On the way from Thimphu to Bumthang we found an old man selling healthy roots on one of the mountain tops. The roots were cheap - 4 small pieces for 10 NU - a bit more than 1 kr. Of course I had to buy some! They are supposed to help headaches, stomach aches and general weakness. So the first morning here I made myself a nice cup of root tea - it didn't taste of much but I felt good all day long, so I maybe the roots are working ;-)

I also started my teaching of module 2 for the master trainers the next day and it was great to see them again - almost all of them. One has dropped out because of work, another had to take his sick 4 months old child to India for treatment and the last one will join us on Monday - maybe Mr. Leki, who went to India, will join us also. He wants to, but it depends on when he gets back. I really enjoyed hearing about their individual experiments in the intermediate period between module 1 and 2. Each had to do an experiment with some of the new learning from module 1 - to ensure implementing. Their topics were very different: the 6 thinking hats, team teaching, reflection, learning styles, and brainstorming were some of them. They all did very well and I was really proud of them. This time we will psychological and pedagogical topics in particular and I hope they will find it interesting and fun. The technical school is a nice place and we have our own room to use during the whole course - a bit small but with all the facilities we need so we will be fine. On our first day we had a LOT of computer problems - my own computer refused to go on the Internet, and so did several of the others'. The projector went on strike a couple of times and the Internet disappeared because of a thunderstorm in the morning. I also noticed that the toilet had paper but no water - but I guess it is better than no paper and no water ;-) Anyway we got off to a good start - why let small problems destroy your good mood and enthusiasm?

Aksel got to see the workshop and meet the instructor and the trainees and I think he was a bit shocked by the very low level of skills and the lack of equipment, tools and materials but I am sure he will find a way and teach them some new and interesting approaches and methods :-)

At the Nature Resort where we stay the manager is a kind and VERY talkative lady called Miss Pema. We are the only guests here at the moment so we get to talk with her every night when having dinner. And even though it is a bit too much sometimes it is also interesting to hear about local life here in the middle of nowhere. She told us that people here don't pay each other for different services, instead they exchange services - help each other. She gave an example: The town needs a new water container and has started building one of cement. Everybody in town helps with this and in the end they will all benefit from it. If some families don't help out they can still get some of the water but then they have to pay for it. She also told us that there are many bears out here and that we should not walk outside after dark - walking from the central building to the cottages should be ok, but we should not go for an evening walk in the forest outside our windows! The bears often come very close to the houses - they want berries and apples and they are WILD. So we don't go out at night at you can imagine ;-)