Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Greetings from Thimphu

January 24th was the Day of Offering, a holiday similar to our Thanksgiving where families gather together. One activity the men might enjoy that day is a friendly archery competition. We actually were able to watch some gentlemen doing just that on a quick walk around the city of Paro. Archery is a national sport and Bhutan will send a team to the Olympics. We found out from Karma Tshering, BCF's Office Manager, our man about town and avid archer, the rules for Olympic competition are different from the Bhutanese rules - they are much easier!
25th - This morning we met with the Minister of Education, Thakur S Powdyel and the Secretary of Education, Aum Sangay Zam. The Secretary greeted each of us personally and told us a little about the school where we are posted. What an inspirational speaker the Minister is, he made us all feel so welcome and spoke so lovingly about his view of education! He spoke to us about the history of education in Bhutan, the aims for the future, and what our part would be in the coming year. It was so good to hear someone speak about teachers in a good way. My teacher friends - this is why I came to Bhutan: Teaching is a profession where one makes a difference every time something new has been taught and learned. The teaching/learning of a thing changes the life of that child and in turn the world forever. (my own paraphrase of the Minister's words)

On a personal note, Blog Followers, I must apologize for my spelling of Bahrain in the first post - that was my Texas accent coming out! Actually, I was just fooling around trying to set up my blog and didn't check the spelling, that's my reason but not a good excuse.
All the worry about the weight restrictions on our baggage turned out not to be that big of a deal at all if you paid the extra to get the business class ticket. Still it was probably good to have some kind of restriction as we would all have had too much from home! I am still trying to get acclimated. I ended up missing a tour of the town today as I was under the weather. I think the medicine I am taking for malaria is making me feel unwell, so I'm going to try taking it at night.
The scenery reminds me of Colorado, especially like a ski resort town that is nestled in the mountains. We are walking around with light jackets and the sun is shining. It is just beautiful! On the other hand in Paro (not as much in Thimphu) there was trash on the ground, mainly plastics, which are not burned.


5 comments:

  1. Great to hear you are doing well....except for the under the weather bit. That will hopefully pass soon.

    Looking forward to meeting your kids?? I'll bet. What a great adventure.

    Stay blest little one.
    bob

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  2. By the way, I don't know what time you posted ther, but just so you know if you need to....it showed a posting here of 7:50am 1/25/2012 . Does that jive with the time difference, or is that local time equivalent?

    Stay blest.
    bob

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    Replies
    1. There is exactly a 12 hour difference right now - so I am writing this reply at 9:31pm, Thursday the 26th.

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  3. Hi Delaine,
    So glad you arrived OK and are settling in. Sounds like your orientation is going well.

    Is everything going OK? Do you need anything? Don't hesitate to email or FB if you do.

    Take Care
    Joan

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    Replies
    1. So far, so good! We had this afternoon off to do some shopping so I got a phone. Yesterday we got measured for our kiras. I wish I could have gotten to my camping stuff or my kitchen stuff because I could have used some of the things I already had, ie. pot grabber/handle, collapsable measuring cups, pot holders. But I will find them here. I appreciate your support and prayers!
      Love,
      Delaine

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