Trip to Gasa

            Pack up, head out on the road for a weekend. A wonderfully American thought. Join up with a few other BCF teachers, head toward Gasa, see what happens. Seems like a perfectly good plan. Bhutanese would disagree, they do not take travel lightly. Many whom I work with have not been to Gasa, which has only been opened up with a road in the last few years, before that it was a trekking destination. On the other hand there are a lot of Iowans who have never left the vicinity either. I go downtown Gaselo, a wide spot in the road which is the driveway to the lower school and just below one of the larger shops. I have not been able to arrange a ride so I settle in for a wait, hoping for a passing car to have room, a taxi perhaps, or one of the school drivers who said he was going down later in the evening. One line in my journal and my phone rings and it is VP (vice principal Sangay Kandu) saying he’s on his way and will pick me up. WOW! On the way we, that is those in the back seat, squeeze in 3 students headed down the hill as well. So I am in Bajotung with time for a bit of shopping for black knee socks (Gho attire) and an enjoyable beer. Taxi to Punakha and we begin to rendezvous. I join two other teachers for tea at a neighbors then it is off to Kurutung for dinner at the best little Indian restaurant in the valley. By the end of dinner six of us have gathered and we go back to the teachers quarters and have wall to wall sleeping bags for the night.

            Morning is breakfast out of the tiny kitchen with limited supplies and five of us are off to Punakha to bargain for a taxi. We strike a deal and squeeze in. Several hours later, which include one construction delay, we find ourselves in Bgishong where there is a new school and another BCF teacher with floorspace. A wonderful afternoon stroll and dinner by candlelight, electric out for a week or so, is followed by gathering ‘round the bukhari (wood stove).

            Next day we have all gathered out version of where the hotsprings are and decide we will try to hike there. Two hours later some of us are running out of steam and we take a rest beside a tiny roadside shop. He happens to be a taxi man but his wife is away and he’s watching the kids. But within the hour of our considering the options he is able to take us and give us directions to walk down to the springs. Although washed out in a flood a few years ago the tubs are rebuilt and a small tent community shelters many Bhutanese families who prefer to come for a week or so. A new temple is also there as many monks are among the bathers. I enjoy a nice soak next to an elderly man who chants gently and sets the perfect tone for the afternoon.

On the way home our original taxi driver had run low on oil but had arranged for another ride when we reached the trailhead. Amazing. Another wonderful dinner is enjoyed in the warm candlelight. One of our group gets an early morning phone call from our Punakha taxi man, he had driven up the night before and slept in his van! All the group’s worries about getting back with enough time to reach our various destinations evaporate as our taxi man winds his way downward and invites us for tea at his house which we pass on the way down. We had met his wife and son along the road on the way up and they are wonderful hosts and their son enchanting.

            I have time to shop in Bajotung and Pema helps me get all the way home before dark. No electric or water when I return but all is restored before long. Seredipity? Karma? Good vibes? The whole flow of the weekend was perhaps a reaffirmation of why traveling in a place like Bhutan is worth the effort. We all agreed with the national slogan, “Happiness is a Place”, and it was everywhere we were this weekend.

King's Birthday

The first week of having students at school culminated with a celebration for the King’s Birthday. At Gaselo HSS this is a full blown affair. The day before was spent rehearsing, setting up a tent with 6 postholes dug with only a ‘spud’ bar, planting a hundred or so flagpoles with those same digging bars, decorating an altar which included 108 butter lamps, putting 400 chairs out. Each student brought their chair from class so they knew exactly where to sit, in their chair.

Rehearsal day was cool and cloudy with a bit of rain in the afternoon. The following day dawned flawlessly blue, an auspicious day indeed. Purifying cedar smoke wafting over the courtyard as final preparations were made. The ceremony included the principal guest, many speeches, a section devoted to academic awards for students based on the results from the previous year with quite a few awards which was nice. Another large portion of the program was a cultural performance of song and dance performed by the students, both traditional and contemporary pieces were featured. Unbeknownst to me I was considered a guest and ushered to a front seat to enjoy the celebration. Ushered into the group lighting the butter lamps, and ushered into the final circle dance which is a traditional thank you. Fortunately the steps were pretty easy to pick up and I survived with only a moderate amount of bumbling, however it would have been good to have been let in on the idea during the practice run through the day before. All this did earn me an early spot in the lunch line, and true to form the lunch was a celebration as well. So, satisfyingly well fed and happy after a wonderful morning I was ready to set out for my holiday excursion to Gasa with other BCF teachers.

Getting Started

Front gate , Gaselo HSS

During four days of faculty meetings as a group with everyone present and participating if they desire we have generated teaching assignments for subjects and grade level along with out of classroom responsibilities. We spent a lot of time working through a discipline policy which was new to the school last year. It is quite detailed and reflects the conservative values of Bhutanese society. At least the generation that is now parents, teachers, etc. There is a lot of emphasis put on the youth of the country in terms of how to keep them oriented to traditional basic values while they are assimilating themselves into the 21^st century. The teens confront these issues primarily through all the access to other cultures via the internet and TV. These avenues give glimpses into other cultures but in a completely sterile context which involves no person to person interaction. This allows the kids to develop their own impressions of what is going on in the rest of the world without the benefit of input from anyone who is involved in those things. The balance between tradition and progress is one which few cultures have managed gracefully. Bhutan got a rather late start due to its isolation and is trying very hard to learn from examples, many of them failures, set in other parts of the world.

The faculty meetings ended up with some in service where teachers who had been to work shops presented to the faculty. The presentations were perfunctory and rather brief. One of these was on life skills. As they are trying to mold their discipline system to be more in line with contemporary western models it would have been good to spend a bit more time developing these thoughts. I believe there will be follow up as the year goes on which could be good as well. Perhaps the biggest challenge of the week for me was lunch, yummy food, no utensils save the ones we were born with. I didn’t starve nor did I make too big a mess.

The suburbs of my village, Gaselo

Saturday afternoon and Sunday were free time. After a long dry stretch, during which the air had become hazy, I think with dust, smoke, etc the rain came washing the air clean, the views of the Himalaya with fresh snow have been fine indeed. Sunday afternoon I watched the road from my window as vehicle after vehicle, as varied as one could imagine plied their way up the road, 7 miles of winding, bumpy, rocky road to drop students off at school. Most of the 500 students are boarding students. While in Thimphu we had shopped for all of our household belongings, mattress, rice cooker, etc, etc. Many times I saw young people buying the same things. They were preparing to go to school for a year just as I was.

Saturday evening, faculty gathered in the school “canteen” which is a private store/restaurant in the Bhutanese style. All sat on low benches, wood stove in the middle of the room. The gathering, which included a great meal, was to say farewell to a departing faculty member and to welcome us newbies. Very nice atmosphere, everyone is warm and welcoming. After dinner I was able to buy a mirror, of which I was in dire need. A rainy Sunday, a good book, a nice afternoon walk, a few things laundered (hanging inside), and some cooking accomplished. A nice day indeed.

A few winter wildflowers

One last long weekend.

The school year gets off to a slow start here in Bhutan. The set date in the calendar is Feb 10 for teachers to report to school, however that is a Sunday so it would shift to Feb 11. But the Bhutanese new years celebration, Lo Sar, is Feb 11-12, so we report to school on Feb 13. Hence the trip to Phobjikha to see the black necked cranes.

The bus loads up, full, full and leaves at 2:30. I am happy to have purchased tickets in the morning and we do have seats but they are near the back of the bus. The distance can be covered in a car, as I now know, in a bit more than 2 hrs. Four and a half grueling hours later, lots of road construction, many stops, music blaring from speakers right over head with an occasional full song and lots of 3 second snippets, we pull into Phobjikha. It is dark, everyone on the bus is going home for the holiday, we are trying to find our lodging. After several attempts to ask and the aid of the helpful son of the inn keeper who calls to us and shows us the way we find ourselves in very comfortable inn where 2 others of our BCF group are waiting to join us for dinner. They give us good info about walking the area and we head to bed.

The valley is quite large with a very flat bottom, not at all similar to the ravine like gorges we have crossed previously. The valley sits at about 10,000’ and is only a few miles long before it disappears into one of the aforementioned gorges. There are several hundred of the regal, highly endangered, black necked cranes in the area. During a morning walk we see perhaps half that number. This is a wintering ground for this flock and all the cranes summer in Tibet. They fly over the Himalaya to get there. Quite a habitat these creatures have. We head back to Yueli Kiis, the hotel, and have a bit of impromptu lunch outside in the sun enjoying the view. Again the helpful son is assisting us with arranging a ride back to Punakha. The prices are much higher than anticipated and the options limited. Suddenly he has a brilliant idea, he calls a cousin of his with a car who is a tourist guide and arranges a ride for a more acceptable price and he gets to go to Punakha as part of the deal. Very shrewd is this 16 year old. The guys are good company on the way down, they share a lot of interesting information and quiz us a bit about the west.

As we were waiting for our ride we watched as a woman, with several assistants rotating in to help, was setting up to weave a piece of fabric. Her work stretched the full length of the bit of sidewalk in front of the main store. Big rocks held it taught and she was tying multicolored threads to matching threads, her assistant walking back and forth with a spool and another stick so that she could stretch 3 threads at a time. The sun was warm and it was a beautiful day. I could not understand the answers I got about the time it would take to finish the project. It looked like months to me but who knows?

We met up with our two comrades at Punaka Dzong, they had hiked a good bit of the way and then caught a ride. The Dzongs are combination historical fort, Buddhist temple, and seat of current government. This one is quite large and is the winter home of the monk body of Bhutan. We walked across the longest extension bridge in Bhutan and up to another BCF teachers house to spend the night.

By Monday afternoon I should be back in Gaselo with a day to get myself ready, whatever that might entail. I think laundry by hand, out back under the spigot, is part of the plan.

Home at last

 Several of us have been distributed to our locales. There are many delays with housing but, to my good fortune, my principal was on top of keeping a reserved apartment open for me. It is in a new building and is on the upper floor in a sunny corner. By Bhutanese standards it is quite good. Simple plank floors in the living room and bedrooms. It is nice to have wood, much warmer and softer feel than concrete or stone. The view over the valley includes the rugged snow capped peaks of the Himalaya along the border with Tibet. The apartment is very simple and my belongings few. I use mostly the kitchen and one bedroom as it has a wonderful window. In the apartment there are six doorways, the one to the bathroom and the front door are taller than me. The other four are of various heights all a bit shorter than me, the shortest being the one into the kitchen. That is the one I use the most.

Upon my arrival I was greeted by the Vice Principal, many people here are addressed by their position, so he is known to me as Vice Principal. His name is Sengay Kandu, but there are many Sengay Kandus and only one Vice Principal of Gaselo HSS. He toured me around the school a bit. The Principal was in her office by coincidence checking on a few things between meetings so I was able to meet her. She seemed very straight forward, being a woman in what is pretty much a man’s world means she is confident and likely quite competent. She is fairly young as well so she might not be as bound by cultural traditions as some. This may be a help to me as communicating with the very formal, reticent, conservative older adults is often difficult for me. I hope I will get better at it as time goes and I learn more about how to do it.

My first afternoon I wandered around the “village” a bit. Many villages here are rather spread out groups of farm houses. There are around 80 houses in Gaselo, but it is a couple of miles across and spread along the hillsides. There are 4 shops so a few basics can be purchased. At one shop I bought a couple of B-mobile cell phone vouchers and met a woman who has just returned from Australia where her husband was getting a degree in journalism and they were moving to Thimphu as he worked for Kunsel, one of the several papers in Bhutan. The Bhutanese are very social and rather worried about a person alone with no friend to accompany them. Since I am quite happy on my own I am certainly an anomaly for them.

The following morning I followed the road, which has only recently replaced a trail, about 6 miles up the hill to a Temple and monastery. There, once again everyone was worried about me being alone, perhaps to help me out the young monks served me tea and gave me a tour of the temple. Knowing all the lamas in the murals which cover the walls is second nature to them but quite a feat from my point of view.

This morning I caught a ride with Vice Principal to Bajotung where I have purchased bus tickets to Phobjikha. The black necked cranes are migrating and this is a traditional viewing area at this time of year. I am trying to find some internet access that will allow me to post a couple of blogs along with some pictures. I can check email from my place if I do so before 6:00 am. I am hoping to be able to use the school computer lab access once or twice/week after school starts. I am very impressed, jealous even, of the apple phone, ipad users. Sim cards are cheap and the way the things are linked it works very well. Other phone/notebook combos are good as well, alas, my phone from home does not take a sim card.