bubbles.

and so...i thought it would be good to touch upon the silly fact that Bhutanese have trouble swimming. while in Phuentsholing i had the glorious opportunity to walk about up toward the base of the mountains where the river rushes out toward the plains of India. 20 children and some of the older VAST volunteers made up the entourage. upon seeing the clean water in the river, i immediately took a plunge...jeans, dress, and all in place. after some time, i began teaching some of the kids to swim...then i headed up to where the fast water flows almost furiously. i jumped in, let the river take me for a bit then relaxed on my back. as i floated i watched the ridge of the towering mountains that surround Phuentsholing change color as the Indian sunset painted its red masterpiece across the sky.
this beautiful experience, along with some other interesting experiences that have dealt with rivers have led to my next blog...which i must warn you all...is entirely informal and was really just a way for me to decompress. some lightness and silly xoch for your reading pleasures...please do enjoy!

from journal entry dated 20/1/2010
THOUGHTS CONCERNING MY ABILITY TO SWIM

(she'll come back tomorrow)

from journal entry dated 2/2/2010

1) if i jump or happen to fall off a bridge, manage to avoid hitting huge Himalayan stones, i can swim to safety, thereby taking back my decision to jump or avoiding impending doom of Bhutan's deadly heights.

2) i don't necessarily need a bridge.

3) i can travel by boat to my heart's content and then exit the boat to take a swim (also to my heart's content).

4) i have the ability to fly in water.

5) in one way, i defy the idea of being "human"-become semi fish! this leads to greath thoughts concerning possible fish identities: blower fish, tadpole, cat fish, angel fish, gold fish, trout, salmon...the list goes on and on...

6) if the world were covered in melted glacial water i could adapt like the waterworld homie and hunt for sand under the ocean.

7) if i get to swimming fast enough, i can hope that the speed of water rushing through my mane will accelerate the growth of my mutilated hair.

8) i can push logs into a river to be used as boats so that i may rest before swimming my legs off upon finding peaceful pools of water around peaceful bends in rivers.

9) if i filled my hair (grown out on account of accelerated growth due to my ability to swim at sonic speed) with jasmine blossoms i could swim in patterns in a pool in order to leave blossoms behind to make a painting.

10) if i had any sort of life threatening ailment i could swim off beautifully into forever.

11) i can move about lakes to different patches of moonlight and sunlight and see how my reflection changes (no humans would be involved in the formation of my reflection!)

12) i can build a house of leaves and swim into a floating bed every night.

13) i could, if practiced enough, adapt to the changing currents in water and implement such rhythms in the movement of my own being.

14) i can keep trying to learn to float (while i have the ability to swim i don't have the ability to float). if floating is mastered, i can live in moments above water and in clouds.

15) i can feel like a dolphin or whale depending on the speed and style of the movement of my limbs...i can even feel like a turtle.

16) swimming equals semi freedom (except for the lack of gills clause).

17) my joints ache less when i swim.

18) i can jump into a river at the base of the Himalayas and let it take me down down as I lay face up watching the orange red sky fill up with the Indian sunset's beauty.

19) i can stay afloat when and if a bad storm hits.

20) a certain level of fearlessness lives in me on account of my ability to semi defy gravity (of course, i'm no scientist so i'm not quite sure what the specific situation is concerning the presence of gravity in water...all i know is that gravity keeps it where it is and sends it where its going...so maybe i'm only surrendering to gravity more than i do on land...hmmm)

21) bubbles.

22) muscle goodness.

23) i can be used as a boat transporting other humans who can't swim about through the water.

24) due to my ability to "tread" water (swim without arms if necessary) i would be able to wave at passerbys happily and, of course, i could invite them to join me for a swim.

25) in a situation where impending sinkage would be a threat (boat cracking in half, raft falling apart or disintigrating, house of leaves getting carried away) i would fall into the "swim" component of the "sink or swim" equation.

26) taking into consideration that i now live in the Himalayas-if bus, car, roads or tractor are not available to transport me from point a to point b...there's always the rivers.

27) if i were to come across a swan or black necked crane...or any type of fish...i could speak a common language (that would be water agiility/comfort.)

28) in a battle occurring near any body of water i can pray that my enemy does not have the ability to swim. in such a case, i could narrowly escape doom by jumping in said body of water.

29) flash floods could be used to my great advantage (?). as some might believe--two years from now the world might get crazy. Doom's Day 2012's floods will have nothing on me (as far as possible end of the world flash floods are concerned).

30) unfortunately, in certain situations and under tragic conditions...there may only be one thing to say..."water water everywhere, but not a drop to drink".

31) i would not fall into the statistic of sailors who are found washed up on a beach with their flies down...if you can swim usually you don't drown. (google it)

32) i may serve as proof and absolutely recognize that man was not built to fly...only fish identities available.

33) i am able to have a different perspective and interpretation of the song "Bridge Over Troubled Water".

34) flippers can only ENHANCE my agility (while accelerating the acceleration of my hair growth).

35) there is a chance i could evolve into a mermaid.

36) i can follow fish.

37) bubbles.

38) fear of losing 02 (drat that lack of gills clause).

39) suddenly crazy mammals don't feel AS aquatic.

40) there's a new meaning to the idea of fresh mountain spring mineral water.

41) unfortunately, my ability to swim puts me in greath danger i am enjoying beverage at a beach side canteen and decide to go for a dip in lemon shark infested waters. (they can see at night---thank you animal planet!)

42) head first or legs?

43) i can hunt for gold WHILE flying in water.

44) i can teach the Bhutanese how to swim, thereby avoiding any incident that might bring to life the Bob Dylan song "Blunder on the Mountain".

45) bubbles.

as always...i send my warmest greetings from the Kingdom of Bhutan!