November 4, 2005

After two months in Pakistan

The earthquake and its aftermath remain a daily concern here. Our newspaper prints a full page of color pictures from the affected area each day, showing the growth of tent cities and chronicling the attempts of people there to reconstruct their lives. If you’re interested, click on the Web site of Dawn, an English-language Pakistani newspaper, and click on “News in Pics” you’ll get some photos from the earthquake region (along with several of various cricket players!)

Earthquake relief efforts form a national rallying point, and everyone is trying to find a way to help. At Gujranwala Seminary, several students have left to serve as interpreters for NGOs and relief agencies in the earthquake zone. At Forman, the Economics Society had an Earthquake Walk and the Student Christian Movement had a social event; proceeds from both went to earthquake victims. There’s a feeling that you can’t do enough, especially with the coming onset of winter. Ramazan ends this week and the preparations for the eid (feast) are in full swing, though we’re told it is much more restrained this year because of the earthquake.

Earthquake aside, life hums along. So, before our wonder at how different life is here disappears, here are a few more observations about life in Pakistan.

Bedding

Bedding continues to puzzle us. There is not a mattress pad to be found. With all of our illnesses, it seemed like a good idea but we’ve had no luck. Pillow cases big enough to keep your pillows fluffy? No, you stuff the pillow into the too-small case and hope the seams don’t pop by morning. T shirts work great as a substitute. Top sheets? You use a white cotton sheet (twin size) that you drape over yourself. You fold everything up each morning and you dig it all out every night. The bed covers are a delight for the eyes. Woven cottons with distinctive patterns, quilts with elaborate designs, embroidered fabrics—we had a hard time picking just one: we could easily have a different one each month if we’d bought all the ones we liked!

Bugs

They are everywhere, so you have to come up with strategies to keep their infestation to a minimum. The ants have been the worst. Hints (all learned from others living here): put moth balls in the sink drains; wash the floors every day with Phenyle; all foods containing sugar go in plastic bags or containers with tight lids; when all else fails, spray the suckers with whatever you have available (window cleaner, disinfectant, air freshener, bleach, or even bug spray!).

Urdu

A tongue-twisting language. We mean it! We’ve started Urdu lessons and are gradually picking up vocabulary and grammatical structure. But several sounds require using your tongue in ways English speakers can’t fathom. The boys find their parents’ attempts at these sounds quite entertaining, though Peter often just gets impatient and tells us “it’s THA, mom!” It is worth noting that both boys got “A’s” in Urdu this quarter. Mom and dad don’t stand a chance!

Driving and cars

If someone hits you, collect money from them on the spot for the damages. Chances are the person who hits you has no money and you’re stuck with the cost of repairs.

Robert was riding with the college driver one morning and got to experience all of this first hand! Someone riding a motorbike lost control while slowing for a stop light and ran into the bumper of the college car. But by 7:00 p.m. that night, the bumper had been repaired and the car was back in service. No need for three estimates, insurance negotiations, or days of repair time.

Riot police and illegal occupants

Sunday, October 30, 6:30 a.m. We woke early to a demonstration with drums and singing just a few yards from our house and hundreds of riot police congregating outside of our gate. The College has been involved in a protracted legal entanglement with over 100 families who have been living illegally in college housing since the College was returned to the Presbyterian Church. The legal machinations came to a head recently with two important decisions from the courts affirming the College position and ordering the illegal occupants to leave. They have fought back through dramatic press conferences, media interviews, and demonstrations on campus. The College asked for and received police support from the provincial government and it was that support (over 1,000 strong) that showed up early Sunday morning as some of the families were asked to leave. As we listened to the protesters and watched the police put on their riot gear, Robert quietly said “Come, Prince of Peace, be present here.” And the Prince of Peace was here. Thankfully, the evictions went ahead without incident and most of the police left by mid-afternoon. While it was a very difficult situation, it went as smoothly as could be expected and there is hope that others will now leave peacefully.

As we were standing on the second floor of our house, watching all the activity out the window, taking phone calls to determine what we should do (lay low and don’t go to church!), and praying that the situation would not turn violent, we looked at each other and said “ah, the life of the missionary! Who would have thought we’d be doing this six months ago?”

Kite flying and electricity

If you’ve read The Kite Runner this will make more sense. Kite flying is a highly competitive sport here. These are not the nice little plastic things with flimsy string we use in the West. These are aggressive flying contraptions with metal and glass embedded in the string and designs intended to cut someone else off in the air. There have been lots of kites on campus and it’s fascinating to watch them. The problem is that they land on power lines or, worse, on people and someone is seriously injured. There was one Sunday where the power went off and on so often you didn’t know what was happening. Turns out it was a big kite flying day; now all kite flying has been banned and our power hasn’t gone off for over a week and there is hope that the injuries will decrease. It’s too bad it had to come to that; we really enjoyed watching them dance overhead in the afternoons.

Thank you for your interest in our work here. Next time we’ll write more about our work.

Marianne, Robert, Nathan and Peter