Wednesday
It's a full day of conversation and learning. Inside. Outside our windows, the wind blows between valleys and ruffles the treetops. Every evening I come back to my room chilled, despite long sleeves, thick trousers, socks, and a fleece sweater. The meeting room is kept cold, A participant sneezes, sniffles, and coughs across the table for two days -
will I be so lucky? My body receives his gift, as feared. Since COVID, I have no resistance to respiratory bugs. By Thursday, the cold takes hold and I'm sick through the weekend. (I pull on a fresh mask on each flight and for the shuttle bus to home. No one wants this.)
The company is wonderful. The people are a handsome mix of Himalayan heritages. Most speak English, making it easy to get around.
I'm curious about how leaders and emerging leaders view themselves and their country. Many things catch my eye. A thin white scarf is given to arrivals.
Children wear uniforms to school. Adults wear uniforms to work connected to the government or tourism. My students show up in beautifully wrapped fabrics over long-sleeved shirts or blouses. The outfit combinations are creative.
Knee-length skirts are worn only by men. A front "pocket" fold above their waist swallows their wallet, phone, and whatever else they carry. The style emerged after wars with Tibet: it was difficult to distinguish similarly-dressed warriors, so Bhutan cut their uniforms short. Men wear over-the-knee black socks to keep warm, winter and summer.
You know which restroom to enter - even without labels - as women's traditional wear is long skirts while men wear short ones.
We have good mid-morning snacks - usually some meat and some potato. I try at least one of each thing - unless someone else brings it over. Then the snack plate is FULL.
Lunch often includes fruit, a soup, and several savory dishes along with rice. The flavors are wonderful to the taste. The first day I am served a bland (Western) chicken and rice. Apparently foreigners don't like spices? I see what the others have on their plates, and from then on request the local menu - spicy (medium hot), savory, hearty, with uniquely combined seasonings. SOOO good.
Dogs are everywhere - they roam the streets or lie around on the sidewalks. At night, they wake, barking and howling in packs.
This is my favorite view from the hotel room. I wake to this and draw the black-out curtains across it in the evening. At 23o north latitude, June daylight lasts from 5 AM to 7 PM. Streets wind beside the rivers, busy enough but without traffic jams. Bhutan's population is under 790,000 people.
Thursday
My written evaluations start before 4 AM. For great improvement, the group needs constant feedback and edits. It's an exhausting schedule this week, cramming 10 days of information into 5. By 4 PM I am almost incoherent, especially since the week began with an overnight trip. We're making progress and learning together. Hurrah.
We eat GOOD food. I like the flavor combinations. Cardamom is a common spice and they have good cucumber salads.We eat plenty during the day, even without supper.
It's raining today and the splash of cars driving by sounds comforting. I'll be grading early so better get to sleep early as well. Kirsten and I call.
Friday
It's a rough night with 4 hours of sleep - too much caffeine during the sessions, maybe? I grade as much as I can before a 7 AM breakfast. The group meets 7:30 until 1 PM when we take a group photo. I am gifted a beautiful tote and a 3D depiction of Tiger Nest. (I enjoyed the hike up there last time I was here.)
We enjoy lunch at a Chinese hot-pot restaurant. Yummy. When the meat runs out at our friends' table next to us, the two women come to over and fish through our soup for the good stuff.
A parking attendant writes the time on a blue slip of paper and places it on the windshield as cars park. When the driver returns, payment is an online transfer to the attendant listed on the slip.
We browse a PR market with local vendor. I find a mint tea and chili spice.
The nursery's flowers are mostly imported from China.
There are several new hydrangeas varieties I haven't seen before.
The memento I'm looking for this visit is a few yards of traditional fabric. We pass a craft booth with a $100 woven table runner - that's not it! Everyone is wearing this cloth so there must be many shops that sell the bolts.
At a friend's place, we tour the huge community center under construction. Last time I was here, we walked on a gravel drive to this plot. There was only forest on both sides. Now, a neighborhood of politicians, influencers, and professionals has sprung up all around. Quite amazing what happens in 7 years!
I pull up the "before" pictures and send them as reminders of how far the project has come. We take current "during" photos of the construction. Mrs. N is the designer - and the place is stunning. Her garden nursery spreads across the lot next door.
I'm back to my room before 7 PM, too late for supper again, but in time for a hot shower to warm my icy skin. I pour hot water into my empty water bottles to warm the sheets before I crawl in.
Saturday
I especially like the local chickpea curry with flatbreads. After breakfast at 9 AM, DrT and I chat until we hit the road to the airport around 10:30.
Where can I find that piece of beautiful weaving? That's been my only requested shopping. It is decided that we've run out of time. Can the fabric wait until W teaches in Bhutan? Surely he won't mind bringing it for me? Didn't I take pictures of fabric stacks when I visited 7 years ago? (Yes, I did - I have one photo.) I'm encouraged to show W the pattern/s I like in the picture. Hopefully he'll choose something similar. (Oh boy. Not a chance. I have to let that one wish go.)
We pass rivers and rice fields nestled in deep valleys.
Homegrown rice is costly and accounts for 20-25% of local consumption. The rest of Bhutan's rice is imported from India's northern border.
The airport contains an art galley sponsored by His Majesty. Most paintings depict Tibetan-style demons and Buddhas but some art showcases the Bhutanese love for nature and its rich cultural heritage.
Though the country is small in size and population, its history is rich and ancient. Paint adorns wooden and concrete buildings, and outlines halls and homes in bright warm designs. Most patterns, colors, and shapes - whether in art or architecture - contain religious and cultural significance.
Separation of church and state is a two-centuries-ago American ideal, based on the core value of its founders. As they were wrestling with the country's constitution, it was the era of "Enlightenment" in Europe. Europeans began to reject God's claims as creator. They placed great value what they could understand - that century's science. (Of course, what we know is constantly being rewritten so it's a slippery foundation for truth.) "Enlightenment" reduced faith to was could be observed, rather than seeking to understand - or engaging with - the original force or Creator behind natural laws.
An essential principle of Christianity is that God gives each person free will. Therefore, an underlying motivation for Christian missions is that everyone must be allowed to decide their destiny. Why? If God made humans in his image, they have a capacity for love. His lovingkindness invites us to accept his love and live in his Presence. ... Or he lets us reject him. In the latter case, we must depend on ourselves and on our works - including religious rituals of duty and appeasement.
We haven't observed the separation of religion and daily life in most places we visit. Given that free will is a historically Christian value that shaped the USA, many religions, including agnosticism and atheism, are permitted to flourish there, whereas they rarely have the same freedom elsewhere. It's a fascinating aspect of my research. (My PhD is in Intercultural Studies.)
The airport has the usual lounges with metal chairs placed in rows. But Paro airport also has small rooms along the exterior walls, furnished with sofas and armchairs. I browse the art and read in a "living room" for an hour before our gate is called.
I meet several travelers before we lift off. One young man is on a year's exploration. Chris offers to take my carry-on up the stairs for me. Sure, thank you. I pass along the name of a conservationist here, since he plans to volunteer in sustainability projects while he roams the world. Chris started this year in Italy, wandered through central Asia, and has spent the past few days in Bhutan. His next stop is Thailand. Indonesia is yet to come. Thanks for picking up on him, Sigit!
My flights are on separate itineraries. When I reach Bangkok, I must pass through immigration and customs. Then I get a boarding pass, and check in my luggage before heading out through immigration again.
Thais are very aware of age - and solicitous. The flight attendant asks, (as did the attendant last weekend): "Oh madam, the gate is very far. Are you sure you don't want me to call a shuttle to take you there?" Nope - with so much sitting, I am more than happy to walk a bit.
I find an airport lounge near the gate and eat a healthy snack - luncheon plates only - before boarding. 
Sunday
The flight is uneventful. I'm sneezing into my mask with stabbing headaches and terrible pressure earaches during the take-offs and landings. I doze off for an hour or two. My down jacket is worn backwards with the hood pulled over my face to contain germs so I don't infect fellow travelers. They'll find out next week how successful I was, I guess.
Apparently I'm experimenting with a kosher meal. It arrives in a sealed and certified box. The main course is fish, and I'm not usually a fish-fan. It's ok and informative. I won't waste an airline's efforts or resources again. Thanks for outstanding service, Garuda Indonesia!
We arrive in Jakarta after midnight. I only got to a small grocer next to the hotel (Friday night) where I searched for a jar of chili pickle. I have no personal souvenirs so I whiz through the "Nothing to Declare" line at customs, along with most other travelers. The customs officer scans my electronic form (filled out by W) and waves me through.
I'm chilled through and looking forward to the Jakarta warmth. But wait - it feels cold, not the usual 30+C (85-95oF). Sure enough - it's 25oC (7uoF) Brrr. I keep my undershirt and coat on.
The half-empty shuttle bus leaves at 1:20 AM. The driver stops for a 15-minute break - Indonesians like to pull out for food or toilet breaks every hour or two. even on a short drive. This one is 160 km (100 miles). The initial WAZE estimate - without such stops and weaving through truck traffic - is that the trip should last 2:10 hours.
We arrive in Bandung at 4:15 AM. W meets me with a taxi. I feel loved and cared for, not having to think about calling a cab home. He's put a hot water bottle in the bed, too. AAAAH - my skin gradually warms up as I shower. I fall asleep at 6 AM, too tired to unpack.
Read more:
*Thus said the Lord God, I will gather others to them besides those already gathered. Isaiah 56:8
*Your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts. Jeremiah 15:16
*And this good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24:14
*Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more and went on his way rejoicing. Acts 8:38-39
Moravian Prayer: Eternal God, we pray for our church as a witnessing fellowship for you. As you have always been faithful to us, help us to be faithful to you, shiny as beacons of light in our communities.
Name above all names, may your words bring joy and delight to all who hear and follow them. We pray that we also may be baptized in your name and receive the Holy Spirit to guide us on our journey of faith. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
