I have moved into my apartment here in Thimphu, its a small three bedroom flat.. pretty basic.. still no shower but I do have hot water to my disposal.. now that I bought a bucket!! There are mice and other creatures lurking in the corners, we have no heat and the nights can get unbearable, but really... all that is erased when I open my eyes in the morning, draw back my curtains and examine the landscape that I am calling home.
My apartment in significantly higher than the rest of the city and on a clear day provides the most breathtaking, relaxing, inspiring views... views that allow one to get lost in their surroundings, thoughts and dreams (I catch myself day dreaming a lot here.... grinning ear to ear!)... Getting to this amazing environment is a whole other story though... its a hike to say the least, and despite being here for a few weeks now, I am left without breath or energy when I reach the top... surly I will be able to run a marathon when I return!
Work is going well, I am beginning to get my grounding and understand the ins and outs of this place. They have me splitting my time between the youth research and facilitation projects I am conducting and the Youth Drug Rehabilitation and Outreach Centre.
Next week I will embark on a big adventure and begin a tour through 6 dzongkhags (provinces) to conduct research and find the future site for the Bhutan Youth Development Fund's Gross National Happiness (GNH) Village. Some of these communities are remote and some will require long hours of walking as there are no roads to take us...All these are very different from each other and I am very excited to see the beautiful variety that this tour will show me.
We will end our tour at the end of December in a dzongkhag called Samdrup Jongkhar, a province that borders Assam and offers seemingly never ending expanses of jungle.... hoping to get a view of some wildlife... elephants, tigers, red pandas.. Oh my!
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