The Violet Shyness of Their Eyes: Notes from Nepal

A sudden mid-life crisis in 1990 prompted high school social studies teacher Scot to leave Portland, Ore., for a stint teaching English in Nepal. The brief entries in this diary interweave her experience of Nepalese society, including the inferior status of Nepali women, with memories of what she describes as ``a male-dominated childhood with no men,'' her father having left home when she was an infant. Although occasionally the analogies Scot draws are forced or disjointed, a sincere and generous tone strengthens the writing, and sometimes her observations are uncommonly just, as when she notes how her difficulties with the Nepali language have brought greater understanding of her son's struggle with dyslexia. Stories of culture shock are less revealing, such as the stilted dinner party at which Scot's roommate served spaghetti for their native neighbors. The most amusing anecdotes come out of Scot's attempts to assist a Nepali man in studying for the standardized Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), which involves listening comprehension of passages on topics like ordering the house dressing in a restaurant and the uses of Muzak. Photos. (Nov.)