"You look like a Bhutanese"

I wish I could count all the times I heard, “You look Bhutanese,” or, “You look like a Bhutanese.” Over the past year, I heard it all the time – from my students, from officials, from strangers, everyone. Which is why it seemed appropriate when I paid my final bill at the Tandin Hotel in Thimphu that the guy behind the desk said it. It seemed a fitting farewell. Who knew that when I entered India, I’d get the same thing?

We didn’t plan to go to Sikkim but that’s where our ride from Jaigon was going so we went. As Scott and I were getting our permit to enter the northern district of India, the man at the desk asked if I was Bhutanese. When I answered no, he said, “You look like a Bhutanese.”

I doubt the phrase will follow me much further, but it was nice while it lasted.