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Beyond the Sky and the Earth
Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey Into Bhutan | Jamie Zeppa
4 posts | 6 read | 7 to read
In the tradition of Iron and Silk and Touch the Dragon, Jamie Zeppas memoir of her years in Bhutan is the story of a young womans self-discovery in a foreign land. It is also the exciting dbut of a new voice in travel writing. When she left for the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan in 1988, Zeppa was committing herself to two years of teaching and a daunting new experience. A week on a Caribbean beach had been her only previous trip outside Canada; Bhutan was on the other side of the world, one of the most isolated countries in the world known as the last Shangri-La, where little had changed in centuries and visits by foreigners were restricted. Clinging to her bags full of chocolate, hair conditioner and Immodium, she began the biggest challenge of her life, with no idea she would fall in love with the country and with a Bhutanese man, end up spending nine years in Bhutan, and begin a literary career with her account of this transformative journey. At her first posting in a remote village of eastern Bhutan, she is plunged into an overwhelmingly different culture with squalid Third World conditions and an impossible language. Her house has rats and fleas and she refuses to eat the local food, fearing the rampant deadly infections her overly protective grandfather warned her about. Gradually, however, her fear vanishes. She adjusts, begins to laugh, and is captivated by the pristine mountain scenery and the kind students in her grade 2 class. She also begins to discover for herself the spiritual serenity of Buddhism. A transfer to the government college of Sherubtse, where the housing conditions are comparatively luxurious and the students closer to her own age, gives her a deeper awareness of Bhutans challenges: the lack of personal privacy, the pressure to conform, and the political tensions. However, her connection to Bhutan intensifies when she falls in love with a student, Tshewang, and finds herself pregnant. After a brief sojourn in Canada to give birth to her son, Pema Dorji, she marries Tshewang and makes Bhutan her home for another four years. Zeppas personal essay about her culture shock on arriving in Bhutan won the 1996 CBC/Saturday Night literary competition and appeared in the magazine. She flew home to accept the prize, where people encouraged her to pursue her writing. Her letters from Bhutan also featured on CBCs Morningside. The book that grew out of this has been published in Canada and the United States to ecstatic reviews, followed by British, German, Dutch, Italian and Spanish editions. Although cultural differences finally separated Jamie and Tshewang in 1997 while she was writing the book and she returned to Canada, she will always feel at home in Bhutan. Zeppa shares her compelling insights into this land and culture, but Beyond the Sky and the Earth is more than a travel book. With rich, spellbinding prose and bright humour, it describes a personal journey in which Zeppa acquires a deeper understanding of what it means to leave ones home behind, and undergoes a spiritual transformation. From the Trade Paperback edition.
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blurb
Hestapleton
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Anxiety is HELLA high today between family drama and my second Covid shot in a few hours (had terrible side effects from the first one). Snuggling up with LOTR and tea, ignoring work, and pretending in far away in Bhutan.

LiteraryinPA Thinking of you! Being anxious is very understandable, but I hope your second shot goes really smoothly! 4y
AmyG Hope all is ok. Remember to take tylenol if you don‘t feel well -helps alot. And fluids. Sorry for being such a Mom. 😂 4y
See All 15 Comments
Cinfhen Good luck today 💚 4y
Hestapleton @AmyG I appreciate it! My mom is actually part of the problem so it means a lot ☺️ 4y
Chrissyreadit I‘m going to join @AmyG in some mothering- hope you do well, but remember Tylenol or ibuprofen, and just prepare- you may not feel good for a day or two, what will help you feel better? TV, movie, quiet- and a pitcher of water, and visualize your body “growing” antibodies- it helps to think of the work your body is doing to gain health and fight off illness. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ 4y
Caroline2 I was so ill after my first one too. It has totally put me off getting my second one now. I know how you feel. 😬 4y
Hestapleton @Cinfhen thank you! 4y
Hestapleton @Chrissyreadit good idea! I plan on making a little nest in bed when I get home and cuddling up with thrillers and the HP movies! 4y
Hestapleton @Caroline2 I‘m so ready to be fully vaccinated but just DREADING being ill again. It‘s worse when you know it‘s coming 😂 4y
Deblovestoread Thinking of you! And thank you for getting vaccinated! 4y
Lreads Thinking of you. You will get through this! Try to focus on books or movies and tv to take your mind off of your physical feelings. That‘s what I did and it really helped. 💕 4y
Cinfhen How are you feeling?? 4y
Hestapleton @Cinfhen awww thanks for checking! Not as bad as the first one but not great. It feels like being perpetually carsick 😂 4y
Cinfhen That sounds pretty unpleasant/ hope that feeling passes. But the good news is you‘re now fully vaccinated 🙌🏻❣️ (edited) 4y
60 likes15 comments
review
BookHermit
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Pickpick

It's been 15 years since I read this book but I do recall feeling inspired to put my English Lit degree to good use. I never made it to Bhutan but I spent ~5 years teaching in Korea and visited China, Japan, Vietnam and Thailand.

quirkyreader Maybe someday you will make it. I have "family" members from Butan. 8y
BookHermit I hope so! 8y
ImaginativeMom We lived in Seoul for a couple of years and my son was born there. We loved it and I'd move back in a minute!! My one regret is that we didn't get to Cambodia. 8y
BookHermit I lived in Seoul for a few years, too! Miss the wonderful food and casual mountain hiking something terrible. I didn't make it to Cambodia either @ImaginativeMom Ankhor Wat is definitely on my travel bucket list! 8y
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review
Meghakaladharan
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Pickpick

I stumbled upon this book before my trip to Bhutan last year and fell in love with a country and people before I even got there! The book is beautifully written and captures the magical essence of Bhutan coupled with author's unique insights on a foreign culture, far removed from her comfort zone.

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LauraBrook
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Fun Friday Photo: I liked to read about books, time travel, houses, Old New York, picture books, magical realism, ghost stories, classics, Woolf, Austen, Wharton, non-gore-y mysteries, energy work, Civil War, epistolary, illustrated anything, diary/journal/memoir, travel memoir, &...

Stephanie-Anne We like to read the same kind of stuff ❤️ 8y
LauraBrook @Stephanie-Anne Yaaaaaayyy!! I noticed most of your books looked like they were right up my alley too! 😍📚😍 8y
15 likes2 comments