Abigail's first tea Party

Okay... I'm done now.

Karachi Trip

April 6, 2014

This weekend we went to Karachi. We drove all the way with five adults and one child stuffed in the car. Thankfully the

Abi on the way to Karachi

ten-hour journey did not seem to take as long as I thought it would because there was plenty to see as we drove through the countryside and little villages.

What was really amazing is how accurate and helpful Google maps is in Pakistan. It was so handy to have an Iphone with google maps, we just followed the blue line all the way to Karachi. This however may have made Asif seem less valuable as the person who was to direct us. There was a bit of tension in the car, as at times Google would suggest one way, but Asif another way. In the end however we found that no matter which way you went the roads connected to the same place, and each road had its challenges and just because Google says its faster does not mean its faster. On the way back Luke gave Asif his Iphone and Asif got to navigate.

As fun as it was to take a car to Karachi and save money by not flying we did run into a problem with Luc’s car. Luc’s car sits very low and is not very powerful; especially when it is loaded down the car has problems accelerating. There are so many giant speed bumps in every village, town, or city that we passed through, but usually the bumps are only hazardous if you don’t see them and this can be easy to do, as they are never marked. However they are also very hazardous if you have a wide wheelbase on your car, as the middle of your car will scrape bottom. This was the case for Luc’s car. So whenever we would go through a town we would all cringe, as Luc tried to be careful to navigate the speed bumps in such a way that he would not scrape bottom. We found that if we drove over the bumps on an angle the car would scrape them less. As it may, Luc is a bit disappointed in his car purchase.

The security tent at the end of the
street of the place we were staying

Karchi is a very big city with about 10 million people in it. When we first arrived in Pakistan we were told that it could be a very dangerous place. There was even a major documentary done on the lawlessness that happened within the city. However, thankfully since the documentary came out the government has cleaned it up quite a bit although at times there can be some real danger. But when we were there we did not feel unsafe at all accept when we tried to cross the busy roads. The crosswalks do not mean much, and it can be quite scary crossing a big road with so many vehicles driving towards you. Other then this though the city felt safe. Thanks for your prayers.

Someone lost their pets. Even in the big city
 Goats are a common site.

Luc, Denise, Megan and I stayed at a guesthouse. The guest house is set up on the upper floor of an engineering firm, and the wife of one of the guys who runs the business operates the guesthouse. It's great for those that need a place to rest. It’s not the Hilton, but when your missionaries looking for a place to stay, it’s fantastic. Asif stayed at his uncle’s house, which was not that far away.

            Karachi was interesting it had much of the same feel as the rest of the smaller cities like Sukker and Shikarpur, but it was also different. For example (most) people actually stopped at traffic lights. There was also a whole bunch of stuff you could never get in the rest of the Sindh Province of Pakistan. There were places that were very westernized. We went to a place called Clifton mall and it was like walking into a big mall in North America, everything was there including the high designer prices. There are many different food chains from around the world as well.  There was Gloria Jeans coffee from Australia, McDonalds (quite a few of them), KFC, Pizza Hut, Dominoes, Fat Burger, Burger king etc. etc. Clothing stores that I could care less about etc. etc.

           

Abi's first McDonalds

Of course we took advantage of being able to eat American fast food again. We tried Fat Burger once, but I was not impressed with how expensive it was. Another day we ate at a fancy restaurant built right on the Arabian Sea. It was beautiful and the food was fantastic. Besides the usual Pakistani curries, they served steaks, and other western food. We even had nachos!  (One would be surprised how hard it is to eat Mexican in Pakistan). So of course we had a steak dinner that rivalled the best steak houses in Alberta (okay I’m exaggerating, but it was good), and had appetizers, desert with tea, and drinks, and all of this was cheaper than Fat Burger.

Abi and I acting all American eating at Fat Burger

So I recommend eating at the fancy Pakistani restaurants over the very expensive western fast food. The really crazy part about this is that the employees for these fast food places make a fraction of what employees make in the west. So the labour costs are next to nothing, but they still charge more than it is in the west. If you’re into owning franchises this is a good place to be. Mind you, the volume probably is not the same as there can’t be that many people who can afford to eat at these places.

Probably the best food we ate in Karachi though was Pizza Hut, which, I was surprised, could successfully be delivered to your house. The streets here do not have signs and the houses are numbered in odd blocks, so it is quite difficult to figure out exactly where to go. However, when I called they knew the address and the pizza was delivered within thirty minutes. Maybe the pizza would not have been as good if eaten in Canada, but it had been three months since I had had a proper pizza, and my friends know that three months without a proper pizza is just too long. The pizza was fantastic!

The view from the restaurant

There is also a store that is very similar to Wal-Mart; it’s called the Hyper store. Megan thought that it was just a nickname for the store, because it was such a crazy busy place with so much stuff. But yep, it literally is called The Hyper store. I found chips and salsa in this store, and I got pretty worked up about it, but then I realized that I would have to pay relatively quite a bit for a little bag of taco chips and a little jar of Salsa, and so I decided this was not worth my happiness. I can wait four months to taste my favourite food again. And as it turned out the fancy restaurant we went to had Nachos on the menu, it was a small consolation prize as they were not really anything like the nachos we would get back home, but still they were tasty.

After going to the mall, Asif took us to the beach. The beach, unfortunately, is quite polluted. It was hard to see so much garbage scattered over the sand and the sewage from the mall and other buildings just making its way across the beach into the water where kids would be swimming.  After walking the beach a little bit we found a boy giving camel rides, the camel looked old and scrawny, but so did the boy and so we decided to help support him. We all got camel rides. Abi was not too sure about riding on such a giant beast, but that's okay because either were we. This is something that should really only be done once so you can say you did it. Unless of course your left with no other transportation and a camel will save your life, you probably should ride it. 

We also got to see one of the only historical buildings in Karachi (Karachi is still a very new city much of it was created when Pakistan and India first became independent) the Quiad-e-Azam Mausoleum. Quiad-e-Azam is another name for Muhammad Ali Jinnah the founder of Pakistan. He is buried at the centre of Karachi in a very elaborate Mausoleum. Luc and Denise got to meet up with some friends here, and they took us to see it. It was encouraging to meet up with them and we had fun. Probably the nicest park I have seen in Pakistan surrounds the giant building and it was quite interesting to see. There is also a museum underneath that besides allowing you to cool off from the heat is fascinating to see.

So our neighbours wanted to go to Karachi to do some shopping and get some furniture, as they needed something for their flat in Shikarpur. Megan and I just wanted to get out of Shikarpur and see the big city. I’m always game for another adventure. It was good to get orientated a bit more in Karachi as well, just so we have an idea of what one can get in Pakistan. Also when we fly out in August we have a better idea of where to go and where to stay something that is much easier to figure out when you aren’t carrying big suitcases.

Clifton Mall

It was also really good to see a literacy project in Karachi that has been going on for some time. Part of its purpose is to help tribes create a written language out of their native tongue. It was fascinating touring the place and understanding the work that gets done there. There is also a good guesthouse here that people can stay in.

Over all it was a successful, educational, and fun trip. However, I don’t think I would want to live in Karachi. I like cities, but the older I get the more I am appreciating nature and being in less busier places. Ten million people is too many people to live with so close together especially when people here do not care about littering. It was fun to visit Karachi though. And I almost forgot to mention that I actually wore shorts in Karachi and felt no shame! I did this after I observed other people wearing them. Luc kept telling people I got my “pants” 50% off.

Abi on our way home

Picture it! Part 3

A trip to the Shikarpur Bazaar, and a few Abi pics for good measure:

Shhh...

The covered Bazaar is packed with people and its hot! I thought Christmas shopping was bad!

Interesting fellow, calling people to worship... something

 

Abi: Still happy even when sick

The Internet; Were Not Flying

Getting Internet Fixed

Yesterday I finally was able to get our Internet fixed. Our Internet is shared with a few other missionaries, and has been down since last week. So we contacted John in the hospital office to see if he could get someone to fix it. He told us that he talked to someone in the PTCL (Internet company) office and they were sending someone to fix it in a day. Well we waited a day, then two, then three, and so I decided that I would go and see what was happening. However, I was busy this last weekend so I could not go. Finally Tuesday I made my way there. Luc and Denise our neighbours came as well, which I was glad for since no one in the PTCL office could speak English. I had prepared an introduction and memorized what I would say in Urdu, and then from there it was picking out the different words in Urdu and trying to understand what they said back. I figured by the end of it with broken English and Urdu something would happen. Thankfully Luc has been here a bit longer then I have and he has more of a handle on the language, so together we were able to get them to fix the Internet. After going there, talking to them, and getting a positive reply the PTCL guys were really quick to fix it. We got home and less then an hour after talking to them the Internet was up and running again and this time faster then it has been in the past. Apparently, it was something on PTCL’s end that caused the problem.

 I find this a fascinating part of the culture here and it seems to be the case most of the time. If you want something done here you have to personally go to get it done. Relationship is such a key aspect in the Pakistani culture. This also means that it takes so much longer to get things done. It basically took us half a day just to get someone to fix our Internet problem. Back home I would have called my Internet provider up and if they could not fix it within their system they would send someone out, and worse case scenario, 24hrs my Internet would be working again. Here, it took a week to figure out no one was going to fix it and then half a day to go to the office and get someone to fix it.

Internet in Pakistan

Oh and when I say the Internet was going faster now that it is fixed I mean this in the context of Pakistan of course. Here in Shikarpur, the fastest speed you can get is 10 mbps, but to get that speed one must pay double or triple what they would pay in North America. Where I’m from 10 mb is the bare minimum that you can get and it goes up from there depending on how much your willing to pay. Here it starts at 1 mb per second for those who are on a budget (but actually its still probably high compared with what people make here. Then you can get 2mb and the most efficient cost effective for me is the 4mb per second. Its still in the range of being affordable, and is fast enough to get by. With four families sharing this connection 4 mb per second is a must to stay connected to the outside world. I am thankful that a lot of the time we are connected to the Internet. Also, I am thankful I can leave dial-up out of this conversation. No one should have to use dial-up.

Buying Airplane Tickets

On a rather similar note as getting the Internet fixed, the same day I went with Luc and Denise to try and get plane tickets to Karachi. Originally they were going to fly down to Karachi for the weekend to get a break from small-town Shikarpur and see the big city. Megan and I also wanted to go, but that was until we found out that the price of the plane ticket per person both ways would be over $200.  Especially after I found out that the bus ride there and back is only $30. But it looked like Luc and Denise who really wanted to go were still going to fly. However, in order to get plane tickets here you have to go into the airline office and purchase them with cash. There is no credit card, or bankcard service you have to deal with cash only, and when it comes to $200 that translates to a lot of rupees. Even when you order them online you have to pay cash when you pick the tickets up. This became a problem for Luc who did not quite have enough on hand. So he told them to hold the seats and he would have to come back with the money. But before we left, a man invited us to have tea with him. So tea was brought and we sat there talking to him in Urdu and broken English for an hour or so. It was a deep conversation and he offered to have us for dinner sometime. All this to say, when one gets plane tickets you have to build relationship as well and to get plane tickets here it also takes a long time. Yet I want to say that this is not a bad thing. To me, in my Canadian culture relationship is not a focal point, but rather efficiency is, and thus Canadians miss out a lot on this aspect of relationship building. So does the end justify the means? I’m personally leaning towards relationship building over efficiency. But I’m sure some would say you could have it both ways. Anyways, now a days there’s social media for building relationships; you can do it over the internet. And in Canada, if there is a problem with your Internet, you can just call and it will be fixed within 24hrs.

We're Going To Drive

In the end after a long day of visiting and trying to get things done, Luc and Denise decided that we would drive down to Karachi in their car and as such save money. So were going for a field trip to Karachi. If your reading this blog this weekend please pray that we have a safe journey and make it there and back without incident, and that God will go with us and guide us. Thankfully we do have a national coming with us as well. So it will be stuffy in the car, but we will find our way there with the help of our national friend.