How not to die, kiras and Alfred

Yesterday we got treated to a 'What to do if you get bitten by a dog while falling down a drain during a bout of typhoid.' Many of us went into hypochondria ranging from mild to 'Oh god my appendix is bursting right now!' I know many of you won't believe this, but Arwen will not be making friends with any dogs. No matter how sweet the tail-wags or how puppy dog the eyes, I shall not be petting, scritching or even just telling them how adorable the are. I will also be boiling, filtering and saying prayers to the FSM over all water before drinking it and my head-torch will be with me wherever I go. That should keep me vaguely safe, shouldn't it? Mom should also be quite impressed with all the cleaning products I bought today, including an enormous bottle of dettol. I'm sure my dad will now be making mean (but pretty deserved) comments about my house-keeping abilities.

Yesterday also marked the first time I wore a kira out in public. I don't know how many of you know what a kira is or how interesting it can be to put on but it's basically a large rectangle of cloth which you wrap around yourself in a slightly complicated way and then tie tighter than an 18^th century corset, or at least that;s what it feels like. You can get them with velcro and hooks and eyes but in my infinite wisdom I decided both of mine would be traditional. I should have gone down and asked one of the hotel staff to help me but I wanted to do it myself! 

I think the beret really finishes it off

 I know many of you are waiting/hoping to read that the whole thing came undone halfway to the restaurant but, sorry to disappoint, it didn't. And I was wearing thermal leggings under it so it wouldn't have really mattered too much though there would have been tons of pictures on other BCF teachers' facebook accounts. It stayed up perfectly well but I wasn't walking with my usual confident stride. Plus the kira was just long enough and heavy enough that just rubbing against my shoelaces was enough to undo them. So I walked the majority of the way to the restaurant with untied shoelaces (and odd socks) because bending down to tie them up just didn't seem like the best idea. Again the potential for hilarious photos appearing on my colleagues' facebook accounts was there. The rest of the evening passes kira-stress free and at least I could show off that I put it on all by myself! Huzzah!

This has nothing to do with kiras, I just liked the demon deer who watched us eat.

Now some of my colleagues decided that a night at a local pub would be the best way to pass the time after dinner but I was afraid, as were others, that kiras and pubs didn't mix. At least not until we'd learned how to wash them. So three of us decided that a pyjama party was the thing to do. I must apologise to the BCFers who would have liked to join but it was a spur of the moment thing. We should have braided each other's hair and eaten cookie dough but we weren't that organised so we settled for telling date disaster stories and no, I won't be blogging about those.

Finally, I'd like to introduce you to my travelling companions. Firstly, this is Alfred.

The adorable pillow, not the bed. (n.b. this was in Paro - the first place we stayed in!)

We found him in Sydney airport but there was instant controversy on what type of creature he is. Mom initially thought he was a snake but he clearly has legs. 

Four of them!

We then wondered if he might be a lizard but his eyes and tooth just didn't look right. I think someone suggested 'dinosaur' next but that wasn't a good fit either so we finally decided that he is a slightly odd crocodile with a very odd tooth. He has since been mistaken for a frog on a few occasions but that could be because since I have a Kermit beanie, people assume I have a thing for frogs. His name is Alfred because creatures called Alfred just seem to get used as pillows in my family. He did seem lonely though, so I found two little friends in a tourist shop. They don't have names yet so suggestions would be appreciated. 

Here we actually have two creatures - a tortoise with a serpent on its back.  Two reptiles for the price of one!

You can't quite tell from this angle, but this is obviously a male yak.

 Hugs to all!  And I still miss T'eo