Three Cups of Tea

This evening I was sitting at my computer trying to come up with a meaningful quote for my WWU MASK profile. I told my roommate, Melinda, I wanted to just put "Three Cups of Tea," except that no one would know what it meant.

Three Cups of Tea is a book about a mountain climber, Greg Mortenson, who finds himself in an impoverished Pakistan village after a failed attempt to climb K2. Moved by their kindness, he promises to return and build a school. Over the next decade he builds 55 schools-especially for girls- in an area that breathes terrorism. So then I read Melinda a quote from the book:

Haji Ali spoke. ‘If you want to thrive in Baltistan, you must respect our ways. The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest. The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family, and for our family, we are prepared to do anything, even die. Doctor Greg, you must take time to share three cups of tea. We may be uneducated but we are not stupid. We have lived and survived here for a long time.’ That day, Haji Ali taught me the most important lesson I’ve ever learned in my life. We Americans think you have to accomplish everything quickly…Haji Ali taught me to share three cups of tea, to slow down and make building relationships as important as building projects. He taught me that I had more to learn from the people I work with than I could ever hope to teach them.

As I finished reading, Melinda was reaching into the top cupboards and pulling out three mugs. She set them on top of the mess all over my desk. Because we are family. And we are prepared to do anything.

This is Melinda


This was a couple of years ago...we are probably not the most talented chefs you will ever meet, but we may have more fun.


So, I think I'm going to put that as my quote anyway. It's meaningful to me...and hopefully it's meaningful to enough other people to make it worthwhile. Maybe they will ask and I would love to explain it.