The worst part about a good book is.....

that it will end.
This was the epiphany that I came to when I realized I was more than half finished with a book that leaves me thinking every time I put it down.
On a whim, the cow purchased the book "Educating Alice: Adventures of a curious woman." The author, Alice Steinbach, is a former Pulitzer Prize winning reporter/feature writer for the Baltimore Sun. Now - let it be known that I am not recommending this book to all of my friends like Oprah does, but I am saying that a book that makes you think is always a good thing.
What is it about this book that strike a cord?
Well, if it isn't obvious, the goal for the author is to travel to various locations around the world and LEARN something that is part of the culture of that country. For instance, she was trained in the ancient tea ceremony in Kyoto, Japan. So far, my favorite chapter has been her travels in Havana. It is here that she meets a woman selling single sheets of toilet paper to passersby as they enter the public toilets. Her is a brief synopsis of why I think of what the author has written well after I put the book down:
"I saw one Cuban's answer to supplementing her income. As I walked by the entrance to a public lavatory a wizened old woman wearing a threadbare brown dress, black ankle socks, and men's shoes sold toilet paper, sheet by sheet. 'Two pesos please," she said, handing me the paper. When I gave her two dollars instead of two pesos, or ten cents, she shook her head, thinking I had misunderstood. 'No, two pesos,' she said with dignity. I lied and told her I was leaving Cuba and had no pesos. I folded the money into her gnarled hand and she said, in perfect english; "I hope you are enjoying your stay in Havana. Please come back. I will be right here."