La Vie Quotidienne

That's from high school French. One of the great French writers, I forget who, used to write of La Vie Quotidienne, which is daily life. I've gone around and snapped some pictures of some of the places and things that might show what is was to live here, rather than visit here, as an ex-pat.

So, first the apartment:

Living Room. Spend most of our time here.

Hall/Dining room. Used mostly as a hall.

Kitchen. More below.

 The bathroom has been a source of interest for many of my followers.  Well at the risk of being a bit too explicit, let's go over this... The squat toilet is pretty easy to get used to. It is smellier than a western toilet, because your business sort of lands there and just sits. However, it is extremely hygienic, particularly if you are in a public place. Your private parts simply don't touch anything, only your feet on those two white tiles that basically are there to show you where to position yourself. The position, after minimal adaptation, is quite natural and comfortable. The key is to carry toilet paper so you don't have to go the next step, which is washing yourself rather than using toilet paper. When you are done, you simply flush, and while the water is sluicing through, you use the scrub brush (that blue thing under the tank) to clean up any skid marks. No muss, no fuss, honest.

 The shower is a bit odd. As you can see, there is no stall, and the curtain was an HVO improvement. You also can see four spigots. The two middle are for hot and cold. Turn on the top one to have water come out the shower, turn the lower one to have water come out the tap.  Put your clothes, and anything else you want to keep dry, as far away from the shower head as possible. Mix the water very, very carefully because hot is hot enough to brew tea.  When done, dry up, get into  your clothes, and then squeegee the floor. The drain is the hole in the floor, which is actually connected to a drain pipe; it's just that it is a hole in the floor.

 Bedroom is quite pleasant. Beds are hard in Asia! Heat is from an electric portable radiator, barely visible on the far side of the bed.

 More on the kitchen and cooking for myself. Appliances and staples:

Water purifier. Put tap water in the top container and drink out of the bottom.

Two burner stove. LPG tank under the counter.

Electric kettle (water boiler) on the left, rice cooker/steamer in the middle, and fridge on the right.

 Here are some of  the things we kept around the kitchen:

Cheese. The white spheres are the cheese from which the "datse" dishes are made. The square chunk is Bumthang Gruyere. Very yummy.

Snacks: Fried dough at ten o'clock, crisped rice at one o'clock, and an "orange" (it tastes and peels like a tangerine) at six o'clock.

Cookies and milk (Hint, the milk package has a cow on it. Doesn't need refrigeration til you open the package)

Tea

Paneer (Indian Cheese)

Various condiments.

The sidewalks are very broken up. I actually fell and got a nice scrape and hematoma on my forehead, which has now drained into my orbital regions giving me two black eyes, and killed a pair of pants. Fortunately no major damage. Despite that, walking around here is great fun.
  
When you go out, this is how you lock your door:

The city is, in a bizarre way, quite pedestrian friendly. There are shortcuts everywhere, and crossing someone else' property to shortcut is considered appropriate. This is a shortcut we used almost daily to get to the downtown:

Dogs are everywhere:

Laundry is everywhere:

 The main street is crowded and busy, but pleasantly so. There used to be a stop light at the site of the traffic policeman; it was so unpopular that the traffic policeman was returned to his kiosk:

 

 Shops sell almost anything and everything. Here's a smattering:

Bhutan Telecom. This is where you pay your Internet  bill....

In person, in cash.

I went vegetarian here. The butcher shops freaked me out.

Produce was gorgeous.

Weavings and fabrics for the tourist trade

Tires, straightforward enough. However, look at the sign on the door!

Fabrics for making kiras and gohs, the female and male national costumes respectively.

An everything under the sun shop

An almost everything under the sun shop.

So that's life in Thimphu.  Maybe one more medical posting if things get interesting, and some pictures from a couple of long walks around Thimphu, including the Thimphu dzong.