After a failed climb of K2 in Pakistan Greg Mortenson set out on a mission of another kind – one that required an immense amount of perseverance and passion beyond K2. This is the true story of Greg Mortenson’s journey to “promote peace one school at a time” I thought that I would like this story – it has all of my favorite elements – non-fiction, global travel, athleticism/drive, and giving back; yet I not only liked it, I loved it. I can say that it is my favorite book I’ve ever read. Finally – I have an answer for stupid online dating questionnaires…”What’s your favorite book?”

Photo: Kids at a village school in Vietnam
After his failed attempt on K2, Greg wandered into an impoverished Pakistan village, Korphe. He was lost and disoriented but was moved by the kindness of the people who took care of him. Korphe was a hearty village – it had to be to survive in the barren mountains, high altitude, and harsh winters. After seeing the village kids had no school, but as an alternative sometimes gathered to draw lessons with a stick in the dirt – he vowed that if the Pakistan government couldn’t provide a school - he would.

One of the things that I loved about Greg was that he was a man of his word – something that I try to live my life by and have the utmost respect for. Greg had no idea how to make school commitment happen, but he was scrappy and determined. His journey was full of learnings and strife as he came to really understand the Pakistani people in this region, their Muslim religion, their language, their customs, how they did business, and their pace. All countries have a pace – I believe America to be the fastest pace country I’ve ever been in. Pakistan’s pace was SSSLLOOWWW.

Photo: The world is a mixture of religions
His journey turned from one school to many schools, to water supply solutions, to women’s vocational centers, to Afghanistan, and eventually a NGO called Central Asia Institute. His initial contributor to the school was a rich old man that felt America was always pulling for the Buddhists (think Richard Gere) – but no one was trying to help the Muslims. Greg’s journey started years before 9/11 – however the books spans that timeframe and it was fascinating how it evolved from simply a book about an NGO building schools, to a testament on how to fight terrorism through education of kids. Education of kids in impoverished areas is the key to many issues the world faces today and something I believe strongly in.

This book made the reader really think about religion, morals, empowering women, politics, global travel, and culture. I read the book with a highlighter in hand – marking my favorite passages that moved me. This should give you a bit of flavor of the book:

“I used to assume that the direction of ‘progress’ was somehow inevitable, not to be questioned. I passively accepted a new road through the middle of the park, a steel and glass bank where a 200 year old church had stood…and the fact that life seemed to get harder and faster with each day. I do not anymore. In Ladakh I have learned that there is more than one path into the future and I have had the privilege to witness another , saner, way of life – a pattern of existence based on the co-evolution between human beings and the earth.” From Halena Norberg Hodge author of Ancient Futures

“The bridge strengthened the village’s maternal ties, and made the women feel a whole lot happier and less isolated. Who knew that something as simple as a bridge could empower women?”

“When I lost him and thought he might die out on the ice, I was awake all night, praying to Allah that I might be allowed to save him.”

“That day, Haji Ali taught me the most important lesson I’ve ever learned in my life,” Mortenson says. “we Americans think you have to accomplish everything quickly. We’re the country of thirty-minute power lunches and two minute football drills. Our leaders thought their ‘shock and awe’ campaign could end the war in Iraq before it even started. Haji Ali taught me to share three cups of tea, to slow down and make building relationships as important as building projects. He taught me that I had more to learn from the people I work with than I could ever hope to teach them.”

“Once you educate the boys, they tend to leave the villages and go search for work in the cities, “ Mortenson explains. “But the girls stay home, become leaders in the community, and pass on what they’ve learned. If you really want to change a culture, to empower women, improve basic hygiene and health care, and fight high rates of infant mortality, the answer is to educate girls.”

“I wish Westerners who misunderstand Muslims could have seen Syed Abbas in action that day,” Mortenson says. “They would see that most people who practice the true teachings of Islam, even conservative mullahs like Syed Abbas, believe in peace and justice, not in terror. Just as the Torah and Bible teach concern for those in distress, the Koran instructs all Muslims to make caring for widows, orphans, and refugees a priority.”

“A village called New York has been bombed.”

“We share in the sorrow as people weep and suffer in America today,” he said, pushing his thick glasses firmly into place, “as we inaugurate this school. Those who have committed this evil act against the innocent, the women and children, to create thousands of widows and orphans do not do so in the name of Islam. By the grace of Allah the Almighty, may justice be served upon them.”—Syed Abbas

“These two Christian men have come halfway around the world to show our Muslim children the light of education,” Abbas said. “Why have we not been able to bring education to our children on our own? Fathers and parents, I implore you to dedicate your full effort and commitment to see that all your children are educated. Otherwise, they will merely graze like sheep in the field, at the mercy of nature and the world changing so terrifyingly around us.”

“I request America to look into our hearts,” Abbas continued, his voice straining with emotion,”and see that the great majority of us are not terrorists, but good and simple people. Our land is stricken with poverty because we are without education. But today, another candle of knowledge has been lit. In the name of Allah the Almighty, may it light our way out of the darkness we find ourselves in.”

Photo: African school kids
All I can say is – read the book. I’m not sure that it will be your favorite all-time book, but I think you will enjoy it. The reason why it’s my favorite book is very personal to me. As I read through the pages those old, familiar feelings came back to me, the ones that make me want to drop everything and go back and do volunteer work. As I was reading it, I kept thinking about how purely happy I was when I was teaching the kids in India…I had passion (See Spice Diaries posts). A passion that made me smile so hard it hurt, and cry so hard that you forget how to breathe. This book reminded me of what I need to do, of what makes me happy – and that is making a difference in the world. This book came at a pivotal time for me in my travels, one where I’m confused about going home, looking into a directionless future…it grounded me again. It provided me a glimpse of what my future could be if I have the perseverance and drive to make it happen.

If you do decide to buy the book please purchase it through the Three Cups of Tea website www.threecupsoftea.com . Then click on the Amazon link . By clicking through their website before going to Amazon via their link - they get some proceeds that goes to the NGO.

Snowflower and the Secret Fan is a fictional book set in 19th Century China - fittiing for all of my China travel in Oct. and Nov. I actually read this book for my sister’s book club. I must start with I normally don’t read fiction - for some reason it lacks the ‘thrill ‘ factor for me. However, this book was a direct connection to the old traditions of China - and since I would be traveling through China I thought it would it would be a good choice.

The book is a fast read - set in 19th century China where being a woman was as low on the totum pole as you could get. Your worth depended on how small your foot could be bound - Lily, the main character had bound feet that were 7 centimeters…and this was considered erotic and beautiful. However the book was mainly about Lily’s relationship with her best friend and la-tong, Snowflower. These two young women had an intense friendship full of pain yet endures through lies and deceit. (The makings of a good Chinese Soap Opera if you ask me). You learned how women tried to carry on communicating with their friends in a culture where they had no rights or freedoms. The story was ultimately about their relationship, betrayal, and how it evolved

I have to admit that I had trouble with the story mainly because the women characters in the book were soooo weak - probably more a product of their time than anything that was under their control. I was fustrated by the main character in always doing what she should instead of doing what she wanted to do. Yet - this was a sad fact of the culture in which she grew up. These women’s only purpose in life was to have babies…male babies…that’s it. How could this not invoke my inner feminist?! Yet - life was very different back then. I realized that if I had lived back then, I would have ended up a servant with big, ugly feet for the rest of my life…which in actuallity might not have been that bad. I came to the conclusion that I would have rather been a servant than in the main character’s positions.

My favorite part of the book was learning about the foot binding which led me to do some more research on it on Google. A fascinating subject that will leave you in disbelief.

I just finished the book Holy Cow, a memoir about an Australian’s experiences living in India. It was recommended to me to be a a good book to read before you came to India to get a feeling for the country – or to scare you off. Of course I didn’t end up starting the book until I had left India – so it took on a slightly different purpose for me. Instead of teaching me about all of the idiosyncrasies and craziness about India that I would experience – it made me laugh about all of the organized chaos in India that I experienced. It made me sad that I left India with all of it’s quirkyness.

Sarah did a good job of describing India in all of it’s contrast, religions, billions of people, and color. For the first half of the book I read it with a big grin on my face – reminiscing about the experiences I had in India. However – about halfway through the book it became more about her religious journey than about the idiosyncrasies about India and it’s culture. I must admit, the religious journey didn’t interest me nearly as much – I skimmed most of it. However – when I got back into the non-religious aspectsof the culture – I once again welcomed the chapters with big smiles and anticipation.

The religious journey she took was a great, humorous education about the various religions in India and how they all co-exist together. I did enjoy the Indian take on Christianity. They intertwined it in their existing culture – and it took on a new look and excitement for me.

It’s a good book to read for an introduction to travel in India! She has a wonderful, dry, sarcastic sense of humor and a thirst for understanding of other cultures and religions. She made me happy with laughter and sad with memories at the same time. So, if you are planning a trip to India, I would recommend this book, a good source of fun information about the people, and the cows.

I took My Sister’s Keeper once the 4th person in our trip finished it – I figured that I would give it a try and see if it was really any good. I would have plenty of free time in Egypt while on a sailboat or in buses or trains – so I would need something to read after all. It took me 3 days to read the book, and I was utterly blown away. I didn’t want to put it down. The story is about a young girl who has leukemia and her parents decide to have a 3rd child, genetically engineered, in order to be an exact donor match for the sick child. There had been multiple successful donations given by the younger sister, Anna, to her sick sister, Kate, which was key to keeping Kate alive. However, when it was time to yet again donate another part of her body, Anna at age 13, decided that she had enough. She wanted control over her own medical decisions and body; therefore she sued her parents for control of medical decisions to her body. That’s the premise, and the book then takes you on a journey through each one of the characters throughout the lawsuit. It makes you question life and death decisions, and children’s rights.

What I enjoyed most about the book was the fact that each chapter represented a different character’s point of view. The whole story was told through about 6 main characters (the mother, father, Anna, brother, lawyer, and guardian). The writing style was clever – and it allowed you to see everyone’s point of view. For me, I immediately had an opinion on what I thought the outcome of the trial should be, however as you read the different character’s points of view, it certainly made you waffle. I loved Anna’s character – she was a bright, sarcastic 13 year old that was tough – maybe even a little too mature to be believable at times. As it came down to the end, you were shocked, satisfied, surprised, and stunned all at the same time. I honestly didn’t want it to end. Yet I was exhausted and my mind was spinning.

The writing and the characters were brilliant – something I haven’t experienced out of a fiction novel for quite some time. All I can say is – if you haven’t read it already - pick up a copy and give yourself 3 days…that will be all it takes as it grabs you by the hand and won’t let go until 440 pagers later.

I really enjoyed the book – it was a bit slow the first 90 pages, but once it got over the hurdle…it sprinted! The book is about 6 college students in a little New England college studying classic languages. They all seemed rather normal in the beginning – sure, each of them had their quirks and they wouldn’t necessarily be people that I would hang out with – but they were decent none the less. The plot is about how they went from this normal existence to a place that was manipulative, incestuous, and evil. They went too far and couldn’t really undo what they had done, so they spent the 2nd half of the book living with trying to cover up their actions and descending further down a spiral of lies and deciet. If you know me…you know that I don’t like romantic fluff; instead I like the strange, depressing, grim stories…and this was one of them!

I enjoyed the writing style the most. It had this way of giving you just enough information to capture your interest, to want more, and then it would pull away….like most of the men I am interested in! In the prologue it eludes to the fact that this group of friends committed a murder… so there was no big surprise element to the book..instead it was more of a journey through how they got to that point and how they scrambled afterwards and mentally crumbled. There was a ton of irony to deal with…such as the fact that one of the boys was the pallbearer for the man that he murdered….that weighs heavy on the mind and it was fun to read about – it gave your mind a lot to chew on.

Overall- I liked the book, and I liked the break from the normal historical or travel memoirs that I’ve been reading. It wasn’t light fluff…it was definitely meaty!

This was a story of sisters…a touching story that was cleverly written. One chapter would be about Ung acclimating to America and her continued struggle with her memories of the war and losing her parents; and the next chapter would be about her sister, Chou, growing up during that same time in a poor Cambodian village. It was a wonderful way to really explore the contrasts of the lifestyle and the family bond that still existed.

If you’ve read “First They Killed My Father”, then this is a great follow up! It also gives you insight into how Cambodia rose from the war-torn state they were in and eventually opened itself up to the West. A wonderful read about family!

This is the story of the Cambodia genocide that happened a mere 30 years ago. Since I am going to be in Cambodia and specifically wanted to see the Killing Fields of Phnom Penh, I felt that it was important to better educate myself about the subject. Loung Ung tells the true story of the the tragic events that her family was a part of from 1975 to 1979. I have to be honest - this was a hard read. I had to get out Kleenex more than once as it was so moving and completely depressing. However - the story needed to be told.

Loung wrote the book from a child’s perspective and voice - which made it even more gripping. Loung was 5 years old when her family of 9 fled from Phnom Penh and left their middle class life behind to run from Pol Pot, starve, and work as peasants, and perish. As a young girl, all of these experiences manifested itself into a deep anger and hatred that she expressed very vividly in the book. Her childhood and her family were taken away from her.

“Kim tells me that from now on I have to watch out for myself. Not only am I never to talk to anyone about our former lives, but I’m never to trust anyone either. It is best if I just stop talking completely so I won’t unintentionally disclose information about our family. To talk is to bring danger to the family. At five years old, I am beginning to know what lonliness feels like, silent and alone and suspecting that everyone wants to hurt me.”

If you are prepared for a tear-jerker, then I recommend the book - especially if you are traveling to the area anytime in the future. It brings you up to date on some of the torrid history of Cambodia.

This is the story about a picture which I’m sure you’ve all seen - a little girl, Kim Phuc, running down a road, naked and burned by napalm - her picture was snapped and it changed her life. Nick Ut was the photographer who captured the screaming little girl on film and the rest of the world quickly saw the side of the Vietnam War that no one wanted to see or admit, innocent people effected. It is about her struggle for recovery, and her struggle for her life after the war under the communist regime.

I really enjoyed this story as a way to get me in touch with the history of the Vietnam War from the perspective of the poor, local Vietnamese village people. It not only covered the history of the war (American and Vietnam), but it covered what it was like for a poor, village family in South Vietnam before, during, and after the war.

Much like the recent movie/book, “Flags of Our Fathers”, this picture which made history transformed Kim Phuc’s life. She was used as propoganda by her own government, yet she was also provided privledges that others never had. It was a miracle that she lived through her severe napalm burns, and her life of recovery, love, faith, and heartache was fascinating to read.

I recomend this book to anyone that wants to learn more about Vietnam and the war in general!

Some of my favorite quotes from the book:

“Suffering will make you a better Communist”

“Father is close, Mother is close, but neither is as close as Chairman Mao”

“As a child, my idea of the West was that it was a miasma of poverty and misery, like that of the homeless “Little Match Girl” in the Hans Christian Anderson story. When I was in boarding nursery and did not want to finish my food, the teacher would say ‘Think of all the starving children in the capitalist world!’ In school, when they were trying to make us work harder, the teachers often said ‘You are lucky to have a school to go to and books to read. In the capitalist countries children have to work to support their hungry families.’”

This was a fun, light-hearted read that made me laugh out loud. Especially the stories about his parents and his thoughts on living in NY. His thoughts around learning a foreign language were perfect - I feel like it’s everything I thought while I was learning Italian, but not able to put in words (not even English!). If you are looking for a fun read - get this book!

My favorite quotes from the book:
“Visiting Americans will find more warmth in Tehran than they will in New York, a city founded on the principle of Us vs. Them. I don’t speak latin but have always assumed the city motto translates to either Go Home or We Don’t Like You, Either.

“Call me naive, but I seem to have underestimated the universal desire to sit in a hard plastic chair and stare at a screen until my eyes cross.”

“Follow seven beers with a couple of scotches and a thimble of good marijuana, it’s funny how sleep just sort of comes on it’s own.”