Buttertea at Sunrise: A Year in the Bhutan Himalaya.

Lisa Arsenault is a high-school English teacher who is involved in
several ministry campaigns to increase literacy.

In the late 1990s a young Canadian physiotherapist decided to volunteer her services in the kingdom of Bhutan in the Himalayas after a life-changing trip through India, Nepal, and Bhutan. She contracted to work for a year in the district hospital located in Mongar, a small village in the rural east of the country. This book chronicles her work experience there, interaction with the indigenous people, exposure to the culture, and discovery of romantic love.

Culture shock was the first thing Britta encountered. As a Canadian she was familiar with a higher standard of living than rural Bhutan had to offer. Her accommodations were very primitive, food was limited, and the level of hygiene that was considered acceptable was quite low compared to Western standards. The problem of adequate cleanliness extended to the hospital as well. She had to work in unhygienic conditions with very few resources, old-school technology, and intermittent electricity at best. Offsetting these negatives were the kindness and hospitality of the Bhutanese, her fascination with Buddhism, and, most importantly, the beauty and grandeur of the Himalaya Mountains.

Use of the present tense lends this personal travelogue a contemporary feel, although it was 10 years in the writing. In the years that have passed, much progress has been accomplished in Bhutan, and the author addresses this in an epilogue. Medical care has improved, but television and the Internet (banned until 1999) are westernizing the culture. Britta is sorry about the corresponding decrease in interest among the younger generation in Buddhism and working the land but does not fall into the trap of bemoaning progress.

The writer is very honest in her appraisal of the practical benefits of the kind of physiotherapy she was able to provide: apparently time under the heat lamp (when the electricity was working) was the most appreciated! Her willingness to immerse herself in the culture led to friendships with local people and entry to their homes, and through her writing we are allowed a glimpse into their lives. Her traditional wedding at the local Buddhist shrine is a very graphic instance of this.