Goodbye Nepal and Hello Bhutan

I spent my last night at a dinner for the Tewa staff and board. It is difficult to say goodbye to everyone, but I have a lot of visitors from Nepal during May. The President of Tewa, Sadhana, and Razeena are coming. For those that don’t remember Razeena, she was my friend last year and she recently married and moved to the states. I get to meet her husband, Subir, who is Sadhana’s son. Ok, if you are not confused by now, you are really sharp.

I will be hosting a high tea for the Nepali group that live in LA to help generate donations, while Sadhana is here. Anyone that would like to attend from the OC group is more than welcome. It will be a great event. Obviously, the goal is to generate funds for grants to rural women’s groups.

Also Tara, the lady I stayed with in Nepal, will be visiting the end of May. It will be a hectic month, but I am really excited to have them visit.

I had to get up early to catch the flight to Paro, Bhutan. It was an amazing flight with spectacular views of the Himalayans including Mount Everest. The plane did a dive into Bhutan, because it is in a valley. The flight is an event in itself.

Everyone was taking pictures of the airport; it was so pretty. All the buildings are decorated in a similar manner. The traditional outfits that the main wear are their suits and the women have beautiful dresses.

All my concern is gone. I have a great guide and driver and Bhutan is beautiful. I am anxious to see as much as possible in the 13 days. The guide, Palden, speaks perfect English, so I am learning a lot about the people. My next blog will include pictures of Palden and my driver, Numguy.

Some interesting tidbit: the women and men are treated as equal. There is no difference in how they are treated.

I am tired, so I will close now and write more tomorrow.

Namaste, Paula