Married to Bhutan by Linda Leaming

'You're so fat!' another old woman says as she gets a good grip on my upper arm, zeroing in on the place where I feel most vulnerable and, well, fat. But this onversation has no room for my vanity. I know what to say.

'Do you really mean it, or are you just trying to flatter me?' I ask. Saying someone is fat isn't an insult in the villages of Bhutan; it's a compliment. Fat doesn't mean fat so much as it means healthy and prosperous.

'No flattery,' she says. 'I mean it! You're really fat!'

'Thank you, thank you, thank you,' I say. 'You're fat, too.'

She smiles shyly. I've made her day.