First off, I am sorry that I have been neglecting this blog.
My intention (which remains) is to write about every week or so.
I cannot blame poor internet for not doing so. I have wifi.
Yes, other BCFers, I have been hiding this from many of you because every time
one of you finds out you look like, or sound like, you are going to murder me-
but just remember, its like people who have good old regular broadband in the
sense that when the power goes out-as mine did for 5 days last week- it’s even
more useless then the bmobile data sticks.
Nor can I blame a ridiculously busy schedule (although the
BCF teacher who has the largest courseload still manages to blog about the most
out of any of us…Dave, you rock). Honestly, its slipped my mind here and there,
and when it has crossed my mind, I haven’t had anything specific to write about
(although there is a post coming up on the great Bhutanese holiday of teachers
day) or I just haven’t been motivated to write at all. I have been rather lethargic
of late…school is fine, but has been exhausting, and I often am in bed by 9:30
(and quite honestly, the last 45 minutes of that is waiting for the girls in
the hostel to go to sleep first). It’s a terribly embarrassingly early time to
go to sleep, especially in Bhutan where people are night owls, but I just can’t
help it most of the time these days. I admit I also am not getting much rest on
Sundays as I have been gone for many of the past few weekends to go visit the
lovely Noorin in Kuru which is only 2-3 hours away- absolutely nothing by
Bhutan standards.
And more than lethargy, my failure to write has also come
from what I like to term mental immersion. We have been here 3 and a half
months or so…and I consider myself used to the culture and environment. Not an
expert on knowledge or practice, but definitely used to it. The stuff that
would amaze me (both in good and bad ways) 2 months ago is just routine now.
Some stuff is still perplexing and confusing as ever, but those events seems to
occur only a few times a week now, compared to the beginning when they came a
few times in an hour. I have talked to a few friends from home this week, who
all eagerly ask me “How is Bhutan?!” and I find I don’t have much to say,
besides the bland “Oh, its fine. Getting a little warmer. Just finished exams”.
Of course there is so much more to here then that, but at this phase of my
experience, I can’t really see past the normalcy.
Don’t get me wrong, things are good here- really good. I am
happy, have made lovely friends and enjoy teaching and all of that. However, it
also feels really normal. Regular. Ordinary. Not boring, of course, but normal.
Its such a juxtaposition to describe such a special place in those words, but
for the moment I can’t help it- that is what I see and feel. Maybe this will
change soon, or maybe this is a stage in the cultural adaptation process that
no one tells you about. In any case, its certainly not a negative one, but does
shed light on why I have not been particularly vocal about things here lately.
I try to write everything down in my journal…even stuff that seems bland and
normal to me now, because I know to others it doesn’t, and I know when I leave
and look back, everything I considered normal will seem strange and fascinating
once again, like it did in the very beginning.
In counting down the months until my mother comes to visit
(3.5!) I also came to the realization that I am 1/3 into the experience here.
Which is kind of a weird thought; in a way it doesn’t feel that long. I was in
Thimphu last weekend and everyone kept telling me it would feel strange because
I hadn’t been to the city in 3 months. But it didn’t- it felt perfectly normal-
the strange (and wonderful) part was getting to take a hot shower in my
friend’s apartment and sit on a comfortable couch.
So, all in all, things are going along smoothly, and
normally. And nothing seems odd anymore, which is an odd fact in itself. And
the days turn to weeks and the weeks turn to months…I have finally realized a
lot of the time here is gone already, which is unnerving. As my friend told me
as he was about to leave Bhutan after being here for almost 2 years,
“Enjoy the rest
of your time, it will be over before you can say kuzuzangpo-la”
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