First Impressions

The principal's introduction of me to the students started like this: "Who thinks she's Bhutanese?"

*

The students are cute and endearing, but I can't wait until they become real people to me and now just adorable faces. They only person I can identify is Garab, the boy captain of the school, and Sonam because she is beautiful. She only goes by one name, which is not uncommon in Bhutan.

I catch the students doing the funniest, strangest things, like slowly spitting on their shoes, hitting one another, touching each others' hair - just silly kid stuff. I let them see me see them, and I smile. I guess I shouldn't embarrass them. Sometimes just looking at them embarrasses them. I've been told that Bhutanese children are extremely shy and so far I find it to be the case. When I do get them to talk to me, they are quiet. There is one small boy in my house - the Singye House; 'singye' means 'lion' - who quips up when no one else will. I need to learn his name.