18. november

First full day at the office - it feels good to get started on the tasks I came here to complete. I went to the ministry at 9 o'clock which is the normal time to start work and got a nice little place of my own right away. There is no central heating in the building and it is rather cold when the temperature outside is around 7 - 8 degrees Celsius (45 degrees Fahrenheit), so even though I wore my boots I felt the cold very much, but people were very nice to me and found me a heater and got me connected to the Internet (except Facebook which is blocked in the Ministry) so after just 30 minutes I was ready to start working. I had brought my computer and materials and started to write my report of the visits to the institutions and of my study of the current program and materials. Time flew and 1 pm = the lunch break came quickly. I visited the toilets on my way out but decided to wait - I feel uncomfortable without toilet paper ;-) (I'll remember to bring my own).

I went back uphill to the Khang Residency (my hotel) and I noticed that it was easier today - I guess my liver has been working overtime creating more red blood cells and that I am getting more adjusted to the thin air now - GREAT! It feels good to be able to walk up the stairs without panting all the time.

There is one hour for lunch so at 2 pm I was back and continued my report. It is great fun to write a report - getting everything you want to say on paper (or rather computer), putting it all together and trying to do it in an organized and clear way. The workday ends at 4 pm and I just had time to go back and rest for some time before the car from the Ministry picked Lasse and myself up at 6 pm to take us to a dinner at a very nice place called the Yeedzin Guest House. We spent 3 hours here with the people from the Ministry and had some very good food - red rice is quite normal here and of course there was a very hot chili dish. It is very easy to be a vegetarian in Bhutan because there is always a lot of vegetables and other courses without meat.
Lasse said goodbuy to all the kind people from the Ministry and the car drove us back home to the hotel. Tomorrow I have the day off while Lasse is going to visit one of the institutes here in Thimphu that I already saw! I'm looking forward to taking it easy tomorrow ;-)