A Tribute To Nancy Bonne

I know it's been more than a week since my last posting. This last week has been more of a life changing experience than I anticipated. It has taken me a while to figure out where to start and how to appropriately portray this past week in the Himalayas. As Woody Allen says, "80% of success is showing up." So here I am showing up to blog and do my best to honor Nancy.

Last Wednesday, July 14, 2010, Nancy had a heart attack at our house here in Sikkim. Sao, the nurse that also lives with us, responded within seconds and did everything possible to save her life. I do not wish to outline the events of that day. What is on my heart is writing to honor Nancy, to focus on her life and how she touched mine.

I met Nancy Bonne at the Boston Airport on June 28th, 2010. Aka found me in the airport and excitedly took me outside to meet his mother and his childhood librarian, Nancy. We made our way through check in and security together. She told me stories about what Aka was like as an 8 year old boy in the Beverly Library in Massachusetts. It was immediately evident what a close bond Nancy had with Aka and his family. She told me many stories of Aka and his brother Pintso. She also told me her story about how she came to Taktse International School.

Nancy sent out an email to her entire address book when she retired as the Children's Librarian at the Beverly Library. Not even twenty minutes later she received and email from Pintso asking her to come and help in the library at Taktse. She said she would love to but that she had retired so she could spend more time with her family. Nancy told me with a sparkle in her eye that it was then that Pintso told her she could bring her family with her. In April of 2009, Nancy did just that.

I only know of her journey to Taktse with her family because of all the wonderful stories she told us about her previous trip here. No matter where we were, she would remember exactly who was with her, what they said and where they sat last time she was here. One of the first times I heard of her grandsons Evan and Kyle was in the jeep ride up to Sikkim. She was quick to point out the location where the jeep had to stop for one of them to vomit. "Isn't it funny, that after all of those jeep rides, it was on the way home that he got car sick?" Her love for her family was evident in every conversation I ever had with Nancy. Her time with them in India was very special to her and I think she enjoyed being her again if only to relive some of those moments. When we first arrived at our Chandmarie house, I felt as if I had been her before. The whole journey to the house she told us about the rooms and the bathrooms and where everyone had slept. Evan and Kyle have something in common with me, we both stayed in the room called "La Cave". The house has this great sitting area by the fire pit on the porch. The first time the group of us sat down there she told us about their last supper at the house and how the candles were lit. I just want her family to know how much she loved them and that there wasn't a day that went by without a story of her family.

Why would Nancy come all the way back to India at the age of 76? For a few reasons I imagine. Nancy loves this family. Sonam, Maria, Pintso and Aka were very special to Nancy. She loves the mission of the school and of course she loves to read. I imagine that Nancy was an incredible librarian. She loved giving book talks and she was incredible at it. When we arrived in Sikkim we arrived during the schools' summer break. Nancy was not one to sit around the house and just enjoy a few days of rest before school started back up, she wanted to get in that library!

This is a photo of us on the way to school one morning.

Oh, was she excited when she did. I will always remember a conversation between her and Pintso. She told Pintso she was so excited to see that the library was kept in oder and still organzied with the spine labels! Pintso looked at her and said, "Nancy you built this library." I couldn't see her face but I am certain she was beaming with pride and joy. She had told me before that the last time she was here the books were not arranged and they did not have spine labels. Well, she must have done a great job teaching people the last time she was here because the library looks amazing now.

The greatest thing is how much the students and staff alike enjoy it and use it. One of Nancy's amazing attributes was her ability to inspire people to read. She came home one day from school and told us that a teacher had told her that he didn't enjoy reading and he asked her why that was. She responded with, "Well, you didn't go to a school like Taktse." She followed that response by figuring out what genre of reading the teacher enjoyed the most and gave him a book that she thought he would like. The gift of reading was a gift she was amazing at giving. Here are some photos of teachers at Taktse talking about why they were interested in reading certain books at a staff meeting. This is her legacy:)

Another thing that Nancy loved was children. Nancy absolutely came alive the first day of school. You could just see how happy she was to be back in the library reading to Taktse children. Nancy skipped some of our adventures to places she had been before and opted for staying home to read and relax. However, when Pintso mentioned Smile Land, the local swimming pool, Nancy was adamant about attending. Why? There were going to be kids there of course. While we were at Smile Land she enjoyed taking pictures of the students swimming. Nitish, a good friend of her grandson Kyle, was one of her favorite subjects:)

She also just had to get a picture of Yeshey swimming because Sara had swam with her the entire time they were at Smile Land last time. (Sara, I have never met you but I hope you are reading this. Yeshey wanted to make sure you saw this picture!)

After a day of fun and swimming at Smile Land, we went to Flamboyance, a pizza place in Gangtok. Nancy was so impressed with Pintso because he asked the students to not only thank the people who were making our pizzas but to clap for them!

That night Nancy took advantage of an opportunity to tell Nitish a very special story. The Beverly Library has an elephant collection. So last time Nancy was here, she bought an elephant for the Library from India. When she brought the elephant to the library, she named it Nitish. Nitish was so delighted by the story and that he was famous in a place called Massachusetts. I was lucky enough to capture this moment.

Nancy had a wonderful time that day at Smile Land and Flamboyance. Here are some more photos from that night.

On Tuesday night we were invited for dinner at Babula's. Nancy had a great time that evening and I just remember her being so happy. Our favorite Nancy quote of the evening was, "This has been such a nice evening to be surrounded by good company and intelligent conversation."

Nancy was a wonderful woman. I am so blessed by the time I was able to spend with her. I have a long list of books to read that she suggested and hooked me in with excellent book talks. She loved her family, she loved reading, she loved children and she also loved her Boston Red Sox. We all miss you Nancy and I will always remember you just like this:

Right Where I Belong, Taktse International School

I am writing tonight after my second day at Taktse International School. Tonight I feel so inspired and honored to be a teacher. I am having a hard time beginning the blog but I know I just have to find the words to portray what an amazing place this is and how important the work is here, the work with our future, the work with these phenomenal students. From our first meeting as a resource group with Mr. Lauenstein, the principal, and the head teachers to my first lesson, I just get the feeling I am right where I need to be. Mr. Lauenstein said he needed us to smile a lot and have a positive attitude. Great, I think I have that down. Here is a picture from me on my way to my first day of school here, think I qualify for the job?

Here is another photo of us getting ready to get in the jeep on our first day.

Another reason I feel like I am just right at home in the Himalayas is the schedule. We arrived just in time to follow the buses up the rocky driveway to school. I have to try very hard to beat the buses back home at Bergen Valley (Sorry Beth!):) The first students stepped off the bus and I almost cried. I can't really put my finger on why but something to do with the realization that we were about to embark upon something very big. It also could have just been that I was watching the kindergarten students get off the bus and they are just so precious.

Me and one of the adorable kindergarten students:

Here she is all by her adorable self.

Mr. Lauenstein starts the day with assembly and the students all sang India's National Anthem.

Here is Mr. Lauenstein welcoming the students back from summer break:

The students sang beautifully and I just couldn't wait to jump into class and start working with them! During the first day, I observed and taught a P.E. class for grades 7,8,9 and 10. I was able to observe the first graders and I was so impressed! Their teacher is amazing and so positive. I should mention that this school is so special and different from the way the majority of schools in India. One major way it is different is in that the teachers do not hit the children. Seeing positive reinforcement and great teaching was so wonderful to watch! I was also able to sit in on a 4th grade class that was equally impressive! In both classes, the students eagerly made room for me in the circle and were so willing and eager to share what they were working on.

In the afternoon I was able to teach a PE class with Mr. Karma and Mr. Nyamgil. They are both so great to work with and I am so excited about them carrying on with volleyball after I leave here. To give you a little history to volleyball coming to the Himalayas, here are some photos of us building the volleyball court.

The 15 volleyballs packed tight in my suitcase:

Sao joining in on the fun of pumping up the balls:

Still working on the smile and positive attitude:)

The net going up!!!

A view of the school through the new volleyball net!

The first doubles match played in the Himalayas! (Maybe ever :))

Ahh success

A big thank you to the Evergreen High School Boosters club for helping me put on a volleyball camp in Evergreen to raise money to bring the equipment. It has been raining the past two classes I have taught and so I don't have any pictures yet of kids playing volleyball but I will soon, I just need a sunny afternoon during monsoon season :) The students had so much fun playing volleyball and are quick learners! Amy Hook, I just need you to know that kids in the Himalayas are doing your famous passing chant! I'll have to video tape it for you, it is simply awesome! Keep your fingers crossed and the prayers coming that the balls don't get lost rolling down the mountain, we are working hard at keeping them on the level ground! We are working on getting a net built near the edge of the mountain to keep the balls from going down, hopefully that gets done fast!

We have tea breaks! How cool is that? Twice during the school day we stop for 15 minutes and have a tea break. They serve tea to the students and staff as well as a snack like fruit or popcorn. My favorite is the popcorn!

After my first day of school was complete, everyone got on the buses and headed for home. Unfortunately there were some troubles with the roads and traffic jams. Half of our group got stuck in the traffic jam while Miles, Sam, Mr. Lauenstein and I waited for the other jeep at school. I sat in the library and tried to find things for class online. The students who stay in the hostel at school also came to the library to do their homework. They also had lots of snacks with them! It was the first time in India I ate junk food and boy was it good! Aside from the Toblerone and the Lays potato chips, the rest of the food was all new to me and the students were so eager to share. Most of them would not take no for an answer so I was forced to try all sorts of new and delicious treats :)

The jeep finally arrived and we headed for home. When we got back we made quite the adventure out of the spider in the Katies' room. This was due to the fact that earlier that day when we were getting ready for school I saw a gigantic spider on the wall. We unsuccessfully tried to catch him but ran out of time and went to school. Mr. Lauenstein, Miles, Katie and I scoured the room looking for the big fella but hopefully he just went back outside.

Here I am trying to blow dry the big fella out from the furniture:

Here are Miles and Mr. Lauenstein searching under my bed. It is so nice to have such wonderful people to check for monsters under my bed before I fall asleep.

Day 2 at the school was even more fantastic!

I had the incredible opportunity to dive right in and start teaching third grade! I modeled a guided reading lesson with three amazing kiddos while Ms. Dingsta took copious notes:) The students did great and they have the cutest way of raising their hands in group, the put a thumbs up on the table, I love it! Another great thing is they use readinga-z.com which is a resource I use all the time back at home! I also got to teach another one of my favorite subjects...Math! It was so fun to use the techniques and tools I use at home to teach these students. One of the students said, "Ms. Ryan, this is so fun, its like we are in American school." I just love teaching barefoot and sitting on the carpet with the students. Have I mentioned I like teaching at Taktse?

Here are my students, they have wonderful names like, Sogyal, Bhutia, Seshek and Rheah just to name a few :)

Here I am teaching math, please notice my comfy bare feet:)

Here is my borrowed class and their quiet hands

So if you are wondering what I am doing in India....here it is.

Just one of many trying to make a difference in this big, beautiful world. Blessings and love from the Himalayas:)

First Encounter with a Leech, a Date at a Monastery and Other Tales from Day Two in Sikkim

Warning:This blog is really long! Also, this came from the adventures of day 2 here in Sikkim. I know I should have started with Day 1, or how about with my travels to India...but this day was just sooo interesting! So bear with me and I'll flash back to the beginning of the trip another time:)

Well today started out like any other day in Gangtok...I awoke to the sounds of roosters crowing, cars honking and children and people starting their day. By the way, when people honk here in India, they are not honking to say hello or pick you up. They are purely honking to say MOVE, get out of the way! Oh and they also honk when they are driving around blind mountain corners. "She'll be coming around the mountain when she comes, HONK, HONK!" Back to the story...

I got up and had breakfast with everyone. Pema, (our cook), served us cornflakes and toast with dabs of peanut butter, jelly and just plain butter. I should have taken a picture of it, it looked like an artists palate. We also had tea of course:) Then Aka arrived with a driver from the monastery to take us to see the school, the reason for being here!

This is a photo of Rekah, a school administrator who took us on our very own tour of the school. She is blowing the bubbles that Aka brought from the America, Aka LOVES bubbles.

The very first thing we saw was the soccer field and where the volleyball court will be. I am so looking forward to setting everything up and coaching volleyball to the students here. Rekah got the keys for all the rooms and took us to see everything. The school is absolutely beautiful. She took us to the library first and the view is amazing. We are looking forward to being there early in the morning before the clouds roll in. Aka says when the clouds break the view of the Himalayas is incredible! Here is a picture from the library.

The library and Sao taking a picture is above and this is the view out the window:

The school is so inspiring and I fell immediately in love with the place and the mission from the moment I stepped out of the jeep. The people that work here are so warm, welcoming and committed to making this an incredible school. As soon as we walked into the school Sao and I were just so excited and had so many ideas about things that we want to do for the kids and the school. We sat on the floor in a third grade classroom and read the books. In a second grade classroom we read the poems on the wall out loud and laughed at Jack Prelutsky's hilarious poems. Rekah also took us the the dormitories where the students who are from places like Thailand stay. It made me think that this place is the Hogwarts of the Himalayas, what do you think?

Rekah had tea prepared for us and while we were waiting for tea, Karma, the PE teacher, took me back out to the fields to see where they play throw ball and see if that area will work for volleyball. As I walked with Karma, I told him about the net, and the 15 balls I brought with me. My volleyball team at Evergreen high school and the booster's club for our program helped me raise money through a volleyball camp to take equipment with me here to teach the students how to play. For everyone that helped me pull that fundraiser off, thank you! I wish I could have video taped Karma's reaction when I told him about the equipment. That smile, that pure joy and excitement made it all worth it and then some. This is why I am here. When I started teaching and coaching, I wanted to change the world. Now I truly feel like I am, because I am impacting the other side of the world.

Here is an exciting tale from the day...Let me set the scene for you, picture Aka, Sao, Nancy, Rekah, Karma and I sitting the parents room having tea. All of the sudden, I feel a strange sensation on my ankle. I reach down and swipe something out of my shoe. Being from Colorado I thought it was one of those little poky things that get everywhere. But this thing was not poky, it was slimy and quite squishy. A moment later, Aka pointed in between my feet and said, "ohh a leech!" I tried to maintain my composure in front of my new friends at the school. However, Sao read the look of terror and horror on my face! I am so proud that I didn't scream as I noticed my sock turning red as Aka carried the leech outside to freedom. We left the school right after that, and after our thirty minute ride home, Sao, who is luckily a nurse, treated my wound. Here are the pictures of my first leech bite and the treatment:) What a first time event to have here in the Himalayas.

After we finished trying to stop the bleeding, we had lunch. Miles, who is from a prep school in Massachusetts, had planned a trip for himself to Rumtek to visit the monastery there. He graciously invited us along for the trip. Hind sight is 20/20 and after all the adventures we had, I am not sure he was glad after all he invited us:) Aka arranged for our ride and off we went to Rumtek.

The drive to Rumtek was beautiful! Waterfalls, the mountains, the signs, the prayer flags, the scenery, it was just gorgeous. When we arrived we were surprised to find out that there were Indian Army guys with guns at the entrance of the monastery. They asked for our passports to go into the monastery. No one had brought their passports....except for me. Oh and it is important to note that Miles had arranged to have a teacher from the school meet us there, Ms. Yangchen. We were supposed to meet her at 3pm. Due to delays that would make this story even longer it was now 4pm. I have never met Ms. Yangchen but since I was the only one allowed, I went up the hill to see if I could find her and if she could help us all get in. Here starts my solo adventure to the largest monastery in Sikkim.

I started walking up the hill away from my friends and I was laughing to myself about the craziness of the situation and not knowing what adventures awaited me. I did the prayer wheels knowing that I needed all the good karma I could get to find a woman I had never met, whom Miles described as, "well she looks like everyone else". I kept asking people if they knew Ms. Yangchen and they just kept pointing me to the entrance of the monastery. I had no idea where to find her or what to do, so I just followed peoples directions, it seemed to make them happy.

Meanwhile, my three friends are back at the gate with the guards...

I walked in the entrance and was utterly confused from the very start, I thought the guy was handing me a brochure, he was definitely handing me a ticket and I had to pay him 10 rupees to go in. I didn't mind paying, and 10 rupees is very cheap but I was just so confused by the entire process. Then I had to walk through security, I beeped and tried to let the guys with guns look through my purse but they like everyone else pointed me in the direction of the shrines. I had learned from my earlier trip to a monastery with Aka and his Aunt that you have to walk in a clockwise direction around the monastery. So I started my walk and asked people if they knew Ms. Yangchen. No one had any idea what I was talking about. I read the signs and it looked like if I took my shoes off I could go in this building:

The monk pointed me through the correct door and in I, a 5'10'' white woman, walked smack into the middle of a prayer session with monks. I really wish someone could have video taped this event. A quick thinking monk directed me to a seat and I sat down full of embarrassment and awe. I was embarrassed that I had distracted the monks from their praying just solely by my arrival and by my "foreignness". I was in awe because I was surrounded by beauty. It was absolutely gorgeous inside. The monks were all sitting and facing away from me luckily. They were praying in unison and the sound was beautiful. I didn't know when and if I could leave because of course...meanwhile, my friends were at the gate waiting for me.........

Then the music started and the gongs were being struck. It was beautiful and after letting it all sink in for a few days, it was an experience I was so blessed with. I waited while two monks made their rounds between the rows of the monks sitting and once one came near me, I stood up and he graciously pointed me out the correct door.

I put on my shoes, still wondering if I was even allowed to do what I had just done...and decided to leave and head back to the gate with my mission of finding Ms. Yangchen unaccomplished. I walked back to the gate I had came in and the guards stared and pointed at me and then stopped me and pointed with their guns to the opposite corner of the monastery and said, exit, exit. Nothing in the direction they were pointing looked like and exit. I started walking that way, because the gun pointed that way....but then the people there were giving me strange looks for walking in the wrong direction. Just then, a guy approached me and asked if I was alone, I told him no, I was looking for Ms. Yangchen. He said yes, and your friends are waiting at the gate! He told me he was with the army and I asked if he had been sent to find me, and he said yes. To his credit he may not have understood my question but he played along. I asked if he could show me where the exit was and he did.

Meanwhile, my friends are back at the gate still waiting....

Not only did this guide army gentleman show me where the gate was, he took me on an entire tour of the place. Next thing I knew I was taking off my shoes again and going to see the golden statue and the portrait of the 17th Karmapa. He explained to me some special things about the 16th Karmapa and I stood in awe of the golden statue. After we left that room and put our shoes back on he offered to take me to another room. I told him that I needed to get back to my friends who were waiting.

We walked down another set of stairs and he showed me where the army men stayed. He also showed me the zoo. For most of the time he was telling me about it I thought he was saying, "Would you like to see a jew?" Not until I saw the white rabbit, did I realize that it was a zoo.

Meanwhile, my friends are back at the gate still waiting....

I just kept following him hoping he would take me the road so I could get back to the gate and out of the monastery. We had to walk through the courtyard where the monks were practicing. He told me I could take these pictures, I am not so sure this was allowed but here they are....

Finally, we get to the road! During this time I was learning all sorts of interesting things about my new friend, he told me his name but it was so many syllables I couldn't pronounce it and hence I can't remember it today. I did learn that he was born in Nepal, went to school in West Bengal and has been in the army for 2 years. He asked me "How long is your years?" I told him I was 28 and found out he was 21 and in the army for 18 more years! He was shocked to find that the typical enlistment in America is 4 years. Before I knew what was happening I accidentally agreed to go into a roadside store/shack with him for food. He had me sit down on a bench and blew the flies off of a makeshift table and ordered vege momo's for us.

Meanwhile, my friends are back at the gate still waiting....

I sat and watched a man use not the cleanest of utensils and make the momo's for us. I had no idea I was going to be waiting in a hot shack for some hot food while my friends had been waiting for about 45 minutes! I was starting to get worried about them but was still worried about being rude when this guy had been so kind and led me out of the monastery. So I did what I knew I wasn't supposed to do and ate one of the six momo's in my plate. I can tell you 2 days after this event that I thankfully did not get sick from the food. My new army friend and I also split a Fanta, orange soda for those of you that have never had one. I didn't want to get sick so I told him how great they were but that I wanted to save them for my friends back at the gate. I asked how much I owed and he insisted on paying for my meal. Did I mention that by this time he has already asked if I was married? When I said no, he laughed and said "Bachelor, just like me."

Finally we were walking down the hill and back to my friends who had been guarding my passport and waiting all this time for me to find Ms. Yangchen. I never found her but I did find a new friend, who Sao is convinced I may have accidentally arranged to marry, and some vege momos.

Lucky for us, our driver took us to a different monastery on the way home where passports were not required :) It was also very beautiful and I stayed out of trouble for the most part :)

That is the tale of my exciting solo adventure date at the monastery. That evening when we got back I had to pleasure of meeting Sonam, Aka's father, Pinso, Aka's brother and Principal of the school, as well as two board members. We had a great dinner in the garden with candles and a fire. Everyone here is so amazing and I am so lucky to be here.