Arrival

Mina, the driver for BCF, picked me up around 8:30 this morning and we made the windy hour-long drive to Paro. As he told me stories of his life – becoming a monk at age 14, then quitting the monk-hood 15 years later to get married, only to have his wife leave him and their three young children for the shiny prospects of America – I tried hard not to let the nausea overcome me. Sitting in the front seat made me acutely aware of every curve but I focused on Mina’s words and the destination ahead – the airport.

When we got to there, Mina got us two ‘Guest’ passes in order for us to wait inside. Scott’s flight was half an hour late and it was nice to be inside; the day’s sun had yet to warm everything up. Mina and I drank tea and talked more. When asked what he would normally be doing on a Saturday if he weren’t working, Mina replied, “I go to the market with my family to buy vegetables and I wash my clothes.” Simple. Mina has since remarried and had a fourth child with his second wife. Despite everything he’s been through, Mina says he was never sad, that there was never any reason to be – his first wife had wanted to go and that was that. His only concern had been for the kids, especially their youngest who was only one at the time. It’s hard for me to imagine, in a situation like that, not being angry, sad, hurt. But then again, I’ve never been a monk.

Instead of the scheduled 9:30 am time, the Druk Air flight from Bangkok touched down in Paro a few minutes after ten. Mina and I stood by the large glass window watching the plane taxi and finally stop, the staircase being driven over, a Druk Air employee walking up to the plane making sure everything was okay and laying down a welcome mat. Finally, the doors opened and I watched expectedly as each passenger stepped out. I thought Scott would exit sooner but he must have needed time getting everything together because the majority of the passengers had come out before he emerged – out of the plane and into the sunlight of Bhutan.