BBB: Bathroom, BHU and bird watching

We finally met our house owner a couple of weeks ago. We had been wondering to whom we should pay the rent so his visit was timely on that account. He was understandably very glad to be handed two full month’s rent.

There was an unexpected dispute as to just how much the rent was. We maintained that it was 3,000 per month but he was adamant that it was 3,500. I showed him the email from the BCF and he was forced to agree with us. The question of the geyser was the next sticking point. We were under the impression that a geyser, or bathroom hot water service, was on order and would be installed forthwith. This was the first he had heard of anything to do with geysers. Our contact person from the BCF was a little hazy on the exact details too when asked.  Our landlord said that he could install one but that we would have to pay extra for it. A bit of to-ing and fro-ing ensued and we finally reached an agreement on the post geyser rent as well as a timeline for installation.

As we were expecting guests, we asked him if it could be all installed before the 14^th of the month, a deadline he did not seem to have any problems with. I guess one could have predicted that on the 14^th of the month the bathroom would be in a complete state of upheaval. 

There was a ‘Maintenance Monk’ from the monastery and his offsider wielding spanners, wrenches and most alarmingly, hammers in our not quite water tight little bathroom.

The story goes that they were unsure about which pipe led where so they decided to investigate a little further by smashing through the tiles behind a couple of the taps to reveal the labyrinth of pipe work within. The pipes were eventually identified and tracked back to the geyser so it was all hooked up.

I think they managed to get their choice of hoses 100% wrong; the cold water hose was of the reinforced type and the hot water hose of the ordinary plastic type. The latter hose blew off the hand basin about 24 hours later and we awoke to the sound of gushing, running water. 

The hot water hose from the geyser was of a similar construction and was actually ballooning out at the join when we decided to change it over.

There is a shop in Rangjung that sells plumbing bits and pieces as well as a shop that sells spanners and wrenches, not the same shop mind you… I got a spanner from one and nothing from the other despite it being full of dusty plumbing bits and pieces. The man took one look at my exploded hose and just said, no, no, no.

So, to cut a long story short, I took the remaining reinforced hose from the cold tap on the hand basin and fitted it to the geyser, so far so good.

Now we can enjoy showers on demand, providing of course that there is electricity and water at the same time!!

Some time later....I sure hope I didn't speak too soon there, as now the apartment below us is experiencing some unauthorised water entry and fingers are being pointed at our geyser...
Hope the Maintenance Monk doesn't have to come back...

The monastery in all its glory at night 

I am having a sick day today and have been to the local BHU or Basic Health Unit. Last Thursday my voice deserted me but I managed to croak through the day. Friday I was a little better voice wise and Saturday, with only one lesson was quite easy. Sunday a bit of a cough developed and by today I was just jack of it so I called in sick and made my way about one km out of town to the BHU. It is, as the name implies, a basic health unit. It does have wards and beds for really sick people but most of them go to the hospital in Tashigang.

It was the geriatrics and me first thing in the morning I can tell you. I felt like a bit of an imposter there with old folks who have chronic diseases, but we all smiled and nodded at each other. The staff slowly breezed in and soon I registered and was in the queue to enter Doctor’s Chamber No. 1. Luckily for me she came to the door and called me specifically, as, if she hadn’t I think I would still be there.

The patient’s protocol seems to be you stand at the door, peeking in occasionally, until you feel the previous patient is about to leave, or has had enough of the good doctor’s time, then you insinuate yourself through the door about the same time as they are leaving, voila, new patient ready for diagnosis!!

She questioned me about my symptoms, listened to my breathing through her stethoscope (no comment) and took my blood pressure before telling me that they didn’t have any cough medicine but that she would give me some antihistamine tablets and if I was not better in 5 days to come back for some antibiotics. I certainly hope I don’t have to see her again soon… Good on her for not just jumping on the antibiotic bandwagon though, there is far too much of that I think.

We see these crazy looking Hoopoes regularly and they remind us of woody woodpeckers: most especially when they start their sewing machine action in the ground and exercise that special muscle they have for opening their beaks under ground! They are just too active for us to have snapped a shot yet so we are relying on the information that allowed us to identify them in the first place to post a picture.

We have a resident pair of Oriental Magpie Robins nesting in the roof above the veranda. They have built their nest and it must be very close to egg sitting time for Ms Robin at least. They say that their nests have a distinct aroma so we will keep you posted… Mr Robin gets up very early and almost sings his beak off.

Spring Is here

Firstly I should apologise for the long break between posts. We are now in full swing at both our schools and it is a rare day when we get home much before 6pm. Sporting, cultural and social events seem to occur with regularity and almost always at very short notice. In the last 2 weeks have had a welcome performance for newly arrived students, basketball, table tennis and volleyball competitions and a baby shower as well as a dinner with Bhutan Canada Foundation which was hosted by the district Governor himself  and the busy schedule doesn't look like letting up anytime soon. We also had house guests from BCF on the very day that the bathroom was semi destroyed in the attempt to install a hot water system.

Spring has certainly arrived in Rangjung and with it the weather has become unpredictable, ranging from thunder storms with heavy rain to hot sultry afternoons or incredible, damage causing winds. We have noticed the major effect of these storms is a much less reliable electricity supply but they also supplied us with some delicious field mushrooms which I collected before school one morning. One thing that is great about the change of weather is the school grounds are ablaze with flowering trees and flowers. Unfortunately one of the windiest afternoons resulted in half of a callistemon (bottle brush) tree literally being blown off.

Last week a  huge prayer flag was strung up on the aluminium pole that has been standing by since some time last year. At 7.30am as I strolled into the school grounds the smoke from the purifying fire alerted me to the fact that something special was occurring and then the chanting, singing and music that always accompanies these types of rituals became audible. How many schools have a conch shell playing class IX student I wonder?

A group of students led by one of the ancillary staff was assembled in the car park and they were dutifully and devoutly chanting while others laboured at the pole to hoist our newly painted and blessed flag. It took several hours of patience and determination to get it flying and then later the same day heavy winds resulted in it coming down again so the whole process was repeated the following morning.

 In the end it took no less than 3 attempts on 2 consecutive days to get it to want to remain flying but it is now a striking feature of the school entrance. Construction has now begun on the prayer wheel which will stand next to it and from the model in the staff room it too will be very ornate and striking.

 We now have a full compliment of Class XII students in roles of responsibility in the school and each one has a deputy elected from the Class XI group.

All these house captains, counsellors, and students appointed to be in charge of various essential activities in the school including health in charge, time in charge (who rings the bells for study) mess in charge, cultural leaders, prayer captain, sanitation captain, those who are custodians for various extra-curicular activities and many more I am sure I have now forgotten, were acknowledged formally in a ceremony at the morning assembly on Saturday.

A portrait of the king placed on its own throne stood on the stage where badges of office were pinned on and white ceremonial scarves were given out by the principal and deputy principal. The entire school paid their respects and the newly appointed officers all prostrated.

They were also honoured with a morning tea in the principal's office and I was one of the teaching staff delegated to serve it.

I am now also in the throes of establishing a Photography Club. With only one camera to work with I limited the members to 10 and aimed for a balance across year levels and genders. More than 50 students expressed an interest so we are now embarking on a course of fund raising to buy more cameras so that more students will get the opportunity to participate. Since every time I take my camera to school I am mobbed by students wanting their photo taken, I have decided to sell them prints to start our fund raising drive. The local photo processing shop in Trashigang gave me a good discount for the 300 odd prints we got processed on Saturday. The proprietor was sympathetic to our cause and happy for the new business so he is willing to continue to offer discount prices too. Class photos and individual shots are the most popular but small groups of friends and a shots with Madam Vicky also feature. Our house guests, Kristin and Raewyn, suggested that BCF might even assist us in our fund raising if we write a proposal so that will be on the agenda for the first club meeting this week.

I love that Saturday is a casual dress day and all the students wear their own colourful ghos and kiras instead of uniform.

A few thoughts on teaching.

A few thoughts on teaching in Rangjung Higher Secondary School.

At last we seem to be getting into the swing of things at school.

I began all my classes with the writers’ workshop as suggested by the curriculum guides and was amazed to discover that 99% of students had never done this before. It is a rather drawn out process, which involves a lot of conferencing and group work. The 10-lesson format suggested was both time consuming and work generating but I figured that I should at least try it. For a single section of class nine it seemed worthwhile to start them on the right track of planning, drafting, redrafting and editing and to set up expectations about how to write successfully. The common habit of assuming that a single piece was done and dusted on the first attempt didn’t seem to be entrenched in them at this early stage so that was good enough motivation for me. The class eleven group however with 3 separate classes of almost 40 students were mostly actively involved in the process in the classroom but that generated 24 hours of after school time marking and for the second piece of work I have now set, many of them went right back to the no plan, no draft and one attempt and it is done system that they have employed up until now!! If nothing else the experience gave me a benchmark for all the students I teach all 117 of the class XIs and the 40 in my home group class IXC.

 

There were some incredible essays written and some astounding insights into the lives that many of these students have led thus far. Common themes across both year levels included the impermanence of existence, my first love, our benevolent king, my struggle to get an education, my journey to this school (sometimes involving 2 or 3 days of walking), the importance of studying hard and Gross National Happiness. Strong family values, a sense of commitment and responsibility and deeply felt Buddhist beliefs underpin almost all their writing and make me marvel at the mix of innocence and maturity their writing displays. One unusual student chose me as his topic and after waxing lyrical in the most poetic of terms, laden with metaphors of buds opening and fresh spring air about the new teaching style he has experienced in my classes, he began the paragraph assigned to my physical appearance with, “She is tall and old and fat.”

Class nine have now finished their second piece and there has been compliance with the process so I am feeling hopeful that I will see big improvements over the year. There are still plenty of surprises and shocks in the revelations about their lives that the content of their writing exposes. One student when comparing a previous English teacher to me wrote, “If he looks also he will never look line by line like our madam here.” I struggle with the “if” implying that he may not and also find it hard to believe that her work has never been thoroughly checked and she is in class XI. Although I am not capable of checking 157 papers that thoroughly every time, it certainly motivates me to keep doing it as often as possible.  This sentiment appeared in several of the class papers and I am still in a quandary about it.

I am also impressed with the classroom behaviour and willingness of most students to participate in all activities and tasks. Although there certainly are a large number of chronically shy students, there are also plenty who can confidently express their options and are keen to discuss and share ideas in both group and whole class settings regardless of their ability. Even the shiest of the shy have something to say when asked and can often be coaxed out of the shells. Almost without exception when a task is set they set to it like their very lives depend on doing it well and plead for more time and one more explanation when they feel that they have not done it justice.

I think I fear the exams as much as they do given that I am not at all sure that I am teaching in the way I am expected to and I fear that I am not preparing them for the rigors of the system when I hardly understand it myself. It has come as a shock to me that those who can often participate well in class and be lead to understand the texts later demonstrate almost no understanding in their writing!

Still the biggest surprises of school life are in the non-teaching times, when doing Socially Useful and Productive Work (SUPW) means that we all go to the river bed, now, and carry rocks back to school so that a new prayer wheel can be built or when an envoy from the king with a full entourage arrives at short notice and all sponsored (by the king himself) students and their class teachers are  required in the office immediately for a formal meeting. 

Both of these things occurred in the last week.

Sunday Drive with the Thapa Family

Sunday March 27th

It is a cold and rainy evening in Rangjung.

I am thankfully just coming off a nearly two week ‘gout like experience’ in my right big toe ball joint. Very, very painful but fortunately largely history now. I am also feeling a little under the weather at the moment, not sure why, perhaps a beer will help!

We had a wonderful outing today with the Thapa family, Rena from my homeclass IV and her brother, Rohit, from class VI along with mum and dad and us. Dad is the ‘Mess in Charge’ at Vicky’s school. It was a full little Hyundai i 20 I can tell you. We motored through to Tashigang alright en route to Kanglung where Mr Thapa wanted to go to a particular canteen with attached shop. They had tried to go there several times in the past only to find it closed or undergoing stocktake or empty or in some other way incapacitated.

The roads were the typical windy hairpins with short and very bumpy bits in between them.  Mr Thapa wanted to get to the mess before they broke for lunch, which, really could start at any time and last as long as the proverbial piece of string! Vicky was getting queasier and queasier as the little car lurched round each successive bend until, after one look at her, I called for a halt and shooed young Rohit out of the way so Vicky could head for the verge and lose what remained of her Sunday breakfast. As usual she came good after that purging of her system and she ‘enjoyed’ the rest of the ride untroubled by motion sicknes. Mr Thapa also slowed down to a mere crawl for the sake of Vicky's stomach which helped a lot.

As it turns out, the shop is attached to an Indian Army base just outside Kanglung and is a kind of commissiary or PX as the Americans would say. Regular folk may shop there (sometimes) and the prices are way below MRP, 10 or 20% for some things. We got some Pears soap, Tide washing powder, shaving cream, lavender scented talc powder and some other stuff for just over 700 ngultrums. The Thapas were a little disappointed as they couldn’t get the insulated lunchboxes that the kids wanted, but they did very well, spending around 1500 I think.

We stopped on the way back to Kanglung and ate the delicious picnic lunch that Mrs Thapa had whipped up that morning. The rain spoilt it a little as did the fact that I was freezing! I should have listened to Vicky after all and taken a jacket with me...

Anyhow, we opted to give Sherubtse college a miss in Kanlung. We had seen Lisa and Scott the previous day as they were forced to take a diversion through Rangjung on their way to see Julian and Shauna at Bartsham. We were just heading back into Rangjung after a head clearing walk up to the Chorten we had stopped at on the way up to Bidung all those weeks ago. We chatted with them for a short while and then they were on their way. They were forced to take the diversion as there was a forest fire burning out of control on the Bartsham Road which was duly closed to traffic.

We did stop at the famous Shangrila restaurant in Kanlung- made famous by Jamie Zeppa’s novel, “Beyond the Sky and the Earth” which we have both recently finished reading. We all bought some delicious looking Indian food which we will have for dinner along with some beany dahl and rice.

The rain continued in fits and starts until Tashigang where it was pretty dry really. We two did a mad cry of “carrots!!!” as we passed the first veggie shop there. That had the family at first alarmed and then surprised. They have perhaps never seen anyone so pleased to see carots. We swiftly made our way back there and bought a kilo and a half of the orange rareties. We got some other supplies too but had to be a bit careful as the money we brought with us from Thimphu is all but spent and we haven’t received any salaries as yet...

The Trashigang powers that be told me they had been “very busy...” when I last called them to enquire why.

Rimdro: school purification ritual

Once again last week was a busy week.

I thought it was going to be the first full week of teaching without any interruptions but I was wrong. The staff meeting on Tues revealed that we were having “Rimdro” on Saturday. I had no idea what that was and even after a 2 hour meeting after school I knew very little, as so much was discussed in Dzongkha. I got the allocation of duties and that was about it. It wasn’t until I started asking questions that I learnt any of the logistics but it is always difficult to know what questions to ask to get to the bottom of these things! I discovered that there would be no lessons on Saturday but that we were all expected at school all day, which didn’t really turn me on but after a 12-hour stint when I thought back over the day, I can say that it was pretty amazing.

It is actually a purification ritual and all schools have them. At first Ian’s school was supposed to hold theirs on Sunday but as Saturday was such an auspicious day they changed to Saturday too.

A big advantage for me was that there was no morning study on that day and I was on study duty last weekend. That meant that I didn’t have to be at school at 6am for the morning session so that was a huge bonus. I did evening and night study as usual on the Sunday but anyone who knows me will know that I am not a morning person so that was good omen for me. (FYI Everyone takes a turn once a month at this duty as we are a boarding school and usually you do all 3 on one day except if it falls on Saturday when we do the morning that day and then the evening and night on Sunday.)

I got to school early to see the big event and when I arrived at 8 am, the monks were already in place chanting and playing their cymbals, drums, trumpets, conch shell, and long horns at specific points. I knew that the purification ritual had begun as soon as I stepped onto our balcony in the morning actually, as there were clouds of smoke coming from both our schools. Huge branches of pine trees with the needles still attached are burned and offerings are added to the fire all through the day and the smoke was the evidence that it had obviously begun.

I took photos, observed the students and the ritual that was in full swing in our Multi-Purpose Hall, chatted with other staff and students and helped with the preparing of food for most of the morning. All students, teachers, and guests are provided with snacks and meals as the day progresses and given tea both “suja” the Tibetan style butter tea and sweet milky black tea. Both were served in copious quantities all day.

I was told early on, that I should feel my stomach full all day and it did feel like the typical over indulgence of an extravagant Xmas by the time things wound up. I got rice porridge, which was salty and spicy and contained cheese, as soon as I arrived at school and I had already had breakfast and then about an hour and a half later we were given breakfast. Throughout the day snacks including a delicious yellow rice dish cooked with sultanas, cardamom and butter were served and tea and soft drinks flowed freely. Next a lunch of curries and rice and papadams appeared. The food was prepared and served by an incredibly efficient group of female staff and mostly class XII students and my efforts to help in simple tasks like peeling boiled eggs and cardamom or slicing mushrooms or beans only seemed to slow down the other wise efficient functioning of the group but I felt more comfortable helping than being served.  Since the monks were included in this feast it was all vegetarian too.

Then a delegation of staff from our school, which of course, I had to be part of, went off to Ian's school to be guests. We had to hike down a mountain in the rain as they are constructing a new road into the school and it was incredibly slippery. Our school bus dropped us at a point above the school and making our way down the slope was the best way in. I was the only woman in the group and I was wearing my best kira and tego so that was a real treat but I survived and didn’t end up in the mud.

Ian's school event was smaller than ours but very similar in most respects. We were all treated as honoured guests and served tea and biscuits and then other drinks and snacks. I went off to see the monks performing their rituals and even got to add to their sacred fire with some of the blessed offerings as all the Rangjung LSS staff had done already. An hour or so later we made our muddy way back to the bus and returned to our own ritual.

Ian’s own account of his school’s event sheds more light on their preparations and festivities.

“Preparations began towards the end of the week and were at fever pitch by Friday afternoon. A group of class 6 boys was responsible for setting up the platform on which the offerings would be burnt. Another group of boys had already been dispatched to gather a quantity of pine branches. This involved sending one lithe young man up a suitable pine tree so he could hack off a good few branches which were duly dragged or carried back to school where further processing took place. Yet another party had been sent out to bring back some giant bamboos, these were to be used as poles for the new prayer flags.

Digging and constructing seems to come naturally to these boys as they set about their tasks enthusiastically and with little guidance or supervision.

Once the actual platform was constructed, layers of grass slabs, rocks, sand and concrete were laid on it to form a protective layer to stop the platform itself from burning while the offerings were being burnt. The pine needles gave off plenty of spicy smelling smoke and provided enough heat to burn the other offerings which included blessed grain, buiscuits, butter from butter lamps and dough which had been formed into significant shapes by the monks. Lots of smoke! ‘Pollution with a purpose’ one of the teachers quipped to me during the day.

One of the high points of the day was seeing the students recieve the lunch preapred for them in the outdoor kitchen at school. Many hands were employed to produce a meal much enjoyed by the masses.”

Back at the high school things were winding up but more chanting and offerings were required before the huge tower that was in our hall was dragged outdoors. We all had to throw a mixture of grains at a model of a tiger, which miraculously appeared and was especially constructed to bear the weight of our bad deeds. Then all the students had to do the same, to the tower once it was outside. This is symbolic of destroying all your misdeeds for the year and ensuring a prosperous and successful year to come.

2 girls from Ian’s class returned to my school where they live and attached themselves to me for most of the afternoon. I can see how their incessant questioning and constant need for attention could drive one crazy in the classroom. I finally had to take photos of them before they would stop pestering me to go to their homes or give them my camera. They loved telling tales about their mums, their classmates and Ian’s classes.

Ian's group arrived at our school and were served dinner to reciprocate our earlier visit and they were followed by the staff from the local Vocational Training Institute, main street traders, parents, spouses, children and ex-students all keen to participate in the celebration and show respect. 

By 8 pm, when I departed the hall was still buzzing with conversation, the students were relaxing in their dormitories more at ease and well fed than any ordinary day and the monks having performed all their duties were finally able to unwind.

Perhaps for me the best part of the day was participating in lighting this beautiful display of butter lamps!

Photo essay; district celebration of International Women's Day in Rangjung HSS

For the second time in a week Rangjung HSS was decorated with colourful flags, tents were erected, pine needles scattered and a red carpet laid out. 

The dignitaries arrived embedded in an amazingly costumed parade of flag and banner bearing Buddhist musicians and dancers and student performers from all over the district.

A cacophony of sounds heralded the arrival of our most distinguished guest the Minister of Education.

All eyes and cameras were focused on the incredible dance performance that formally opened the celebration.

And the rituals that followed

The inspirational speeches delivered highlighted the status of women in the world and in Bhutan, while focusing specifically on the achievements of the past decade in creating gender balance, providing access to education and promoting equality of opportunity as well as pointing out the hard tasks that still lay ahead.

Once the formalities were complete, the morning was dedicated to the various cultural performances that had been prepared by many of the schools within the district.

The Minister made a point of speaking to as many of the guests and students as possible and was engaging and personable in the brief exchange that I had with him. 

Gifts from the royal family were distributed to the students by him and several other dignitaries including Nancy Strickland the executive director of Bhutan Canada Foundation

The staff of RHSS did a great job logistically and on the day hosting the event.

The students all participated with enthusiasm and took on the task of serving several hundred guests with efficiency and charm and hygiene was taken seriously.

I found the sights of the day to be many and varied.

The audience most of whom were women, seemed thrilled that they had made the effort to be there.

What a day it was!!