Tonight we went out to dinner with one of Don's colleagues at the hospital and his college-age daughter. She had gone to Chagangkha School like our children, and she asked Halle which teacher she has in Pre-Primary. "What's her name?" she asked Halle, and Halle said, "It's Madam."
I was passed on the sidewalk by a mother & child and the child must have explained to her mother who I was, because I heard the phrase, "English Mom." Our children are called "English" here (not "American"). The Dzongka word for foreigner is "chillip" and we hear that quite a bit in people's conversations as we pass by. I kind of like the sound of "English mom," it has a cheery ring to it.
One of Don's OT takes the same road that we take to school so we see him every morning on his way to work, his white coat neatly rolled up and tucked under his arm. Today he was not wearing a gho, but a nice pair of black pants and white dress shirt. He looked so different. Don says that Bhutanese call that outfit "shirtpants." As in, "tomorrow, should I wear gho, or shirtpants? I think I'll wear shirtpants."
Today Don saw a rough draft of Bhutan's constitution - definitely a work in progress. The first article said that Bhutan is a "Socialist Democratic Constitutional Monarchy," and the second one said that Buddhism is the state religion - which makes it a theocracy, too, so I think they've got everything covered.
The king is the supreme court - the final word in lawsuits - and if you don't like his decision, you can go to jail. But to bring new meaning to phrase "time-share," you can bring a friend to serve time with you and cut the time. One man who got six months only had to serve three because his brother served three alongside him and that made six in the eyes of Bhutanese law.
