Monthly Archive for September, 2007

Days 109-113 – Visit to (LC) Lahore

Published on September 26, 2007 in Lahore. 0 Comments

After spending few hours with EB in Karachi I went to Lahore to help with some things also there… If it helped, will be a question to be answered during next weeks and months, but apart from the feeling that I have to work with the members of LC Lahore the thing that most got stuck in my head was the short (3 hours sightseeing of Lahore)…

Here are some of my impressions:

1. city full of history (unlike Karachi – built 100 years ago and Islamabad – built 30 years ago)

2. with its disorganized (on first sight) outfit, it looks like Karachi placed in middle of green and old houses.

3. City with problem with smog, which is something that is obvious during some evenings… It is not unbearable, but its bad (at least for me, who knows smog only from newspapers…)

4. city of wandering on Your own, unlike Karachi (because of nearly no places to go) and Islamabad (with its hugeness), Lahore seems like a good place for random walks and short trips, discovering the city…

Day 108 – Eating crabs and fish and shrimps on a boat trip

Published on September 16, 2007 in Normal Karachi and Weird and random. 0 Comments

Its called “Crabbing” and its one of favourite free time activities of Karachis (those who can pay 9USD per person). Forget about the idea of catching crabs, its about getting on a boat in a port (which is partly military) and going out into the sea (not long, some 15 minutes) and that eating the freshly cooked crabs, fishes, shrimps and other good things :)

What is so special about it?

Its quiet over there, You dont get how much “white noise” is in Karachi if You dont get away from it. You lay on a carpet on top of the boat, feel the waves move the boat under You, feel the wind and smell the food… It just feels really relaxing… Just get a few friends for a talk and its complete.

Oh, and remember the note that its “military” port? Photos are strictly forbidden… So the only way pictures can be taken is without flash – if a flash is seen, the coast guard can come and “harass” both You and the boat-owners… so the photos are pretty shaky, but some of them look artistic…

art) KHI

Today was a rather boring day… Just some working, sleeping and fooling around…

Back in Slovakia I would be utterly bored, but here hmm…. well….

Karachi is strange, its like nobody ever planned for it to look nice or become a comfortable place to live, it looks like it is a product of unplanned increase of size of a village (which is true), its full of mess and chaos… And still, when You come, without noticing You start to feel like at home… start liking it…

This message was sprayed by somebody on all possible random walls around the place I live and when going home, I guess one place where it will be written will be my sad face …. I (heart) KHI

Cay to the Ai to the Ar to the Ai to the See to the Age to the Eye… KARACHI my city!

Day 106 – Ramdan / Ramadan / Ramzan

Published on September 14, 2007 in Cultural and Normal Karachi. 0 Comments

Today for the first day of Ramzan (in Urdu), the holy month of Muslims.

The most known element of this month for non-muslims is fasting. Actually it is quite wider, between sunrise and sunset (which in Karachi is time between cca 5:00 and 18:15) You can not put anything in Your mouth… no food, no drinks, no cigarette, not even pills or tootbrush :)

But trust me, there is more than just that… If interested, read an article in Journal about Ramzan.

Click on pic to see whole album…

Day 106 – Ramadan, the holy month

Published on September 14, 2007 in Cultural. 0 Comments

Impact on world
To make You understand the bigger picture: this month is also a month when You should cut down on Your sins, e.g. no swearing. But what is actually for the world more important is that it should be also month of peace! Several hostages and prisoners have been released, in various places around the world that bleed daily negotiations have been started or at least ceasefire was agreed…

Customs
What it means for “normal” people is that the daily timeschedule quite drastically changes. The last food/drink can be only before sunrise and after sunset. In our house 6 people from 5 different countries (Pakistan, Turkey, Indonesia, Singapure, cote d ivore) follow this tradition.

It means that two of them (according to schedule) wake up at 3:30 and prepare breakfast (ever noticed that its “break” and “fast”, as its a break in fasting?) called sehri for all of them. Than in the evening is aftar, which is hold as a dinner common for all people. The reason for this is that Ramzan is also the time when each Muslim should share with everybody…

Effect on daily life of non-muslim
- This also means that all shops and offices start earlier and finish earlier and some even cut down on number of working hours.
- Its also not possible to buy food other than in grocery stores (those few open). Eating, drinking, smoking or even singing on public can be taken as insult.
- If You live with a Muslim, know that s/he wakes up at max 4am and goes back to sleep at 5am.
- Get ready that the streets are often deserted and during evening prayer times You live in a city of ghosts with the voice of Mullah coming from all sides.

History
The history of Ramzan is as old as Islam itself. Ramadan is the name of 9th month of Muslim calendar, the word itself means “burn” and is older than the custom.

This is the month during which God made the first revelations of Koran to Prophet Muhammad, thus time when His words came on earth. Its the month when the fate of world for the next year is decided, the gates of Heaven are open and gates of Hell are closed and on the other side, His followers must pray, fast and do good in order to show their obedience…

Day 104 – AIESEC promo!

Published on September 12, 2007 in AIESEC time. 0 Comments

Today was only working day… I was a guest at the AIESEC Karachi infosession, I am sorry but I forgot to take pictures.

It was quite OK, but more people have been expected… Lets hope that we can get more for the other infosessions… cross fingas

Pic: I had at least time to play with a cute kitty :)

Day 103 – Night at the Zamzama park

Published on September 11, 2007 in Normal Karachi. 0 Comments

There is a park, 5 minutes walk from our flat. For You to understand, park is considered a place where You can sit on grass and have picnic (unlike in Slovakia where park equals trees).

I was asked by Lenka to take picture of a tree, as there is not too many trees and it was nearly night, I played around with various objects there and night photo mode… See the results :)

And the answer is no, cactuses are not normal in Pakistan… Its just a park.

Click on the pic to see more…