Our Bhutts are back in Bhutan!

It felt like coming home again---our second home, here in Himalayas.

The Big Buddha and the Himalayas--not bad!

Just a few reminders to get you back in the setting:

The tower just outside our window.

Rick is doing data base development and I am a volunteer health 

educator.

But to bring you up to date--two recent events that  give you an idea of what it's like to live in The Kingdom (as we affectionately call it here):
Teacher Appreciation Day:
Do you know another country that sets aside a day to appreciate teachers?  Here is how it looked at Royal Thimphu College, where we live.

Singing the school song...in Dzongkha
(needless to say, we mumbled)

Traditional dancing--both men and women are very graceful with beautiful flowing hand movements.
They are wearing their traditional dress, which is required for every public building in the country.

      Plus the modern stuff , too.
Bollywood is also big but done very modestly.              
                 

 And this is what the students gave to the college--
a statue of the Buddha of Compassion.
Can you imagine YOUR college doing that?















Second lovely event:
I was invited to attend the Founding Day ceremony at a small traditional art school where I had been to teach (not art!  No, I taught the menstrual cycle!)  At all such affairs there is much speechifying, hot food (and I mean HOT) and always dancing, traditional as well as religious.   Just imagine this with cymbals and those loooong horns as accompaniment. It is otherworldly.

The skeleton dance. The dancers face is wrapped in red.

The dancer and the cymbal player.

 These masks are made of wood and are incredibly heavy.
 The drums are beaten with a curved stick.

Two other lovely events occurred:

Jackie and Paul visit.  Here is their picture in front of the Punakha monastery, at the confluence of two rivers.

 A monk climbing the stairs at the Punakha monastery.

The jacaranda tress could not have been more lovely.

And last but not least, Rick turned 63.  We celebrated with a booze up pot luck.  Rick was presented with a kata (ceremonial scarf) by a Bhutanese friend Kuenzang. The two roses on either side of Rick are his new mentees.  They are both named Sonam Wangmo.  That is not so unusual here, in a country where there are about 20 names in total, used for both first and last.

One last thing:  don't forget to LOVE YOUR DOG.

Next Musing will be about our upcoming 6 day trip to NEPAL!  Stay tuned.....

Melting in Thailand

I have written to you about Bangkok before--the Bangkok of ritzy malls that sell Maseratis, and  the Bangkok of  106-foot reclining Buddhas. (see the attachment in my email if you want to read that again).
THIS Bangkok is the Bangkok of fingernails and condoms.

First, fingernails:
Here is a picture of my taxi driver:

How can he drive with those nails?
And yes, they are REAL.

And here is a picture of a beautiful Thai dancer:

No,they're not real--but isn't she beautiful?

And now the condoms:

My main reason for making a stop in chaotic Bangkok was to see a dentist.  I had 2 days between treatments, so went to Pattaya, a town downriver from Bangkok, along the bay, to see my friend Len, an American expat who has lived there for decades.  Thank God for Len, as I would not have survived the traffic, or the exhausting heat without him.  For dinner, we went to a Restaurant called "Cabbages and Condoms".  Catchy name, no?

The man who runs it has been instrumental in implementing family planning in Thailand.  He chose this name for two reasons I could see:  Have fewer kids and you can plant more cabbages....OR  condoms should be as common as cabbages.  Either way, the place is decorated in them (condoms, not cabbages!).  Here are a few of the classier models:

An idea for next Halloween!
Yes, That is Santa Condom on the left.

But it wasn't all frivolity.  We also went to The Sanctuary of Truth--and this place is even harder to describe than mannequins dressed in condoms.  Check out: http://www.sanctuaryoftruth.com/

Here's what they say:   With in this complex, visitors will understand Ancient Life, Human Responsibility, Basic Thought, Cycle of living, Life Relationship with Universe and Common Goal of Life toward Utopia.

Wow! and I was there!  As Len said, Notre Dame has nothing on this.

The inside is covered with wooden carvings.  They have been working on this place for three generations.

Just to give you an idea:

Larger than life elephants

Plus, real elephants and puppets: 

Some of you may know that Pattaya is known throughout Thailand as the center for sex tourism.  It is full of bars, trans shows,and who-knows what.  Len organizes a program that gets  free condoms to hotels and bars.  I commend his work.  He told me that the only place for anonymous HIV testing is an hour from town, which makes no sense. When Len took me to the bus station he mentioned that I must be the only person to come to Pattaya and not see any of the seamy parts.  OK with me, I replied.  Bangkok is known as a city with a brothel; Pattaya is known as a brothel with a city.  I saw the city. 

Change of subject:

Curious about the dentist?

Bangkok is a health care mecca...beautiful hospitals (complete with Starbucks) and staff trained in the US.

I know people who have gotten entire hip replacements, plus they get to recover on a Thai beach.

My crown turned out to fit perfectly.  AND the price tag was 60% of what it would have cost me in the US (Take note American dentists!).  I could actually send you a picture of the crown...but not to worry, I will spare you that. 

Next stop:  The Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon and into the arms of Rick Berg!  Stay tuned....

Toilets and Tourists

When I found myself giggling in the bathroom at Tokyo International Airport, I thought I must be barmy from sleep deprivation.  No, in fact, it was the one page of instructions on how to use the toilet that had me in stitches.  One complete page!  And what astonished me was that it needed a full page. I've never seen so many gizmos and buttons.

First off, you have to decide which of the two sprays you want to use…and then you set the temperature.  It doesn't end there. You can press a button that will make the sound of a toilet flushing (to mask embarrassing sounds, I guess). And, if needed ... the perfume spray.   And yes, before you ask, I punched all the buttons.  No pictures-- I was too jet lagged to even think of it.

But still the Japanese men have not figured out how to put the seat down.  Now that would really impress me.

Three Days in Singapore:  Sometimes known as a “fine” city: there are fines for spitting, chewing gum, unnatural sex acts (?) , not flushing the toilet etc etc.  I like to think of myself as a traveler but in Singapore I was simply a Tourist, capital T.  While I love the rural nature of Bhutan and NM,  I also enjoy an occasional trip to The Big Urban.   96% of Singaporeans live in high-rises---and yet green space abounds, even if hemmed in on all sides by traffic. Public transportation is great, easy, and better than anything I've seen in the US.  In fact, the whole place is shinier, cleaner and better managed than any city in the US.  Everything works.  All this efficiency comes at a price, of course.  It is horrendously expensive to live here.  A lovely NZ friend hosted me in her small but efficient apartment in a gorgeous high rise, amid many other high rises.  Cost of this small apartment?  Well over a million.  She rents for $900….a week.  Like many other expats here, her job at an International School pays for her apt.  But here is the POOL:

Singapore is also reputed to be the safest city in the world, but Mary thinks that the police just simply don't do the paperwork on crimes.  Still, places are well lighted and I felt safe wandering around on my own. In fact, I wandered right into the botanic garden, smack in the middle of Singapore----amid orchids and ginger plants, giant lily pads and soft warm tropical rain.  Ahh, the tropics—the smells, the moisture and the rain. Heaven.  But don't get me wrong:  air conditioning is also heaven. To say it is hot and humid here is an understatement. 

OK-only one orchid picture, although I could show you a hundred:

Here is the mother of all lily pads!
Three frogs could croak on this one!

The architecture is stunning.  One has to continually look UP.  Here are just a few examples:

Gardens by the Bay: 2 huge enclosed domes and power "trees" .
These are solar collectors! 

An indoor 8 story waterfall.
Both domes are completely air-conditioned.

One can walk among the power trees on a skyway.
Of course, it's 100 degrees out.

The other domed garden was featuring tulips.

I adore this building!  Looks like three towers supporting a cruise ship!

 But what's a trip to Singapore without a Singapore Sling at Raffles.  So, here's proof that I was there.  And that yummy pink drink in my hand?  Fork out $27 and you can have one, too!

But for all its glitz, designer shops and rampant consumerism, clean, shiny bright Singapore is a place without a soul--unless you worship King Konsumer.  This place is about money: what you can buy with it and what you can build with it.  Still, clean and functioning is worth something, for sure.

One last observation:  on every crowded metro ride, some young person gave up their seat for me.  Not sure how I feel about that--- (again, no one else has grey hair here, not even the 100 year-old wheelchair ladies), but I can think about that later—for the time being my feet were oh so grateful.  Besides I have to conserve my energy for BANGKOK---coming next.