Weekends can be precious, in more ways than
one. Given that a standard weekend
for a teacher in Bhutan does not start until lunch time on Saturday (assuming
no school related activities have been scheduled for the Saturday afternoon)
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| My water supply is not always clean... |
I generally try to complete domestic chores
on Saturday afternoon, after cooking something a bit decadent for lunch (potato
chips featured from time to time, assuming I could buy potatoes, and I manage
some good crisp not-too-oily chips on occasions)
Yesterday was a very satisfying Saturday afternoon. The water stayed
running until I had finished my chores and had enjoyed my cold shower. The hot
sun and stiff breeze dried my hand washed bed linen in good time and I had an
invitation from my generous neighbour Sithar to an afternoon momo feast – she
and other neighbours had spent a few hours chopping the filling, making the
dough, rolling out small circles and folding the momo. These steamed dumplings
are one of my favourite foods.
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| Momo - a real favourite |
Washing my towel is and getting it dry is
an even bigger challenge. I
sprinkle with soap powder and pour boiling water onto it. When it has cooled a little, I take the
scrubbing brush and bar soap and scrub the grubby bits. Then rinsing takes forever – at least 3
rinses (hoping that the water supply is adequate and clean, otherwise I have to
use what I have stored in buckets – if the water supply is not running, the
rinse water is kept for flushing the toilet)
As usual, I have marking to do – class 7
test papers this weekend – 65 of them - and decide that I will allocate myself
“treats” after completing a certain quantity of marking. The first of these is breakfast! Then a little bit of gardening in my
vegetable patch, going to the shop, going for a walk….
Bonus at the shop – there are
vegetables. Tree tomatoes – the
first time I have eaten these, they are tart, but tasty so I buy some and there
is also something that I could not identify (subsequently found out they were
chokos – very high in vitamin C) and I was given some with a promise that more
would be bought for me within a few days.
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| Chokos - a nice change and good for me |
I hear chanting and singing coming closer
to my house, and peeping out the window see a procession of school staff and
other public servants, formally dressed in national dress. I leave my house to inquire about the
occasion and am told they are collecting for the health fund. I am not totally sure exactly what this
means – whether it is for the medicines that are dispensed by the school to the
students, or to supplement the supply from the Basic Health Unit to the
community.
The students are given de-worming tablets
from time to time and the girls (and under 12 boys) are given weekly iron
tablets. Their reaction to these
is characteristically mixed. I
send a student to fill a bottle with water to assist those (ie most) who need
water to swallow their tablets, but some are reluctant and psych themselves up
so badly that they can scarcely swallow the tablet. It takes much gentle cajoling mixed with a stern approach and
watching the taking of the tablets to get some to comply. Their diet is quite deficient in iron,
so the tablets are rather necessary.
The boys are generally ready to tell tales if the tablets are being
secreted away or spat out afterwards.
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| Picking lentils clean... |
I continue with my routine of interspersing
marking with breaks for other tasks, including preparing dhal – one of my main
sources of protein. First though,
I need to pick my lentils clean.
Stones, sticks and assorted other foreign bodies are mixed with the
lentils so time is needed to clean the lentils before cooking, if I do not want
to risk breaking a tooth.
Roadworks are in progress, 7 days a week,
and the blasts from the dynamite (locally referred to as bombs) echo
wonderfully across the valley.
When this happens at school, it generally elicits startled responses
from students. Sometimes it is so
loud it makes me jump. In a
country geared towards emergency response to natural disasters such as
earthquake and landslide, it is small wonder that some are rather jumpy.
It is still hot in Kheni during the day,
with temperatures in the high 20s and the overnight low is still above 15. This contrasts strongly with the
complaints I am hearing from colleague Fraser in Dagana who is starting to feel
very cold.
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| twising string to make rope |
I think I have previously mentioned the
need for a great degree of self sufficiency in the villages, and am diverted
from my marking by the activities of my landlord beneath my window. He is cutting narrow strips of wood
from wider planks, using a handsaw, and he and his wife are twisting together strands
of string to make a length of rope.
And there is the ongoing chanting of the
man who is praying in the alter room attached to my house, but not accessible
or used by me. This room is
separated from my living room with very thin walls, so all sounds come straight
through. This man has been coming
daily to pray for around 2 weeks now.
Sometimes he is alone, sometimes with another man.
Just another Sunday…
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