Three Cups of Tea by David Relin is a book about Greg Mortenson and his journey to build schools in the Middle East but his journey did not start at that. It started as a trip to climb the mountain of K2 and turned into an unforgettable thing. It was great to read a story full of caring and selflessness. By reading it can people can learn many things about the Middle Eastern people and their culture. Greg Mortenson's journey throughout the book is a remarkable story.
It is depressing that the book is finally finished, because I actually enjoyed reading this book. The background behind the book interested me because it was wrote about a guy that was a mountain climber and with a little fork in the path he became a big figure. He went to accomplish one thing and came back with an even bigger accomplishment.
Greg is a great man and was always trying to do the right thing for people. If only everybody was like him. It was cool that when he got the idea to build the school he did whatever was needed to raise the money. He slept in his own car and sent hundreds of letters trying to raise money, now thats commitment. Greg did not have to do what he did but he did it anyway because thats just how he is.
It was surprising about the incite that was included about Middle Eastern culture. I like the number of facts about Pakistan and some of them I still remember. By the end of the book I think i actually learned a lot about Mid East culture.
Mortenson did such an excellent job of describing the individuals as well as the independent groups involved in his story. There was so many different people involved in his story and he explained them all perfectly and in great detail.
Education was a great thing for the Mid Eastern people to have, escpecially for women. Education brought these people together and was one thing that was needed. They were able to break barriers about women and their rights. Greg's work will continue to help the education of these people and will continue to educate women.
I really liked everything about this book and there really was not anything that i did not like. Do not get me wrong, it was confusing at times with all the weird words every now and then. Also in some places it was hard to keep on track. Other than that it was a great book to read and enjoy.
Even though Three Cups of Tea is over, the basis of the story is not. Greg still continues to build schools one after another. His foundation has seemed to only improve as time goes on and they continue to help the Mid Eastern people. When all is said and done i think Greg is a great role model and is deffinately somebody to look up to. I am glad that the class is going to find a way to donate to his foundation and cause as a ending project for the book.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Cheese...
This chapter made me so hungry with the talk about ham, salami, and cheese. I love cheese and it is something I eat almost every chance I get. Also the chapter was a very good ending to what we have to read for the class, the only down side was that it was a tad boring.
I have to throw something out there. What was wrong with people, they tied slaves by their necks and made them walk just for salt. That is some serious torture it you ask me, what was going through their heads.
I had no idea that ham was a long and tideous process and there was weird ways of testing ham. Like sticking the knife it the center and smelling it and also the whole thing about the wind affecting the ham completely amazed me. I had no idea about the whole ham thing.
Also I did not know that salt was the main factor on the aging of cheese. The the whole thing about moldy cheese completely makes me want to throw up. How can people eat that. I learned there was a large variety of cheeses as well.
Towards the end of the chapter the Mediterranean no longer was the center of the world in means of salt. It was Spain’s turn to bask in the glory. Spain had their golden age and was then the focus. Like we keep being told in class every empire or what you choose to call them has their golden age where they have all the power and look unstopable. Where does the United States fit on that spectrum?
Overall the book was pretty interesting and I am still impressed how the whole thing related to salt. It was really neat how salt impacted the empires back then considering what it means to us now.
I have to throw something out there. What was wrong with people, they tied slaves by their necks and made them walk just for salt. That is some serious torture it you ask me, what was going through their heads.
I had no idea that ham was a long and tideous process and there was weird ways of testing ham. Like sticking the knife it the center and smelling it and also the whole thing about the wind affecting the ham completely amazed me. I had no idea about the whole ham thing.
Also I did not know that salt was the main factor on the aging of cheese. The the whole thing about moldy cheese completely makes me want to throw up. How can people eat that. I learned there was a large variety of cheeses as well.
Towards the end of the chapter the Mediterranean no longer was the center of the world in means of salt. It was Spain’s turn to bask in the glory. Spain had their golden age and was then the focus. Like we keep being told in class every empire or what you choose to call them has their golden age where they have all the power and look unstopable. Where does the United States fit on that spectrum?
Overall the book was pretty interesting and I am still impressed how the whole thing related to salt. It was really neat how salt impacted the empires back then considering what it means to us now.
Marco....polo
When the Roman empire fell it left the Mediterranean sea completely up for grabs. This sea was the most economical important region of the western world. There was no clear leader but many trying to get power. This area from the most competitive during this time since the Phoenicians.
The whole coast of the Mediterranean sea was covered with saltwarks, small operations, and big enterprises.
Then came along Venice which was an Italian city. The Venetians built salt ponds along the new land. They used rollers but it is not quite clear what these rollers actually were. They were either using rollers to smooth down the floors of the ponds or in pottery, both were popular. Instead of trapping the water in aopne pond and waiting for it to dry up, they used a series of ponds. The first one was large open tank and had a system of pumps that moved the water to the pond and so on. The water then evaportated further and the brine became denser. It was a continuous flow. This was a very complicated process I think but it seemed to work for them. Historians think that the Chinese may have been the first to make this but are unsure.
The Venetians were smart people I tell you. They relized that there would be more money brought in by buying and selling salt then actually producing it. So this idea was basically merchanting.
One last thing, Marco Polo. After reading about him my perspective about the game that is played in the pool is stupid. The two do not relate at all, what is up with that. I mean just thinking about the game and Marco Polo how do you relate the two, somebody tell me.
The whole coast of the Mediterranean sea was covered with saltwarks, small operations, and big enterprises.
Then came along Venice which was an Italian city. The Venetians built salt ponds along the new land. They used rollers but it is not quite clear what these rollers actually were. They were either using rollers to smooth down the floors of the ponds or in pottery, both were popular. Instead of trapping the water in aopne pond and waiting for it to dry up, they used a series of ponds. The first one was large open tank and had a system of pumps that moved the water to the pond and so on. The water then evaportated further and the brine became denser. It was a continuous flow. This was a very complicated process I think but it seemed to work for them. Historians think that the Chinese may have been the first to make this but are unsure.
The Venetians were smart people I tell you. They relized that there would be more money brought in by buying and selling salt then actually producing it. So this idea was basically merchanting.
One last thing, Marco Polo. After reading about him my perspective about the game that is played in the pool is stupid. The two do not relate at all, what is up with that. I mean just thinking about the game and Marco Polo how do you relate the two, somebody tell me.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Romans....
This chapter was not very appealing to me at all and was boring, but at least it was about the Romans. I absolutely love finding out where words come from and had no idea that soldier, salary and salad became words focused around salt. Haha kind of funny to me. When I think of salary I think of making money and I cannot believe it came from salt since it is not worth anything really to us now, but it was back then.
I got more knowledge about the Patricians and Plebians throughout this chapter. I knew a little bit about them from the work we did in the textbook but not much. The Patrician meals were really strange and I would deffinately not be eating ever. Haha.
The Romans were smart cookies and got salt form mining salt rocks and drying up lakes. With their salt they produced their own trade factories, which I think of the plants down the road. I liked how they made salt affordable for the poor but during war they had no choice but to tax it to raise money. They must not raised enough to pay the soldiers so they got paid in salt, sweet.
The Romans used fish in some many different ways with some being more weird then others. They used every part possible from the fish and I think of native americans and buffalos. What was up with the rotten fish, gross?
The whole thing about Garum was weird and I did not understand it well. It was used in upper class meals and some thought it was good and others hated it. Why I do not know, I could of missed it.
One last thing, the purple color in the water was from bromine was neat.
I got more knowledge about the Patricians and Plebians throughout this chapter. I knew a little bit about them from the work we did in the textbook but not much. The Patrician meals were really strange and I would deffinately not be eating ever. Haha.
The Romans were smart cookies and got salt form mining salt rocks and drying up lakes. With their salt they produced their own trade factories, which I think of the plants down the road. I liked how they made salt affordable for the poor but during war they had no choice but to tax it to raise money. They must not raised enough to pay the soldiers so they got paid in salt, sweet.
The Romans used fish in some many different ways with some being more weird then others. They used every part possible from the fish and I think of native americans and buffalos. What was up with the rotten fish, gross?
The whole thing about Garum was weird and I did not understand it well. It was used in upper class meals and some thought it was good and others hated it. Why I do not know, I could of missed it.
One last thing, the purple color in the water was from bromine was neat.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Thank God for the Celts....
Well the Celts were pretty interesting I think. I never heard of the Celts until that video we watched in class that mentioned the Celts. The word Celts comes from a greek word Keltoi meaning "one who lives hiding or undercover". The Celts were also sometimes known as barbarians. Like the Egyptians and the Chinese they too were like in love with salt. Like the Egyptians the Celts also preserved their bodies with salt. I thought it was only the Egyptians that did that, I guess I was wrong. Also the Celts were buried with treasures and items just like the Egyptians did, how neat. Preserved bodies of Celts were found in the mountians doing work. What kind of work were they doing and why were they preserved like this? When i think of Celts and mountians for some reason I think of migets carring around picks. Do not ask, it comes from a old computer game called Runescape.
People do not know much about the Celts because documents about them were never kept or not found. The only thing we know today is what the Greeks and Romans told about them and who knows what is true or fake. They could be leaving a lot of things out and we would never know. I think that is a shame that we might never know the true Celts. I also thought it was neat how over 1000 preserved bodies of Celts were found way before they even thought they existed. How did that happen?
All of those ham lovers have to thank the Celts for salted ham. Ham is by the way amazing and I cannot wait until Thanksgiving to have turkey and ham, yummmmmmm. The celts actually got into fights over who was going to eat the ham. How crazy is that, lets fight over ham. I would never do that, that is just pretty stupid.
The Celts were not able to build a big, strong, powerful nation and rule all. They just could not do it. They did all these great things and their ideas went to the Romans, and the Romans used them like their own giving the Celts no credit. I personally could not stand not getting credit for something I did and having other people use it. So the Celts were not able to build and empire but they sort of helped the Romans do so with all their ideas, so in a way they did.
People do not know much about the Celts because documents about them were never kept or not found. The only thing we know today is what the Greeks and Romans told about them and who knows what is true or fake. They could be leaving a lot of things out and we would never know. I think that is a shame that we might never know the true Celts. I also thought it was neat how over 1000 preserved bodies of Celts were found way before they even thought they existed. How did that happen?
All of those ham lovers have to thank the Celts for salted ham. Ham is by the way amazing and I cannot wait until Thanksgiving to have turkey and ham, yummmmmmm. The celts actually got into fights over who was going to eat the ham. How crazy is that, lets fight over ham. I would never do that, that is just pretty stupid.
The Celts were not able to build a big, strong, powerful nation and rule all. They just could not do it. They did all these great things and their ideas went to the Romans, and the Romans used them like their own giving the Celts no credit. I personally could not stand not getting credit for something I did and having other people use it. So the Celts were not able to build and empire but they sort of helped the Romans do so with all their ideas, so in a way they did.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
At least Salt gets better....
Well I am glad that the book went from the Chinese, who did a lot of stuff but a little bit boring, to the Egyptians. The Egyptians were some people I tell you, pretty smart and interesting if you ask me.
After reading about the Egyptians I understood actually why salt was important to them and what they used it for. The Chinese I got the picture, but I did not fully understand them. The Egyptians absolutely needed salt for the mummification process of preserving the body. They also used it their breads and meat.
Speaking of meat, I had no idea how many different types of meats that they ate. I mean we eat the occasional chicken, ham, turkey and a few others, but not that many. I think it would be cool to eat like the Egyptians. The Egyptions are my idols for eating so much different types of meat. I mean I would like a more variety of meats then what we have now, I think it would be different but yet cool.
Also like they have different kinds of meat they also had different kinds of salt which in turn were different colors. How sweet is that. I think it would be really cool to just like put red slt onto your fries instead of plain old white. The only question i have is how much different of a taste do they have?
Also I thought it was neat how the Egyptians made salt by evaporating seawater of the Nile. They also got salt from trade, and it seems to me that salt was as important to them as their families and money combined. It was like they were absolutely obsessed over it. They also had sald lakes and salt deposits to collect salt along with African trade. They got there colored salt from a lake near Memphis.
The last thing that I thought was interesting from the chapter was the ancient Phoenician coins with imaes of tuna on them. We put presidents on our coins and guess what they choose, tuna. Haha. I would love to see one of those coins, it would be pretty neat.
After reading about the Egyptians I understood actually why salt was important to them and what they used it for. The Chinese I got the picture, but I did not fully understand them. The Egyptians absolutely needed salt for the mummification process of preserving the body. They also used it their breads and meat.
Speaking of meat, I had no idea how many different types of meats that they ate. I mean we eat the occasional chicken, ham, turkey and a few others, but not that many. I think it would be cool to eat like the Egyptians. The Egyptions are my idols for eating so much different types of meat. I mean I would like a more variety of meats then what we have now, I think it would be different but yet cool.
Also like they have different kinds of meat they also had different kinds of salt which in turn were different colors. How sweet is that. I think it would be really cool to just like put red slt onto your fries instead of plain old white. The only question i have is how much different of a taste do they have?
Also I thought it was neat how the Egyptians made salt by evaporating seawater of the Nile. They also got salt from trade, and it seems to me that salt was as important to them as their families and money combined. It was like they were absolutely obsessed over it. They also had sald lakes and salt deposits to collect salt along with African trade. They got there colored salt from a lake near Memphis.
The last thing that I thought was interesting from the chapter was the ancient Phoenician coins with imaes of tuna on them. We put presidents on our coins and guess what they choose, tuna. Haha. I would love to see one of those coins, it would be pretty neat.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Salt....Nothing else said!
Yeah, I am not going to lie. I was really worried when I was handed this rather large book about salt. I could not figure out how you could relate salt to history. The was rather dry in some places but I found a few things to be interresting. Also I was so impressed about how much salt meant to the people in China and society itself.
When I thought of salt, I thought of salt, what else is there to it. Today in America we are told a lot of salt consumption is very bad for you but yet we need it to survive. The Chinese figured that out, that they needed salt to survive. To the people back then in China salt meant wealth for the government, it meant being healthy, and the price of salt changed like the stock markets today.
The collection of salt came from the lakes where they would collect it each time the lake would dry up. Then they got the idea of evaporating the water which would take less time. They were smart little Chinese people back then. haha. Any way they would plaec water into jugs and boil the water and collect it that way. The salt collectors then started to drill for it in the ground. The first well was more like a pit and went deeper then 300 feet. The Chinese then got smarted and was able to dig wells narrower and deeper. There was a problem with this though. People just started to become weak/ sick and die. Also some explosions of flames would spit out and it would kill and entire crew. The people of China thought that there was an evil spirit form the underworld that came up through the holes. The thought this was really funny, but I would probably have thought the same.
The well workers soon figured out that it was an invisible substance and could cook with it. They started to pipe this invisible substance to boiling houses where they would put pots of water to evaporate and take the salt. This was basicly the first use of natural gas in the world.
The government eventually got smart and said hey, all humans need salt to stay healthy and for survival so why not set a tax on salt. They figured the government would make money because everybody would need to buy it. The people of China did not like this because they did not feel that it was fair that they had to be taxed for items and was a necessity. That is kind of how it is today isn't it?
When I thought of salt, I thought of salt, what else is there to it. Today in America we are told a lot of salt consumption is very bad for you but yet we need it to survive. The Chinese figured that out, that they needed salt to survive. To the people back then in China salt meant wealth for the government, it meant being healthy, and the price of salt changed like the stock markets today.
The collection of salt came from the lakes where they would collect it each time the lake would dry up. Then they got the idea of evaporating the water which would take less time. They were smart little Chinese people back then. haha. Any way they would plaec water into jugs and boil the water and collect it that way. The salt collectors then started to drill for it in the ground. The first well was more like a pit and went deeper then 300 feet. The Chinese then got smarted and was able to dig wells narrower and deeper. There was a problem with this though. People just started to become weak/ sick and die. Also some explosions of flames would spit out and it would kill and entire crew. The people of China thought that there was an evil spirit form the underworld that came up through the holes. The thought this was really funny, but I would probably have thought the same.
The well workers soon figured out that it was an invisible substance and could cook with it. They started to pipe this invisible substance to boiling houses where they would put pots of water to evaporate and take the salt. This was basicly the first use of natural gas in the world.
The government eventually got smart and said hey, all humans need salt to stay healthy and for survival so why not set a tax on salt. They figured the government would make money because everybody would need to buy it. The people of China did not like this because they did not feel that it was fair that they had to be taxed for items and was a necessity. That is kind of how it is today isn't it?
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