Symbolic traffic lights?
Number of posts in a row: 1
Number of posts total: 5
So… I managed to miss a day. What excuse could I possibly conjure up to explain this oppressive situation. Well… I have recently arrived in Karachi, Pakistan and there is a certain adaptation period where your body, especially your stomach, adapts to cuisine and general maintenance protocol. In essence, I was feeling unwell because everyone new to Pakistan offers fresh blood and weakness, that was my problem. It’s safe to say, that until I leave Pakistan in 8 days and counting, I will never feel completely comfortable.
Now… trying to recap on the lost day. Well in short we did a lot of things. I had my first massage and proper shave, that was very exciting. Especially because the shop had a name of something you’d expect in a 1980’s sitcom, Pazazz. Fascinating really and very cheap (equivalent of £36 for three people). Time, in general in Pakistan, goes very quickly and sometimes you can lose track of where the day is going. Invariably I am commenting on this today because it just so happens that it happened today. Apart from the pampering not much else occurred. Well… that’s a lie. I have my first taste of a concept unknown to me. The idea of nutella on fried flat bread, otherwise known in Urdu as chocolate parata. This was a strange sensation but very satisfying nonetheless. Yesterday was also my parent’s wedding anniversary and it just so happened to fall on the first day we were in Pakistan (the place where they originally married). Freaky, right?
On to today… very fun-filled and exciting. Started with a steady awakening at about 9am. From there breakfast was eaten and the usual, menial and boring crap you all will not be interested in. In part, today will probably rest as the best day I will have in Karachi while I’m here. Chatting to family about old stories was very nostalgic and enjoyable. My younger cousin sat intently listening to stories about her mother. Inevitably, now she has ammunition to misbehave when she gets home to Canada. I’m sure she’ll act upon it. After these delightful conversations, my parents and I made way to a very seldom place. A very close relative had recently passed, an author no less. He has had a lot of influence on my articles and my thinking, his passing didn’t bode well with myself and close friends will remember how dark a day that was to deal with. However, I must say, after speaking extensively with his widower, I am more enthusiastic to write than ever before. It really have given me a sense of drive and determination. I need to keep writing to be able to keep-up with the hustle and bustle of the journalistic sphere.
After which, there was a peaceful luncheon at my aunt’s house. Very civil and quiet. I love meeting my family and talking to them about what I have been doing and what they are doing. I miss it a lot. Family is a key pillar in my lifestyle and although I live 5000 miles away from most of them, I always remember the times that we have shared. In-between all of this, we visited the mall and my cousin decided it would be an excellent idea, to shove myself and my other younger cousin (whom I spoke about earlier) into a 4D experience. Water, foam and air. Just what you want. It’s amazing what keeps kids in Karachi entertained. Still, to this day, this children play street cricket to pass the time. Classic pastime, I remember the duels well. The good times.
Our mode of transportation was my cousin who shoved me into the 4D experience. He is driving, what is safe to say, a shopping trolley. A Suzuki Mehran, to be exact. Now, in Karachi, there is no traffic order. So the traffic lights don’t work in order. There is a lot of decisions that need to be made. Normally the worst decisions are the best. This shopping trolley he owns, ducks and dives round traffic so gracefully, you don’t even care that it may topple over. Even more so, because I drove the car round the block, I must tell you that first gear is in the passenger seat and the clutch is so much so that you feel as if you’re sitting on a stool. What a joke. It is fun nonetheless.
During the sunset, I went to the DHA Golf Club driving range and was hitting golf balls with rusty old clubs. Very pleasurable indeed. Great to get out and hit some eggs as we call it back home.
All in all, a productive and peaceful day in ‘paradise’.
Until tomorrow
I’m out
DN