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