Behind the White Coat

Back from Pakistan

Life was good when I was on vacation in Pakistan... I've gone silent for a while, mostly because I was so immersed in my great new life in Pakistan, even  though it was for a measely 2 weeks.  Probably my best trip to Pakistan I can remember!  How can you not love shaadis (weddings) in Pakistan?  My cousin got hitched, and it was basically 10 days of wedding functions, dancing, mingling, partying, and fun!  We also managed to have booze throughout the festivities, even though it is illegal in Pakistan, that is thanks to the bootleggers to supply us with our Johnny and Absolut.  I also managed to make it back to NYC single and un-engaged, much to the dissapointment of my many aunties back in the homeland.   So much happened, but lets see if I can remember some highlights....

The Mehndi was definitely the most fun function, as it usually is.  We spent several days before hand with my cousins and friends practicing out choregoraphed dances for the mehndi.  These were definitely the most technically advanced dances I was involved in.. I think in my old age of 29 now, I can't move and shake like I used to, so the rolls and kicks involved took a number on me.  Especially one move during a dance (to Josh Nal if you are curious), though executed beautifully at the mehndi, left me with a partially tore ligament in my thumb!  Now I am in a thumb splint for a few weeks.  But hey, it was worth it!! And chicks dig guys injured in dances, right?? Hmmm...

In my few days in Lahore, I managed to head out to the heart of foodland to Cafe Nisant, to have some true hardcore Lahori food... Taka-tak and Mughuz.. mmm... Taka-tak, which I thought was some sort of entrails, after I gobbled it down, realized it was Kidney and Testicles... That's right... Cooked on a Tava, and named after the sound it makes when they cook it with the metal spatulas, Taka-tak!  Mughuz of course, is Brain masala.... Sort of like scrambled eggs meets ground beef.... I preferred the latter to the former.  AND I didn't get sick! (The daily cipro saved me)

I also managed to sneak a peak at the Red Mosque, see a few madrassas, and run into several of the hardcore mullahs and Talibans who roam the streets of Islamabad.  Good thing I was sporting a beard, but I definitely kept my distance.  I also stayed out of trouble, even though 2 suicide bomb blasts occurred not too far from Islamabad while I was there and the brief arrival of Nawaz Sharif, which stirred up some commotion. Luckily I was gone before Osama's latest declaration of revolt of Pakistanis against the govt. So much anticipation and speculation with with these "elections" coming, Benazir's coming, and what not... But Paki's politics is a talk for a whole other day....

Now back in the U.S.  I miss seeing my family, good friends old and new, ghee infused parathas in the mornings, and servants and drivers to make my life lovely.  Now I sit here on call in the ICU, fasting for Ramadan, tired, and missing the homeland...

Losing Shit... What Rubbish!

So I am nearing the end of my trip to Pakistan... 4 days left!! It is quite sad since I have been having a blast at my cousin's wedding, hanging out with a lot of great fun people and family... The wedding is closing to an end, and has had everything from our kickass choregoraphed dancing at the Mehndi (from which I think I broke my thumb), to late night sessions of hanging out and drinking and dancing to great music.  But first, a funny story....

So I have a knack for losing things and being somewhat careless in certain situations... Or at least in the past (so I thought).  Before I came to Pakistan 2 weeks back, I was nominated on Facebook as "most likely to drop keys in toilet", because of all the times I've lost my shit... So the day I was going to Pakistan, I came back to my parent's house in NJ with my sister.  I had a lot of stuff to do in little time, so came into the house, and did a few things to finalize my preparations for my trip.  When time came to leave, I couldn't fucking find my car keys!  I had literally JUST arrived 20 min ago, and had NO idea what I did with them. I ransacked the car, unloaded the trunk again to look, went through the entire house, but nothing!  I then retraced my steps.... I got in, went into the closet to get a towel to wipe down my car, but nothing wasin the closet.... I went downstairs for a moment, but the keys were nowhere down there.  I even threw some shit out and thought could it be in the garbage?  I sneaked a peak in there, but there was nothing.. By now my dad found out and was furious. FUMING. (rightfully so i guess)... So he starts buggin out and I told him all the stuff I did.. He asked did I really look in the garbage? I said of course! He was like "are you fucking SURE?" He then dumped the entire garbage onto the floor, and plop... Out come my keys...  Fuckin A!  He was so happy with his victory, he wouldn't let me live it down... Anyway, I felt really stupid!

Fast forward a week or so... I am now in Pakistan, and have been raging with my digital camera taking pictures.. EVEYRONE has been relying on me because I am so mad with my photo taking.. The other day, I got home after the Mehdni, and could not find my fuckin camera!!  I KNEW I had it when I got home at 5:30am, because we took some pictures... But where was it? I looked EVERYWHERE. My clothes, all over my uncle's house where I am staying, in the car, but no camera.. I was freaking out. Lord let me find the camera broken and destroyed, I just want the memory card!!  After an hour, I just starting looking everywhere.. For some reason I looked in the little trash can next to my bed, which had some tissue in it, but nothing else.  But then I put my hand to the bottom (still not sure why) and there it fucking was!!  Turns out my cousin's fucking cat, who was making all this commotion in the morning, knocked the damn thing down into the garbage!! Jesus.. Can u imagine??  What kind of luck is this? You can only imagine after the keys and now the camera, what everyone has been ranking on me with... From now on, if I lose anything, the rubbish bin is the first place I'll look!

Back in the Homeland

I arrived in Lahore my first night to painful heat and humidity, and of course, load shedding (which is when they shut off all electricity every so often to save energy), which precluded the use of the A/C, ahh Pakistan!  I hopped on the motorway (the one true highway of Pakistan) and drove up to Islamabad, and here I am now.  Of course the day after I arrive there were two suicide bomb blasts in Rawalpindi (the nieghboring town to Islamabad), will it ever end?  Who knows. As we drove around I whizzed passed the Red Mosque, and my uncle pointed out to me several new pro Taliban Madrassas that are popping up, and you can spot those bastards on the street when you see them as well.  All you hear in the news is the impending return of the two ex-PM's Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif and what will become of General Musharraf, and the so-called fair elections to come.  Despite this, everyone feels impending implosion of our government, and the rise of the Mullahs is not such a far fetched reality...  But alas, that is a post for another day....

So far I have eaten all sorts of yummy stuff from Payas, to Haleem, to local paratha wraps, and my stomach has held strong!  But I am worried. My stomach is so weak, I always end up with Montezuma's Revenge at some point, partly because I can't resist eating all the good food, especially the stuff I'm not supposed to eat!  My Dad's recommendation (despite him being a Chairman of Medicine, there is absolutely on evidence to this tactic), is to take a tablet of cipro once a day as prophylaxis.  My supervising docs would kill me if they heard I was doing this, but I decided what the hell.  So lets see what happens! Stay tuned for updates on my GI tract...

My cousin's wedding festivities begin tonight.  So let the excitement begin.  And no people, I am not hear to get married nor to find a wife.  But hey you never know right? Stay tuned for updates!