How can you tell if the people you are talking to are related to each other? Apparently, you can tell by looking at the shape of their noses. We were trying draw out from our bearded audience any conflict that they may have dealt with or are dealing with and how they went about resolving these conflicts in their community. “No problem. No conflict here.” was basically the gist of their replies. I visited 3 valleys and 6 villages and what I’ve picked up from our staff is that the more similar the noses, the less conflict occuring in the village. The more variety of noses, the more likelihood of conflict. Of course this is a simpleton supposition but it does make very good sense. The more closely related the villagers are the easier it is to keep the peace.
How do you make sense of a conversation in english from somebody who just learned to speak the language a year ago, is laden with idiomatic expressions and who just learned a word today and is eager to use this word whether it fits the context of the conversation or not? You codebreak. You widen your eyes, tilt your better ear towards the direction of the speaker and rev up your brain cells association power to break the code as fast as you can. My favorite is “We go to village and brainwash the people on the project.” After the interview and a splitting headache, I felt a new-found compassion for the many Afghans who were at the receiving end of my attempts to speak dari.
Pakistan is a conundrum of a country with the full range of societal spectrum represented. Men and women sit together in Islamabad, the men sit together with the women sitting on the sidelines in Muzaffarabad and the women are neither seen nor heard on the deeper valleys of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). I’ve always thought that Afghanistan is the most conservative a country can get and was I wrong! An Afghan colleague from Kandahar, who went to NWFP on a short duty assignment after the earthquake, said that he didn’t see a single woman on the street the whole time he was there. In Kandahar, supposedly the most conservative part of Afghanistan, at least the women can be seen on the streets albiet fully shrouded in the blue burqa.
Muzaffarabad is the capital of Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK), a disputed territory between the Indian and Pakistan governments. Foreigners entry to Muzaffarabad is restricted and controlled. One has to obtain an NOC or no objection certificate to enter AJK. Because of the restrictions in place I felt extremely privileged to be given the chance to work here, notwithstanding the fact that I am visiting the belly of Islamic conservatism in Central Asia (NWFP). It is a wonderful opportunity and an adventure to be here.
And by the way, if you want to buy and drink alcohol in Pakistan you need to obtain a License to Drink from the government.
Nov 4, 2007
