Study+Questions


 * Chapter 1: “Failure”**

1. Name the country where Mortenson’s parents were missionaries. 2. From what illness did Christa suffer? 3. Why is Mortenson scaling K2? 4. What is Mortenson’s occupation? 5. Heading down the mountain, an exhausted Mortenson loses site of his partner, Scott Darsney, and heads south instead of west. What supplies does he have in his purple day-pack? 6. How much weight did Mortenson lose during the K2 attempt?


 * Chapter 2: “The Wrong Side of the River”**

1. Mortenson is still lost; when he awakes in the morning, what is the first object he sees? 2. What is unique about the song Mortenson sings as he is begins his morning journey? 3. During Mortenson’s quest to find civilization, the narrator says, “He [Mortenson] drank in the drama of these peaks like he’d never seen them before.” What did Mortenson see on this morning? 4. Who is Mouzafer Ali? 5. What is //paiyu cha?// 6. Who are the Balti people? 7. What is a //zamba//? 8. Mortenson, the first foreigner to arrive in Korphe, said he could smell the village a mile away? Why? 9. Who is Haji Ali? 10. Describe the Korphe village. 11. The Balti have many names and purposes for rocks. Describe one.


 * Chapter 3: “Progress and Perfection”**

1. Sakina, a Balti woman, serves Mortenson sweet tea and offers him a second cup; what is the significance of the sweet tea? 2. What is the significance of the quilt? 3. How much did Mortenson pay Mouzafer for his work as a porter? 4. The village of Korphe is located on a shelf eight hundred feet above the Braldu River. How does the village get water to its crops? 5. Why do the children have ginger colored hair? 6. What is the percentage of Korphe children who die before reaching the age of one? 7. In northern Pakistan, Mortenson is known as “Dr. Greg.” Why? 8. Why do the Korphe children remind Mortenson of his sister Christa? 9. Describe the Korphe School. 10. How many girls attended the school? 11. What did the school children use to write their multiplication tables? 12. In American currency, how much does a teacher cost per day?


 * Chapter 4: “Self Storage”**

1. Back in Berkely, California, Mortenson goes to his storage unit. Who is GiGi? 2. How did Christa become ill? 3. Mortenson’s parents exhibit humanitarian qualities; what two projects dominated their lives? 4. How old was Mortenson when he scaled his “first serious mountain”? 5. During the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the hospital, Mortenson’s father said to the African people, “It’s your country. It’s your hospital.” Why did this anger the “expats”? 6. Why was Mortenson “beat up” on his first day in an American School? 7. What college degrees did Mortenson earn? 8. What was happening to Mortenson when Christa died? 9. What is La Bamba?


 * Chapter 5: “580 Letters, One Check”**

1. How much will one, five-room, Pakistani school cost to build? 2. While raising funds for the school, where did Mortenson live? 3. To “what” did Kishwar Syed introduce Motenson? 4. Jerene Mortenson invited Greg to her school to give a slide show. What happened after the students saw the presentation? 5. Mortenson received one check. Who sent this “one” check to Mortenson? 6. How did Mortenson meet Dr. Jean Hoerni? 7. When Mortenson received the check from Hoerni, a note was attached. What was “scrawled” on the note? 8. Mortenson sold La Bamba for $500. This money was used for what purpose?


 * Chapter 6: “Rawalpindi’s Rooftops at Dusk”**

1. How many hours did it take Mortenson to get from San Francisco to Islamabad? 2. How many tea shops were visited before Mortenson was allowed to purchase the cement? 3. How is the “haggling” for wood different than haggling for the cement? 4. Why did Mortenson feel guilty for ordering two sets of //shalwar kamiz// from the tailor? 5. What did Mortensen ask Manzoor Khan, the tailor, to teach him? 6. What is //Shahada//? 7. When trying on his new clothes, what mistake does Mortenson make?


 * Chapter 7: “Hard Way Home”**

1. What creature was painted on the tailgate of the truck? 2. Why did a large crowd gather as the truck was being loaded? 3. In 1968, the Karakoram Highway (KKH) was “christened” what? 4. What is the Sisyphian process? 5. Reaching the Dasu Bridge, the truck is stopped by whom?


 * Chapter 8: “Beaten by the Braldu”**

1. As Mortenson enters Skardu, what flew over the Bedford? 2. The supplies are stored by whom? 3. Who first invites Mortenson to his village? 4. In Balti, what does //Changazi// mean? 5. While at Changazi’s home, Mortenson intentionally refuses Changazi’s hospitality? How does he do this? 6. Where does Mortenson go when he leaves Changazi’s home? 7. Changazi, Akhmalu, and Janjungpa want Mortenson to build in their villages. At first Mortenson is angry at Changazi and Janjungpa’s dishonesty, but eventually feels that he has been “too harsh.” Why does be feel this way? 8. When Mortenson finally arrives in Korphe, what does Sakina present with the butter tea? 9. Before the school can be built, what must happen?


 * Chapter 9: “The People Have Spoken”**

1. Mortenson is frustrated because he could not complete the school and had to return to the US to raise money for the bridge. Why do the Korphe men not feel the same frustration? 2. Where does Mortenson stay while raising money for the bridge? 3. Mortenson is feeling like a failure. How does the mugging show how depressed Mortenson is feeling? 4. According to Lou Reichardt, Mortenson has hit what? 5. Why does Mortenson carry a Ziploc bag?


 * Chapter 10: “Building Bridges”**

1. Why does Mortenson appreciate the response, “//Inshallah//, Allah willing”? 2. Who helps Mortenson purchase the supplies for the bridge? 3. Are Balti women granted a //muthaa//? 4. How is the yak dung used? 5. Before the cable arrived to the village, a rock slide closed the road. How did the cable get to the village? 6. Why did Twaha give Mortenson a //tomar//, or “badge of courage”? 7. When the hunting party returned to the village, what were the children given? 8. Why did Mortenson ask the visiting American, George McCown, to pay the workers? 9. Why was Hussein chosen to be the school’s first teacher?


 * Chapter 11: “Six Days”**

1. Why does Mortenson go to Seattle? 2. What did the photojournalist, who was sitting at Mortenson’s table, buy him? 3. At this dinner, Mortenson hears of another philanthropist who builds schools. Who is this person and what does he mean to Mortenson? 4. At this dinner, Mortenson meets his future wife. What did her father do for a living? 5. Tara and Mortenson met on Sept. 13, 1995. When did they wed?


 * Chapter 12: “Haji Ali’s Lesson”**

1. When Mortenson attempts to retrieve the school supplies from Changazi, he is met with resistance; yet a man helps him. Who is this man? 2. When Mortenson and Parvi find the supplies, how much is left? 3. Mortenson arrives in Korphe to find that the school has not been started even though he left money, with Haji Ali, to hire laborers. What is Haji Ali’s excuse? 4. After discussing wedding rituals with Twaha the previous evening, Mortenson finds a “precious” boiled egg on his breakfast plate. What is the significance of this egg? 5. Why is Mortenson invited to the village mosque? 6. Mortenson and Tara visit Hoerni during Thanksgiving. What does Hoerni propose to Mortenson? 7. Upon returning to Skardu, Mortenson hires two people to work for the Institute. Who are these men? 8. How did the bridge empower the women of the village? 9. While building the school, Haji Ali tells Mortenson, “Sit down. And shut your mouth. You’re making everyone crazy.” What lesson does Mortenson need to learn? 10. Before the school is completed, the villagers are visited by a band of men. What price do the villagers pay to continue building the school?


 * Chapter 13: “A Smile Should Be More Than a Memory”**

1. Where does Mortenson first learn of a group called the Taliban and a man by the name of Osama Bin Laden? 2. What is the nickname for the Wazir people? 3. Upon arriving in Kot Langarkhel, Mortenson intentionally greets a group of men. A Wazir smuggler offers Mortenson the mouthpiece of a hookah. Why did Mortenson decline the offer? 4. Mortenson is invited to Haji Mirza’s house for a meal; what was served? 5. Mortenson’s abductors leave him with one American item. What is it? 6. How long is Mortenson held captive?


 * Chapter 14: “Equilibrium** "

1. Tara gives birth to a daughter; she is named Amira Eliana. What is the meaning of “Amira”? 2. Why did Mortenson return to Korphe a few weeks after the birth of his daughter? 3. How does Twaha describe Mortenson’s manners and demeanor? 4. After helping the Korphe mother, who was ill from giving birth, Mortenson said he was humbled. Why? 5. While driving through a snowstorm, Mortenson pulls off the road, but he must keep the car running. Why? 6. Why does Hoerni demand a hammer? 7. Who cared for Hoerni during the last days before he died? 8. Why did Mortenson purchase a suit?


 * Chapter 15: “Mortenson in Motion”**

1. What simple device allows Mortenson to continue his CAI work from his Bozeman office? 2. How much is the endowment fund at this point? 3. Why must Mortenson unexpectedly return to Skardu? 4. Who is the CAI’s “fixer”? 5. What is unique about the group of men from the “four corners of Pakistan”? 6. It took three years to build the Korphe school. How long did it take to build the next three schools? 7. What does Mortenson do with the left-over supplies? 8. What is the “Korphe Women’s Vocational Center”? 9. Regarding Mortenson’s “assuault on poverty,” who helped Mortenson organize the “first porter-training program”?


 * Chapter 16: “Red Velvet Box”**

1. What does the red velvet box contain? 2. Parvi and Mortenson are summoned to the Imam Bara Mosque. Who awaits them? 3. Why did the villages of Chunda need the fresh spring water? 4. As a child, Mohammed Aslam Khan floated down the Hushe Valley river to get to the school. After graduation, he was offered a government post, but he turned it down. Why? 5. In 1998, a school was built in Aslam’s village. What is the significance of Shakeela's attending school? 6. Why did Mortenson decide to change the CAI’s mission of education to “educate only through the 5 th grade”?


 * Chapter 17: “Cherry Trees in the Sand”**

1. Who is Fatima? 2. What is the LOC? 3. The Indian and Pakistan military built observation posts on both sides of the LOC, but what happened to the posts each September? 4. In 1998, what did Pakistan test in the Chagai Hills? 5. What was the “Kargil conflict”? 6. Who does Mortenson meet at the Indus Hotel? 7. Why does Gul Mohammed like Bill Clinton? 8. Where do the thousands of refugees coming to Skardu camp? 9. What do the Torah, Bible and Koran have in common regarding those in need? 10. Mortenson asks the CAI’s permission to spend $6,000 to build this.


 * Chapter 18: “Shrouded Figure”**

1. When he is back in the US, Mortenson averages one slide show a week. Why? 2. What is the topic of the slideshow? 3. Why was Mortenson able to build a school for less than $20,000? 4. Why did Mortenson finally hire an assistant, Christine Slaughter? 5. Who is Vera Kurtz? 6. Who accused Mortenson of “kowtowing” to all the rich people? 7. During his short layover in Calcutta, whom did Mortenson visit? 8. Why does Mortenson spend so much time in his basement? 9. The Mortenson’s 1999 Christmas card featured a photo of what?

1. What is a //Wahhabi madrassa//? 2. How was the Wahhabi funded? 3. In 2001, according to the World Bank, how many Pakistani students were educated by the madrassas? 4. How many madrassa students received military training? 5. Does Mortenson think all the Wahhabi are bad? 6. What is the Wahhabi strategy? 7. Where is Mortenson on Sept. 9, 2001? 8. Under a new military government ran by General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan is now under martial law. How does this affect Pakistan’s government schools? 9. On Sept. 9 th, Ahmend Shah Massoud, “leader of the Northern Alliance that kept the Taliban from taking the northernmost Afghanistan,” was murdered by whom? 10. On Sept. 10 th, Mortenson is visiting the last settlement in Pakistan, Zuudkhan. Why? 11. A year earlier, a group of Kirghiz nomads came to visit Mortenson. Why? 12. After hearing of Twin Towers, Mortenson decides to “get out of Dodge.” Why? 13. Back in Kuardu, from whom does Mortenson receives an apology for the 9/11 attacks? 14. After this speech, what did the Kuardu widows give Mortenson and McCown? 15. Which two graves does Mortenson visit while in Korphe?
 * Chapter 19: “A Village Called New York”**


 * Chapter 20: “Tea with the Taliban”**

1. What is the “circus”? 2. The Marriot hotel charges $150-$320 a night for a room. How much does the //Home Sweet Home Guest House// charge? 3. Mortenson gives numerous interviews to reporters. What “root causes of the conflict” does Mortenson talk about? 4. Each night, a group of Taliban leaders visits the Marriot Coffee Shop. What do they order? 5. According to Mortenson, Mullah Omar, a top Taliban leader, dialed the White House public information line twice in October. Why? 6. After Mortenson’s passport is destroyed by a Taliban sentry, Mortenson travels to Katmandu, Nepal to get a new passport. While at the embassy, Mortenson is held for questioning. What do the intelligence officers want? 7. Mortenson leaves for the US on Oct. 29, 2001. Once home, what type of mail does he receive? 8. On Nov. 1, 2001, Mortenson goes to Seattle for a fundraiser. Instead of reading from his book, what does Jon Krakauer read?


 * Chapter 21: “Rumsfeld’s Shoes”**

1. Upon arriving at Kubul airport in February of 2002, Mortenson gets into Abdullah Rahman’s cab. How is Abdullah’s face disfigured? 2. How many of Kubul’s 159 schools were operational at this point? 3. Who is Uzra Faizad? 4. Upon arriving in Skardu, Mortenson hears that a fatwa has been issued, banning him from working in Pakistan. What does Parvi suggest? 5. What words are written on Julia Bergman’s pendant? 6. Who donated medical books to the Kabul Medical Institute? 7. Where did the Shahabudeen teachers hold classes? 8. Why did the girls’ blackboard blow over? 9. According to Afghanistan’s deputy minister of finance, how much US aid money actually arrived in Afghanistan? 10. What did Mary Bono arrange for Mortenson while he was in Washington D.C.? 11. While speaking to the congressional group, Mortenson says he has learned a few things about fighting terror. What are they? 12. A few months after his lecture in D.C., Mortenson was invited to the Pentagon by a Marine general. To whom was he introduced? 13. How many trips has Mortenson made to Pakistan at this point?


 * Chapter 22: “The Enemy is Ignorance”**

1. Who stepped through the “circle of thirty tea-sipping men” and interrupted the morning meeting? 2. What promise did Mortenson make to Jahan? 3. What was the headline on the April 6, 2003 edition of //Parade//? 4. After the article appeared, canvas bags of letters began to arrive. Who sent these letters? 5. How much money is raised during this time? 6. When Mortenson arrives at the Halde school, he finds Yakub holding two sticks of dynamite? Why? 7. Why is the Hemasil School special to Mortenson? 8. During the construction of the Hemasil School, another fatwa is declared. The Islamic court declares the fatwa “illegitimate” and orders Agha Mubarek to do what? 9. What does General Bashir do when he hears the account of the Hemasil School? 10. According to General Bashir, who created Osama? 11. Before leaving Skardu, Mortenson visits Jahan’s home. What type of tea does she serve?


 * Chapter 23: “Stones into Schools”**

1. What does the king give Mortenson? 2. How many elementary children in the Wakhan Corridor are in need of a school? 3. Why are the rocks painted red? 4. After getting stuck in a tunnel, how does Mortenson get out? 5. Traveling toward Taloqan, Mortenson and Abdullah run into another obstacle. What is it? 6. Mortenson escapes the gun battle by riding in a truck filled with what? 7. Upon arriving at Commanhan Sadhar Khan’s compound, Mortenson tells Khan the story of the Kirghiz horsemen. How did Khan respond? 8. Sadar Khan looks at the boulder fields on the streets of Bahrak. He says, “Every rock, every boulder that you [Mortenson] see before you is one of my //mujahadeen, shahids//, martyrs, who sacrificed their lives fighting the Russians and the Taliban.” To honor their lives, he says the “stones” must be turned into what?