6 months gone.
on Pak'd Off (Pakistan), 06/May/2008 09:48, 34 days ago
Apologies again for the long intermission between blogs. I’ve been suffering from the little known condition “bloggers block” and a severe keyboard allergy. However when I looked at my calendar last week and noticed that I hit the 6 month anniversary of my arrival, indicating that I’m now halfway through my time in Pakistan, I felt that I really should mark the occasion with a blog entry.First I’ll start by summarising the events of the past month. I’ve actually been pretty poorly, suffering from various symptoms including upset stomach, fatigue and dizziness. I went to two doctors who were completely over the top. I was prescribed an antibiotic for giardiasis, some caramel flavoured medicine (dunno what for but it was tasty), two types of pills for IBS, some bubble gum flavoured oral rehydration salts, a pill for stomach cramps, a yeast drink and some anti-anxiety pills(despite my protests)! I was also subjected to a blood test and a urine test, neither of which gave much indication of what was wrong. A day later I shelved all the ridiculous medicines and checked out the side-effects of my anti-malarials on the instruction leaflet. BINGO. I did not need to take a thousand medicines, all I needed to do was to stop taking the one medicine I had been taking all along.So that’s paludrine and chloroquin binned. Until I sort out an alternative, I’m being extra liberal with the mossie repellent which is definitely required as it has started to become unbearably hot. Today I’m happy because the temperature has finally retreated, for the first time in weeks, from the early forties into the “coolness” of the mid-late 30s. Unfortunately this makes little to no difference to the clay oven that is our home and which somehow consistently manages to achieve a temperature around ten degrees higher than it is outside. In a bid to soothe our boiled body parts, last Thursday the other volunteers and I joined up to an ex pat club where there is a pool and spent the entire weekend in it, or basking in the shadey bit next to it. This will make things alot more comfortable over the summer. As will the house we’re moving to at the end of the week. Thankfully VSO have also kindly agreed to let Mary and me move house and we have found a place that stays cool, even in the afternoon, has a little garden, is near to all sorts of conveniences and most of our friends’ homes and is close to the centre of the city. I’m very excited indeed, ceiling fans and coolersare all very well, but the regular powercuts we have here ensure waking up in a pool of sweat at least two or three times per night.So, it seems I’ll be looking forward to a summer of swimming, sunbathing and evenings in my house and the houses of friends (those who have air con) and of course, working. Which brings me to a point that I think summarises my feelings about the past 6 months in Pakistan, which is this: It’s not exactly the cultural experience I was looking for, when I signed up to VSO. Don’t get me wrong, I’m quite happy here. I have made some nice friends and we always have a good time and of course, I can’t complain about spending my weekends lounging by a pool and having food and drink brought to me. But the whole point of VSO is that we’re supposed to live like locals, on a local wage and really experience the culture. This is what attracted me to the programme. However, the latter has not been an easy feat to achieve given the restricted social life here. I have mostly found myself slipping very comfortably into friendships with other volunteers, British Pakistanis and Pakistanis who have studied in the west, and I have very easily found that we can live a life not unlike that we lived at home (minus the swimming pool).I could be accused of not making enough effort to get into the culture, many of the Pakistani people I have met on the street, in shops or driving rickshaws have seemed very friendly indeed and are keen to welcome foreign guests into their country. Unfortunately one always has to exercise an upsettingly large quota of caution because there are also many people who see westerners as walking ATMs or the western women, as“easy” (though I prefer the term “sexually liberated”). In addition to that, women in general here have a hard time. Being both white and female has made me the target of a very distressing groping incident right outside my home and a horse-n-cart drive-by wanking, again in the vicinity of my home. I’m so glad I’m moving.As for my job, well I’m quite happy with that. I’m disappointed that the first 4 months of my time were effectively wasted but I guess there’s still an experience there to learn from and it has made me even more determined to achieve something where I am now. And actually, most of the time I am getting stuck intosomething which I find interesting and gaining some really good experience. I’m also getting quite a unique insight into some of the social problems facing the country, just from talking to colleagues and hearing the stories and circumstances of the various positive people who visit the office. Also, in spite of the whole spy/toilet/manipulation debacle of March, I like my colleagues and think there is a good atmosphere. I do hear snippets of gossip that there are more politics afoot than my limited Urdu allows me to understand and for that I am pleased. Hearing some shouting followed by just one or two sides of whatever story is unfolding at the time can be more unnerving than knowing nothing at all. As a result of this realisation I have adopted the policy that ignorance, in the face of office politics, is bliss.Given the experiences I have had and the amount I’ve learnt since being here, I could make so much more of this 6 month review, however I’ve already written so much. Therefore I have decided to round things up with a few top 5s of my time in PakistanTop five things about Pakistan1) The food (see below for more details)– I really like Pakistani food, fresh coriander features everywhere, meat is always present and the thought of rich spicey flavours is making my mouth water right now (where’s my lunch?...)2) The clothes. Salwar kameez have really grown on me. I thought covering up in the heat would be really uncomfortable but there is a wide variety of cool, thin cotton material available in amazingly funky patterns. I love haggling for a nice material and then collecting it from the tailors later on. Also tailoring is so cheap, I have been getting stuff from home copied in material I have purchased here.3) Decorations– Pakistani people really know how to decorate for a good party or every day. Fairy lights are a staple of extravagant weddings to simple bazaars.4) The friendly people– as I mentioned before, I regularly meet with people who will go out of their way to be helpful and friendly, especially the people you find outside of the touristy areas who are often genuinely pleased to receive a foreign visitor.5) Anything is possible. Yes, the country is corrupt and the police system unreliable, but the flip side is that people are less restricted by the types of over-cautious rules we have in the UK. Driving for example is hilarious chaos, yet somehow seems to work as well as it does in western countries.Top five food and drink items (in no particular order). So much to mention but I’ve wittled down a list.1) Chicken Handi– a delicious type of curry that is slightly sweet and made with ginger, nuts, garlic and coriander.2) Special Roll Paratha from Karachi grill near liberty Market– Chicken tikka with salad, onions and mayonnaise wrapped in a greasy flat bread called a paratha (it’s the same as “roti” sold in Thailand) serve with mango chutney dip. Yum.3) Freshly blended fruit juices and milkshakes– available from all over the city, notably the aforementioned Hafiz Juice near anarchali. Favourites include strawberry and apple juice and strawberry banana mixed milkshake.4) Mutton tikka. Served with mint and yoghurt. Yum.5) Mutton chops North West Frontier Province style, cooked in salt and very tender.Top five confusing things about Pakistan1) The sideways head tilt– it’s seems to mean “yes and/or no”2) Numerous staff members in every shop and complicated mechanisms for purchasing things . One staff member to point out things you might buy, another to negotiate a price, another to take it to the till, another to calculate the cost, one more to take the money. It’s not over yet...some other person wraps your goods, another takes it to another place where you collect your purchases from yet another individual. Phew.3) Salt in Juice?4) Time doesn’t seem to exist – people will keep you waiting and waiting for things and when they finally get around to arranging them, they can be done in an impossibly short space of time.5) Marriage. I’m slowly getting used to the idea, but I still can’t get my head around the fact that a wedding between two people who have never met can be arranged by relatives and take place within 3 weeks of the proposal.