Adventure in the Bazaar

Today I had a wonderful experience that reminded me why I love Pakistan.

I've decided to not let beggars come away from my house empty handed anymore, and so recently I've been devising a plan of what to give out when they knock on my door or car windows. I gave out a few 'personal hygiene' bags including a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a bar of soap. People were very grateful, but always asked if there was food in the pack. Why bother with brushing teeth when they don't have anything to eat?

Now Pakistani readers will probably think this is funny, but I just did not know how to buy wheat flour. We don't use it for cooking and the only ones I've seen at the super market are big 10KG bags. I'd go broke if I started giving those out to everyone, or I'd made a huge mess in my living room trying to make smaller packs out of the one big one. Once my husband had gone with our friend's cook and just gotten 1/2 kg of wheat flour in a small plastic bag. That's what I wanted, but I wanted a lot of little bags. Where should I get it?

I had to go to the Ali Institute today to pick something up, and I knew there were some small markets over there near Gulab Devi Hospital. I drove over there and stopped my car. The first shop keeper I asked did not sell wheat, but he told me to go all the way to the end of the road and I'd find a bazaar. I went to the end of the road and parked again. There were tons of little shops and workshops, and chickens and goats were running free everywhere. I didn't think the people were used to seeing foreigners, so I covered my head and off I went. I stopped in a small shop and a chubby bubbly man told me that he did not sell wheat, but that I could find it further into the bazaar. He came out of his shop and gave me wonderful directions, possibly some of the most detailed and accurate directions I've ever gotten in Pakistan.

I folled his directions, and sure enough I found another smiling chubby shopkeeper who was selling wheat. He told me that wheat was going for 24 rupees/kg which is about 30 cents. At first he was a bit confused at why I wanted 10 kg, but in twenty seperate 1/2 kg packs. After I explained that I wanted to give it out to people, he understood and got very excited about the idea. He proudly showed me all the other things on offer in his store, lentils, corn flour, rice, soaps, and all sorts of chips and food items. It took a while to make the twenty packs, so we had a nice chat. We talked about the current economic crisis and how the poor people really only want food nowadays.

Sweating in the sun, surrounded by the smell of livestock and talking to the smiling shopkeeper, I felt at peace. Even though I was in a poor area where many foreigners do not go, I was greeted warmly and helped by everyone I met. I parted with the shopkeeper assuring him that when I ran out of wheat, I'd be back to buy some more.

What's Up with the Electricity?

Yikes, there's something going on with electricity in Lahore today. I woke up sweating with the power went from 4-5am, then it was only on for an hour and went off again from 6-7:22am. The rest of the day has been like this:

7:22 - 8:00 POWER
8:00-9:00 NO POWER
9:00 - 10:00 POWER
10:00 - 11:00 NO POWER
11:00-12:00 POWER
12:00-1:00 NO POWER
1:00-3:00 POWER (Wow for two whole hours!)
3:00 - 4:00 NO POWER
4:00-5:00 POWER
5:00-6:00 NO POWER
6:00 POWER....

Is it going go on and off every other hour? Has Pakistan just run out of money for energy? There was barely any loadshedding during Ramadan, so this seems like very poor planning.

US Foreign Policy Recommendations for Iran

One of the most challenging assignments I took part in during my university days was to come up with a comprehensive U.S. foreign policy towards Iran. I thoroughly enjoyed Professor David Mednicoff's course on U.S. - Middle East relations during the Spring 2005 Semester. When our group had to choose a country for our foreign policy project, we put Iran at the top of the list. According to our wishes, we were assigned Iran and delved into the background research we needed to shape our policy. At the end the course, we had to present our policy to the group. In order to save our classmates the boredom of listening to us rattle off facts and recommendations, we decided to put a little creative "spin" on the presentation. We presented our policy in the form of a breaking news interview on "The O'Reilly Factor." Here's our script if you want to learn more about our policy recommendations for Iran, or if you want to just have a good laugh! Some facts are slightly outdated as this presentation was given in May 2005.

Cast of Characters:

Sana Hussain: herself & women's rights activist Gugush Mazjoubi
Harlan Knipes: Bill O' Reilly
Aaron : The intellectual Arash Reza Nekshabani
Heather Carreiro: Senator Bobbie Joe Baker (D-Texas)

All characters, aside from Bill O'Reilly, are completely made up and bear absolutely no resemblance to anyone we've heard of!

Sana: Good Evening, this is Sana Hussain live in Tehran where we have some breaking news. There has been a radical shift in U.S. policy towards Iran. After 26 years of our relationship with Iran being in an official state of emergency, both the U.S. and Iran have taken steps to normalize relations. In the interest of increasing both regional and global security, as well as universal human rights and ensuring open trade between the two countries, the U.S. has agreed to attend a U.N. summit meeting in Geneva in order to address the issues that have for so long caused animosity between the two countries. The summit, which will focus on improving American-Iranian relations as well as regional security, will be attended by world leaders including the EU-3, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and King Fahad of Saudi Arabia. More about this breaking news on the no spin zone. Here's your host Bill O'Reilly and I'm Sana Hussain, live in Tehran.

Harlan: Tonight we have a serious show where we will be addressing the new policy put forth by the administration to normalize relations with Iran. Since 1979, U.S. policy towards Iran has been based on containment and isolation. In order to curb the spread of the Iranian revolution, stop state sponsorship of terrorism, and prevent the development of nuclear weapons, Washington has focused on keeping Iran isolated both economically and politically. The U.S. government has been hoping that the ILSA sanctions will lead to the downfall of the radical theocratic regime in Tehran. Aside from this, the Iran Democracy Act, drafted for the promotion of democratic change in Iran, has provided $57 million to opposition movements within the country. Iran has been considered a rogue state and a member of the "Axis of Evil," but this new policy seeks to eliminate such language in a move towards normal diplomatic relations and political engagement.

Personally, I am taken aback by the news of this new policy, but here with me tonight is Arash Reza Nekshabani president of the Iranian-American Alliance for Reform, Senator Bobbie Joe Baker of Texas who helped push the bill through Congress, and Gugush Mazjoubi of the Iranian Women's Rights Watch. Both the Iranian-American Alliance for Reform and Iranian Women's Rights Watch were involved in drafting the engagement policy.

So my first question for you, Senator Baker, is that after so many years of non-engagement, what are the issues that have played a role in determining this change in policy? Why is Iran important to us?

Continue Reading:
US Foreign Policy Recommendations for Iran

The Top 10 Destinations on the US Travel Advisory List

The US Travel Advisory List is not a likely source of travel inspiration for most people, but for the more audacious traveler it certainly can be. At the time of writing, twenty-eight countries made the cut for a full-scale travel warning and not just a travel alert. Travel warnings are deemed appropriate for countries that are seen as long-standing "no-go" zones, while travel alerts are generally only issued for a limited time. A travel alert may be issued to warn travelers of a disease outbreak or an approaching hurricane, but a travel warning may even mean that US diplomatic relations in that country have been shut down due to security risks.

There are some of you out there, and you know who you are, who get more excited about the possibility of meeting a Taliban member or witnessing a historic coup, than spending a week at a five-star beachfront hotel. You probably swung from trees pretending you were Indiana Jones as a kid, and your favorite Halloween outfit was to dress up as James Bond. If that's you, you'll be sure that at least one of these top ten destinations will make their way onto your next travel itinerary.

10) Kenya

Take a ride on the wild side in East Africa. Tourism has been Kenya's number one source of foreign exchange since 1997. Although internal security significantly deteriorated after the December 2007 election, most people would never guess that Kenya makes the US Travel Advisory List. Combine rugged mountains, colorful coral reefs, unrivalled wildlife parks, ancient ruins, and the majestic lakes of the Rift valley and you get the nature's playground that can only be this East African country. Camp overnight surrounded by zebras and graceful gazelles in Hell's Gate National Park for an unforgettable experience, or jump across the border into Tanzania for a quick jaunt up Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak.

Read the rest of the Top 10 here:
The Top 10 Destinations on the US Travel Advisory List

Travel Warnings from the US Government: Inspiration for Intrepid Travelers

Those you adventurous travelers out there must be familiar with the US Travel Warning List. I was excited to see that my current locale has topped the list once again!

Following Text from:

Current Travel Warnings

Travel Warnings are issued to describe long-term, protracted conditions that make a country dangerous or unstable. A Travel Warning is also issued when the U.S. Government's ability to assist American citizens is constrained due to the closure of an embassy or consulate or because of a drawdown of its staff. The countries listed below meet those criteria.

Pakistan 10/01/2008
Israel, the West Bank and Gaza 09/26/2008
Yemen 09/17/2008
Bolivia 09/15/2008
Iran 09/15/2008
Georgia 09/10/2008
Lebanon 09/10/2008
Afghanistan 09/10/2008
Algeria 08/22/2008
Kenya 08/22/2008
Colombia 08/07/2008
Congo, Democratic Republic of the 07/23/2008
Saudi Arabia 07/09/2008
Uzbekistan 07/03/2008
Chad 06/23/2008
Sri Lanka 06/13/2008
Iraq 06/13/2008
Eritrea 06/11/2008
Cote d'Ivoire 06/09/2008
Somalia 05/20/2008
Nepal 05/07/2008
Haiti 04/30/2008
Burundi 04/22/2008
Syria 04/15/2008
Central African Republic 03/25/2008
Sudan 03/14/2008
Philippines 02/13/2008
Nigeria 10/30/2007