Camille Blackford in Bhutan
Land of the Thunder Dragon, home of the Thunder King
Bhutan, Land of the Thunder Dragon, home of the Thunder King, Queen and Prince (soon to be princes). A small Buddhist country situated in the Himalayan mountains between two of the largest countries in the world: India and China. A country that most people do not even know about. This is where I will be studying abroad for the Spring 2020 semester. My name is Camille Blackford and I am a junior here at UMBC. I am a Humanities Scholar and am majoring in cultural anthropology and minoring in Korean. While most people might not even know that Bhutan is a country, it is a place I have dreamed of going for years. In recent years Bhutan has become famous for two things: their gross national happiness measure and the fact that they are a carbon negative country. The idea of gross national happiness as a replacement of gross domestic product is precisely what drew me into learning more about Bhutan. My mom likes to watch CBS Sunday Morning News every Sunday and one day while I was watching it with her, they did a segment on Bhutan focusing on their gross national happiness measure. Ever since then I became fascinated with the country and wanted to learn everything I could about the country and the culture. It has been my dream to travel to Bhutan and I am so excited to be studying abroad there! While I am there, I hope to be taking anthropology courses and a Dzongkha (the language of Bhutan) course at a college in the capital of Bhutan: Thimphu. I will also be doing an internship teaching elementary grade students at a local school as well! My program also offers various excursions around the country and I can’t wait to see all the beautiful forests and Buddhist temples! I am really looking forward to becoming totally immersed in the culture and learning everything I can about the country and its people. While I have traveled abroad in the past to Canada, England, Ireland and Wales, I have never been to a country like Bhutan before. I am looking forward to being in a place I am totally unfamiliar with and learning about a culture that may not seem anything like my own. I am also looking forward to becoming more in touch with my religion while I am there. Despite the fact that I grew up Catholic, I have recently converted to Buddhism and I can’t wait to learn more about the history of Buddhism in Bhutan while I am there!
Posted: February 3, 2020, 3:30 PM
