Like no library you've ever seen!

Oh I love love love libraries....
and I've never seen one quite like the National Library of Bhutan.
For one thing, I can't begin to read the script (Tibetan, Sanskrit, Dzonka and who knows what else.).

Here's the main entrance----intriguing--want to come in?

Here is one of the many dragons that guard the outside.

The first King welcomes you.

This is what a book looks like. It is a series of many rectangular pages, unbound, with each page stacked on top of the next.  That is probably sanskrit but don't know for sure.  Heaven forbid that you sneeze or knock it over!

Here is a stack of books...each end is color coded to tell you whats inside...don't ask me how they know.  Beats me!  But it sure is colorful.  Better than a card catalogue, huh?

Here is looking down an aisle.  Oh,it's oh so quiet here.  Maybe because I was the only one there.

  

Have you ever seen such a colorful library in your life?  I have no idea what the writing means, but it's pretty.

There is an altar on every floor. Fresh bowls of water and lights are put out every morning.

Do you mean your library doesn't have an altar? 

One of the highlights of the National Library is the 

BIG BOOK.

It is the worlds largest book.  It weighs 130 pounds, costs $15,000 and there are 500 copies in the world. 

I was disappointed that it wasn't open as I have read that the pictures of the Himalayas and Bhutan are stunning.  

I bet Texas has one!

So there you have it---one pretty stunning library.  In an adjacent building, there is a very small section of "foreign" titles.  The English section is mostly thrillers and John Grisham!

Finally, a picture of the RTC campus taken just yesterday after a rain.  It was taken by a professional photographer, neighbor and friend(hence the logo)...I promise, this is NOT photoshopped.  

It looks like I live in the Magic Kingdom---and in some ways, that's true.

Heartfelt wishes and hugs from Dragon Land!

May you be happy and well.

A day in the Life.....

Woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb across my head.  Found my way up to my office, 150 yards away, and drank a cup.  From the window I looked north towards Tibet, maybe 50 miles away, and fell into a dream….  I can see peaks about 16,000 feet high (hardly worth looking at!) and today there is snow on them.  Is winter starting already?  When was summer?  The peaks near the border are 24,000 feet, permanently snowcapped of course, but they’re not out today.  Looking down from there is the big Buddha that looks over Thimphu, which is itself out of sight behind a ridge.  Further down is a sleeping black dog.  On other days this dog has accompanied me on hikes.  Last hike was to a monastery, where this dog was treated pretty badly by the other dogs.  You think junkyard dogs are tough?  You should see Bhutanese monastery dogs.  They are getting all their aggression out before becoming humans in their next lives.  Not petting these dogs is the hardest thing Phyllis and I have to do on campus.  If you pet them they wind up sleeping with their backs on your front door, protecting you from evil spirits, and gifting you with fleas.

At 8:30 my intern, Yeshi, arrives.  She just graduated in computer applications and she is very conservative (this does not mean right wing, it means she’s religious, dresses in traditional clothing, is very soft spoken, in general, holds classical Bhutanese values).  She’s also very nice, has a good sense of humor (a Bhutanese trait), and most important to me, she’s very smart and can work independently.  She sees a moribund insect on the floor and carefully picks it up and puts it out on the window sill.  People here are not big on hellos and goodbyes – in general, if they have nothing to say, they don’t say it.  She gets guidance for me, and at the end of the day, produces something worthwhile.  Already she’s written software to keep track of applicants for faculty positions, and has almost finished a web site students can use to see how they’re doing in current classes, as well as a history of their grades in past classes.  You can see a link to what she's written at http://results.rtc.bt  You can login as Yeshi (enrollment number is 100728 and date of birth 010191.)  Note the date of birth?  That's a story in itself -- half of all Bhutanese are born on 1/1.

from left to right me; Tshering Wangchuk,  head of IT; and Yeshi

But this is about what I do, apart from supervising my intern.  I write software, teach faculty members how to use it, and very importantly, train my colleagues in the skills required to maintain it after I’ve gone.  That has the great side effect of making them more employable at more interesting jobs.  There are not that many people who who can train them, and they soak it up like sponges.  They’re always asking me to teach more advanced stuff.   I also gave a lecture on database design to computer students, and I’m going to do one on the art of  statistics (I know most of you think that’s a contradiction in terms.)  It’s easy to make a difference here – before I came everything was done manually, big errors were made, and things that took weeks now take minutes.  Not that anyone is in a big hurry, of course. Phyllis and I love it here, and my bosses seems to like us, so we just decided to stay for another 6 months, through next July.

In the old days everyone knew what a blacksmith did, what a farmer did, what a miller did.  What does a systems analyst do?  What does a software developer do?  It’s alienating, I think, when you don’t understand what others do for a living, or how everyday gadgets work.  My work involves long interviews with people asking what they want my software to do.  This gives me a great opportunity to meet them, which along with the great views, is why we’re here.  It’s fun to contribute to Gross National Happiness by making the drudge part of their work (entering students’ grades) a little less burdensome. 

So here in a nutshell is what I do when I’m not looking out the window at the Himalayas -- I’m looking at one of  2 monitors.  On one I look at a design interface and get to make it pretty.  Such an interface is below (you can see why I flunked art).  The teachers enter the marks for each student and the software calculates the percentages, which is something few of the faculty can do accurately on their own.

Great names, eh?

On the other monitor I write the computer code that makes this work.  It looks like this:

    'make sure all dates are entered

    If DoesUndatedAssessmentExist(.ClassNum) = True Then

        MessageBox "You can't finalize this module because there are assessments without dates!"

        Exit Sub

    End If

    If MsgBox("Are you sure you want to finalize this module (" & .txtSubjectName & ") ?  All     your assessments must be complete.  You will not " & _

            "be able to change anything about the module, including grades, once it is finalized!", _

            vbOKCancel + vbQuestion + vbDefaultButton2)  <>  vbOK Then Exit Sub

    'got to here, so

    sql = "exec procFinalizeClass " & .ClassNum

    CurrentProject.Connection.Execute sql, lngRecords, adCmdText

This is very standard stuff – verifying the teacher entered the data as she should, and if so, changing data.  But I love it!  The one line  "exec procFinalizeClass " & .ClassNum, runs code which takes a millisecond and which if done manually would take the better part of a day.

All in all it’s a nice combination of the graphical/artsy and analytical.  And then it all fits in with leisure time and going for walks.  I chat with students, with Bhutanese, Indian, and Western faculty and staff, and come home to Phyllis.  Who could complain?

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's off to work I go!

I realize I have been telling you I would write about our work lives---but hey, work gets in the way!
Some of you have asked---so what do you do when you're not exploring monasteries, scaring yaks or eating chillies (Rick)?  I am not a complete lay-about.  The lovely thing about volunteer work is that I pretty much decide what I want to do and when.  I highly recommend it.  Only problem is that it doesn't help with your bank account---or at least your monetary bank account.  My experience and joy bank account are overflowing.
I have numerous places where I show up and do my thing.  In this case, my thing is teaching women/girls about their bodies. I have also branched out into smoking cessation and alcohol issues (both big problems in Bhutan).  Here's a synopsis:

1.  I am on my second series of having 8 to 10 RTC senior women come to the apt., where we sit around to discuss menstruation issues and sex.  Some of the interesting thoughts and questions:
  "I thought my first period was the result of getting a leech in my vagina"  (amazingly, menstruation is rarely discussed between mother and daughter)
  " If a girl has sex before her first period, is she still a virgin?"
  " Ewww...how can you ever put that in your vagina?" This in reference to a tampon.  I have yet to meet a Bhutanese woman who uses tampons, although they have all heard about them, but never seen one. You can get them in pharmacies, mostly there for western tourists.

2.  My favorite gig has been a series of 9 sessions I did for the women in a poor area of Thimphu.  These are illiterate women but their curiosity is boundless and we had many good laughs together.  I learned many things from them:  you can get a urinary track infection from sitting on a cold floor, eggplant is a bad thing to eat if you are pregnant or breast feeding, babies are given ara (the local moonshine) and butter at birth, some diseases are caused by bad spirits, having sex during pregnancy will make the baby have whiter skin.  These are common beliefs and it was always a challenge for me to decide how to address them.  For the most part, they understand that  many of their ideas are superstitious, and really, they are open to other explanations. I had TWO translators.  I would say a sentence of about 10 words, and they would go on for a few minutes---who knows exactly what they were saying!!  Still, we laughed---a lot. Whether they were laughing WITH me or AT me doesn't matter--it was all fun.

Me, teetering on the cultural bridge!

Here is the "graduating class"---they gave me a wonderful farewell party, cake and all.  I still go back on occasion and they all call out to me "Madame Phyllis!"  This was my favorite group to teach.

 I have learned to never count  on having power...

3.  You may recall a previous musing I did on Zhiwa Ling, a 5 star resort in Paro.  I have been there twice to teach the staff, second time with men and women.  Rick comes along and when I am not teaching, we enjoy the benefits of the resort (read FOOD)..and boy, do we enjoy it!

 Teaching in the meditation room....

The smoking cessation class...
whoa...power point!









4.  Art here is very traditional---taught a certain way and always religious in nature.  BUT, there is a great organization here called VAST (Voluntary Artist Studio Thimphu) which has free Sat workshops for kids.  I told a story there and the kids drew it---great fun for all of us. There is limited art in schools.

The story tance happens in any culture...

5.  Yes, there's more!  I have an Aussie friend who volunteers as a teacher in a lower secondary school (middle school). He asked me to teach the teachers how to teach the girls about menstruation... well,we got to covering a lot else, to many giggles, but anyway, they enjoyed it as much as I did.  Afterward, there was dancing and lunch (Don't you dance before lunch?)  The aged Chillip  (me) had to show them a move or two...and they taught me a few Bhutanese dances, which are very gentle and very modest.

 
Shaking our booties!

As Rick always says, our job as foreigners is to entertain the locals. Just doing my job!


Oh, and when I'm free, I tell stories at the small, underfunded local library.  We move!

One last gig---two nights in the Amankora, Bhutan's 5 star resort that starts at $900/night per person!

I managed to talk them into letting me do inservices for their female staff---but only if I could stay, eat and   bring along my hubby and "driver".  I have now taught in three of the 5 Aman resorts here---the rooms are huge, the food is exquisite and the bathtub alone could hold three people.  I would never pay to stay here (it's outrageous, the average Bhutanese salary for three months to stay one night)---but in exchange for two hours work?  Yep, I can do that.  

We do a lot of floor sitting in Bhutan.
The female staff here wear the full kira which is more traditional.

Not a bad view from our room.....

 This kind of open and large bathroom seems to be all the rage in fancy high end hotels...but personally, I don't get it...who wants to take a bath in such a public setting?  But I felt obligated to try it---so, that night, I lit a candle and bathed in candle light, which was quite nice really.  But still....

The "driver" in our room that is as big as our apartment in Thimphu!

The next morning, we joined friends to go white water rafting on the ONLY river in Bhutan where you can raft (many believe that rafting offends the river spirits--that plus most Bhutanese can't swim and are afraid of the water.) I might tell you more about that later...

Next in the Musings will be one from Rick describing what he does here.  I told him not to get too geeky, but as you know, it's hard to tell Rick anything. : )  He enjoys his work here, as do I.  That joy is a big part of why we want to extend our stay here by a few more months.  Now, does it make more sense?

LOVE TO ALL.

                                                                            

MUSING # 15: PRAYER FLAGS

Prayer flags are ubiquitous in Bhutan...I mean they are everywhere!  Most of this country is inaccessible anyway---but just when you think NO one could possibly get to that particular ridge, you see a stand of prayer flags.  If you ask your Bhutanese friend how did anyone ever get up there, the answer is as likely to be "on the wings of a tiger" ..or "people live on that ridge, a three day walk from here." Duh.  In Tibet, the tradition of hanging prayer flags began more than 2000 years ago.  While banners were originally made for battles, the native people began making them to represent their native shamanistic religion Bon.  Buddhism came to Tibet in the 7th century and brought with it ideals of compassion and peace.  Early flags contained both Buddhist prayers and pictures of the fierce Bon gods that were believed to protect the Buddha.  In the next 200 years, Buddhist monks began to print mantras and symbols on the flags as blessings to be sent out to the world with each breeze.  They use the 5 colors of the elements:
Blue: sky/peace, White:air/clouds, Red: fire, Green: water and Yellow: earth.

So, how does this work?  According to Tibetan tradition, prayer flags imprinted with sacred images and mantras transmit healing energy into the world through the power of the wind.  They believe that prayer flags empowered by mantras affect the natural elemental forces on a subtle level, beyond ordinary human perception.  As they fly in the wind, the flags exert a protective, balancing influence on the environment and generate benefits for all sentient beings.  That, and it makes every picture you take of them absolutely beautiful.

We've all seen them and wondered...what is all this writing? and the figures?
In most prayer flags the central character is called The Wind Horse, who carries the blessings on the wind.
In Bhutan, the people recently elected a brand new government whose symbol is the Wind Horse (the opposition had black necked cranes as their symbol, another party had a rhododendron flower)  Makes me wonder, what if the republicans or democrats had selected a teddy bear---or a tulip as their symbol--or maybe a turkey?  The world might be a different place!  But I digress...again.

 On the four corners of the flag are the four sacred animals: the garuda, dragon, tiger and snow lion, representing the four virtues of wisdom, strength, confidence and joy.  I have personally adopted the snow lion as my protective animal, and I must admit, he brings me great joy!  These 4 animals are painted on most of the buildings here--always in the same way, using the same colors.  They are beautiful and fierce.

Like everything else here, there are protocols for hanging prayer flags...can't just do it willy nilly, silly!  First, don't let it touch the ground.  Second, you do not remove the old flags, even though they are faded and shredded---the idea being that the threads eventually go out into the world. Third, you must pick an auspicious day, like say months one, four, six and nine; months which commemorate the Buddha's miracles. Tibetan Buddhists believe that the full moon and the new moon are particularly auspicious days to hang the flags.  Eclipses are even better--in fact, karma increases by 100 million if you hang your flags during a solar eclipse and 7 million if during a lunar eclipse.  So, do some planning!

I remind you that Tibetan Buddhism differs from the Buddhism as practiced in the West.  I don't think it matters a whole lot when you hang your flags in the West --the idea is that you do it with good intent---and really, that's the bottom line for living anyway, isn't it?

But enough words....let me show you some pictures of prayer flags I have taken here.  I am just SURE that their good wishes do travel virtually---and so imagine yourself in fresh air, surrounding by mountains and let that snow lion into your heart...

I found this shrine on a small dirt road, on the way to who knows where.  I learned later that the shrine was built here because yak herders used to kill their yaks here.  The Buddha and the prayer flags are here to cleanse this site.

To the right is the other kind of prayer flag--the vertical one.  They are usually quite long and are often white. These are the ones you see very high on the
mountain ridge and wonder how in the hell did anyone get there??

All bridges are covered in flags---and goodness knows, bridges here need all the help they can get!  This one is called the iron bridge--the actual links were forged hundreds of years ago.  There is a parallel bridge for those faint of heart.  Guess which one we used...

 This is one of the first pictures I took in Bhutan, from our trip here last fall.  This is a small border town (Samdrup Jongkhar) which is low and tropical.  We crossed from the chaos of India into the relative peacefulness of Bhutan.  Our sighs were audible.
The sun is rising on our first day in Bhutan...

Almost looks like laundry, hum?

View of where I live: Royal Thimphu College!

Can you feel the blessings in the wind?











I want to end with one of the most beautiful pictures I have ever seen---taken by my friend and photographer extraordinaire:  Deb Hall.  I'd be thrilled if I took just one picture this good!