Charly.....Bugs & Buds

Charly & his wrong thong

This post is dedicated to my beloved "jaro" (servant in Sharchhokpa), Charly.  Please note that this is what Charly calls himself.  I must admit that my time in Bhutan would have been much more difficult without Charly being here with me.  He does all the marketing (almost daily), lots of the cooking, cleaning, banking, and a never ending list of "home improvements."  The latest invention is a gate at the bottom of the outside steeps separating our upstairs & downstairs so the neighbor's little dogs don't poo on the steps or right outside our door. Currently, I'm experiencing the classic expression, "absence makes the heart grow fonder."  Charly is visiting other BCF teachers in the east to see a few smaller villages and do a little metal detecting.  All he has found in Mongar is bottle caps and a few Indian rupees.   He has found massive crowds of students surrounding him when he tries to metal detect.  They get more excited than he does about digging up some possible treasure.

My purpose here is to share what we have experienced as a teaching and non-teaching couple here in Mongar.   Charly is still teaching art at my school one day a week, but the carpentry and the READ Bhutan library in Mongar have not worked out for many reasons.  Charly is learning Sharchhokha, hiking when the weather permits, gardening, reading, and drawing.  Even with all his interests and volunteering there are still times of boredom.  Therefore I suggest that potential teaching & non-teaching couples coming to Bhutan  have a very good plan of what the non-teaching partner plans to do with their time.  I am much too busy to experience any boredom, but without Charly here I would be overwhelmed with the challenges of day to day living in Bhutan.  I wouldn't have come to Bhutan without Charly (couldn't have made a year without my love), and I'm awfully glad he agreed to experience this life-changing place with me.

Below you will find another fascination of Charly's.....Bugs & Buds.  Bhutan has such an incredible variety of flowers & insects that Charly is always on the lookout to photograph them.  Here are just a few: