“bura bura” - wandering (Japanese)
For some reason, I awoke this morning (yesterday morning now) around 5.30am, in time to hear the adhan (call to prayer) for Fajr (morning prayer time). It is an eerie, yet soothing sound.
It is still surreal hearing the call to prayer, despite the fact that I've been here almost two months. Every time I hear it, I have to stop what I'm doing and just absorb the sounds. Incredible.
(If there's been any doubts, yes, I'm still around - just busy with travel and work!)
I had the pleasure of experiencing Sufism at a superficial level in the past few days. After coming back to Lahore to spend Eid and Christmas, KLepo (from the AIESEC Pakistan team) and I went to a Sufi chanting night at the Shah Jamal Shrine in Lahore:
The night involved dancing and shouting by, accompanied by the beating of huge drums by two brothers (one known as "The Master"). As tourists, we sat there and absorbed everything that was going on. It is said that people that follow "the Sufi Way" see music and dance as a way of becoming closer to Allah.
At the shrine, we were welcomed warmly by the local people partaking in the chanting. Chai (or variant thereof with butter) was distributed, as were sweets, and I was struck by the warmness of the people there. One downside, in my view, was that many people used the session as an excuse to get high on hash.
Last night the owner of the hostel I'm staying at (the Regal Internet Hotel - recommended), invited some Sufi musicians to come play for us after dinner:
This was a much more intimate experience, as we got to see the musicians up close and really see the passion they put into their music.
This experience only adds to my changing perspective on Islam and Pakistan, challenging the views that have been drilled in by the media for so long. I only wish that more people could see this side of Islam, and Pakistan.
It's been three weeks now, and I'm still loving Pakistan, warts and all. It's 2am, and I'm not in the right frame of mind to write a long, rambling post, but I thought I'd jot down some observations from the past few weeks.
Some snapshots of the past week:
I still have to pinch myself to make me realise that I'm in Pakistan. On Monday, I'll have been here for two weeks… and what an intense two weeks it's been!
I spent my first week at an AIESEC Pakistan national conference, with an amazing delegation from across Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. I had an amazing, challenging experience running and facilitating a number of sessions at conference, supported by the rest of the incredible MC and faci team:
Conference was a bit of a double-whammy: being my first time facilitating sessions at a conference this size and communicating with people from another culture. I've learnt a great deal on how I communicate with others, and how I can better engage an audience in the process.
The past (just under a) week has been spent in the Karachi. I've settled into the "MC mansion" in Zamzamar, where the MC and interns live in two apartments.
There's a clear view from our rooftop terrace of Karachi (which is remarkably flat):
… and we regularly eat together and hang out on the rooftop. It's a pretty chilled, fun atmosphere to come home to.
I've had many, many questions about the current state of emergency in Pakistan and the effect it's had on our lives. Pretty much… next to nothing. I've seen no protests (although there were supposed to be some today in Karachi), and life seems to carry on. Traffic flows, people work, eat and shop, trucks, cars and auto-rickshaws work their way along the roads. It appears to be purely a political situation, which, while depressing, hasn't put us in any danger. Most people don't seem concerned by it ("it's just another emergency"). I've yet to make up my mind on whether this is good or bad.
I started work in the AIESEC MC office on Tuesday. This week involved getting up to speed on the local reality of exchange in Pakistan and working out exactly what I'm going to do over the next 2 months. It's certainly going to be tough and tight to fit everything in. The best part of working in the office is the 3 cups of chai we get delivered routinely throughout the day:
Heaven. 
More observations to come over the next few weeks, as I explore more of the country. In other news, I've been selected as a faci for IDC 2007 in Jamshedpur, India, so I'll be heading over there at the end of the month! I can't wait!
In 6 1/2 hours, I'll be boarding a plane destined for Bangkok, then Karachi. It's something that's been in the works for a few months now, yet it's come so quickly. Tying up loose ends, saying goodbyes… it all happens so quickly.
I'm going to be spending 2 1/2 months working with the national team of AIESEC in Pakistan, helping them with their social impact projects in the universities. I'm heading into a new country, a new culture, with new people, working out what is needed and then implementing it. This is my chance to develop and implement my own ideas, to be an open person, to be independent and to push myself further than ever before.
It's absolutely frightening. Yet, I feel a sense of exhilaration at the opportunities in front of me.
Here I go, into the deep end.
I attended my 5-year high school reunion tonight, which was a very surreal experience. I tried to go there with an open mind, that 5 years was a long time, that the judgements I had made in high school may no longer be valid, and to expect to be surprised.
I was. I saw people who wouldn't normally have socialised at school mingle and chat. I was able to connect with people I barely spoke to at school, and found people striving for the same change as I.
There were people who hadn't changed. The same cliques existed. Some people behaved exactly as they had back at school. Two people independently questioned whether it was because that was how they normally acted, or if they were reverting to their behaviour because of the atmosphere, because of the routine and familiarity of the school group.
At first, I was pretty apprehensive about going to the reunion, but I'm happy I went. The few meaningful conversations I had show how much people can change in 5 years, how judgements and reputations obscure people's true nature, and how old friendships can be restored over some reminiscing and drinks.
Good times.
For the last two Sundays, I've made a point of getting outside of my room and enjoying the courtyard we are lucky enough to have in our house. Sveta seems to like it, too:
Sitting out here, it's surprisingly relaxing. The sounds of the neighbourhood echo around. Kids playing, birds chirping, neighbours chatting and the occasional plane.
I'm noticing small characteristics, too. The way the vines from next door creep down the fresh, white walls of the courtyard…
The lorikeets feasting up above…
I'm beginning to appreciate the intricacies of this house… and in the process realised that this house has become home.
Being "green" is all the rage these days.
Daz, Vinay, Chloe and I attended Live Green at Victoria Park yesterday. It was a festival held by the City of Sydney Council to promote a "green" lifestyle: buying organic, local produce, purchasing environmentally-friendly products and supporting environmentally- and socially-responsible businesses.
However, I left the festival with a bitter taste in my mouth. Is it enough to just buy green? Are we going far enough and quickly enough on the journey to sustainability to have the necessary impact? That certainly seemed to be the message of the festival:
If "living green" means buying organic produce and environmentally-friendly products, are we actually going to reach the point where society is considered "sustainable"? I think not. While buying green is great, we need much more - we need a change in mindset.
The festival organisers tried to achieve this through seminars and workshops during the day. However, these tents were located on the fringes of the site, and not promoted effectively. Consequently, a vast majority of attendees came for the food and products, only skimming the surface of what is to be "sustainable".
It would have been better to see large-scale engagement of the attendees on what it means to be sustainable, why it is important and how they can be more sustainable in every aspect of their life - at home, at work, in the community. If enough people are aware and engaged with these issues, then we will see the needed large-scale change in society.
Tonight I managed to achieve something I thought impossible: having an inbox count of 0.
I watched a talk my Merlin Mann on the "Inbox Zero" technique of dealing with email, and implemented it tonight. Successfully!
Any AIESEC member knows how much emails they receive per day. Any AIESEC team leader (or above) also knows how much MORE they receive per day than the average member. That's why it's such an achievement for me to have nothing in the inbox, nothing to respond to and nothing to take action on.
There's a certain satisfaction in knowing that there are no emails begging for my attention as I head to sleep. Anything I find in there tomorrow is brand new, and I'll know exactly how many emails I'll have to deal with, so I can get on with more important activities, like work!
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