Explorations

Our friend Martha gave me an old book by the  essayist and travel writer  Pico Iyer, which included a chapter about his travels in Bhutan. B orn to Indian parents in England, he often tells  stories of his travels to far-flung places around the globe . Though this book,  Falling Off the Map: Some Lonely Places of the World , was written over 30 years ago, I was fascinated that many of his experiences and observations of Bhutan in 1989 were not very different from much of what we went through more than three decades later. I learned some interesting things that added to what  I already knew and had observed about Bhutan: He comments that, "in Bhutan, trips are decidedly more a matter of traveling than arriving.” Still so true! That was  one of the most challenging aspects of living there. Every time I got into a vehicle I knew that the journey could take any form. If nothing else, I would steel myself for likely motion sickness - but also felt vindicated whe...

There are many serious issues to reflect on in this blog. But it is also fun and so interesting to ruminate on the everyday experiences, including what it was like living on campus, and how we kept our physical environment clean and healthy.  We did a good job of figuring out how to feed ourselves, which was no small task, but it turned out our biggest challenge was being able to clean our clothes.   I will never again take my washing machine for granted.  We could hire someone to do our wash for us, as the two other short-term Fulbrighters did. But we don’t mind doing our own laundry, and quite honestly, like having control over what happens to our clothes. Being at the laundry was also a great opportunity to have unplanned meetings with students – I have had some of my best conversations with students, and learned so many things, hanging out by the washing machines. It also gives us a window onto their living conditions.    The campus "laundry facility" serves...