A new twist on confusion

Just as our tutor was about to dive into explaining a couple of words that are difficult for foreigners to understand, he warned us with . . . 

"Now this is going to be very confusionable."

After listening for about 20 minutes, I agree.  It is very confusionable.

Carpets

Carpets are an important part of this culture.  I'd say they are intertwined with the great value of hospitality that exists here.  When you arrive at someone's home, this is where they immediately seatt you-- on the carpet.  They usually set a pillow and invite you to sitt on the middle edge against the wall.  Then a few times I have had the entire population from the village of women and children form a semi circle around me and stare.  They will give me a cup of tea and cookies and watch.  One village I was thankful that after many giggles and side comments to each other, a little boy stepped forward and showed me through actions how to properly have tea and cookies.  I didn't know to dip the cookie in the tea before eating it!

We decided to buy a carpet in the anticipation of friends coming over.  We heard it was best to get carpets up at a border town so when we went to visit our office we took a local friend with us to carpet shop.

The man pictured is the successful salesman.  He had a very pleasant spirit, with a ruggedness that revealed him to be a man of the frontier.  After viewing about 10 carpets, we picked (well, Joe kind of deferred to me) the one we liked.  Of course over a cup of tea, we negotiated the price.

Carpet as it sits in our front room

rats and lizards

Everyone who has traveled and lived overseas has their own nasty creature stories to share. We have started collecting our own, and so I thought I would take time to share a good one with you.

Even before we moved here we were aware that small lizards regularly appear inside homes. After a few days we quickly realized that there were at least two small lizards living inside our house. We were not all that concerned since they seemed to mostly hang out on the walls and were not all that scary. However, a few days later we started to realize that little poo pellets were showing up on our couch and bed in the extra bedroom during the night. We immediately assumed that these pellets were from the lizards, and became a little agitated. Mary did some research on the internet to try and decide if we should get rid of the little buggers since we did not want them defecating on our furniture. We decided against the idea of eradication since they are known to kill bugs and the poo pellets were quite small and easy to dispose of.

After a few more days we realized that during the night something was getting into our fruits and vegetables in the kitchen. Again we suspected a lizard since there were more poo pellets on our kitchen counter. At this point we decided that while the small lizards in the other rooms of the house were ok, there must be a big one living in the kitchen since things were quite disturbed in there each morning. Mary read on the internet that these lizards are very territorial and so we figured that we just had to deal with the BIG ONE that seemed to be living in, and feasting on the goods in our kitchen.

After a few more days it suddenly became clear that we were not dealing with a big lizard. Occasionally at night we would walk into the kitchen and see what we thought was lizard scurrying away. Usually the thing would run for the oven and hide in the holes in the back of it. It was not until earlier this week that I finally got a good view of this fast moving thing and realized that it was not a large lizard, but rather a rat about 6 or 7 inches long. The threat level in our house quickly jumped from orange to bright red.

After seeing the rat behind the stove I quickly left the kitchen and sealed it off from the rest of the house. After consulting with Mary I decided to head for the local bazaar and search for something that would kill the thing. I looked around in a few places and finally settled on the most vicious, metal toothed mouse/rat trap that I have ever seen. The store keeper proudly showed me how the thing worked, I however was not so excited since I foresaw the probability of this poorly crafted metal trap seriously wounding a couple of my fingers as pretty high.

Having bought the trap for 50 cents I made my way home. I showed Mary the trap and we began trying to prepare it for the kill. However after only a few minutes of preparing the trap the thing broke and was rendered useless. So at that point I decided to go into the danger zone and see the rat another time. I decided to climb up on the counter next to the stove and try to get a good look behind the thing since that was were I expected the rat to be. After looking for a stretch and not seeing anything, I got a stick from outside and began beating the oven incessantly since I thought that would drive him out from the holes in the back of it. After hitting the thing enough times and not getting any results, I got down from the counter and began open and closing the doors on the oven very cautiously. Finally, I turned the thing around a few times, looked in the holes, and determined that the rat must be some where else.

At this point I realized that there was a massive hole in the bottom left corner of the screen to one of our kitchen windows. I had seen this hole before but did not think anything of it since we never opened that window. However, after closer inspection it became clear that through the window next to it, which we always keep open, a rat could find a way to the hole in the screen. Thankfully, during my time away at the bazaar the rat must have left the kitchen. Now we no longer open either of the windows at night, and since making this move we have had no more disturbances in the kitchen or random pellet droppings around the house. Good Times!!!!

Where the Time is going . . .

Last week I hit one of those stress peaks as we switched over to Urdu script in one of our classes.  All of a sudden something I trusted so much was pulled out from under me-- Roman script-- the only letters that meant something to me.  Reading is now quite laborious, but yet somehow fun to be able to have new symbols mean something and be able to form words and then sentences from them.  We picked up a couple of kids' books from the local bookshop to try out our reading.  I read 1 or 2 sentences of Goldilocks and the Three Bears before I realized I wasn't quite there yet.  Back to "This is a book."  "I like mangoes." (1 more month til Mango season!!!)

I've also spent time getting myself updated again on infectious diseases.  I've been making a few house calls here and there.   I have already seen Leishmaniasis, Hepatitis, Typhoid, and a questionable Malaria.  A difference here is that everybody keeps their medical record.  So when I go visit someone, I ask for their record and read through all the lab reports and doctor scribbles to see what is going on.  So far it seems like everyone's treatment has been appropriate.  For most people they have no idea what is going on with them and either the doctor didn't tell them, or they didn't understand.  Sadly though too, sometimes the "doctor" they go see at a local clinic may not even be a doctor.  Just someone posing as one to make money.  I always ask to see all their medication bottles to see what they are really taking.  Hoping that what the bottle says is really what is inside.  Tomorrow we will hopefully go to the hospital to inquire about a worker of ours who is in with liver problems.  It's nice to have the freedom without HIPPA here.  I anticipate being able to look at his medical record and letting him know what actually is going on.

Year of the Turquoise

Coming here I have hung up most of my Western clothes to fit in with the local women.  The local dress here is called a salwar kamis.  This is a 3 piece suit, which includes baggy pants (salwar), long top (kamis) and for the ladies a scarf.  

Its a rather enjoyable process to purchase them.  You go to a cloth shop with all sorts of colors, fabrics, and prints of cloth.  After buying, you take it to your tailor (you find the one you like and he keeps your measurements for the next time) and pick out the design you want (i.e. neck style, length of sleeves, etc).  Right now, I'm paying about $7 for one.    

I have travelled to and fro here over the last few years so I had already gathered a few in my collection.  I decided this year I would go with a turquoise theme.

Culture Stress!!! (by Joe)

In my first month of life here on the other side of the world the source of my culture stress has been one of the most western institutions you can find, a bank. Both of the banks I have dealt with are western owned, but that does not mean they actually operate like they do back home. In just 5 weeks a total of 5 checks I have sent to various people have been denied, the reason being that the signatures did not match what the bank had in their computer records. When was the last time you had someone deny your credit card purchase or check because of a faulty signature? It would actually be encouraging to have this happen every
now and then back home.

Here on the other side, your signature must be exactly the same each and every time you sign your name. On top of that every check must have anofficial stamp from your organization. Where do you get such official stamps? A banker once told my friend living here that he simply needed to go to the market and create one himself. After signing perfectly and stamping with your official stamp you can be almost sure that you are ready to send the check, and that the recipient will be able to get their money.

This banking stress, or rather minor nuisance, has of course led to disproportionate anger. The colonial impulses, which I thought I was free from, quickly kick in and lead to a lot of nasty faces and demeaning thoughts/words. The good news is that life is the same on this side of the world, the fight for faith and patience is the same, just played out in a new context with slightly different twists (Heb 6:12).

Holidays

This week marks two holidays that will be celebrated in Pakistan, The Prophet's Birthday and Pakistan Day.  The former is of course celebrating the birth of the prophet Muhammad, and the latter I have yet to really understand.  Hopefully that will become clearer as the week proceeds.  The interesting thing about these two holidays falling so close together is the reminder it presents that Pakistan is truly an Islamic Republic.  Indeed, the word "Pakistan" itself means the land of the pure.  It was founded by Mohammed Ali Jinnah and the Muslim league with the understanding that it would be an Islamic state, set apart for the Muslims of South Asia.  Today Pakistan is the second (or third) largest Muslim nation in the world, and though it is a nation of amazing diversity, Islam is a common thread uniting 97% of all the 160 million people that call this land their home.  Islam permeates every area of life, from the flight attendants greeting on domestic flights to the official constitution and laws of the land.

We are thankful to be guests and strangers in this land.  Though it is a Islamic nation the overwhelming majority of people we meet are more than happy to have us as guests in their land.  It is refreshing in a strange way to be in country where people are not ashamed of their faith and it permeates every level of society.  In the West religion is something you keep to yourself, but here faith is openly expressed.  This of course makes it easier for us to also be open about our own faith and convictions in ways that are considered awkward or offensive back home. 

Pakistan raspberry

Many new fruits and vegetables to try out here.  We came across this one which I still can't figure out what it is.  Let me know if you know.  It tastes like a cross between a tomato and kiwi.  They call it a raspberry.

New to this!

We have entered into the blogosphere and thereby also the world of deep thoughts and ponderings.  Actually, the point of this blog is simply to share the things we find fascinating, hilarious, maddening, and amazing about living on the other side of the world.  The two of us love meeting people from other cultures, going to strange places and striving to live out our faith in Christ as strangers in this strange world (Heb 11:13).  This blog is our platform for sharing our experiences and what we come across.  Everything is from, through, and to God, so we hope you find Him in our posts (Rom 11:36).