I end my summer reading update with my favorite book of the summer. It takes me a while to get to anything that is popular or trendy because I tend to avoid conforming to what everyone else is doing at a specific time. However, I can now fully appreciate why everyone was raving about _Three Cups of Tea_ by Greg Mortenson.
Mortenson was a mountain climber. A failed attempt at K2 leads him to a small village in Pakistan, where his entire life path will change. A nurse by trade, a mountain climber by life, Mortenson paves the way to liberating Pakistani women and children by building schools, women’s centers and more. It’s an amazing story of his life, both with failures and successes in making a difference in the world.
As I read this novel, I felt a reminder as to why I wanted to become a teacher. I felt a sense of why I chose to come to this region that I’m now in. In my own way, I want to make this kind of difference and change in the lives of the Emiratis. While I dreamed of paving the way in new schools of Afghanistan and Iraq, learning to survive in this milder Arab nation has taught me that perhaps I’m not up for the kinds of challenges that Mortenson faced. He, being a tall white American male, struggled. I can only imagine how much worse it would be for me – a short American female of Asian descent. Still, instead of making me feel defeated, reading the novel gave me hope about what I can do where I am now. I might not have as great of an impact on the world as Mortenson, but every small step counts.
For teachers, dreamers and optimists – this is the book for you!
More to come…
-T
