I address this topic in another blog post, but life here has
become very regular and routine through my eyes, and I am afraid to say, when
people ask how Bhutan is, I don’t have much of a response anymore besides “Oh,
good. Busy. It’s fun”.
However, I am somewhat aware that although life here has
become regular and routine to me, it is not to my friends and family at home.
So, I thought I would give a detailed recounting of a regular day (15 May
2012).
The students are awoken at 5am, but I normally get up around
7. I start my water boiler, brush my teeth, and then put on my kira. I wear 1
kira a week, normally over a tee-shirt and shorts (was long pants or leggings
until about a week ago)- and although we use the term kira for the whole
outfit, its actually 3 pieces, a blouse called a wonju, a long skirt that’s the
kira, and a jacket to cover the wonju and the top of the kira that is called a
tego. When I am not wearing it, I keep it folded on a chair (you can see this
week I have a black wonju, green tego, and black and blue kira. This one is
wool, and is very, very warm, which is perfect for Gasa). By the time I’m
dressed, my water is boiled, and I make a cup of coffee. Depending on whether I
have leftover curry, I will either have rice or oatmeal for breakfast. I eat my
breakfast and read a book, or look through the Bhutanese papers for articles
for my students to study.
My room
I walk to the academic block around 8am, and sign in, and
then assembly is at 8:15. It begins with mindfulness, prayer, and then the
national anthem. Next there will be some student speeches, today there were 2
on the topic of happiness, one was in English and one was in Dzongkha. Next the
Teacher on Duty conducts the rest of assembly, reading announcements (today
there was a reminder to the house captains to submit the names of the students
who will be participating in the extemporaneous speech competition). Lastly
there is a daily pledge (Tuesday’s pledge is about empathy and compassion) and
then the students sing a traditional song.
I always have 1st period with my homeroom, which
is class 7b. Because I am their class teacher (as opposed to just their subject
teacher) I have to take their attendance, and do other homeroom like duties.
Today they had news corner where I read them an article from the newspaper and
they identify the 5Ws, plus define new vocabulary.
Interval is the 15 minute break in between 3rd
and 4th period, and it is kind of like a mini recess for the
students, who can leave their classroom and go talk and play with their friends.
The teachers take tea, and momos, which are made by our wonderful cooks in the
mess hall. It is, without a doubt, the highlight of most days. I mean, its naja
and momos, and not a lot can top those two things J
After interval I taught Class 6, and we are studying a story
called “Flood Waters” about a family who is evacuating their home due to the
flooding of the Mississippi river. We made lists of what we would save from our
homes if a flood came. Most times, I read them the story, and explain each paragraph
in detail, since a lot of the vocabulary is very hard for them, and its not
feasible to learn 50-60 new words for a 3 page story in the 2 weeks we have
allotted to study it. We also spend time making story maps, and identifying the
different features of a short story, since that is what they are tested on.
After 4th period is lunch, and I go home, and
make rice and curry. Today I made potato and cheese curry with chilis and
tomatoes as well. I will read a book, or watch some tv on my computer. Tuesdays
are lucky days for me, and I don’t have class in the afternoon.
My lovely kitchen!
Today I was a
substitute for a teacher who was out of station, so I subbed in 7B. I took the
free time I did have to grade assignments from my class 8, plan lessons for the
next day, and to consolidate grade results for 7B from the quarterly exams.
After 8th period ends, the students have afternoon prayer, and I
went home, and took a bucket bath.
This evening I plan to do some laundry, finish reading The
Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho, and call the lovely Reidi, who is another
western teacher working in Bhutan. Sometimes a go down to visit my class at
evening study and play go fish with them (it helps them pose English
questions). Other times I go on walks with some of the other women teachers, or
hang out with Zam and watch movies. I’m normally exhausted by the end of each
day and end up going to bed no later then 10 or 10:30.
That’s my life in a nutshell.
My lovely shelf/windowsill with all of my books and calendar and lamp. its cozy :)
My scary water heater as I heat water for doing laundry
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