Dressing up... Bhutanese style

With the help of two friends from Paro College of Education, I bought myself a kira (the National Outfit for women). The skirt is basically a long piece of material that you wrap around yourself in a very specific way (it only took me half an hour to master it!) and then tie tightly with a belt. I thought I was home free when I “mastered” putting on the skirt.. but oh no, the top is even more complicated! I believe that Bhutan may be personally responsible for keeping the manufacturing of broaches live and well, since there are no buttons on either the blouse or jacket – you just fasten it together with a safety pin and a broach..

Anyways, after a good practice session with my friend Phuntsho, I decided to try wearing it to school on Weds. Talk about the self-esteem boost of a lifetime! All the students I met emphatically told me, “You look Beautiful madam!” and several claimed that I am now fully Bhutanese!

So here are some picture of my large 1^st year class.
Working hard as you can see... oh what a good teacher Madam is! There were actually 2 students away, and it made the class seem surprisingly small (only 48 instead of 50!)
The boys - got to love the ones standing beside me showing some good attitude..

The girls - as you can see, i´m a little taller than the national average..

All of us

I also had the pleasure to go and get my hair cut (and styled!) on Weds evening. This fabulous do only cost 60 rupees (less than $2 Canadian).
Tashi - Phuntsho´s son, and I with our new hair do´s! My 'straight hair' only lasted a couple of hours.. curls win out in the end.