three cups of what?

tea. you know, the new york times best seller that's hot hot hot right now. well the author was a guest lecturer at usf today and i thought because i hadn't read the book i would feel out of the loop. NOT! TRUE!

from what i understand, this is a brief synopsis of the book: greg mortenson climbs k2, doesn't make it to the top and gets lost. on his way down he meets some pakistani village people who teach him a lot about life (and drinking tea: one cup = strangers, two cups = friends, three cups = family). from there he realizes a lot about this impoverished village and decides to help it by building schools to promote the importance of education. yes- i totally butchered the book, for those of you who have read it. forgive me.

some things greg said:

fighting terrorism is based out of fear. promoting peace is based on hope. (hmmm. seems pretty relevant.)

if you educate a boy, you educate an individual; if you educate a girl, you educate a community. [african proverb]

to really be able to understand poverty, you need to be able to see it. to taste it. to touch it.

interesting fact: in the eighties congress passed a bill that said from here on out one percent of our GDP will go to foreign aid. we have never fulfilled that. last year was the highest we ever achieved: .16 percent. sad.

the bad news: since 2007 the taliban and other jihadi groups have bombed, destroyed or shut down four hundred and eighty schools. the good news: in 2000 there were approximately eight hundred thousand kids going to school in pakistan and afghanistan. in 2008, there are over six million and two million of those are girls.

anyway. we should read the book. i think it's worth our time.