Stones into Schools

A follow up to the book three cups of tea. This book has the same story line where Mortenson is building schools however, in this book he is in Afghanistan instead of Pakistan. Mortenson in Stones into Schools is faced with terrorism. Afghanistan presented Mortenson with more than just making money for the schools but he had to go deeper than that. He even met with known terrorist to get their approval for one school. Mortenson put aside the fears that most would have dealing with terrorism. He truly went deep into the culture and became accustom with their ways and beliefs on dealing with educating the young. I thought this book was just as good as the first however, some say that the book is to repetitive. I feel this book can stand alone, the story line may be the same however, new and exciting accomplishments come from this book.

Overview

Overall taking this class learning about Pakistani culture has opened my eyes. Before this class my thoughts on Pakistan was stereotypical because of the news showing the bad apples of the country. However now that this class is almost over, I have a new outlook on Pakistan. Pakistan is unique culture and it has been interesting learning about the other side of Pakistan besides the bad news that I previously had only been accustom to concerning Pakistan. One of the most interesting I learned was how much family means to the culture. Family's run deep in Pakistan and children grow up to support their elders. Beating stereo types is not an easy task however, this class changed my overall view on Pakistan.

Three Cups of Tea

Three Cups of Tea was an inspirational story by Greg Mortenson who writes about his experiences that lead him to dedicate himself towards the children and elders of the town Korphe to build a school. Its amazing the non-selfishness displayed by Mortenson through the novel. A man who set out to cope with the death of his sister finds himself at a cross road of life which leads him to find happiness in a different culture while helping others. For most people they would not be able to hold a promise in which, they forget about making money and fund raise money for people from another country to build a school. This again reflects his dedication and non-selfishness towards his occupation. His story portrays the hardships that these small towns throughout Pakistan have to deal with everyday. This story is vary motivational and leaves readers amazed at the possibilities one person can accomplish.

Pakistan food

Before taking Pakistani culture I had never tried spicy foods, however trying the food did not make me change my mind on how I feel about spicy foods. that is just my opinion on the other hand many people like spicy foods and that is why we see India style restaurants in the United States. The type of Pakistani food that people in America will go out and eat is cuisine. Cuisine varies from region to region in Pakistan, showing the cultures diversity and ethnic groups that live in the country. In a sense Pakistani people are better off concerning healthy eating because their country's food is healthier than most American food. Americans are faced with obesity because of the fatty foods that we consume. Fast foods are more common in everyday Americans eating habits. Pakistan is so rich in its culture that they have not changed their eating habits and still eat traditional Pakistani foods.

part II pakistani culture

One of the most traditions of Pakistani culture is their weddings. I wrote about arranged marriages in a earlier post however, there are many positives that come from the Pakistani culture. Family's are brought together through marriages. When a member of a family is getting married the whole family has to approve and are involved through the process of family's joining together. Other good aspects are children growing up in Pakistan do not have the burden of choosing there spouse. There parents have the ultimate decisions, parents now their children well enough to make a excellent decision when picking a spouse. Having the whole family involved in decisions that concern marriages leads to everyone in the family to care for one another.

arranged marriages

Arranged marriages is a controversial subject, people opposing arranged marriages believe that a person should choose his or her spouse. For me I would not want to eliminate someone else's cultural tradition however, I can see how people think it is wrong for someone's parents to choose their spouse. I believe people should have the right to choose whom they are going to spend the rest of their lives with. Choosing someone who you love to be with is a special time in ones life. However, there are positive attributes that come from arranged marriages. Knowing these attributes its subjective for people from other cultural backgrounds to judge another cultures traditions.

Pakistan video

Pakistan video