Whitegood problems

Did I tell you that I bought a fridge? In Gasa fridges are pretty unnecessary but in Samdinkha it is a tiny bit warmer. I never knew that vegetables could melt. Some sag (mustard greens or pretty much spinach) turned into a terrifying green puddle that looked like some sort of evil creature from a science fiction story that was going to eat my face or infect my brain. Or both. Also the insects, mostly ants, are really determined. So determined that they made it into my zip-lock bags, I still haven't figured out how, and enjoyed some foods like cheese and bread. Now, the cheese is easily washed but the bread, which is really difficult to get, was riddled with the little buggers. I know that I could have just eaten some extra protein but I just wasn't that hungry. Instead, I asked some of my fellow Punakha BCF-ers where they got their little bar fridges and went off to a store in Bajo (about an hour and a half away but there is a really good pizza restaurant and internet) in search of a really small fridge that would cost about 7000 Nu or 140 dollars. Now, I knew that I probably wouldn't get a fridge that day because my fellow Punakha BCF-er said she got the last one but they were willing to order.

After getting slightly lost because, after all, I'm still me, I found the store where they very kindly said they would order me the little fridge and it would apparently take one week. I'm not totally stupid so I assumed it would take at least two. When that passed I decided to check that they hadn't forgotten about me. They promised that they hadn't and it would be in on Monday. Obviously I gave them another couple weeks and lost a lot more food.

I have to admit that I was kinda getting annoyed (my mom may complain that my use of 'kinda' is a bit of an understatement and she had to put up with my ranting) and though I knew that I probably shouldn't be surprised at the slightly optimistic time-estimation being wrong, I decided to head to Kuru (much closer) and just buy the smallest, cheapest fridge I could find. I had also been told that the place had free delivery and as a cheapskate that's always nice. I went and found a fridge that was not quite as small but good enough. I asked the sales guy about free delivery, which having seen a truck with the store's logo and 'free delivery' I was pretty positive about, but he told me that the driver was on holiday for two months. That's fair enough. If there's no licensed driver then they can't really deliver and he kindly told me that there was another store which could do free delivery. I thought that was very 'Miracle on 34^th Street' of him (the Natalie Wood version not that crappy remake) so I went basically next door where the fridges were more expensive and they too could not deliver, for free or cost. I think this might have been when mom got a call and I ranted again. Don't you just love mommies? Fortunately, there was another way. See the first guy also said that I could find a taxi driver with a big enough cab to take the fridge. So back to that guy I went after finding a taxi driver who was happy to drive me and my fridge home. Now, the first guy knew where I lived and I had made it clear that I wanted the fridge on that day. When I turned up with the taxi driver he suddenly told me that he didn't actually have the fridge and would have to order it from Bajo but it should be in on Monday and no, I couldn't have the display fridge. I think he could see that I was not happy so he told me what I really needed. He took me to the little store next door which sold drinks and snacks and had a little fridge. He told me that it was exactly what I wanted and is what I should buy. He then followed that by telling me that nobody made that fridge any more and there was nowhere I could buy it.

I would like to say that I did not use any profanity, unkind or impolite language. I did just say thank you and good-bye in a slightly less warm and fuzzy way than normal. I went back to the second store, walked in and asked them if they had the fridge for the price they quoted me that I could put into the very patient taxi driver's car. Success!!!

I now enjoy cold water, non-insecty food and no more green puddles of slime. I'm still waiting for a call from the guy from Bajo. I will let you know if he ever calls.

It's time for the FpAJACEA Awards!

The First possibly Annual Jibjokha Amusing and Confusing Exam Answer Awards

Good Evening, or whatever time of day it happens to be when you are reading this, and welcome to the FpAJACEAAs. This year we have seen many sterling performances in the field of strange and/or funny exam answers. All participants should feel very proud of their efforts but, sadly, there can only be one winner.

The first award is Wol's Award for Great Creativity in Spelling (See Winnie the Pooh, the chapter which features Eeyore's birthday).

The bronze goes to the spelling 'Asulita.' Can you work out the intended word? That's right, it's 'Australia.' A great effort but points were deducted for only using letters which were really included in the word and for making a plausible looking word.

The silver goes to 'Pthoh.' This word is slightly easier to work out, being 'Pythons' but it was an amazing effort given that the exam paper had the word written correctly 27 times. Well done!

But the gold can only go to 'Hosticifctal.' This truly heroic spelling of 'Hospital' just laughs in the face of phonics. Congratulations!

The next Award is the Inigo Montoya Award for I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means. There were many contestants for this confusing, malaproping award but here are the top three:

The bronze goes to a confusing culinary effort or perhaps a sentence where the author wished to threaten his stationary by saying 'The notebook is mince.'

The silver goes to the slightly disturbing 'I will build bleading house.' This creepy sentence suggests that the author enjoyed Amityville Horror just a bit too much but I really have no idea what they really meant.

But the gold goes to the double malaproping of 'Prime minister is one of any goat.' and 'Our Bhutan is like a goat.' Well Done to this possible political commentary! (I think the author may have meant 'gold')

Now we come to the Shouldn't That Be a Word? Award. This is a special award only given occasionally to the truly accidentally creative. While trying to write the words 'prime minister' the author gave us the word 'primister.' Shouldn't all male PMs get called that?

Another special award is the I'm Too Tired to Think of a Name for This Award Award which goes to a student who not only invented a sport but what to wear while you play it. 'Becket boll coat' I'm guessing is the coat you wear while playing a game where the goal is to irritate the English King so much that he has you killed. I realise that Beckett was incorrectly spelt but I can think of no other logical explanation. (Apologies to Mark and Tim who probably tried a few times to get me to play a game with an orange ball which you bounce. What was that called again?)

The final award is the Wait, What? Seriously? Award. This award is given to the sentences, or things that kind of look like sentences, which made the judge assume she had misread but when she re-read it she saw that no, it really did say that.

The bronze goes to the verbing of a noun effort of 'I am turtle your work.' I really don't know what the author thought turtle meant and I don't think they did either. (I should say that I thought turtles lived in Bhutan but apparently they don't so I shouldn't have included it in a question. Oops. However the question did tell them that it was a noun and I adjusted marks equitably)

The silver goes to amazing effort that makes you wonder what the author thinks her mother might do in the future. In a letter to her mother the author wrote 'I love you so far.'

For the gold the judge went for a sentence which may be a profound philosophical statement, but she really doubts it. Can you work out what 'The Belle was longer the Belle is dead when the Belle is' means? I couldn't either.

Well done to all the winners and just remember, if you really neglect your studies you too could walk away with a completely non-existent award and the knowledge that you probably made your English teacher bang her head on her desk repeatedly. See you next year! (possibly)

4 in one day! You should feel blessed! Also there is a dragon in this post

A dragon! A dragon on school grounds! This morning (the 20^th of May) there was a large group of students gathered around something in the assembly area and I was told by some very excited students that there was a lizard. Of course, I rushed down as quickly as possible and it was a little aegamid! Its body was about the length of my middle finger (I realise that's not very helpful for those of you who have not met me, sorry) and its tail was longer again. Its complete length was about the same as Dawson's (who is a sony vaio notebook). Obviously the little dragon was much littler than T'eo but behaved slightly similarly. I was able to catch him or her who seemed quite happy to sit on my hand while the students and some teachers admired it but I wouldn't let them pet the little one as I didn't think that would be appreciated. The T'eo-like behaviour was when the dragon decided that it had had enough of sitting on my hand and decided that my shirt looked like a much nicer place to be. It jumped on my shirt and ran up on to my shoulder much to the delight of the students. Fortunately, I was able to pick him or her up again and let it go in the foresty bit on the edge of the school though it was very tempting to bring it home so it could catch the crickets who enjoy chirping as loudly as they can right when I'm trying to sleep. I swear that they're louder than any of the crickets which I gave to T'eo.

Hopefully I'll be able to post a picture of it at some stage as a teacher had their phone handy. I really should start taking my camera with me everywhere. But just in case, it was greyish-white with black marks and a longer, thinner face than T'eo's. It didn't have a nice, puffy beard but it did open its mouth once and I'm sure that it would have puffed if it could. On the back of its neck was the beginning of a crest. I think it wasn't really sure if it wanted a crest or not so it's just trying a small one to start and might grow a bigger one if it thinks the little one looks good.

So it was a pretty good start to the week. The weekend was fairly successful too. The nicest thing being that I was finally able to get a full gas tank. Even better, I got the gas situation fixed without a carpenter, electrician, glazier or painter having to be called round (See Flanders and Swann). And one of my students brought me some mushrooms from her village and insisted on cooking them for me. They were delicious, even though I didn't have any chillies which she found odd, but I felt bad as she had to go home before the food had finished cooking. I did make her take a bunch of cookies as I felt guilty that she didn't get to eat her own cooking. Some others came round too and asked if I had any cartoons. I don't think South Park or Futurama would be very appropriate so I offered them My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic or Adventure Time. MLP was chosen and we managed to watch the first two episodes. I'm going to continue the David Attenborough education but sadly I didn't bring that many with me and I think MLP fits in very well with the Gross National Happiness. I'm not too sure if Adventure Time always does though it should mostly. Helping people, studying science and things overcoming differences are all good things but I don't think sword-fighting is encouraged. Or at least, not until you've tried lots of less violent things first.

The only slightly annoying thing about the weekend was that for the first time in a little while I was able to sleep in past 6:15 and I was really looking forward to that. Unfortunately, my upstairs neighbour I suspect does weaving. At first I thought that there was construction work going on as the noise which woke me at about 6 sounded a lot like hammering. I've heard it before but mostly in the afternoons and evenings. What I now suspect it is, is weaving on a backstrap loom. I saw a lady do it in Thimphu and the loom is about 45 degrees off vertical and there was some sort of wooden thing which was used to compress the already woven threads. I'm not positive that it was weaving which woke me up but it was slightly irritating whatever it was. I did managed to get back to sleep but kept being woken up so at about 8 I decided that trying to sleep was too much work. I'm thinking ear-plugs might come in handy next Saturday night.

Just a quick update on Saturday the 25^th of May. Today was a holiday (normally we have school till about noon on Saturdays) and I was really looking forward to a sleep in and even found my earplugs so the loom wouldn't irritate but the earplugs are no match for my doorbell. It has quite a piercing tone especially at 6:20 am on a day off! One of my choir member thought she had left something, which she hadn't, last night and thought that 6:20 am in the morning (hello daddy!) would be the best time to come and look for it. When we couldn't find it she asked if I would play one song on my 'guitar.' She had brought me a handful of green beans so I played one verse of something, I really can't remember what, and then politely hinted that maybe she had better things to do which, fortunately, she did. I couldn't really get irritated with her because I think the idea of someone sleeping in on a day off was as weird to her as getting up early on a day off is to me! Argh! If someone could please send instructions on how to safely disconnect a doorbell I would be very much obliged!

Hugs hugs and congratulations to all who have managed to get through all my recent entries!

Sorry about the lack of photos. I keep forgetting my camera

Well, this morning started off wonderfully (no sarcasm. It's so hard to tell tone of voice when things are written!) because I got to sleep in till 6:15 and about two minutes into the walk to school the students who walk with me noticed the caretaker driving up and waved him down so we could get a lift. I was also glad that the students didn't have to carry my bag and umbrella up the hill. They absolutely insist on helping me carry my stuff which makes me feel very guilty. Some days I don't carry anything up the hill! I should say that the walk to school isn't too long but I do get a bit hot so it's nice to have a day off from it.

The walk to school is the main reason why I've stopped wearing my kiras to work. They were fine in the cold north and I was even still wearing my thermals in Bjishong, but here the heavy rectangle of material plus the two piece blouse is hot and not practical when walking up a sometimes very muddy hill. So it's been trousers and shirts. I've been too afraid to wear my pi and dinosaur t-shirts because, though they are both very educational, I worry that they might be too casual. Though if I return next year, nothing will stop me wearing my pi shirt on March 14^th.

Another thing that has happened is that my house has become the David Attenborough Theatre. Some girls asked if I had any movies, except they said 'pictures' which lead to a slight misunderstanding though they still seemed to enjoy the photos, and I just didn't think showing them Jurassic Park, The Big Lebowski or My Favourite Wife would be appropriate so I found some of my David Attenboroughs. Life in Cold Blood was a big hit, especially the parts with snakes and crocodilians and now we've moved on to The Blue Planet where I spend most of the time trying to explain the differences between sharks and dolphins, whales and fish and snakes and eels but the children are certainly impressed with the images.

I've also started a very small choir by accident. The kids who tend to visit each night are fascinated with my ukulele, which the either call a guitar or a 'laylay,' and so I've been playing them Yellow Submarine and various Scottish folk songs. They also take turns strumming it and singing Bhutanese songs. The strumming doesn't always match what they're singing but what they more than make up for that in enthusiasm. Yellow Submarine is the current favourite and they are getting much better. The first few times they each had their own speed, tune and occasionally lyrics but the choir is almost together now. A couple of the girls even brought notebooks last night (it is currently the 18^th of May) so they could write down the lyrics. I'm hoping they'll be able to perform relatively soon. Little brothers tend to come along as well but instead of singing, they dance which a few nights ago led to the cutest scene of the girls desperately trying to sing along, the little brothers were dancing like extras from a Wiggles concert while I was playing the occasional correct chord on my uke. I think Will You Go, Lassie, Go was the easiest as, though the girls kept getting ahead of the tune, it was easier for them to slow down than to try and catch up. Sadly, since I was playing the whole time, I couldn't get pictures but I'll figure something out.

Now for some incredible important information for Tom Dudgeon, Port and Starboard, the Death and Glories and Dick (I'm sure Dorothea would be interested too but not quite as much. Oh, and see Coot Club if you are unlucky enough not to know who these people are). I saw a white-bellied heron! I was on my way to Kuru from Samdinkha and it was flying very gracefully above us. The driver, who couldn't help noticing it after I involuntarily pointed and went 'Oh!' very loudly tried to tell me that it was a black-necked crane which would be a lovely thing to see but very strange as they don't come to Samdinkha. It also didn't have a black neck but he rightly knew the bird as something special to see. They are unfortunately an endangered species and you often see billboards asking you to help save them. Sadly for me, I didn't have my camera but I'll try to next time!

The other bird seen recently was at Andrea's place at Tashidenkha which looked like a baby of its species so I wasn't too hurt when it wouldn't tell me an Interesting Anecdote full of long words like 'Encyclopaedia' and 'Rhododendron' and it wouldn't spell 'Tuesday' either. It may not have learned how to not spell it right yet. It was, of course, a little wol (now see Winnie the Pooh, the original books, if you are confused. If you aren't it might be nice to read them again anyway.) Sarah Shmidt noticed him or her in the morning being berated by some bul-buls but it just sat, a bit more like Old Brown (Squirrel Nutkin this time) than Wol. It did react when we walked down the stairs but it didn't fly off and, even more surprisingly, it was still there when we got back. We were a bit afraid that it might be ill or something but the next morning its perch was empty so it was probably just afraid of flying during the day (I would make a Swallowdale reference now but I don't want to confuse you with mentioning too many books in one blog entry).

I'm still wondering when I'll be able to post all of these. Perhaps if I treat myself to a night in Bajo which has not only wi-fi but a pizza restaurant too!

Hugs to all and I miss T'eo. Hope he's not getting too grumpy in the cold weather.

This will hopefully explain the lateness

It's goodbye to Pigeon Post and hello to Wind in the Willows. Sadly I'll be leaving Gasa with its over-abundance of teachers and I'll be south to Punakha to a school which could use a few more. The school is in Jibjokha (people who make Flying Jibjokha jokes will probably get hit) which is about 14 kilometres from Punakha dzong. My new place is in an absolute bustling metropolis compared with Bjishong with about half a dozen shops, which apparently all sell the same things but it's still nice to have a choice of where to go, and I can see buildings from my window which have nothing to do with the school! It's Wind in the Willows because the Phochu river flows almost right outside my door. It flows a little bit fast to mess about in a boat on but it's still very pretty. I could also say it's Coot Club as the white-bellied heron which is sadly endangered lives in the area. Nobody shall be mooring in the wrong place or collecting eggs as long as I'm there.

Since all my things are still up in Gasa and it's Friday today (the 26^th of April in case I can't post for a while) I may not be able to start on Monday but hopefully I'll find a vehicle that can break the sound barrier. I'll also have to make sure the teachers look after Argus as I doubt he'd like the move. And the students too, of course. There won't be any takin about but because it gets much hotter here there are many more reptiles. T'eo is not to get jealous! I will try and get photos so he can see his new subjects. I promise I'll be very careful if I take photos of friends of Eve and Padraig. Mom won't see them unless she wants to.

Time has passed and it's now the 6^th of May. I'm having difficulty posting because of the lack of internet. I'm sure I'll figure something out. Would saving my entries on a usb and then posting it to Australia for my parents to post be too extreme? Possibly. I've started at Jibjokha, which is a beautiful little school just up the hill from where I live (Samdinkha). Because it's so soon before the holidays the principal and teachers have decided not to change the timetable until next semester and I'll co-teach with the current teachers until then. Lucky for me, the students are about where years 7 and 8 at Bjishong are so I don't drastically need to change my plans.

No dogs have adopted me but my neighbours have an adorable cat who behaved just as a cat should. You know, demanding food and assuming everything is theirs. I asked what his name was but, just like the cat in Coraline, he doesn't seem to need one. He seems to have accepted me as one of his slaves which is nice. The other day I treated myself to some chips and decided to enjoy them on the bench outside my place. The second I opened the bag he was at my side probably wondering why it was taking me so long to feed him some. He didn't quite get half but I'm afraid he did get a fair few. I'm not sure if I can cope with him not having a name though. At the moment I'm just calling him 'Jili' as that's Dzongkha for 'Cat.' It doesn't seem to quite work though.

My house is coming together quite nicely. It has almost no furniture but I have finally got curtains for my bedroom. I promise to have some for the guest room by the time Dad comes to visit. And I have a resident gecko! He or she is a darling little thing and comes out most nights. Really I have no idea if it's the same one I keep seeing or if there are a few but I've just seen one at a time.

I'm loving the school as well, though I still miss my old students. My first day was the 2^nd of May which was Teachers' Day and I can heartily recommend starting at a new school on that day. There were no classes and it was a day for students to spoil their teachers. First we got treated to a talent show with lots of singing and dancing from many students. It was very impressive and when one student sang I thought he was miming until he stumbled over the words. The students had also decorated the hall with posters which had quotes about how lovely teachers are. My favourite one was one that with less than perfect spelling where the writer had run out of room. It read

LONG LIVE OUR TEACH

AR

I chose to read it as the piratical statement, 'Long live our teach! Arrrrr!' Though that may not be what the writer intended.

After the talent show, year 7 treated the teachers to morning tea but I suspect they were also trying to fatten us up given the number of biscuits they insisted we eat. We were also given lunch but, despite my best efforts, I just couldn't finish it due to my wimpiness when it comes to chillies. Possibly the most impressive thing about the day was that it was fully organised by the students themselves without any help from teachers. Take note Australian students!

There is a very good reason why this is late, I promise.

I promised to tell you about the Rimdro and so here I go. Firstly, a Rimdro is an annual Buddhist ceremony to purify a building or place. It's meant to drive out evil spirits so everyone will be happy and healthy for the year. I've been able to see two, the National Park centre's on the 6^th of April and, of course, the school's.

I didn't really know what to expect at the park's one. I was just told that there would be lunch and then a ceremony. Sadly, I had a coughing attack due to a spicy bit of beef but fortunately, it was a fairly small one and I've learned to always carry a bottle of water with me in case of such an incident. I can't remember if I mentioned the terrible coughing attack at the King's Birthday and there was nothing to drink. For the last few staff dinners I have managed to eat everything, even the ema datsi, so I feel quite proud of myself!

After lunch was the ceremony. As a non-Buddhist, I didn't feel comfortable prostrating in front of the alter but I still gave a donation. The monks were there with their impressive drums and horns which look vaguely similar to alpine horns but are made of brass. Or it looked like brass, anyway. There were also two masked monks with burning torches. They had some powdery stuff which they threw through the flame which caused a puff of fire. They did this into people's faces and, I'm sorry to say, when they did it close to me, I got scared and hid behind a tall man next to me. I didn't particularly want to get set on fire. All this was to scare away the nasty demons and I suppose there must be something nasty demon-y about me as I felt quite scared. Maybe if I were a good person I wouldn't have been so nervous.

The following Wednesday and Thursday, it was the school's turn. Classes were cancelled on Wednesday afternoon to prepare and I'm sorry to say only some students took their preparation duties seriously and other stood around and chatted. I think that proved that they are perfectly normal students.

At around 5 in the evening, we welcomed the lama and the other monks who came armed with their horns and drums. The same trumpeting and drumming took place and it really sounded as if the wolf from 'Peter and the Wolf' had moved to Bhutan and added a slight Buddhist influence to his theme. The fire dancers were there again and one must have thought that I needed purifying as he threw a big handful of powder at me. Unfortunately, the powder, which I have since discovered is rhododendron bark, did not go through the flame so I got a face full of powdered bark. Since I wasn't expecting it, it got in my eyes, nose, mouth, all through my hair and clothes and even in my open handbag. It did not taste nice. And I still have remnants of it in my bag.

Later on, I discovered that they would be purifying, not only the classrooms and dormitories but the staff quarters as well. I hoped as a non-Buddhist that my quarters wouldn't have to be purified, but no. The bad thing was that, since I had been given no warning, my place was not exactly perfectly tidy. I had books that I had been marking all over my desk and piled around it, plus some laundry lying about. They should have warned me! My place would have been perfect then. But the lama and monks came in, waved some fire around and threw some rocks around. Now that they've done this, I'll be really annoyed if I get sick this year! Before I would have just been mildly irritated.

The next day there were no classes at all, just the continuation of the ceremony, including a fun bit where we got to throw rice around. I was very glad to be at the very back of the hall so not much landed on me. I was also told to prostrate myself before the lama 6 times. I wish that someone had told me that women put their rachus (scarves) around their necks when they do this because I just left mine over my shoulder and so it fell off every time I bowed down. If I had just been able to see a woman do it before me that would have been ok but there were only men around when they told me to bow. Ah well.

The next day everyone was exhausted but not all classes were on because of the clean up. Even on Saturday, people still looked like they needed a nap. I was very happy not to have to cook on Saturday night as I got to go to a house-warming where I got to try ara again. It certainly has a unique taste though I'd never had it with scrambled eggs mixed in before. I'm embarrassed to say that I couldn't quite finish the eze (spicy, salsa-type salad) as it was just a tiny bit too hot. Lee (fellow BCF-er) would probably have complained that it was too bland.

We also watched a football game, Norwich vs Arsenal, and I decided to go for Norwich just because it's pretty there. They lost but I did teach the others the correct way to pronounce it so it was still a win!

I've also found out that the park manager studied at Oxford, which is a small town in England which makes very good marmalade and apparently has some sort of school in it, so Dad will have to have a boat race with him. Dad, of course, went to the wonderfully brilliant and world renowned university of Cambridge.

The rains have started! Soon it will be monsoon season, joy of joys, and I haven't been through a monsoon since Pakistan so I may not be as cheery and light-hearted. I am planning to pretend that I'm in a sailing vessel that's just constantly rounding the Horn so that might cheer me a bit. One of my strongest monsoon memories is waiting for the school bus at a friend's house and the road had turned into a river. I had decided to take a large turtle shaped cushion to school because my teacher, the Magnificent Jane Sandquist, loved turtles. This decision was not smart as no umbrella could keep anything dry and the cushion just kept getting heavier and heavier. I can't safely say that the bus was late. It felt like it was but it would have felt like it was late even if it was actually early. I'm not planning on taking any large cushions to class so hopefully I won't have any similar experiences here. I'll probably still get soaked through several times though.

Fortunately, since I started this blog about a week ago the weather has occasionally improved though we did have rain and hail the day before yesterday and it's sunny now. I think Alexander (brother) must be sending Melbourne weather though as yesterday it could never make up its mind if it wanted to be rainy, sunny, hot or cold. Just because he has to suffer through it doesn't mean I do!

The whirl of gaiety has been continuing with another staff farewell and two more baby showers. You'll be so proud that I ate everything at all three functions! But I did bring a bottle of water with me in case of chili coughing attacks. I also tried the drink I was given whose name I can't remember but it was a home brew concoction made of millet. It was quite strong so I'm afraid I didn't drink too much of it. It was a pretty successful evening though, as I managed to get engaged twice. A lady said that I was too pretty not to be married (Aw, shucks) and so first she said that I must marry one of the bachelor teachers and told the nearest one available that we should get married (fortunately he got the joke) but then she said that I should marry her brother instead who is apparently tall and handsome. So two fiances in one night, not too bad! 

I've also been on another hike but on this one there were people who knew exactly where we were going so it turned out fine. One of the former teachers is running for a national council position and wanted to go to a local temple to pray for a good outcome (the elections are this month). We were able to drive about half-way but it was walking after that. Walking on steep, muddy ground. The father-in-law of the candidate very kindly made me a walking stick. I would have been covered with mud by the end of the day without it as my balance is not as good as the mountain goats I went with (the mountain goats being two other teachers from Bjishong and the aforementioned candidate and his father-in-law). I still got short of breath much quicker than the others but my exercises must be doing something as my muscles were not screaming in agony despite the steep ascent. Sadly, one of the teachers must not do any stretches as he was still in pain a few days later.

The view was absolutely wonderful and we saw three eagles, though they may have been buzzards, circling overhead close to the top where the temple was. No crag fast sheep though (see Winter Holiday). Naturally the pictures I took do not do any of the scenes justice. If only mom would visit! Then you'd get a much better idea.

The Mountain Goats.  Unlike me, they never fell down on the uneven terrain

Look, my school! It looks so tiny!

A cloudy view plus a prayer flag

Behold, the Himalayas!

You may remember in an early blog that I was determined not to pet or name any of the local dogs. Well, I lasted longer than I thought I would! I've named two and a half. The half is a blond dog who looks very much like a dingo, so I call him 'Dingo.' Not terribly original. One dog I call 'Not Bess' because at first I thought 'Bess' would be a good name as this dog came and said hello to me as I was listening to music on my veranda and 'Bess, You is my Woman Now' was playing. Sadly, I later realised that Bess was not an appropriate name as the dog was not female so I just started calling it Not Bess. Some of you will be wondering why I didn't just call him 'Porgy' and I wonder that a bit too.

The most properly named dog is the one who has adopted me. It's really Sarah Shmidt's fault. She's the one who initially fed him and was nice to him and he didn't seem to notice that I wasn't her. I tend to give him a few biscuits each day which he seems to appreciate though he is very good at finding leftovers after the students' meals. He also tends to sleep outside my house (I'm afraid he's not allowed in. I'm terrified of fleas) which I like because he can guard the house from bears and wolves. I've been listening to quite a bit of Laura Ingalls Wilder recently. Since he guards my house, or I pretend he is, he had to be named after a famous guard. I asked Divvy (another brother) and he suggested 'Argus' who was the 1000 eyed guard from Greek mythology. That seemed to suit very well, even though he only has two eyes, so now I have Argus who is very friendly and sometimes follows me into class much to the students' delight. He almost knows his name and has a very healthy voice which he, along with all the other dogs, enjoys showing off at about ten at night. I don't think he'd play nicely with T'eo, Padraig or Eve though. 

Argus minus 998 eyes.

 

I promise to write soon about the Rimdo which has just taken place. It involves fire and the Wolf's theme from Peter and the Wolf.

Hugs to All!