12:24 am - Lahore

Sorry for being so long in writing another post. We went to Islamabad for a long weekend and internet was hard to come by. Adventures soon to be blogged: a pinched nerve and a visit to an Islamabad clinic! horrible carsickness! some kind of stomach bug! vomiting! not eating for two days! Fun…

I’m alright (alive at least) and happy to be back in Lahore. I’m going to post some pics soon… Damn I hate being without the internet!!!

2:30 am - Lahore

I just hopped on after the most recent (late night) load shedding here in Pakistan to write a small blog.

Dubai was pretty awesome. Although I’m not really into the typical Dubai experience (tons of shopping), I did go to one mall and walked around some neat places, even though it was pretty hot. One thing I *had* to do was buy a new Hanayen abaya, to join (replace?) my 3-year-old abaya from them. The store clerks there are so nice and helpful and the abayas are perfect. (black on black!)

It’s extraordinarily hot here in Lahore during the day, (over 100 F / 38 C) and quite bearable but muggy at night. The city seems exactly the same as last time. Lively, interesting, a bit sad.

Today I (with some family) went to a local movie theatre here to see “Shutter” (English movie! with popcorn!) which was neat. My 6-year-old niece went with us and sat on my lap while I covered her eyes during the scary parts and tried to stop her from throwing popcorn on people . She whispered to me during the movie “Some people will think you’re my mom” hehe… She doesn’t know how funny that is. She also “tests” my Urdu… She’s softening my heart a bit toward children but still reinforcing my decision NOT to have any.

We also had ice cream at a very neat shop (pics coming soon). Nice to see all the Westernized youngsters hanging out, being cool in their jeans

This place is really … different bordering on strange. Last time I only caught glimpses of stuff and I reminded myself to pay closer attention this time, which may have been a bad idea. Within my first hour being here, I saw some pretty sad and heartbreaking things (I won’t go into details). The state of animal and human welfare here (and on this planet in general) is so poor and inexcusable. Seeing things like that out in the open just shocks me. I don’t understand it.

Visit the Flickr album for this trip, where I’ll add all my shots as time goes by when I can grab some internet time in between electricity outages.

Saara recently asked how I manage to stay vegetarian while in Pakistan. I find it’s quite easy! Thankfully, my husband’s family is very understanding and always makes sure there is some vegetarian dish available for us. I don’t budge on it and they don’t push. Maybe they are unusually accommodating for a Pakistani family (I have no other experience to draw from)? They just know I am vegetarian and there is no problem. Thank God for that… (It seems there is usually chanay or daal around, I hope all you veggie ladies married to Pakistanis don’t have too hard of a time :/)

More later…

Just a little list of The 6 Most Terrifying Foods in the World… and none of them are vegan!

1. If there is anyone reading this blog who lives in Virginia’s 6th District, please give your support to Sam Rasoul. (My home in VA is sadly in the 5th disctrict.) When I last visited VA and saw the huge Sam Rasoul signs in Vinton, I said “He must be a Republican, too bad!” After visiting CAIR’s 2008 Elections site, I saw his name again and checked out his website. Amazingly, he’s a Democrat! He’s also pledging half his salary for two new orgs. Good luck Sam!!!

2. In other CAIR news, I forgot to celebrate my one year anniversary working with CAIR-PA. I blame it on item #3.

3. We’re buying a house. OMG? :-|

4. Barack Obama (apparently) didn’t know what Current TV was, when approached by a journalist who recorded a pod for the station. This is important is because AL GORE was a co-founder and the launch of the station was big news. Disappointing… unless he knew but just forgot because of all the campaign running-about. (Video here. Segment starts about 1:01)

5. Current TV also did a spot about the “Saudi rape case” and the reporter said that the Quran commands punishments for drinking alcohol and stoning for adultery. Um. No.

That’s about it for now.

Seriously, there is really no need for any other news about the world except this: Cat’s daily routine baffles owner

A cat is baffling his owner by wandering off at night before expecting to be collected by car every morning at exactly the same time and place.

Sgt Podge, a Norwegian Forest Cat, disappears from his owner’s home in Talbot Woods, Bournemouth, every night.

The next morning, the 12-year-old cat can always be found in exactly the same place, on a pavement about one and a half miles (2.4km) away.

His owner, Liz Bullard, takes her son to school before collecting Sgt Podge.

WAIT! This is now the best thing on earth: http://lolinator.com/lol/leena.thejaffers.com/.

Philadelphia is fat AND ugly! (and depressed, apparently.)

Pig Out

Of the 60 million pigs in the United States, over 95 percent are continuously confined in metal buildings, including the almost five million sows in crates. In such setups, feed is automatically delivered to animals who are forced to urinate and defecate where they eat and sleep. Their waste festers in large pits a few feet below their hooves. Intense ammonia and hydrogen sulfide fumes from these pits fill pigs’ lungs and sensitive nostrils. No straw is provided to the animals because that would gum up the works

They were crowded into pens and cages, never allowed outdoors, and never even provided a soft place to lie down. Their tails had been cut off without anesthetic. Regardless of how well the operations are managed, the pigs subsist in inherently hostile settings.

If you haven’t heard “Weird” Al Yankovic’s newest song “You’re Pitiful” (Parody of James Blunt’s “You’re Beautiful”) — I think you need to. He does such a great job on these songs. Official Weird Al site.

Maybe TV isn’t as bad as it sometimes seems. There are still good programs like this one coming on:

Black. White.

The idea of the show is that a white family and a black family “switch races” and live in the appearance of the opposite race to see what it’s like.

I’m stupid and therefore no one was able to comment. Thankfully, a friend let me know about it; I have (hopefully?) fixed the problem. :-)

And something funny: Cheney’s Got a Gun

Also, I’m going to be in Virginia until Sunday, all comments will be moderated, posts will be none. Leaving you with pics of our dinner:

Tofu Hyderabadi and Rice (with onions, cinnamon, bayleaf and garlic!)