Long as I remember the rain been comin' down

We are now in Day 5 of unrelenting rain that has gone all day and all night without stopping. I have never experienced rain like this, and even the Bhutanese are starting to wonder why we are receiving so much rain. September is technically the last month of the monsoon season, and I guess Mother Nature is letting the season go out with a bang (or a deluge, as the case may be). Next weekend is the Bhutanese holiday known as Blessed Rainy Day that marks the end of the monsoon season and the beginning of the clear and dry Autumn season. Let's hope the local rain deities take notice.

Despite the constant precipitation, Emily and I managed to have a good weekend exploring Thimphu and spending time with friends.

On Friday, we went into town in the afternoon and did some shopping and walking around. I showed Emily some of the good handicraft stores and the good bookstore (DSB books). We were trying to find the one Mexican restaurant that just opened up in Thimphu (no doubt the only one in Bhutan as a whole), but we had no luck discovering it and found out later that it had moved locations. We ended up eating at The Zone, which is a Western-favorite and serves burgers, fried chicken, fish and chips, alongside some very Bhutanese dishes like yak ribs and pork tripe. After dinner, we walked up to Clock Tower Square and there was a concert going on despite the rain to commemorate World Ozone Day (Bhutanese love to celebrate environmental things). The band that was playing, Druk Revival, was a pretty good bluesy-rock jam band. (And a hint to the lyric that is this blog entry's title.)

Waiting for the bus from campus to Thimphu.
Emily is filled with ennui because of the rain. 

Gotta love poorly translated English signs. 

Emily shows off her veggie burger at The Zone.

I got the fried chicken. It was really good!
(Although the cole slaw that came with it was very underwhelming.)

Druk Revival

The Ozone Day stage at Clock Tower Square.

Our first homemade momos. A bit dense and messy, but not too bad!

Saturday was a low-key day for the most part. We slept in, made a big brunch, read, did laundry, took a nap, etc. At night, Emily and I went out to dinner with our friends/neighbors Jeff and Sue. We went to the new "mall" in the suburbs of Thimphu called Shearee Square and to a restaurant called Chang. The mall is famous in Bhutan because it features the only escalators in the country. Apparently, when the mall opened last year people came from all over Bhutan to ride the escalators up and down. If you think about, if you are a 75 year-old from rural Bhutan, escalators are very magical. There were some that came to see the escalators that refused to ride them until a Lama had blessed them. I can't think of a more Bhutanese story than that! The mall is kind of silly and out of place for Bhutan, but there it is anyway. There are clothing stores that look very Western, a bar and discotheque, an arcade, and many random stores selling all kinds of random items. 

The restaurant where we had dinner was featured in a cultural magazine called Bhutan Time Out. The magazine claimed that it was Thimphu's best restaurant and "the place to be seen" in Bhutan. When Jeff, Sue, Emily and I went, we were the only people in the restaurant – at 7pm on a Saturday night. That does not bode well for "the hottest restaurant in Bhutan." The food was decent, but nothing special. The prices, however, were pretty outrageous for Bhutanese standards. Emily and I spent Nu.2500 on dinner, which is about $50. Basically, that's about 10x what a meal at a decent restaurant in Bhutan should cost. Emily and I agreed that we will probably not go back there again although, from the looks of it, it probably won't be open for much longer if its Saturday night business is any indication. 

The famous escalators. 

Jeff, Sue, Me, and Emily at Chang. 

Emily and I pose with the King and Queen. 

This morning we went to a puja that was hosted by my friend Deepak and his wife. A "puja" is a religious ritual that is used to mark special occasions and is practiced in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. In this case, it was a Hindu ceremony. 

Here, the occasion was the new apartment that Deepak and his wife (her name is pronounced Wangchu, but I don't know the spelling so I don't want to keep misspelling it all over this post) have purchased down the road from campus. When we arrived at the apartment, we removed our shoes and sat in the living room drinking tea with my other friends Arun, Bhudi, Suraj, and Kimi. Deepak also had lots of family members running around the house. There was a Hindi priest that was chanting in the altar room where people were giving their offerings. Emily and I brought fruit as our offering (which was an appropriate item). Deepak was busy praying and at various times coming in and out of the altar room. We sat in the living room drinking, eating, conversing, watching tennis on the television, and playing with Bhudi's 6-month-old baby. 

Eventually, we were invited into the altar room and we prayed while the priest read/sang the songs of Krishna from the Bhagavad Gita. We took flowers from a bowl and kept them in our hands as the priest sang. When the priest was finished (about 15 minutes later), he rang a bell and sprinkled the group with holy water. We then scattered the flowers from our hands onto the altar. 

It was a very interesting and cool experience, and I was thinking during the prayer how lucky I am to be experiencing this unique ritual closer to its origins than I have ever been before. Bhutan is, of course, predominantly Buddhist, but there is a sizable Hindu minority given Bhutan's geographically position so close to India and Nepal. 

Suraj, Kimi, and Bhudi's baby.

Bhudi and Arun.

Deepak praying with his family.

Praying all together in the altar room. 

Bhudi is apparently trying to raise a genius baby. 

After hanging out at Deepak's for a couple of hours, Emily, Kimi, and I went into Thimphu to do some shopping at the Sunday Centenary Market. (The Hindu/Neapli speakers call it the "Subji Market" which means "produce market.") Emily and I bought lots of produce, and then crossed the Thimphu Chuu on an traditional cantilevered bridge to see the handicraft bazaar on the other bank that is only open on Sundays. After that, we walked back into downtown to have a late lunch and coffee at Ambient Cafe. My friend Samir was hanging out there, so we joined him and then came back to campus together. 

The Buddha statue at Coronation Park along the Thimphu Chuu.

The rains, oh the rains...

The Thimphu Chuu is raging right now.

Emily on the Kundeyling Baazam bridge crossing the Thimphu Chuu.

It was a very good weekend, and I am excited to be able to spend time with new friends. I am also feeling better after a rough two weeks of being ill. Now if only the rains would end...