Most of us grew up knowing that if
the school team had an away game it meant they hopped on the bus in the
afternoon, played the game, and got back on the bus to come back to school that
evening. However, in Bhutan things are a bit different. The roads make for slow
travel and the transportation available is about one small bus per school. So,
the sports meet for Wangdue was hosted by Gaselo HSS, the school I call home.
This meant we began preparations after lunch on Wednesday and worked all day
Thursday to get ready. Ready means all the class rooms were emptied of their
furniture which was stacked around the outside of the buildings under very wide
and useful eaves. Ready also means all the flags are in place, everything is
cleaned and all the grounds tidy along with several new cooking pits dug alongside the kitchen to help feed a few hundred more. It also means the football pitch is ready for
track and field events as well as football, but most importantly that the
grounds are ready for they final ceremony, guest tent, etc etc.
Thursday afternoon the teams began
to arrive, something in the range of 50-70 in each group. They came in
busloads, “camping” mattresses tied to the top, ready to move in for 2 nights.
Each school brought along an allotment of rice and some other basics to contribute
to the school kitchen. So, the school kitchen was now feeding 800+, mind
boggling. Dinner followed an orientation program and then the students had put
together a welcome cultural show which means 16 or so dance performances
ranging from traditional to some actual modern dance. Each piece is organized
by a student which means they choreograph and set up practices. The show is
MC’d by a student, as mentioned in the last entry students perform a huge
variety of minor administrative tasks in all aspects of the school which is how
this fairly sizeable institution operates with a relatively small staff.
Friday morning comes after a lot of
rain during the night. Most of our student body is up around 3:30am to clear
the road, get the field ready, and generally set things up for a morning of
track and field events. Six in the morning and we are all watching the track
and field events, some muddy spots on the track but most of the kids run
barefoot. Eight o’clock is breakfast time and then a full day of events with football
(soccer), basketball, volleyball, table tennis, badminton, and chess all going
on all day.
The students wear uniforms for
basketball which are purchased locally. They are cheap copies of NBA uniforms
with a school name stenciled across the back. Bhutanese wear many clothes,
t-shirts, jackets and such with all sorts of logos and messages. They do not
care in the least what the message or logo might be. Some are knockoffs of
American brands, some are completely random and make no sense at all. The Gaselo
girls were wearing Utah Jazz uniforms while their big rival, the Bajo girls,
wear wearing Denver Nugget uniforms. I live in Colorado so these are the two
NBA teams closest to where I am from. What are the chances?
Dinner is followed by a quiz
competition, teams of two from each school take turns trying to answer
surprisingly difficult questions, the scores are not too high!
No rain Friday night, Saturday’s
dawn promises a fine day. Following breakfast there is a full on ceremony with
chief guest to watch the football final, the premier event. The game is
followed by speeches, awards, and finally, lunch. After lunch the students,
supervised by faculty and captains, take everything down and by late afternoon
the school is back to normal and ready for a new week. The visiting schools
have returned home and a huge event has been accomplished by the entire
community if Gaselo HSS.
