(with thanks to Robert Burns)
The scheduled move for this weekend has been temporarily put on hold. This is due to two reasons, the first being that my intended new home is no longer my new home. When Habib contacted the Landlady she had decided that she wanted to renegotiate terms and conditions!!! To which Habib told her that the time for negotiations was over and we were no longer interested in the accommodation.
Today we went to look at another property that was far better than the one we originally saw. This one is upstairs and has a balcony, which is shielded with a bamboo screen and has a covered area, where I can sit with out burning. It as has three bedrooms, all en suite, two of which have baths as well as showers! There is a large kitchen with space for the washing machine, and good sized living room and a dining area.
The other reason for not moving this weekend is that the chief mover and one of the school drivers, Zubair, is ill and won’t be back at work until next week. So, Inshallah, next Saturday I will be relocating to my new apartment.
I have also learnt some new Urdu words today, with regards to my impending move. My favourite one being the verb ‘to move house’ is ‘shift hona’ literally meaning ‘to be shifted’!! I suspect this is maybe a loan word from English…
Wednesday, 30 April 2008
Monday, 28 April 2008
Aslan is on the move...
Well actually it’s me that is on the move!
This is because I have to move house, not because I want too, but because my landlady’s son and family are returning to Pakistan from Canada.
So on Thursday and Friday I will be moving to a new house about 5 minutes drive from here. The best news is that Naseem, my wonderful cleaner, is coming with me. When Nadjma (the landlady) told Naseem that I was moving, and asked her what she would do, Naseem said she would have to come with me as I need looking after!! I am really pleased that Naseem is coming with me; she is very good at her job and is very, very reliable.
The house is slightly bigger than this one and on the ground floor, which means I get a small garden as well. Thankfully, the chowkidar will be in charge of looking after the garden as grass and plants are completely beyond me!
The move is giving me mixed feelings, I have actually become very attached to my apartment here, even though I have only been here 8 months, and I really don’t want to move, but I don’t have a choice so I am going to make the best of it. I am sure that once I am in I will soon settle in and it will feel like home as well.
I asked Habib (School administrator) on Friday, what I needed to do regarding the move and he said ‘Just tell people what needs moving and where it needs to go’! So it looks like I have been nominated as Supervisor, I think I can manage that role!!
The temperature here is going up again. This weekend it has been about 43 degrees Celsius, according to Lubna, and is due to get warmer still. I hear that things have started to get warmer in the UK ready for my arrival, which is great news. I just have to make sure that I don’t melt before I get on the plane…
This is because I have to move house, not because I want too, but because my landlady’s son and family are returning to Pakistan from Canada.
So on Thursday and Friday I will be moving to a new house about 5 minutes drive from here. The best news is that Naseem, my wonderful cleaner, is coming with me. When Nadjma (the landlady) told Naseem that I was moving, and asked her what she would do, Naseem said she would have to come with me as I need looking after!! I am really pleased that Naseem is coming with me; she is very good at her job and is very, very reliable.
The house is slightly bigger than this one and on the ground floor, which means I get a small garden as well. Thankfully, the chowkidar will be in charge of looking after the garden as grass and plants are completely beyond me!
The move is giving me mixed feelings, I have actually become very attached to my apartment here, even though I have only been here 8 months, and I really don’t want to move, but I don’t have a choice so I am going to make the best of it. I am sure that once I am in I will soon settle in and it will feel like home as well.
I asked Habib (School administrator) on Friday, what I needed to do regarding the move and he said ‘Just tell people what needs moving and where it needs to go’! So it looks like I have been nominated as Supervisor, I think I can manage that role!!
The temperature here is going up again. This weekend it has been about 43 degrees Celsius, according to Lubna, and is due to get warmer still. I hear that things have started to get warmer in the UK ready for my arrival, which is great news. I just have to make sure that I don’t melt before I get on the plane…
Thursday, 17 April 2008
Tempus fugit...
Time really is fleeing here.
I have collected my ticket for my trip to the UK and I am now booked on the 03.40 Qatar Flight from Karachi to Manchester on 21st June, which is just over 9 weeks away!! I have decided to treat myself on this flight as it totals around 10 hours so I am flying Business Class for the first time.
Now when my beloved godson reads this he will be saying, ‘yeah but what about when you took my business class ticket from Rekjavik to New York’. Now there is a story here which I feel needs to be told from my side before Thomas, twists it to his own ends!!
When Thomas was 18 we went to New York for a long weekend to celebrate. This involved us flying via Iceland (the tickets were cheaper) and this gave us the chance to spend one night in this fascinating and beautiful country. We even had chance to swim and bathe in the Blue Lagoon, which is a thermal spring. This was one of the most amazing places I have ever been and totally relaxing.
Now for reasons to boring to go into we were late in arriving at the airport for our flight onto New York. The result being that the flight was overbooked and we were told that we won’t get seats until they could unload two passengers. We were even offered a very generous incentive to stay another night in Iceland, which we would have taken if we hadn’t had tickets booked for the Lion King on Broadway.
This state of affairs ‘slightly’ stressed me out and I had visions that the whole weekend going ‘pear shaped’! When we were finally were given tickets one was in row 4 and one in row 7. Now on the way up from London the seats on Icelandair were somewhat narrow, and me being not so narrow, the journey had been rather uncomfortable. I worked out that the seat in role 4 would be in business class and hence would have wider seats, so I pulled the seniority card and claimed that seat, even though technically the boarding card did have Thomas’ name on it! So now when he tells the story it begins with the statement, ‘Oh, yes that was the time Michael stole my Business Class seat.’!!
Well this time the seat is definitely mine and as school was paying some of the costs I decided that the upgrade was a treat I wanted to give myself.
The last week or so has been very hectic, and I have found myself feeling quite tired. We are currently working on staffing for next year and in an ideal world we are looking to recruit two new members of staff. Unfortunately, this is not an ideal world and Pakistan is, for some reason I don’t understand, not a first choice destination for teachers!! So, if anyone out there is looking for a teaching post, and fancies a couple of years in this fantastic and wonderful city, get in touch and I will give you more details.
Outside of school it has been a quiet few days, I have got home from school and not really had the energy or inclination; unfortunately, this has left me floundering about 4 miles of the coast of Dover!! I do however, intend to keep going with my ‘cross channel swim’ and complete it before I leave for my summer break.
Just a word on the summer, could someone please ensure that the temperature is turned up in the UK before I arrive?!?! I have just spoken to my mother and she tells me that last night when my step father was taking my aunt and uncle to Manchester airport it was snowing!! It is now in the early 30’s here and the AC is running, by the time I leave it could be knocking on 40 degrees, and I fear that my blood has thinned out, so if some could arrange for a warmer summer I would be very grateful…
I have collected my ticket for my trip to the UK and I am now booked on the 03.40 Qatar Flight from Karachi to Manchester on 21st June, which is just over 9 weeks away!! I have decided to treat myself on this flight as it totals around 10 hours so I am flying Business Class for the first time.
Now when my beloved godson reads this he will be saying, ‘yeah but what about when you took my business class ticket from Rekjavik to New York’. Now there is a story here which I feel needs to be told from my side before Thomas, twists it to his own ends!!
When Thomas was 18 we went to New York for a long weekend to celebrate. This involved us flying via Iceland (the tickets were cheaper) and this gave us the chance to spend one night in this fascinating and beautiful country. We even had chance to swim and bathe in the Blue Lagoon, which is a thermal spring. This was one of the most amazing places I have ever been and totally relaxing.
Now for reasons to boring to go into we were late in arriving at the airport for our flight onto New York. The result being that the flight was overbooked and we were told that we won’t get seats until they could unload two passengers. We were even offered a very generous incentive to stay another night in Iceland, which we would have taken if we hadn’t had tickets booked for the Lion King on Broadway.
This state of affairs ‘slightly’ stressed me out and I had visions that the whole weekend going ‘pear shaped’! When we were finally were given tickets one was in row 4 and one in row 7. Now on the way up from London the seats on Icelandair were somewhat narrow, and me being not so narrow, the journey had been rather uncomfortable. I worked out that the seat in role 4 would be in business class and hence would have wider seats, so I pulled the seniority card and claimed that seat, even though technically the boarding card did have Thomas’ name on it! So now when he tells the story it begins with the statement, ‘Oh, yes that was the time Michael stole my Business Class seat.’!!
Well this time the seat is definitely mine and as school was paying some of the costs I decided that the upgrade was a treat I wanted to give myself.
The last week or so has been very hectic, and I have found myself feeling quite tired. We are currently working on staffing for next year and in an ideal world we are looking to recruit two new members of staff. Unfortunately, this is not an ideal world and Pakistan is, for some reason I don’t understand, not a first choice destination for teachers!! So, if anyone out there is looking for a teaching post, and fancies a couple of years in this fantastic and wonderful city, get in touch and I will give you more details.
Outside of school it has been a quiet few days, I have got home from school and not really had the energy or inclination; unfortunately, this has left me floundering about 4 miles of the coast of Dover!! I do however, intend to keep going with my ‘cross channel swim’ and complete it before I leave for my summer break.
Just a word on the summer, could someone please ensure that the temperature is turned up in the UK before I arrive?!?! I have just spoken to my mother and she tells me that last night when my step father was taking my aunt and uncle to Manchester airport it was snowing!! It is now in the early 30’s here and the AC is running, by the time I leave it could be knocking on 40 degrees, and I fear that my blood has thinned out, so if some could arrange for a warmer summer I would be very grateful…
Saturday, 5 April 2008
Where the grass is greener...
Today’s title comes from an article in the Economist, which was published Aug 22nd 2007, but only came to my notice this week, it is reproduced below:
‘With low crime, little threat from instability or terrorism and a highly developed transport and communications infrastructure, Canada and Australia are home to the most liveable destinations in the world. Four of the ten most liveable cities surveye
d by the Economist Intelligence Unit are in Australia, and two of the top five are Canadian. Vancouver is the most attractive destination, with a liveability index of just 1.3%.
(Click on the image to read)
While liveability considers factors of recreational and cultural activity, the "big city buzz" can hamper the scores of some cities, although not to the extent that a city will present significant challenges. Global centres such as New York, Tokyo, London, Hong Kong and Paris may find themselves let down precisely because of their size and attractiveness. Traffic congestion and higher crime rates associated with large urban centres have, to some extent, offset the obvious cultural gains of living in such locations. This has also been compounded by fears that large centres like London and New York will remain targets for high-profile terror attacks. Despite this, most major centres do not present any significant challenges to liveability.
Of the 132 cities surveyed, only nine cities present the worst-case scenario in which most aspects of living quality are severely restricted, reflecting general improvements on a global scale in areas such as education, health care and infrastructure. Four of these are in Asia, mainly South Asia. The other five are in Africa (accounting for three) and the Middle East (accounting for two).
The threat of terrorism and civil unrest is a major contributing factor to the cities that suffer from the worst liveability scores, as are poor development indicators. Algiers is the least liveable destination in the survey, with a score of 64.7%.’
So according to the article Karachi is the fourth worst place in the world to live. Both Thomas and I read the article and have to disagree! And Thomas’ first comment about the top ten places was, ‘Yeah, but they are all so boring!!’ and that is not an adjective you could ever use about life in Karachi!
Yes there are headaches about living here, for example I am typing this during a power cut, something that happens on nearly a daily basis here, and means that at the moment I have no AC or fan so the temperature in the apartment is going up.
There are also other things, like the driving and rubbish on the streets, the threat of terrorism, etc. But I am sure that I am much happier living in Karachi than I would be in sterile, save and sanitised Vancouver!! It is also a darn sight cheaper to live here as well, I am already bracing myself for the cost rises when I return to the UK in 11 weeks, I can hear myself saying ‘How Much?? I’m not paying that!!’ and ‘Do you know what that costs in Karachi!’
Today was another first for me as I have driven to and from the airport to drop Thomas off. Previously, I have always had a driver but as we had to be there at 9.15 this morning I thought I could manage that on my own and as I am now back and Thomas, Emirates willing, should be heading down the runway, I think I have been successful.
It has been wonderful having Thomas here for the last two weeks, and I will miss him now he has gone. It’s been good to talk, see new things together, play endless games of Cribbage, at which we are fairly evenly matched, to be able to polish of a large bottle of Bailey’s between us and just to have him around. I know I have told you all this before but it bears repeating, I am inordinately proud of my godson and thankfully to him and to God that he is a part of my life, I don’t know what I would do without him.
He has a hectic few weeks ahead as he arrives in Cairo tonight, then leaves again on Tuesday for Tucson in Arizonia to visit his girlfriend, Andrea. This involves a 12 hour flight to New York and then a four hour flight to Phoenix and then a 2 hour car ride to Tucson, oh young love!!! Then two weeks later the whole thing in reverse.
After that he has a month left in Egypt then back to the UK and then off to Spain for an 8 week placement before returning to Manchester University in October for his final year. Oh to be young again!
One thing I have enjoyed about Thomas being here is having the linguistic upper hand for the first time ever. In the past he has always been the one who has know what is going on and I have stood there as ‘stupid Englishman’. Now I am not saying my Urdu is as good as his Arabic, Spanish, German or Portuguese, but there have been times over the last two weeks when I have know what is going on and he hasn’t, or I have been able to say something to someone else and then Thomas has had to ask for translation.
It’s these little things in life that keep me going…
‘With low crime, little threat from instability or terrorism and a highly developed transport and communications infrastructure, Canada and Australia are home to the most liveable destinations in the world. Four of the ten most liveable cities surveye
d by the Economist Intelligence Unit are in Australia, and two of the top five are Canadian. Vancouver is the most attractive destination, with a liveability index of just 1.3%. (Click on the image to read)
While liveability considers factors of recreational and cultural activity, the "big city buzz" can hamper the scores of some cities, although not to the extent that a city will present significant challenges. Global centres such as New York, Tokyo, London, Hong Kong and Paris may find themselves let down precisely because of their size and attractiveness. Traffic congestion and higher crime rates associated with large urban centres have, to some extent, offset the obvious cultural gains of living in such locations. This has also been compounded by fears that large centres like London and New York will remain targets for high-profile terror attacks. Despite this, most major centres do not present any significant challenges to liveability.
Of the 132 cities surveyed, only nine cities present the worst-case scenario in which most aspects of living quality are severely restricted, reflecting general improvements on a global scale in areas such as education, health care and infrastructure. Four of these are in Asia, mainly South Asia. The other five are in Africa (accounting for three) and the Middle East (accounting for two).
The threat of terrorism and civil unrest is a major contributing factor to the cities that suffer from the worst liveability scores, as are poor development indicators. Algiers is the least liveable destination in the survey, with a score of 64.7%.’
So according to the article Karachi is the fourth worst place in the world to live. Both Thomas and I read the article and have to disagree! And Thomas’ first comment about the top ten places was, ‘Yeah, but they are all so boring!!’ and that is not an adjective you could ever use about life in Karachi!
Yes there are headaches about living here, for example I am typing this during a power cut, something that happens on nearly a daily basis here, and means that at the moment I have no AC or fan so the temperature in the apartment is going up.
There are also other things, like the driving and rubbish on the streets, the threat of terrorism, etc. But I am sure that I am much happier living in Karachi than I would be in sterile, save and sanitised Vancouver!! It is also a darn sight cheaper to live here as well, I am already bracing myself for the cost rises when I return to the UK in 11 weeks, I can hear myself saying ‘How Much?? I’m not paying that!!’ and ‘Do you know what that costs in Karachi!’
Today was another first for me as I have driven to and from the airport to drop Thomas off. Previously, I have always had a driver but as we had to be there at 9.15 this morning I thought I could manage that on my own and as I am now back and Thomas, Emirates willing, should be heading down the runway, I think I have been successful.
It has been wonderful having Thomas here for the last two weeks, and I will miss him now he has gone. It’s been good to talk, see new things together, play endless games of Cribbage, at which we are fairly evenly matched, to be able to polish of a large bottle of Bailey’s between us and just to have him around. I know I have told you all this before but it bears repeating, I am inordinately proud of my godson and thankfully to him and to God that he is a part of my life, I don’t know what I would do without him.
He has a hectic few weeks ahead as he arrives in Cairo tonight, then leaves again on Tuesday for Tucson in Arizonia to visit his girlfriend, Andrea. This involves a 12 hour flight to New York and then a four hour flight to Phoenix and then a 2 hour car ride to Tucson, oh young love!!! Then two weeks later the whole thing in reverse.
After that he has a month left in Egypt then back to the UK and then off to Spain for an 8 week placement before returning to Manchester University in October for his final year. Oh to be young again!
One thing I have enjoyed about Thomas being here is having the linguistic upper hand for the first time ever. In the past he has always been the one who has know what is going on and I have stood there as ‘stupid Englishman’. Now I am not saying my Urdu is as good as his Arabic, Spanish, German or Portuguese, but there have been times over the last two weeks when I have know what is going on and he hasn’t, or I have been able to say something to someone else and then Thomas has had to ask for translation.
It’s these little things in life that keep me going…
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