New Yet Old

As I mentioned in my last post, I visited Pakistan this summer. Two weeks were spent in Karachi with my extended family (aunts, uncles, cousins). People I had not seen in 10 years! A country that was all at once familiar yet new; a lot changes in ten years.

Some things I observed:

• Better infrastructure (roads, electricity, etc)
• The prevalence and visibility of poverty is still high
• It is as hot as I remember it to be
• The food is still DELICIOUS. Seriously. I wanted to smuggle some naan, kulfi and snacks out but I was soon reminded that those darn customs agents would throw everything away. So I did what any sensible person would do: I ATE IT ALL. Case in point:

Me with kulfi. I stopped a rickshaw for this yo. Not the most flattering picture but I keepz it real. 

Even though my primary goal was to spend time with family, I still made time to do things and craft experiences that I had not had before. And now a pictorial essay:

 

 Many good times had, food eaten, goods bought and beautiful offerings of the country partaken in.

It wasn't just good times I was looking for though. As an activist and social justice minded individual, I wanted to get a pulse for those things in Pakistan. Lastly, as a woman of Pakistani background, I wanted to know more about the history and experience of the people.

More on all that in my next post!

When was the last time you were overseas in a completely different culture? Did you intentionally choose things to do or did you go with the flow?


- A

Country Time

Well, it’s Friday and that means time for the lighter side of life. After all, we need some positivity, and lots of smiles and laughter to make it in the anti-human trafficking movement. 

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have been spending a lot of time in the last two weeks or so driving through several states to eventually arrive in DC. Most of the states I have covered so far are Southern, such as Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina. Even though I have plenty of music to prevent me from falling asleep, I decided to soak in the atmosphere of the many areas I went through and listened to local radio stations. It turned out that was not as bad as I thought it would be. Therefore, I decided to share some of the pearls of wisdom acquired through listening to country songs:). 

“Everybody want to go to heaven

But nobody want to go now.”

“To a little bit of chicken fried
Cold beer on a Friday night
A pair of jeans that fit just right
And the radio up”

“Life’s too easy to be so damn complicated.”

“Fearless is living in spite of those things that scare you to death.”

Don’t ask me what songs these excerpts come from or who the artist is. I have no idea. All I know is I heard these songs more than once and just couldn’t help but share the fun knowledge with all of you. Enjoy!

-      Krasi

Perspective

Hi everyone!

It has been a while, no? Well not without cause I assure you! For the past month, I've been very lucky to have been traveling. First a visit to Pakistan, then a short jaunt in London and on to Houston. Needless to say, it was quite fun!

More details about my trip soon but I have to say that one thing that I gained from the trip was perspective; particularly in Pakistan. It has been ten years (wow!) since I last visited and now, visiting as an adult, I realize the 'little' things that we take for granted. For example, A/C, my car, the ability to go pretty much anywhere alone and many other things. Then of course there are the bigger things that I try not to take for granted: food, shelter, money, etc.

The last month has challenged me, excited me and most of all left me feeling truly blessed. That's why I love travel so much and recommend it to everyone!

Expect lots of pictures soon!


- A

World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms

As a young girl, I had the great fortune to be raised in the countryside of Bulgaria and learn the value of working one’s land and grow one’s own produce. Even though at the time I often complained about having to spend time helping my parents instead of playing with my friends (it was summer vacation after all), I now realize that this was a positive experience that taught me the true cost and worth of labour. Taking into consideration the literature on forced labour and exploitation I have been focusing on during the past few years, I clearly understand the importance of being able to work one’s own piece of land, however small, and be able to support one’s family. In my opinion, everyone should have the chance to work on a farm at least once in her life, especially if that person is interested in eradicating labour exploitation. And now I have learned about the perfect opportunity to achieve that. 

Recently, through one of the many newsletters I subscribe to, I found out about the World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, an organization that combines two favorite activities of mine: traveling around the world exploring different cultures and working on a farm contributing to a sustainable way of living. Apparently, this idea first made an appearance in 1971 and I can’t believe I am just now hearing about it. It puts couch surfing to shame as far as I am concerned. The hope, of course, is that I will actually have the time and opportunity to participate in this wonderful and adventurous opportunity. Maybe I should just quit school for a while and start traveling and being productive:). 

-          Krasi

Welcome February!

Goodness it is February already?! I will leave you with this video to start off the month. It makes my heart happy perhaps because it shows how little our world really is.

(Source)

Here's to a wonderful February!

- A

10 minutes

Hello there friends! I'm back from beautiful Raleigh, NC and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed myself. It is, however, good to be home and sleeping in my bed without creeeepppyyyyy noises keeping me up all night. I don't like sleeping in unknown places all by my lonesome. I've watched too many episodes of Criminal Minds to ever be OK with that. Speaking of Criminal Minds, I decided (poorly I might add) to watch Criminal Minds on Wednesday night in my hotel room but it was not on as it had been bumped for a basketball game between two local rivals: North Carolina State and University of North Carolina. At first I was annoyed but later (after returning to Houston) realized how fortuitous this was as the episode was about men being murdered in their hotel rooms. Yikes! I never would have slept if I had watched that!

Well, without further ado, some things I saw while there:

My favorite thing about Raleigh? As the title says, it took 10 minutes to get everywhere! Living in a large metropolitan city where I spend more than an hour in my car everyday, I must say this was amazing!

What do you guys think about traveling alone? Fun? Boring? Scary?

-A