Moments of Acquaintance

Thursday Night, August 9

  The past two days have been filled with moments of acquaintance.  Yesterday two students from Taktse school picked us up at the house and took us to the downtown area of Gangtok.  One was a girl in the 11th grade, the other a boy in the ninth grade.  It was raining steadily as we went to town, the kind of rain where it does't feel like it is coming down hard, but all of a sudden you realize you are soaking wet.  We walked down more steps than I could have ever imagined to get to the downtown area, and then shared the road with all of the cars heading up the mountain.

When we arrived downtown, everyone there took a long look at us as we walked by.  It is clear we are anomalies!  As we walked through the promenade our guides pointed out shops and restaurants owned by the families of Taktse students, and we ate at one such restaurant "Taste of Tibet"  We had momos (steamed dumplings), spring rolls that were different than the american style and delicious, as well as vegetable pakoras.

Then they took us to a small shop with souvenirs and to the tea shop, which Rhana (the boy) affectionately called the "junk food" shop.  We picked up a variety of cookies and a bar of soap for ourselves and then took a taxi back to the house.  I can't imagine how we would have ever made it back up the hill by walking!

When we got back to the house we had a lovely time talking with Rhana an Shahgun about Taktse and about sports.  We played a round of Hearts, taught them Rummy and laughed a bit until they had to go home.  

Earlier today we got acquainted with the school.  Around lunch time we took a taxi to the school --  a half hour drive and a 1,000 ft. climb to 6500 ft.  Everyone at the school was very friendly to us, very eager to meet the White Americans.  We met the school dog, the cows grazed through the driveway, and in the courtyard the middle school students were rehearsing for a production of Julius Caesar that they will be performing tomorrow afternoon.

There is a beautiful library at the school with many, many books, including a stack of old Marvel comic books.  Each grade has its own classroom and the halls connecting them are open-air halls overlooking the courtyard.  We have a lot to get used to, but I think we are going to like it there.

In general, the amount of difference we need to assimilate is overwhelming.  I don't see it as culture shock, but as foreign-ness overload.  There is so much to learn and react to (or not react to, like the sign encouraging families not to engage in feoticide….) that we can't possibly manage every moment with aplomb. Still, we seem to come out of the hards moment with a resolve to figure it out, a desire to make it work.  Corrina and Grace have been amazing at that.  There have been some really tough moments where they felt they couldn't move forward, but each time they have found a way to do just that.