By Tshering Yangdon. The government of Bhutan is a democratic, constitutional monarchy with five branches of government, overseeing a population of approximately 800,000 people. The 2008 Constitution of Bhutan provides for five main branches of government: 1) Monarchy, 2) State Religion, 3) Judiciary, 4) Executive, and 5) Legislative branches. All the secular and religious branches of government are unified under the King. In this constitutional monarchy the King acts as a non-party political head of the government.  Bhutan’s fifth King, Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck, is the hereditary head of state. The King of Bhutan is called “Druk Gyalpo”, meaning “King of the Dragon Kingdom”. 1)…

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It’s been a very quiet week working on writing projects and healing my back. Not too much happening. As soon as my spinal muscles are completely healed, I’ll return to Paro. My Bhutan visa for 11 months just arrived, and that is great news. I’m here in Kathmandu with the Lama and his daughter “Baby”. I stopped at this storefront when walking around the Boudha. I love the flaming statue of Mahakala with the Stupa reflection in the window. Amazingly, one day the sun came out! It was warm enough for a relaxing break on the hotel rooftop. My DIY pedicure-manicure…

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Happy New Year! I’m in Kathmandu and today is Losar, Tibetan new year of 2146. Yep. Everybody’s all dressed up in traditional costumes, offering prayers and holding family gatherings. This is the year of the Earth Pig, the last in a 12-year zodiac cycle. Whatever lessons we failed to learn in earlier periods of this cycle, it is time to learn them now. All the indicators point to 2019 as being a very good year. After the challenges in the past few years, I hope this is going to be the year we all need. Losar is Tibetan New Year. Tashi Delek…

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I’m in Kathmandu for two weeks for immigration purposes. When I return to Bhutan hopefully I’ll be able to stay for a much longer time. I’m with Baby, the Lama’s daughter from a previous marriage. She’s 17 years old, brilliant, and she wants to improve her spoken English. We’re having a good time together. Baby and I are working on our web writing projects. We took a break at the Himalayan Java Coffee Shop. Today she’s trying coffee with steamed milk and carrot cake. I’m having Golden milk tea with turmeric, ginger, and black pepper. Not much to say today.…

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The White Tiger is a rare and exceptional anomaly that occurs naturally in only one out of 10,000 Bengal tiger births. Bengal tigers are normally orange with black stripes and green or yellow eyes. However white tigers are pure white with black stripes and sapphire blue eyes. White tigers tend to be larger than other Bengal tigers, ranging from 9-11 feet long and weighing 400 to 550 pounds. The White Tiger is renowned for its strength and majestic fierceness. Its serene energy and power represent fearlessness and spiritual awaking. It traditionally symbolizes strength, courage, war, instinct, willpower, courage, vision, and clairvoyance. The White…

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This week I was a guest at my Lama’s family puja. It is a huge gathering of his enormous family for annual prayers, blessings, delicious meals, lots of guests, and Buddhist ceremonies by monks and lamas. The family puja happens every January. The family farm is located in Punakha, 2 hours west of Thimphu, the capital city. It’s a huge farm house and today it is full of family, guests, and monks for the ceremony. Yes, the front stairs are rather steep. Lama with his mother Zekhom. Two very amazing and big hearted people. Zekhom works on the farm in Punakha.…

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Yep. It was a week of teaching high school in Phuentshoeling, Bhutan. Leaving behind the cold in Paro, we drove 5 hours south to the border with West Bengal, India, where we enjoyed a mild jungle climate. The Principal assigned me three subjects: Taichi, Creative Writing, and BodyTalk. He gave me five entire afternoons of two classes each day. I made a schedule and prepared lessons in PowerPoint. For “BodyTalk” I decided to discuss Health and Body Listening – one of my favorite topics! In creative writing students chose a photograph from my collection of magazine cut-outs, and wrote a…

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This may be my shortest post in history. The internet here in Bhutan is sparse today. Let’s see what I can do. As soon as my visa issue was resolved last week, I lef Kathmandu for Bhutan. It was a happy day, because my Lama had rented for us a very amazing house in Paro. It’s furnished with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a bathtub, and a shrine room. for heat it has a hot water heater, a powerful wood stove, and a radiator in the bedroom. There’s a large freshly tilled garden behind the house. The caretaker, a relative of…

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I left Santa Fe on time. But a slight delay in my Bhutan visa required me to wait a week in Kathmandu, a wonderful city, but not for breathing. In the end it all turned out all for the best. In Santa Fe, my 3 weeks went fast, filled with errands, meeting friends, and shopping for gifts for my family in Bhutan. I stopped at the La Fonda Hotel in search of shoes. They decorated their tree with Southwest Christmas ornaments. I wore my Bhutanese kira for a dinner gathering, where I shared a slideshow of my travels. It was…

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