Hi, since the last report (two weeks ago) lots of things have been happening… Well, a crucial point is that HI’s country director finally arrived 10 days ago. This is crucial because he is my line manager to whom I have to report and it is him who manages all the HI’s operations in Pakistan. He is very capable and I would say he is the right person doing the right job. He originally comes from UK and has been in the disability field for many years, hence he has lots of valuable connections across Pakistan and Europe. Since his arrival my job description has been slightly changed again, thus it is kind of confusing. Before he arrived I had been working on something different and after his arrival I had to switch to something else with different coworkers etc.. Never mind, I enjoy what I do, because there are plenty of things to learn from! Essentially, the job the country director expects me to do is for a long-term stay, not for a short-term one, hence the job will remain unfinished when I leave. So hopefully my coworkers will follow up my work and will manage to accomplish the main objectives. That’s it when it comes to work; the more interesting stuff is always from social life and hang outs.
AIESEC people will never stop surprising me, every time when I hang out with them there are always some new members, what the heck they come from? There has to be at least 50 or more members, that’s good though, I love to meet new people and this is more than a good opportunity. All of them are rally cool to hang out with, but unfortunately due to their exam timetable and the fact that all their projects are due at the beginning of January they are not able to hang out too often L Well, I know exactly what they are going through and I’d better leave them to studying, there is nothing worse than to fail a subject and have spoiled holidays, so good luck guys! On the 14th of December I celebrated my birthday, well, I haven’t celebrated my birthday since I was 20. I always say that I don’t want to celebrate the fact that I am getting older, but honestly, matters going on throughout this day made me change my mind here in Pakistan. The 14th of December was so amazing for me, you certainly ask why? Well, everything started in the afternoon when a friend of mine from AIESEC gave me a call to get ready for a brief AIESEC meeting, I said, sure, I would be ready around 4pm, they picked me up at my office and drove me to the local university, where other AIESEC students were waiting for us to arrive. Well, you certainly predict what was about to happen, exactly so, they organized a birthday event for me! It was so cool; there were roughly 20 people at this event, some of them left from their lectures in order to be there. I was given a birthday cake with a beautiful Pakistani flag and my name on it. I was delighted so much; it was just something I didn’t expect at all. Thanks heaps guys, I really appreciate that! And guess what? After 20 min I received a call to come to the office that I am expected to participate in a meeting with some important person who unexpectedly arrived. I said, ok, I was on the way; give me a couple of min to get there. As you certainly predict again, there was no such an important person at the office, but, hell yes, another birthday party! All the staff from the office brought some cakes, food etc to wish me a happy birthday. I was so delighted again, this day was just superb, I had no expectations but these not specified expectations were completely exceeded. I reckon that I will start celebrating my birthday from the next year… J
Another very interesting event that was almost under its way was Christmas. I was really curious in what way it is celebrated here in Pakistan. Well, Pakistani people again exceeded any expectations beyond my imagination. All the staff from our office agreed upon organizing a Christmas party in our guesthouse. Everybody said that would bring some traditional Pakistani food (cooked at home, not bought) but, of course, it turned out to be otherwise. Everybody bought chicken with rice and it was only me and my Russian housemate who cooked some traditional food. Well, thus we ended up with roughly 14 portions of chicken ad rice and one Russian salad. As all our French housemates left back to France, we missed French food. Czech food missed too, as my cooking ability is limited, I would be able to cook another chicken with rice and that was something we had more than enough. Our living room was transformed into a dance floor and the main DJ was certainly me. Here follows the crucial moment why I am saying that Pakistani people overwhelmed us from the rest of the world. As soon as I connected my computer with sound system and started playing some European disco songs, Pakistani men (in particular) went just wild, they started jumping, yelling, screaming, spinning around on the floor, they just lost any senses of their cultural behavior and went wild. According to me, this culture is of saying “don’t don’t”, shows their true side as soon as somebody says “do”, and then they really do whatever comes in their mind… So we kept dancing and dancing, of course there was no alcohol as we are in Pakistan and that was also the reason why I was so surprised how wild they were even without a drop of alcohol. Well, they are cool and spontaneous, no doubts.
Since Christmas was over, I have been snowed under with my work. Our country director is a really cool guy, very knowledgeable, smart and more importantly patient. Unfortunately, he had some difficulties a few days ago with the health state of his wife (his wife misarranged). We all conveyed our condolences to him. Everybody is, to some extent, affected what has happened and we all are here to support him if needs to.
Well, in a nutshell this is what has been happening over last two weeks, unfortunately I was unable to make some trips to rural areas, but I hope to do so during the following two weeks. I am leaving Pakistan on the 9th of January, which is exactly within another two weeks. I want to enjoy it to the fullest during this time. Another event coming up soon is New Years Eve and it keeps me impatient what Pakistani people will come up with again. I was told that this is not celebrated in Pakistan, but anyway, let’s see what is going to happen. Over and out…
No comments:
Post a Comment