Asalamu Alaikum,
My first time coming to Karachi was a bit of an adventure. Not quite as exciting as when we left the US, and not nearly as tiring. There are some things that I will always remember.
Our family almost always flies into Karachi by night. Partly because of work timings and partly to catch the best ticket deals. Some tips-flying from Dubai(rather than Abu Dhabi) to Karachi is cheaper, and you have more options for nonstop flights.
So any way, on our first flight to Karachi, when we started to descend I was staring out the window at the city. There were large sections of light, and then big dark sections, which I at first thought were forests/lakes/ginormous parking lots/etc. As I was watching, suddenly some of the dark sections lit up, and nearby lighted sections went dark. It was my first memory of load shedding! Tariq had explained what it was while we had been living in Abu Dhabi but I had never experienced it myself.
It was a very interesting experience. If you are flying into Karachi I do suggest a night flight, as you can't see it happen in the daytime.
Because it was a small flight we deplaned onto the ground after we landed, then there was a shuttle bus from the plane to the terminal. At the terminal the doors of the bus wouldn't open. Every other passenger(all men) climbed out one of the windows, until it was just Tariq, Saad, and I on the bus. One of the other passengers kindly stayed behind everyone else to help driver wrench the doors open wide enough to let us out.
After getting through immigration, we went to pick up our bags. One had burst a zipper! Nothing got lost so I think it happened when they stuck it on the conveyer belt, and we are awesome at packing suitcases(lots and lots of practice, we can fit everything together like a puzzle).
So that's my first memories of Karachi, a bit of hassle, but totally memorable!
Showing posts with label strange observations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label strange observations. Show all posts
Random Graffiti observations
Asalamu alaikum,
A couple of months ago I had noticed a change in the graffiti along the main road in our little bit of Karachi.
Before there was amateurish looking spray painted graffiti, mostly in Urdu, but a bit in English. It was on almost ever bare wall, and the shutters of the stores. There were bits that supported the various political parties(MQM, PPP, PML{N or Q, take your pick}, ANP), and other bits that random nonsense.
More recently (I think it might have something to do with the tension/violence in Karachi the past couple months), the old graffiti was painted over and more professional graffiti was put up.
It is almost all supporting MQM. It seems to be positive graffiti, not trashing other political parties or anything like that.
There are some that seem slightly odd to me though. One piece in particular takes up a huge wall (probably at least 50 or more feet long), saying something about "empowerment for all" and "the symbol of revolution, Mr. Altaf Hussain". There are a couple others that call Altaf Hussain(leader of the MQM political party) "The Father of the Nation". That one kind of makes me confused as I thought the "father of the Nation" would be Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
I don't really think too much about it, as it'll probably wear off and/or be painted over in a while anyways, but it was kind of odd.
A couple of months ago I had noticed a change in the graffiti along the main road in our little bit of Karachi.
Before there was amateurish looking spray painted graffiti, mostly in Urdu, but a bit in English. It was on almost ever bare wall, and the shutters of the stores. There were bits that supported the various political parties(MQM, PPP, PML{N or Q, take your pick}, ANP), and other bits that random nonsense.
More recently (I think it might have something to do with the tension/violence in Karachi the past couple months), the old graffiti was painted over and more professional graffiti was put up.
It is almost all supporting MQM. It seems to be positive graffiti, not trashing other political parties or anything like that.
There are some that seem slightly odd to me though. One piece in particular takes up a huge wall (probably at least 50 or more feet long), saying something about "empowerment for all" and "the symbol of revolution, Mr. Altaf Hussain". There are a couple others that call Altaf Hussain(leader of the MQM political party) "The Father of the Nation". That one kind of makes me confused as I thought the "father of the Nation" would be Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
I don't really think too much about it, as it'll probably wear off and/or be painted over in a while anyways, but it was kind of odd.
Stuff you don't see back home
Asalam Alaikum,
This pic is just for fun, after the last meeting of The U-knitted Amiras the DH and I went to Spinneys and saw this-
Weird!
This pic is just for fun, after the last meeting of The U-knitted Amiras the DH and I went to Spinneys and saw this-
Weird!
Eid Mubarak!
Asalam Alaikum,
Yesterday was the 2nd anniversary of my reversion to Islam, and also of my Nikah(Islamic marriage). It was the first time that I have actually seen the goat involved in the Sacrifice, and the experience was not anything like I had been expecting.
In America many people have never seen the cow that their steak came from, nor seen how it got to their plate. Food is a very sterile and distant thing, it comes from the grocery store on a little white saran wrapped tray. On Eid I saw the living goat, I touched him, and I saw how he got to my plate. I thought that I would be grossed out or something, but I was not. It did give me more respect and appreciation for my food, and I think that because of that my food tastes better.
As a side note, I think that if every person had this experience maybe we would all be a little healthier. I mean think about it, 100 years ago the way we got food in America was different, and portion size was smaller as well. Anybody else think there might be a connection?
Yesterday was the 2nd anniversary of my reversion to Islam, and also of my Nikah(Islamic marriage). It was the first time that I have actually seen the goat involved in the Sacrifice, and the experience was not anything like I had been expecting.
In America many people have never seen the cow that their steak came from, nor seen how it got to their plate. Food is a very sterile and distant thing, it comes from the grocery store on a little white saran wrapped tray. On Eid I saw the living goat, I touched him, and I saw how he got to my plate. I thought that I would be grossed out or something, but I was not. It did give me more respect and appreciation for my food, and I think that because of that my food tastes better.
As a side note, I think that if every person had this experience maybe we would all be a little healthier. I mean think about it, 100 years ago the way we got food in America was different, and portion size was smaller as well. Anybody else think there might be a connection?
ETISALAT ROCKS...or NOT
Asalam Alaikum,
Last night we went to a big Etisalat party at the Hilton here in Abu Dhabi. I wont say we had fun but it wasn't really bad either.
You know when you go to a big party and the host gets up and say "Are you ready to have fun?!" and the crowd shouts back? Apparently nobody here does that kind of thing...our host tried a couple of times and on the last try the dj actually played the noise of crickets chirping.
They did have some interesting entertainment, including an Arabic dancer who twirled around and around, a singer who was wearing way too little clothing for a party that had children, and a belly dancer, who ironically was wearing more clothes than the singer.
Our little family.
the twirling Arabic dancer.
this is the belly dancer...
I have posted before about the men in this country and the staring problem... notice the crowd of bachelors with cameras in front of the stage, they stayed there for the belly dancer and the singer.
Last night we went to a big Etisalat party at the Hilton here in Abu Dhabi. I wont say we had fun but it wasn't really bad either.
You know when you go to a big party and the host gets up and say "Are you ready to have fun?!" and the crowd shouts back? Apparently nobody here does that kind of thing...our host tried a couple of times and on the last try the dj actually played the noise of crickets chirping.
They did have some interesting entertainment, including an Arabic dancer who twirled around and around, a singer who was wearing way too little clothing for a party that had children, and a belly dancer, who ironically was wearing more clothes than the singer.
Our little family.
the twirling Arabic dancer.
this is the belly dancer...
I have posted before about the men in this country and the staring problem... notice the crowd of bachelors with cameras in front of the stage, they stayed there for the belly dancer and the singer.
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