absolutely wonderful and we saw three eagles, though they may have been buzzards, circling overhead close to the top where the temple was. No crag fast sheep though (see Winter Holiday). Naturally the pictures I took do not do any of the scenes justice. If only mom would visit! Then you'd get a much better idea.

The Mountain Goats.  Unlike me, they never fell down on the uneven terrain

Look, my school! It looks so tiny!

A cloudy view plus a prayer flag

Behold, the Himalayas!

You may remember in an early blog that I was determined not to pet or name any of the local dogs. Well, I lasted longer than I thought I would! I've named two and a half. The half is a blond dog who looks very much like a dingo, so I call him 'Dingo.' Not terribly original. One dog I call 'Not Bess' because at first I thought 'Bess' would be a good name as this dog came and said hello to me as I was listening to music on my veranda and 'Bess, You is my Woman Now' was playing. Sadly, I later realised that Bess was not an appropriate name as the dog was not female so I just started calling it Not Bess. Some of you will be wondering why I didn't just call him 'Porgy' and I wonder that a bit too.

The most properly named dog is the one who has adopted me. It's really Sarah Shmidt's fault. She's the one who initially fed him and was nice to him and he didn't seem to notice that I wasn't her. I tend to give him a few biscuits each day which he seems to appreciate though he is very good at finding leftovers after the students' meals. He also tends to sleep outside my house (I'm afraid he's not allowed in. I'm terrified of fleas) which I like because he can guard the house from bears and wolves. I've been listening to quite a bit of Laura Ingalls Wilder recently. Since he guards my house, or I pretend he is, he had to be named after a famous guard. I asked Divvy (another brother) and he suggested 'Argus' who was the 1000 eyed guard from Greek mythology. That seemed to suit very well, even though he only has two eyes, so now I have Argus who is very friendly and sometimes follows me into class much to the students' delight. He almost knows his name and has a very healthy voice which he, along with all the other dogs, enjoys showing off at about ten at night. I don't think he'd play nicely with T'eo, Padraig or Eve though. 

Argus minus 998 eyes.

 

I promise to write soon about the Rimdo which has just taken place. It involves fire and the Wolf's theme from Peter and the Wolf.

Hugs to All!

It's the start of a five day holiday! And I'm not sure if I should be annoyed or happy that my cold waited til now to go from mild sniffles and headaches to full on Jane Bennet. The plus side is that I'm not missing out on any school but the minus is that I'm missing out on my holiday! The Gasa tsechu is on and I've never seen a tsechu. Fortunately, the celebrations go on for a few days so hopefully I'll be able to make there eventually.

I'm afraid I was cruel enough to give my students homework over the holiday but it was just reading so that's not so bad right? Lots of Enid Blyton and Goosebumps books got checked out from the library. I should give points to the students who checked out the slightly-easier-English versions of Macbeth and Pride and Prejudice. I'll just have to wait and see what the book reports turn out like. The report I'm most looking forward to is the young man's who chose the simplified Little Women.

We've been having a bit of a whirl of gaiety here recently. In about a week we had 2 staff farewell parties, the welcome night which included talent show-like performances from the students and a baby shower. My chilli tolerance is still much too low so unfortunately I wasn't able to eat that much at the celebrations but I was given a lot of Bhutanese wine, which is sweet like dessert wine and a beverage which I think contained rice, egg and alcohol. Maybe some other stuff too.

The two staff members who left us are Dawa and Zam. Dawa was one of the very first teachers I met up here and is responsible for me not starving to death because he's the one who hooked up my gas cooker. He's also the one who drove me to Thimphu and back on the snowy adventure drive. Zam is responsible for me being properly dressed on many days. Poor Kencho, the caregiver now has the job of making sure my kira doesn't fall off. I am getting slowly better at tying it though. Maybe after five years I'll be able to do it without any help at all. I can do three and five lead turk's heads but tying a kira properly will take more practice.

Sadly there wasn't time for a picture of Zam doing a Tim-Tam Slam.  Next time.

I managed to get some photos of the Welcome Nite show but the majority of photos taken with my camera that night were taken by this master photographer.

She kinda grabbed my camera and then went nuts with it

She seems to be playing with angles here

Perhaps using empty space and movement for effect?

I really have no idea what she was thinking with this shot

I'm afraid I took this one

Well, I've been a bit lazy when it comes to finishing this blog and it is now the last day of the holiday. Most of the students, or possibly all, have returned so the peace and quiet has disappeared. Tomorrow I get to find out just how many of them did any reading over the break. I'm 32 pages away from the end of Robinson Crusoe and promise to finish it before tomorrow. I'm trying to set a good example for the kids and once I've finished RC, that will make third new book that I've read since arriving as I'm not counting re-reads. The other two are The Graveyard Book and The Jungle Book. Many of the creatures in The Jungle Book can be found in Gasa or other areas of Bhutan. Sadly Kaa, who I found out was horribly slandered in the Disney version, is nowhere near here but Baloo, Shere Khan, Bagheera, Tabaqui and Akela are all theoretically near by. I promise not to get eaten by any of them. I have no idea what my next book will be but I've promised the students that I'll always be reading a new book so I'd better find something in the library. I refuse to read any of the Mary-Kate and Ashley collection though.

On Thursday, after spending two day wrapped up in every blanket I have to try and get rid of my cold, I managed to make it to the Gasa Tsechu. I woke up at about 5 because Kencho was away which meant I had to put my kira on by myself. And since I was going to the dzong I had to wear the two-piece blouse that goes with the kira instead of the cheater's one piece. I actually find the two-piece blouse harder than the kira to put on so it was a bit a stressful morning. It was also pouring with rain and I was a bit nervous that Sonam Drukpa, the other teacher who wanted to go, would say that the weather would make it too difficult to go. Fortunately, this was not the case and we headed up to Gasa thanks to Pema Tendar who gave us a lift before he headed to Punakha. It took a little while to get there and sadly the weather showed no signs of improving. 

The view when we arrived

The view later in the day

 

 After getting there we had breakfast with some monks and once again I felt terrible because I wasn't able to finish the enormous bowl of rice of was given but luckily it wasn't too spicy.

The performances of the day included many dances done by masked dancers which I didn't really understand but they were still quite entertaining, non-masked dances done by both professional and local, amateur dancers and songs performed by women from Laya with their impressive hats. I was very glad that Sonam and I were able to sit in the undercover area as the rain never really stopped except when it started to hail. It was freezing. I was waiting for the snow to come but happily it never arrived. I felt really sorry for the masked dancers as they were dancing barefoot on cobblestones. I hope their feet weren't too frostbitten by the end of the day.

You can't really tell but they have skull masks on

You also can't see but this guy has dragons embroidered on his robe.

Not the friendliest deer I've seen but certainly the most impressive

My proudest moment was when I managed to eat the lunch, which was really good, without coughing once even though ema datsi was one of the dishes! I also managed to eat every bite without feeling too full. And I had another cup of butter tea which I actually enjoyed. I recommend Gasa butter tea above Thimphu butter tea. Sorry Thimphu but it was just a bit too salty for my liking!

The most exciting bit of the day was actually the drive home. I think we left at about 8 bells of the first dog (I love my daddy) after a quick afternoon tea of cheese momos. I suggest people try and find momos in whichever country you happen you live in. They're kind of wontony, dumplingy things and really delicious. Anyway, Sonam Drukpa managed to get us a lift in a pick-up truck. Half the population of Gasa also got a lift in the same truck, almost. There were 5 people, 2 adults, 3 children, in the front seat including the driver, 3 in the back seat and maybe 5 or 6 in the tray. I was quite prepared to ride in the tray but the driver insisted that I sit in the back seat. That makes 4 now in the back seat for those of you who are counting. I felt really bad that Sonam was in the tray but was relieved that he accepted my offer of my chuckleberry wet-weather coat. The driver was more confident than other drivers and I felt for the people in the tray. Especially when we went over a bump or a rougher patch as the driver didn't slow down as much as I would have liked and it was bumpy enough sitting a soft seat cushion so I'm guessing it was less than comfortable for the tray-ers.

The person sitting next to me for the journey was an elderly lady who spoke no English. This did not stop her from trying to talk to me. I think she was asking questions and I tried to answer by saying things like 'Arwen, Australia, Lopen' and 'Bjishong' but I have absolutely no idea if anything that I said was helpful. At least I tried! I also smiled and looked apologetic a lot. At one point I even sang quietly as it was not the most comfortable ride and singing took my mind off it. I don't know why but the sea shanty South Australia was the first song to come to mind.

When we got back to the school, I was even more relieved that Sonam took my coat as the back of it was completely covered in mud. Yes, I also felt even more guilty that I got a cab seat. I think we were both quite happy to see that the power was on so heaters would be working. I was also very happy that I own three hot water bottles. I only used two but it was nice to know there was another one if I needed it. I thought of the whole day a bit like Nancy thought of the trip to the Pole. Yes, a pleasant, sunny day watching the tsechu and a calm drive there and back would have been nice but this way we got the enjoyment of the tsechu but the whole day was a much more memorable and exciting experience.

I also thought of T'eo a lot as many of the masked dancers had dragons on their costumes. Have I mentioned that I miss him?

Hug to All!

Additional on the 26/03/13 – Finished Robinson Crusoe on Sunday and will write a book report for my students soon. Have now started on Sherlock Holmes. Also had a very successful dinner last night of vegetarian shepherd's pie, or lentil-herd's pie, I guess. It must be much easier to be a lentil-herd than a shepherd. The lentils probably don't get crag-fast as often.

Anyway, just make really tomato-y daal with onions, chillies, cumin, ground coriander seeds and turmeric (I have no idea how much spice I put in) and then make mashed potatoes. I didn't have any butter so I put cheese in instead and I wish I had stated doing that ages ago. I think I'm going to gain a lot of weight thanks to that discovery. I couldn't bake it properly so I just put it into pie formation on the plate. Of course, I should have thought to make this twelve days ago but better late than never!