1. A list of books I read in 1997 (the last full year I lived in Bhutan).
- List includes She’s Come Undone, The God of Small Things, and Angela’s Ashes.
- Question: How did I manage to get my hands on these and 72 other books in Thimphu, where the fiction section of the town’s main bookstore featured two volumes of Sherlock Holmes, The Red Badge of Courage, and the collected works of Ayn Rand?
2. A drawing of a picture of the Fourth King of Bhutan.
- Medium: brown and orange crayon on thick paper.
- Description: HM’s framed portrait sits on a carved wooden table.
- Artist: Dorje (but he spelled his name Dojer).
3. My son’s long-form birth certificate.
- “See explanation for last name in attached letter.” There is no attached letter, but I had to write one, explaining why the child did not have his mother's last name (Zeppa), his father’s last name (Dendup), or a combination thereof.
- Explanation: there are commonly no surnames in Bhutan. Also, child's father felt that Pema Dorji (meaning "Lotus Thunderbolt") would not really be improved with the addition of Zeppa (meaning "beet root"). Child's mother had to agree.
4. An insane number of suitcase locks without keys and combination locks for which I no longer remember the combination.
- I hate moving.
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