Have any of you all been here? I live in Texas, Houston, and Pakistan is not a shock to me since I have lived and travelled abroad, but I thought I would share some of the things I have noticed with you.
No one has microwaves.
Their toilets are very modern flush toilets-flush with the floor.
The showers well, no stall, no tubs. Just a big room with a toilet and a sink and a shower faucet.
The electricity goes off at regular intervals during the day. Would not freak me out so much if we had any WINDOWS in this house! To be fair, others do have windows, but this mansion (and yes, it is considered a very nice home and is very big) has none.
Serious pollution problem. Really need to start a "give a hoot, don't pollute"movement going here. I talked to my neices and nephews about it and got pledges from them to refrain from disposing of their trash that way, but the problem is, the people who COLLECT the trash then take it and dump it along any convenient road.
There are shanty towns in random places. The one across from our "mansion" includes cows who wander among the plastic bags and other trash which proliferates and try to find forage between the bits of trash. I'm not drinking milk here!
Corruption. Everyone hates it, but has to play the game to survive. Its a travesty.
Now for the good.
I had custom made shoes (for my very customised feet) made for a fraction of what it would cost at home by a little guy in a 5x8 niche in the market with nothing but a sewing machine (not electric) who will feed his family very well for what I am paying him. For about 2 months for a few hours work. Best money I ever spent, I think. Actually, my nephew spent it, but, I am pleased:)
The clothes here are comfortable beyond belief. Pretty and colorful, too.
The busses and semi trucks are really pretty. Try to avoid noticing that they are overfull and usually topheavy. It will scare the pee outa you.
The market is awesome. If you like to sew,its the place to find amazing fabrics and trims.The electricity went off briefly til a generator kicked in, but, all was well.
They have the nicest Pizza Hut that I have ever seen anywhere in the world. And I have seen a lot of the world. Pizza was really excellent too.
The McDonalds looks amazing from the outside. Very clean, stylish and has a playplace that anyone in Houston would envy. I still hate McDonalds, so I'm not going inside.
I bought my MIL fabric for a beautiful outfit (3 pcs) for less than $12 USD
Now for the BEST
These people help their families and anyone adopted into their family until the NTH degree. My nephew and his wife (who is a year older than I) took in a family friend so that she could attend a better high school and college than she could in her village. She has lived with them 10 years and is now completing her master's degree. Bushara is a beautiful and kind girl who fits right into the family. The only difference is, since she isn't family and she is very devout, she covers more than the rest of them while living in their home. He is currently traveling to Rawalpindi(!) which is not such a safe place, to help Busharas sister with her visa so that she can go to her husband in Saudi. That is basically a 5 day trip. And the way these people are, he would never accept any reimbursement. He left the kids and Bushara and took his wife and the sister up there-just because she is honorary family.(respected freinds of the family).
Knowing I am not thrilled with Paki food, they have done their best to offer me other stuff (see reference to Pizza Hut).
They take care of their children. The closest thing to a daycare was early preschool (3). It only lasts a few hours. There is always a mom, aunt, friend to watch the babies if necessary, but a nursing mom is basically never farther than a wail away from her little one. Bigger kids are always supervised.
Kids are SO respectful. They were coming up to an administrator and shaking his hand respectfully at the Montessori school that I visitied during their lunch. He was just an accountant, not the principal or anything.
In summary:
It is at times inconvenient. Some places not so safe. Folks have good hearts. They want to do well and be helpful. They are disheartened by the corruption and feel that it makes study/work pointless. That is a dangerous thing for hearts and souls. At the same time they are proud of their history, proud of their families and faith. I am in Sindh. These people are very proud of how they work with and employ Hindus and Christians. They consider Sindh to be very progressive and accepting... While that might be a bit relative, our chauffer says he is treated like family (and from what I can tell, its true) and the favored doctor is Hindu (and they travel a while to get to him).
I'm not moving here and I totally (once again)see why peoplel love America! We have an excellent country in spite of Rush Limbaugh and reallity TV