I guess this will be one of the longest posts at this page (at least for some time, I guess…). It will be the “First impressions” post. Please keep in mind that I am based in centre of Karachi and all the facts stated in here can NOT be automatically be related also to the rest of the country (or even the city itself).
What was I told about PK?
1. there is heat (You will die by heat…)
2. the food is spicy (You will die by shit…)
3. there is a lot of soldiers (You will be afraid)
4. there is a lot of people (You will not be able to cross the street)
5. people there are so nice and friendly (that You will like them and be sorry to leave)
6. alcohol is forbidden (so You will die for a beer soon)
…thats basically it.
Do You want to know the truth?
I have decided to divide it into “chapters”, hope they wont turn out long…
1. Heat :.
I was warned LOTS of times about this. When I got out of the airport a breeze welcomed me, not really cold, but refreshing (because of the sea, the wind in Karachi nearly never stops), on the way in car with my head out of window the air was there again, entering the flat the ventilator at the cealing made me feel too cold… Yes, its true that 30°C at 3 a.m. and I have to wait for tommorows noon, but right now I can say: “Is this all You have to offer, I thought You can do better?!”
.: 2. Soldiers
It sounded scary: “get ready for a lot of soldiers walking around with guns!”. Looking back I can say that I dont really feel like that there would be SO many of them… they just like it BIG. In Slovakia You would see cops and security guys with pistols at belt, the guys in here have Kalashnikovs and Shotguns, I dont think they would make much impression with lousy pistols…
3. People :.
This was the only really positive thing that I was able to find out 
Everybody told this and now I do believe. I had an offer of help from a student at College of dental medicine and invitation for an “underground metal concert” before setting my foot on Pakistani soil. The people are really great, offering help anytime they can, laughing a lot and enjoying their life, maybe its just the AIESECers, but thats what I have seen..
And for the amount of the people – everybody drives cares or motobikes, so not many pedestrians are left 
.: 4. Spices and food
I have been training at home for the spices by visiting the asians and having some vietnamese chilli. Well, after eating a semi-spicy and spicy chicken, I have to say… dissapointed. My fingers have been burning more than my mouth, because… the eating is done by bare hands. This is the only thing I consider a culture shock till now, sorry
5. Alcohol :.
I was told that alcohol is forbidden and so I decided not to drink it…
Since I came I have already been at a bottle-party, tasted the PakiBeer (tastes like raspberry juice, costs 1.5 EUR per bottle, nothing to miss), have seen the booze shop so ocupied that the cars blocked the street and no customs has found my 250 ml of 80% Alcohol I brought for dissenfection purposes (really, I am not drinking that sh*t)…
.: 6. Clothing
I was told: no shorts, longs sleeves, girls wear hidjab and You can see only their eyes. Well, partly true… If You are a girl, You cant wear anything that leeves Your legs and shoulders naked, but a face-covering hijab is worn only by some local women and the normal hijab covering the head by like 2/3s of women. If You are a guy (and white) shorts are fine and very helpful. Just last thing to add – enjoy the wind, but dont take off Your shirt (difficult for me).
7. Traffic :.
Ever felt like You want to speed the road with wind in Your hair in one moment and fight for every centimeter of space in the next moment? Go for Pakistan! A strange mixture of Rikshas (made out of motobikes and scrapmetal), Buses and trucks (that look like a mix of Jewelery shop window and Gallery on wheels), motobikes and cars of all ages (including boxes You would not risk to enter and newest SUVs or Mercedes).
But most important is the rule: “No rules, bigger dog fu*ks”
.: 8. Language
Pakistanis officially speak Urdu, a kind of Arabic, but in fact for a lot of them their native language is English. For Karachi, a lot of the young ones studied at English spoken schools and with the Young ones its nothing special to see two Pakis speaking English. Even in side-street shops they speak English or You can get someone who does. But true is that learning the numbers in Urdu is something You should do.
9. Customs and cross-border rules :.
I was told not to take alcohol, medicaments or anything that could look suspicious, only 20 kilo luggage per person + max 7 kilo for one handluggage. I am not sure they have ever weighted my luggage (for sure they didnt weight my 3 pieces of handluggage). Concerning the content, the Vienna guys took it seriously and checked all the EU rules, the guys in Qatar were doing it in a way that looked like “I am bored, cant You move faster through the scanner?”. I think they wanted to have a look in my bag, but when my pants fell out (as it was really packed full), they gave up and closed it…
.: 10. Shopping and prices
For me as a Slovak its pretty easy, 1 Slovak crown is 2 Pakistani rupees. Prices in Zamzama district (my new home) are the same (or little lower) as in Slovakia.
Concerning the range of products… You can buy Kellogs, Coca-cola, Pringles, Signal, Persil, Marlboro and all the other stuff… In a shop which is big as Your closet 
11. General feeling from the city :.
I was in Bucharest (Romania) recently and I have to say it has a little bit similar outfit, like a mix of big town and sea-side district of Croatia.
The whole town is in a rush, a lot of car honking, low houses, little bit too much trash in street for my style, crows and sea eagles, sweat on people and wind in streets, smog in air (that makes You sometimes feel like walking the highway) and air in general like in a kitchen (full of humidity, heat and various smells).
Well, I start to feel fine in here, the way how the city is makes the people enjoy and appreciate what they have, live the day, eventhough they honk like crazy, You dont really see an angry face, I might actually get bored in here
Fifth. We did some shopping today. Sum up:
Sixth. These are some random thoughts of Pakistan that I wrote to a friend, maybe there are worth posting… if not , just dont read them…:
ke this with a mobile phone in her hand, an older woman driving a new class mercedes coupee, the point that people wash hands AFTER eating
and not before (food is being eaten bare hands), the shop where the guy doesnt really speak good english but is selling any branded (Unilever, Procter and gamble, maggi, kraft, coca-cola) stuff You can imagine in a shop 3 x 4 meters, the fact that we dont have running water most of the time (we have buckets as reservoars), that the best place to work here is the rooftop at 3 am (when it is only 30°C) and much more stuff… I also HAVE to get out of the city. The thing is that Karachi is supposed to be biz center, Lahore culture center and Islamabad Goverment center each with a totally different style… 
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