Lunch was glorious today! I sat up against the tiny schoolhouse, sunbathing from the wrists down and the collarbones up. In a strange way, the noise and chaos of students playing basketball and soccer all over the brick schoolyard, brought a sense of calm over me.
A sixth grade student and I quietly spoke. We compared the Bhutanese Om tattoo drying on my arm, to his fake Nepali Om tattoo. It turns out, temporary tattoos are universally common on elementary school playgrounds, but Om symbols differ from country to country. Who would have thought?
Large drops of rain scattered across the pavement, yet the clouds cast no shadows. I reminisced about what a student once told me; when it rains while the sun is out, it means a monk has passed away.
The calming smell of my henna tattoo, allowed my muscles to sink inches below the pavement. The mellow sixth grade student and I sat quiet and content.
Someone beat the school bell with the wooden stick and the sound rang out across the yard.
“Shit!” the sixth grader blurted out.
“Ya lama,”(an expression of surprise) I exclaimed.
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