Three Cups of Tea

Gonzaga University
Presidential Speaker Series
Greg Mortensen
Promoting Peace: One School at a Time

Due to the early cessation of my Monday night class, I was able to attend the inaugural session of the Presidential Speaker Series at Gonzaga University. The speaker was Greg Mortensen, author of best-selling book Three Cups of Tea.

Gonzaga President Thayne McCullough began the evening with a glowing recognition of the speaker, Greg Mortensen, as well as the expected acknowledgment of sponsors and organizers of the event. The audience welcomed Mr. Mortensen to the stage with a standing ovation, which led to cheering when he held up a Go Zags sign.
Mr. Mortensen began with a joke about being in the wrong building (women's basketball game against Stanford was taking place at the same time), and then continued with the expected Thank You's and acknowledgments of student organizers and Gonzaga faculty and staff who helped put together the event.
After his acknowledgments, Mr. Mortensen began talking about community service. “A revolution is taking place” in community service. 50% of college graduates have a desire to make a difference in their communities, and as you go down into high schools and middle schools, that percentage increases.
Concluding his introductory remarks, Mr. Mortensen showed a DVD, Stones into Schools, about the situation in Afghanistan, and the progress that is being made with efforts to develop schools there, in spite of the ongoing conflict.
At the conclusion of the DVD, Mr. Mortensen talked about the connection between youth and elders. In America, only a small percentage of children speak to their grandparents about their history and important events that happened. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, most children speak regularly to their elders and access that repository of wisdom.
Following his remarks about connections between children and elders and the importance of schools and education, Mr. Mortensen spoke about the problems that children face around the world. In particular, he discussed the problems with child slave labor, still rampant in many parts of the world. He introduced the story of a child slave he met whose great desire was to get an education, and used that as his segue to explain “Three Cups of Tea,” his mission to promote peace through the establishment of schools. More information about “Three Cups of Tea” can be found at his web-site, www.threecupsoftea.com.
Mr. Mortensen gave a short overview of how the book was promoted, its success, and some of the accomplishments it has made. He concluded this with a summary of the priorities that US military commanders received from the elders in Afghanistan: to build schools and to fund higher education. This wrapped up with a typical military spending vs. education spending example.
After this, Mr. Mortensen introduced a local military hero and lauded the efforts he had made to help a remote village, and then finally began to tell the story of “Three Cups of Tea” and his personal journey.
In addition to speaking about “Three Cups of Tea,” Mr. Mortensen spoke about some of the other foundations and programs that came out of his efforts, such as the Pennies for Peace educational program. (www.penniesforpeace.org)

This is the first time I have heard Mr. Mortensen in person, but I have heard some of his other addresses, podcasted from various institutions, as well as some of his radio interviews. In comparison to the previous experience I have had with his addresses and interviews, I was initially disappointed with Mr. Mortensen's address at the Gonzaga University Presidential Speaker Series. Typically Mr. Mortensen has spoken about the efforts made to improve education in poor countries, especially in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the personal journey that inspired his school-building efforts, and the ways that people can contribute.
In this case, Mr. Mortensen's address seemed very self-congratulatory. He gave a great deal of attention to the accomplishments he and his foundation have made, and then finally turned to what should have been the meat of his address, seemingly as an after-thought. In his defense, Mr. Mortensen continually sprinkled his address with praise for community service, calls for action, focused in the local community, and encouragement to all members of the audience that they really can make a difference and should never give up.
In conclusion, while I was at first disappointed with Mr. Mortensen's performance, I think it was a suitable beginning for the Gonzaga University Presidential Speaker Series. I hope that his calls for action and words of encouragement find a place in the hearts of the audience and more seeds of change social dynamism can be sowed by his efforts.

Back In Spokane

After spending a few days in Iowa with my parents, I took the bus across to Salt Lake City. In Salt Lake, I stayed at my brother's new apartment, and helped his family move. Then on Saturday night was the third annual cheese party, which was a great success, with lots of delicious cheeses to try.
Then on Sunday I took to the road again, this time in my car, which has been sitting these last couple months at my brother's. I took it to the shop on Friday to get the suspension worked on, but the struts need completely replaced, and would have taken more time than I had available. So I made the drive without, which results in sore-butt syndrome.
The drive was uneventful, and I arrived safely in Spokane on Sunday evening. Unpacking will take a little longer, but I have a little space of my own again, and started classes today. I am ready and excited to be in school again.

Wending Home

The trip from Dangriga to Chetumal was uneventful, and a little bit faster than expected. When I went through Customs, I did not have enough for the exit fee, but I was able to borrow the extra from somebody else leaving Belize and repay her when we reached Chetumal.

The bus dropped us in Chetumal at a gas station, which was not where we departed from on my way down, so I had no idea where we were. No problem, I just took a taxi to my hostel, for a couple bucks. It was just getting on dark when I arrived at my hostel. The hostel in Chetumal was more like a hotel. I actually prefer hostels with shared dorm-style rooms and public areas to private rooms, because you get more of a chance to meet the other travelers. The restaurant across from the hostel was closed, but there was Domino's takeout just up the street, so I had a medium veggi pizza for dinner. No lunch, so I ate the whole thing.

The next morning, it was very easy to find the ADO bus terminal, because you go out the front door of the hostel, and the terminal is right there, across the street. There is a little park you have to walk through, but no big deal.

I arrived in Cancun in mid-afternoon, and walked to the hostel. It wasn't far, but the directions were not entirely clear, so I was actually grateful for the people who want to help you from the bus terminal for a few bucks. I found the hostel and checked in, and then went out to see some of Cancun.

Because I was only there the one evening and next morning, and because I'm pretty well past the whole partying scene, I stayed downtown and returned to the hostel pretty early, rather than heading down to the beach and engaging with the Spring Break crowd. I found some delicious veggie burritos for dinner and lunch the next day. The hostel served a very light continental breakfast of juice and toast.

I took the shuttle from the bus terminal to the airport rather than paying a lot of money for taxi the next morning. I got off at the wrong terminal, but the airport had its own free shuttle to take people between terminals. I checked in and got to the gate just a few minutes before they started boarding. The plane was in the air a few minutes late, but made up the time and landed at Dallas-Fort Worth International on time.

From there, its disembark, go through customs, reembark, and fly on to the Moline, Illinois airport where my parents were to pick me up. Customs was extremely slow. I got through customs at 7:25, and my flight started boarding at 7:20. I handed over my checked bag to the airline agents again, passed through security, caught the sky-tram to the proper terminal, and made it to my gate just before final boarding call. I think only one person got on the plane after me.

We flew to Moline, and I texted my folks to let them know I was on the ground as soon as we were allowed to turn our phones back on. It was just Dad to pick me up, so he greeted me when I left the secured area, and then we waited for my baggage claim. And waited. And waited. Then they announced that all the baggage had come through already. Okay . . . no luggage.

We waited for them to come open up the airline claims counter, and did the necessary paperwork, then made the drive to Cedar Rapids. Thus concludes the international portion of my trip. I still have the duration of my stay in Cedar Rapids and then my next visit in Utah before my return to Spokane, but I expect to be in Spokane March 27, in time for classes March 28.