Three cups of Teaing

I'm going to start by saying i liked this book much more than SALT. Greg was truly inspirational, and it was interesting to see how his schools came about. I enjoyed the beginning, how he was a climber and the struggles he faced with his crew. I imagine my brother would like this book too for that reason; he loves reading about climbing. While lost from a climb, Greg (somewhat, after hours and hours and hours of looking for a fellow climber or town) wanders into a tiny village. It's amazing how much this changes his life. He was and is a strange sort of person. I liked reading about him because he doesn't lead an average life. I think he would be somewhat difficult to be friends with, since he was rarely home and had different priorities than most, but he is definitely deserving of friends! Tara, especially, is a perfect match. Greg is very self-sacrificing and compassionate. He made a difference in so many lives in Pakistan, but he is still humble. Jean was a funny character too; he seemed harsh, but he was very generous. I think he helped show Greg how much they had helped Pakistani children.

Along with learning about Greg, I learned quite a bit about culture in the Middle East. Before i read Three Cups, i thought Pakistani people were just primitive and bad, in most cases. I know this is an awful conclusion to come to, but through the news, etc, the middle east gets a bad reputation. It's usually rare to hear about the kind people, like the ones Greg befriends. Greg is mostly positive, but when he says anything about not getting enough help, he manages through the care of others. I learned how muslims live their lives. I think it would be strange to convert to being a muslim after my life, because they are so strict with their religion, and i am not accustomed to that at all. Greg was open to Islam, which helped him to be more accepted. They eat very different foods, and the vocabulary Greg taught gave me a glimpse of Pakistani languages. They have different clothing and houses, and have different manners and customs. Northern Pakistan, if not all of Pakistan, is completely different than my home today. It's interesting to read about, because people are all the same in how they think and interact, but they are so different in other parts of the world.

Greg deserves the recognition he gets, but he continues to stay out of the limelight for the most part to continue to do his work. Thinking now, it's sad how most people probably think they can't help like Greg because of their lives. He gave up routine to help people in need, and that's surely not a normal route. The book shows that people CAN help, and i hope we make a difference too. Greg seems to appreciate attention in the form of donations and personal stories. I'm sure his patients and students make all his work worthwhile.

Three Cups functioned as an inspiration and teacher, and i'm glad to have read a book i probably wouldn't have picked out on my own.

You put the Prosciutto in the Ports and you SALT IT ALL UP

"It was not so much the sea in their faces as the river at their backs." I wish i were a writer, that sounds lovely. There are more pictures in this chapter, i do believe. Many large cities in Italy are based on salt. That's like the 1800s, big towns had gold. Also oil. It's strange comparing salt to these valuable things. We buy salt for like 3 cents so animals and younger siblings can lick some and drool on it.

I love the sounds of these Italian cities.

Platina of Parma decided that if you liked the smell of ham, then you'd like the taste of it! That's the easiest recipe yet. It's like a law in chemistry except not nearly as painful and far more interesting. In the Po Valley, they like butter better than oil. I was born in the Po Valley, and it shows. Oil is flavorless and bad for you.

I am such a liar in these blogs. I'm pretty sure you can tell, but i'm like anyone else on the internet.. a liar!

Romans made a lot of cheese. Probably like 24597837 kinds, i'd say. But that's just an estimation. Cheese is pretty good. I like it with crackers or pizza. All my family eats is cheese. Romans made a lot of cheese. If that sounds redundant, it's because it is. Why is this about cheese? I want to read about SALT!

That's a lie too.

Each creamery had a cheesemaster who touched the cheese goo with "knowing fingers." Cheesemaster makes me laugh. Perhaps it is from my love of making new dumb words and also annoying nicknames. I'm a big fan of the great suffix. Osity? Yep, she's a winner.

Salt makes itself useful when it helps the mountains be beautiful. Ok, salt had other uses, but i like my eyecandy. And these pink mountains were snazzy. People decorated them with faces and shapes and love and kindness and peace. It was artsy.

I love that Christopher Colombus had a bunch of names. I definitely prefer Cristoforo Columbo. Anyway, he allegedly found North America, which is pretty cool. Except that i think the Chinese people found it first. Which is backed up by no information or research. And is written with a bunch of sentence fragments. Forgive me, Ammar-gray Od-gay or whatever freaky thing stares at me in English.

The mediterranean is no longer a leading sea, and this class is no longer requiring me to read about salt. It was interesting, i suppose, but not in the subject matter. Just that we actually read 100 pages about salt. It delivered the lols though... i guess.

What a strong ending.

Salt Away!!

Permission to salt? Permission granted. Salting. Salt it away in the Adriatic!!

I'm a climber, paha.

What does it mean if Cassiodorus likened houses to aquatic birds? Judging by the paragraph, Dorus just wanted peace, love, and salt. Why couldn't everyone get along? He was the best emperor of salt.

Chioggia produces sali minutti. This will be exceptionally helpful to be able to say during my trip to Italy. It is apparently a fine-grained salt. Because of my desire to converse about salt, i will store this term in my memory bank so i can socialize with locals. I have also gathered the word "maccheroni, " which is one of the probably like a billio words for pasta in Italy. Lasagna is the best invention EVER. I love lasagna. It means "ribbon" in Greek, which makes sense, because I always eat my ribbon with sauce, meat, and cheese. Or possibly means "chamber pot," which makes sense because I always eat my chamber pots with sauce, meat, and cheese. ....this is like exitado or whatever in Spanish. Because it doesn't really mean excited. But i'm not exactly Spanishy, as you might know.

Ranked by their love of salt, Venice is second to China. But Venice and China are basically cousins, so this is not a cowinkydink. Is there a certain spelling for that?

MARCO!

Those were the good old days..

Ah, the days of the salad. The first paragraph is the familiar Plebeian-Patrician thing. This is good because it is not salt related, and it does not confuse me. However, the last chapter had more about history and less about salt, so i should be careful what i wish for.

The last chapter was TERRIBLE.

Romans liked to eat very strange parts of cattle, mostly the rich ones. Everyone has the right to be salted though, AMEN. Where does K get his information? I am not familiar with a salt reference book... i'm not questioning his credibility, but what the heck?!

Salt is like gas, they manipulate the citizens with it. Except gas is less than edible, way more expensive now, and used as fuel. Plus it's a liquid and it smells weird/good....... Salary is like salt. Sal is salt in Spanish. When i make this connection, i realize that the "t" is unnecessary. The Spaniards know what's up. I'm glad i don't get paid in salt, i would not make much money......

Did people honestly prescribe salted fish intestines? Or is Mr. K. making good use of his creative writing license? The recipe is far too complicated, i'll never be cured. In other recipes, Apicus made a delish molded dish with LOVAGE. I'm feeling muh brother. Feelin the lovage.

This chapter is longer than i thought. I have two more chapters to blog, and mine are always way too long anyway. Hasta like 20 minutes.

Is the next blog allowed to contain two chapters?

Saltmen Hard as Codfish

I couldn't make the title more creative than Mr. Kurlansky himself. Codfish are apparently very hard things in hardtown. There are a lot of ways to say "salt town." The Celts and Gauls are some things i want to pretend never existed, thanks to the enjoyment of music/music appreciation/music theory, can i get an AMEN?!

This chapter is soo painful to read, i'll be honest. Except that a ton of it is about beards, which are obviously awesome. They found people preserved by salt. These guys had a lot of facial hair. Some dead salty womancorpses had braids. This is strange and possibly my least creative blog yet. I hate this chapter. Was this blog supposed to be blogged yesterday?

How does one salt mine? Now, don't they get it from salt water a lot?

ALAS something slightly interesting. The Celts loooved pig, unlike Egyptians. Favorite people people got the boar leg (that would be my sister). Except she is not a warrior, for anyone who has seen us wrestle. They fought over the ham.. The back ham was the best, whoever won, ate it. Apparently there was only one pig back to go around.

A VENISON RECIPE! Pay close attention, whatever you do, do not let it come in contact with water. It doesn't say why, just do not. I wouldn't dare.

My name was once Vercingetorix, but i had it changed, substitute teachers pronounced it wrong all the time. He led the Celts to great nudey victories. In case the nakedness was not intimidating enough, they had crazy war cries and terrifying songs, not unlike Erica's prank calling noises. They had horns, and often did the viking bison disco inferno dance.

That last piece of information was false.

That is all i found notable. I have a new theory on Sir Kurlansky. I believe he is entirely obsessive compulsive. I am authorized to submit credible diagnoses because i have the title of aspiring psychiatrist and an obsessive compulsive in my home. I will prescribe him medication. Honestly, who else can focus on salt and fish for 452 PAGES!? Just because he has a personality disorder doesn't mean he's not a ..masterpiece maker?

dodgy.

why don't my paragraphs separate themselves?!

Salt, take twoo.

Fish, Fowl, and Pharaohs. Only two of those can be legally eaten, i like this chapter already. It begins with mummification, a topic that is slightly interesting and which i can take a test on and not fail miserably. Mr. Kurlansky says that the dead body of Egyptians was a "vessel" from the life to the afterlife. I like the way that sounds. Mr. K. will now be referred to as an artist of words. However, i do not like the sounds of the onion/eye deal. I do not want my eyes to be in the same room as free onion juice, let alone directly in my sensitive sockets. I wish for this message to be passed on to my offspring (interweb, take care of that). I would like my eyes to stay put, dead or aliveeee.

Alas, we are at the food part. For a moment, i forgot i was reading about salt. I was sadly reminded. Is funereal a word? It's nifty, but is Mr. K. for serious? He's still an artist, but i'm seeing Picasso in him. He's making stuff up and we're buying it. Even if it looks ridiculous. Funereal? My family in the room is not familiar, and reference books are against my religion (too convenient, i've been taught).

Why did Egyptians have something against pigs? Why would they have pigs at all if the pig farmers were accused of leprosy? I love bacon, they were missing out. Contrary to this book and popular belief, Egyptians did NOT make olives edible. Trust me. Or eat them and try not to vomit. They are like acorns. It's best to mask the flavor. Egyptians made spectacular bread, which is actually impressive. They had enough time to let it rise, which made them luxurious. They were way more g l a m o r ous than the Hebrews.

My family refers to me as the "divine salt," along with natron. Interesting that it's mentioned.

Mediterraneans are great because they credit the recipemakers. There is no food plagiarism between them and the Phoenicians, as well as the Spaniards. However, there is some confusion about who made what. I'm not too caught up in who got to chickpeas first, though it is apparently a great feat. Sfax prospered! We learned in class that Phoenicians had the first good alphabet, i'm glad Salt agrees. Sfax, it's a funny word.

THE CAMEL WAS NATIVE TO NORTH AMERICA UNTIL TWO MILLION YEARS AGO?! I wish i was joking or being sarcastic. I'm not. That is so insane. I don't miss them much, obviously, but WOW. I do NOT regret reading this chapter.

I do not like the sounds of Taghaza. It was probably a miserable work camp, eh? "They lacked everything but salt." That's all you need though. Salt is all you need. ...Unnnless you have gold. We are not completely insane, gold is better than salt. In Timbuktu, they chewed on salty tobacco. As if tobacco alone isn't delicious enough. R. Omosunlola (i'm reading that aloud now) helped Nigerian women deal with their salt. I trust him, where can i get a copy?

Forever and ever, amen.


I looove how spell check works on this. I was unsure about plagiarism. Now i am not.

Update

My dad and I.