Aitchison College

Usman showed us around his high school alma mater, Aitchison College. It is a British-style boarding school founded by the English in the late 1800s, and remains as a legacy of colonialism. Technically, Aitchinson is a public school because it is funded by the government, but only those who are admitted and able to pay tuition go there. Usman says there are three other schools like it in Pakistan. There are about 2000 students, all boys. There are several Aitchison alums at OWU.

The "Old Building," the original built by the British in the late 1800s and inspired by Moghul architecture.




























































Aitchison boys wear these turbans every friday.

Shaves at the Barbershop

Anthony, Sean-Paul, and Usman got face massages and shaves at a local barbershop with blades and wires. Sean-Paul and Usman said that the use of wires on their upper cheeks was very painful, as you can tell by their expressions below.

Tourists

We set off for two major sights today, some of the most beautiful structures in all of Pakistan. Even more interesting than the sights though was our tour guide and the Pakistanis at each sight. We were the only tourists there, and we have found out through our time here that the sight of three young Americans in Pakistan is a surprise to most natives, but not in the way you might think. Today, one Pakistani approached our group and politely asked for a picture with us. He then shook each of our hands and left. As we left, three children around 8 years of age followed us out and could not stop smiling every time we acknowledged them. Our tour guide explained to us that Pakistanis are among the most hospitable people in the world, and they lament the fact that few Americans come to view their "beautiful country". Before we left, he urged us to tell every one of our contacts when we got back to America to visit Pakistan, and to not believe entirely what they see in the papers or on television.

Later in the evening, Usman arranged for us to speak with a International Politics professor at a major university in Pakistan. We specifically discussed our research topic, in addition to a thesis he has developed on why India and Pakistan's paths to democratization have been so different. His thesis is very interesting, and if I believed I could do it justice in this small blog post I would certainly post a summation of it. Also, we discussed with him how the election of President Obama has translated in regards to a message to the Muslim world. The professor explained that while many elites are impressed with Obama, the overarching policies of the previous administration remain, and whatever 'olive branches' have been positively extended are far outweighed by US presence in the region. This sentiment, which I have heard numerous times here, is a disheartening one for me. As someone who worked for President Obama's campaign, in part because of the impact it would make internationally, it's difficult to hear the reality that it really hasn't made that much of a difference here. Nevertheless, most people that we have talked to are still in a 'wait-and-see' mode regarding the Obama Administration. They respect his rhetoric, but they are waiting for policies to match it.

The Hot Spot

Two nights ago, Usman took us to this restaurant called the Hot Spot. Before we drove to this place, Usman bragged that it has the world's greatest brownie along with a super duper sundae that would blow your mind. So we went 20 minutes from Usman's house to this restaurant, which had a sign of a skeleton as the mascot for the establishment. Furthermore, inside this place had an enormous amount of posters that represented American entertainment, anything from the Spider-man movies to the Matrix. These posters were the central theme of decoration for this restaurant and the food was full of smoothies and desserts that would make anyone drool.
While on the topic of food, there is a little interesting story about the world's greatest brownie. Usman tells us that we either have to try the sundae or the world's greatest brownie, of course since brownies are almost always delicious, I decided to give it a try. Before receiving the dessert covered in caramel ice cream and chocolate syrup, I secretly tell myself that this cannot by the world's greatest brownie, everyone says that about every delicious brownie that they try. Fortunately for me, I was wrong. The brownie turned out to live up to its name, and the next time someone mentions a delicious brownie, I will mention that the world's greatest brownie is in Pakistan.
Back to the subject of the Hot Spot....this restaurant has a deeper concept behind it. This restaurant aims to make American entertainment as the base for catching costumers attention, but why? I feel that American culture has made it's way to Pakistan, even with increasing anger against American policy since the 1960's due to the support of dictatorships in Pakistan. Everything from McDonald's to American Idol has been introduced to this nation and the people love these representations of American culture. This shows that there is a difference in Anti-American sediment, it is more focused against policy than our nation or the people. Thus, policymakers should keep this fact in mind, when they decide to create bill that is relevant towards Pakistan and the military should be aware that killing civilians will only harm the cause, not help it.

Driving in Pakistan

Driving is lawlessness. It is every car, motorbike, bicycle, and motorized rickshaw for himself. Everywhere we have been so far, the roads have been chaotic - like NYC but on steroids and in the suburbs. There seem to be more motorbikes on the streets than cars, most of them carrying multiple passengers - up to 3 or 4 grown men and whole families of up to 5 people. The women tend to ride side-saddle,and I haven't seen any women driving the bikes. Few women drive cars. People don't stay in lanes, as if the lines on the road mean nothing. Drivers don't yield at intersections - they keep on driving and expect others to stop. Pedestrians are the same - they just start walking across the street. There are no speed limits - just the expectation that the volume of traffic will slow people down.

Even when traffic laws exist they are rarely enforced, or enforced fairly. There is also a general attitude that people can get out of traffic citations, or even more serious law violations, by simply paying a bribe. Discrimination seems common as well. A woman was complaining at a gathering we attended about how she was stopped once for making a U-turn at one of the many roundabouts. She complained that it was unjust because everyone does it and no one is ever stopped. The woman she was talking with concluded it was because she is a woman and said that she herself gets stopped at checkpoints all the time because the military police instinctively wave her down when they see she is a young woman.

Checkpoints are common on main roads as points where cars funnel through barriers set up by the military police, who look inside vehicles as they go by and wave them to be searched if they look suspicious. Usman says they were set up within the past couple years to deter terrorism, but he thinks they are pointless. I still don't feel comfortable passing by all the soldiers standing around the street and in bunkers with large rifles and semi-automatic weapons.

Far more uncomfortable is the feeling I get when we stop at a traffic light. Beggars go from car to car rapping on windows. Boys try to wipe the windows in hope of receiving payment. Women hold up their babies. Sure, this may happen sometimes in American cities - but not on the scale that it does in Pakistan. I came here knowing that I would witness extreme poverty, but I still feel helpless seeing it and knowing that there is nothing I can really do. It was also challenging on the way to Wagah Border on Sunday when we saw hundreds and hundreds of men of all ages cooling down in the filthy canal we had said looked like a polluted version of Willy Wonka's chocolate river the day before, not to mention the debris floating on the surface.

It seems to me that just by driving around, we have witnessed the surface of two major factors that could help Pakistan improve its stability: respect for law and order, and economic development. Many Americans may see the U.S. as promoting both in Pakistan. We are, after all, attempting to work with Pakistan to bring stability to lawless regions by bringing terrorists to justice. The U.S. government has invested billions of dollars in economic development, and many American companies have produced foreign direct investment. However, some of the people we have talked to see the U.S. as undermining respect for law and order because the U.S. has supported dictatorships that have ruled Pakistan for 30 of its 60 years of existence. They see Guantanamo Bay and drone attacks as violations of justice caused by the United States that it would not tolerate against American people but nonetheless continues to use against Pakistanis. The U.S. can be seen as undermining economic development as well because of the instability it seems to have created due to the intervention in Afghanistan. Aid for education and health care, like that given by the U.S. in the Kerry-Luger bill, may be helpful in the long run, but few people may realize the benefits because so many are preoccupied with immediate needs and other problems. A lawyer, Rafa, told us his opinion of why anti-American sentiment is so high in Pakistan is that when so few things in this country seem to work, people look for someone to blame and often blame the U.S. The problem is that whether or not the U.S. is actually deserving of blame, its policies tend to make it a very easy target. More about this later...

Wagah Border

In the late afternoon, we set off with Usman and his brother to the lowering of the flags ceremony at the Wagah Border. The Wagah Border is the only road crossing border with India, where each day a ceremony takes place in which the Pakistani Rangers and the Border Security Forces of India take down their flags at 6 PM in front of cheering home crowds. When we got closer to the border, we had to go through at least three checkpoints. At one of the checkpoints, each car had to empty its passengers and a Ranger would pat down each person for security. Yet, after we left our car the Rangers let our car go without a full search because we had Americans/foreigners/'white people' in the back.

The ceremony itself was the highlight of the trip thus far. The Pakistani Rangers, dressed in all black uniforms, are massive and intimidating, as are the Border Security Forces of India who we could partly see across the border. The ceremony is choreographed, as each side's forces mirror the others with marching, stomping, and intimidating looks and moves. There are yelling competitions between each side's announcers to see who can yell the longest. The forces also compete while untying the rope to the flag, though not when bringing it down as the flags descend simultaneously.

The Pakistan crowd yells "Pakistan, Zindabad!", meaning long-live Pakistan, as the Indian crowd yells a counter in Hindi. Each side also has a form of cheerleaders, consisting of older men who pump up the crowd by leading cheers and waving each respective flag. As it ended, ourselves and others got to take pictures with the Rangers.

Wagah Border Pictures

Pakistani Rangers and Indian Border Security are shown just before the lowering of the flags.

The Pakistani Rangers waiting to compete against the Indian side.

This Pakistani is rallying the crowd.

All of us on the Pakistani side of Wagah Border.

Pakistan Bans Facebook

Apparently someone decided to create an event on facebook calling today, the day we leave for Pakistan, "Everybody Draw Muhammad Day." In Islam, creating a picture of the prophet Muhammad is sinful, so the offensive pictures that began appearing on facebook naturally sparked outrage, and the high court has banned the site. This will make communicating with people back home a little more problematic while we are away. Hopefully we will still be able to access this blog regularly to keep you updated on what we're doing. It will be interesting to see what people in Pakistan think of the ban as this plays out.

Welcome

This is a blog by Ohio Wesleyan students Kyle Herman ’11, Sean-Paul Mauro ’11, and Anthony Harper ’12, as they travel to Pakistan with their good friend and guide, Usman ’10.  Kyle, Sean-Paul, and Anthony will be doing cultural research on U.S.-Pakistani relations.  President Obama has advised, as recent events have shown, that the success and safety of the United States depend upon the cooperation of the Pakistani government and the support of the Pakistani people.  By gaining a better understanding of the Pakistani people through cultural immersion, the researchers hope to learn how Pakistani perspectives toward the U.S. are shaped, particularly concerning U.S. efforts to stabilize the region.  They hope to use their findings to make recommendations for how the U.S. can better express its friendship with Pakistan in order to strengthen its partnership with the Pakistani government and the Pakistani people.  Kyle, Sean-Paul, and Anthony will give a presentation at Ohio Wesleyan this Fall to share the details of their experience with the OWU community.  Until then, they will attempt to provide updates through this blog.