Thimphu, Bhutan (October 17-18,2012) — Phuntsho Wangmo has been a dear friend since we first worked together on Travellers & Magicians. During pre-production, I stayed with her sister, the beautiful Karma Yangki, and worked in the Prayer Flag Pictures office in town. Phuntsho slept upstairs in a little attic with her daughter Rene. Last year we worked closely together on the launch of SJI and she let me stay with her for a whole month, not in the attic but in her spacious flat that is welcoming and warm and ample enough for her whole family, Tenzin, Tsangyang, the girls and then some. So I felt comfortable asking if I could stay over after a long day of meetings in Thimphu. Her grandmother is living with her now so only the shrine room was available, which was fine with me. The sheets were the softest pure cotton and the shrine room was cozy. I was woken in the middle of the night by the kittens who were leaping around with looks of surprise on their little faces as they practiced ninja techniques, and playacted cool nonchalance.
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I meant to leave for Paro the next day but meetings went late again and I had to present myself at her door once more the next night. It gave us time to catch up. In the morning, we sat in the shrine room eating local red beans and rice, organic eggs and good tea before she set out to work. Phuntsho and Tenzin are the publishers of the Bhutan Observer, one of Bhutan’s first independent newspaper and the only one that is fully committed to providing quality news without resorting to tabloid techniques and printing celebrity gossip downloaded from the internet.
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I appreciate these moments of spending time with people who are like family.
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