{"product_id":"beyond-the-sky-and-the-earth-a-journey-into-bhutan-jamie-zeppa","title":"Beyond The Sky And The Earth: A Journey Into Bhutan - Jamie Zeppa","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn 1989, Jamie Zeppa, a naïve, well-educated twenty-three-year-old from Sault Ste. Marie, commits to a two-year teaching contract in Bhutan against the wishes of both her fiancé, Robert, and her controlling grandfather. Following orientation here and in Bhutan, Jamie is unceremoniously dropped at a remote Bhutanese village to teach Grade Two. There, she battles fleas, landslides, rats, kerosene stoves, leeches, and illness, and believes she will not survive two weeks, let alone two years.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWith help from her eight-year-old students, Jamie overcomes her culture shock and fear, makes some friends, and soon begins her love affair with Bhutan. She writes letters home full of wonder and discovery--of the country, of herself, and of Buddhism.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAs she spends more time in this strange and beautiful country, Jamie finds herself attracted to one of her college students, Tshewang, with whom she eventually has a child and marries.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLike Karen Connelly's Touch the Dragon, Beyond the Sky and the Earth is the compelling story of a Westerner trying to fit in to an alien culture, and trying to bridge cultural and political divides that may be insurmountable.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe doors of Paro airport are thrown open to the winds. The little building with its single stripe of tarmac is set in the middle of dun-coloured fields dotted with mounds of manure. The fields are carved into undulating terraces edged with sun-bleached grass; intricate footpaths lead to large houses, white with dark wooden trim. A young girl in an ankle-length orange and yellow dress, two horses, three cows, a crow in a leafless willow tree. An ice-blue river splashing over smooth white stones. A wooden cantilever bridge. Above the bridge, on a promontory, a massive fortress, its thick white walls tapering towards the top, a golden spire flashing on the dark red roof.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMy bags are lying alone on the tarmac outside, beneath furiously snapping flags. I haul them in. I have arrived.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"FeaturedDetails\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-testid=\"pagesFormat\"\u003e320 pages, Hardcover\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-testid=\"publicationInfo\"\u003eFirst published May 18, 1999\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-testid=\"publicationInfo\"\u003e571g\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Terrier Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67935967674468,"sku":"9780385256933","price":16.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0603\/4869\/4628\/files\/IMG_29292.jpg?v=1793573571","url":"https:\/\/terrierbooks.com\/products\/beyond-the-sky-and-the-earth-a-journey-into-bhutan-jamie-zeppa","provider":"Terrier Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}