05

June

0

Olympic Day Bhutan: Kind Requests and Forging Possibilities

My initial assigned job the morning of Olympic Day was to help out at the finish line of the running events. The men were running a full marathon (about 20 people), the women a half marathon (about 50 people) as well as two 3K fun runs—males and females in separate races. I noted when I arrived that they had a finishers archway, timing (a clock), music playing and a microphone set up for an announcer, as well as refreshments for the participants. Even though it was raining, spectators and fun runners were coming out in droves to watch and participate. I had met the announcer at a prior function (I’m embarrassed I don’t remember his name so we’ll call him […]

Read More...



Category: Bhutan 2012

03

June

0

The Road to Haa

(For LOTS of pictures of Haa Valley and Olympic Day in Bhutan go to my Facebook wall!) On our drive to Haa for Olympic Day, Sonam Tshering the Secretary General (SG) of the Bhutan Olympic Committee shared a story that I told him epitomized a distinct aspect of Bhutanese people. At a meeting abroad with delegates from many nations he was waiting in line to get food from a buffet table and noticed that there were only 6 pieces of chicken left on a tray ahead of him. He really wanted to take 2-3 pieces for himself but noticed that there were still several people in line behind him and thought that they may also want chicken. So he decided […]

Read More...



Category: Bhutan 2012

29

May

0

Ugly Trouble in Paradise—or the Human Condition?

Even prior to first stepping foot in Bhutan and reading all of the literature on what a happy country this is, I have never been naive enough to imagine that there is a place on earth that is social nirvana. Traveling the planet frequently and experiencing first hand the infinite ways humans make negative marks on each other—ensures I’m a steadfast realist. Though I do believe that we are ‘designed’ to strive toward inherent goodness, I also have seen that we are naturally flawed and suffering beings. Perhaps one of our consistent and substantive challenges is to peel away the struggling layer and let our inherent goodness shine. So despite the glaring appeal of this place—the Bhutanese weren’t given a […]

Read More...



Category: Bhutan 2012

27

May

0

Mr Bhutan—The Extrovert

(For lots of pics on this evening go to my Facebook wall) As the greased up, almost naked and ripped finalists (humbly) strutted the stage in the final pose-off of the evening, the packed auditorium went wild. Wild! It was as if I were finally seeing all of Bhutan’s behind-closed-doors-true-colors. While the contestants worked hard posing-off in the sweltering and dilapidated stadium to pick out each judge and gain our approval, the audience was having its own cheer-off. Each group making it well known who was their favorite. I’ve never been drawn to body building as a sport, but the guys on stage giving their all and the crowd doing their best to influence us judges was such genuine and sexy […]

Read More...



Category: Bhutan 2012

26

May

0

‘This is Just the Way Things Happen in Bhutan’

My first day at the Bhutan Olympic Committee (BOC) was preempted with a pre dawn trot around town and more unpacking. Karma unnecessarily picked me up (everything in town is within walking distance) and we headed to the BOC office. The old cement building adorned, of course, with a traditional Bhutanese paint job, is perched at one end of a stadium the length of a couple of football fields plus an archery arena and the entire property sits prominently in the center of Thimphu. Bhutan just got a grant from FIFA to build their first artificial turf soccer field so that construction is happening right next to the BOC office. Our office building is several stories high and houses an […]

Read More...



Category: Bhutan 2012

25

May

0

6-Weeks in Bhutan: Settling In

(sorry for the weird picture placement – I’m trying to sort this out)… After snaking through the Paro valley wondering, again, if we’d clip the wings of our aircraft on the surrounding mountains, I arrived at the clean tranquil airport to a familiar face. The Bhutanese seem to work off of, not 6, but about 3 degrees of separation—so my immediately recognizing a familiar face did not surprise me. Karma had been delayed in picking me up at the airport, and as I stood on the curb—the conspicuous solo white chick—a couple of taxi drivers approached me and gently and kindly asked me if I needed a ride. If you’ve traveled to many airports in developing countries, you get that […]

Read More...



Category: Bhutan 2012