Flat Tires and Kind Strangers

17 Nov 2013      

During Ashura we were restricted to our houses and the Embassy.  This was after violence had erupted in Rawalpindi the twin city to Islamabad.  After being cooped up for a time I made it out the door at 06:30 on the bike.  I rode in to work to check e-mail… that only took a half hour or so.  Then I rode across town to F9 park.  It is a huge park, it takes up an entire sector here in the city.  Since we are not allowed to ride in the Margalla hills at the moment this is my substitute.  Lame but it’s about all I have.  So I was having a nice ride.  I was in the heart of the park on a dirt path riding downhill on a rocky and heavily rutted section when I had a blow out.  OK, no big deal, but it is a pain in the ass.  I had a spare tube, but no patch kit.  I changed the tube and wouldn’t you know it, within a half mile I had another flat.  Damn!  Oh, it’s important to know that we are only supposed to go into F9 park if we call into the operations center at work first.  I had attempted to but cell phone service was out all over town.  So I figured oh well, I’ll just walk back to the limits of where I am supposed to be, 9^th Avenue, and then use my radio to call for motor pool to come pick me up.  We are not allowed to use public transport here, but the embassy’s motor pool works pretty well.  So along I am walking when a local Punjabi rides up on his bike.  I explain in English what has happened, he tells me in Punjabi where I can get my flat repaired.  Now mind you I don’t speak Punjabi… and he doesn’t speak English.  This gentleman stayed with me and took me by 4 places that were all closed before finding one that was open.  Not that a shop was open.  It was just a guy on the side of the road who has a shop elsewhere but was fixing bike tires on this particular dirt corner.  So the guy repairs my tire for 30 rupees (30 cents).  I gave him 100.  Still my Punjabi friend waited.  Once all was well we rode toward my residence.  My friend split off at the adjacent city sector.  We had covered about 3 miles on foot (me) and bike (him).  All I could think through all of this was WOW.  Here is some local guy, in the country’s capitol, who took it upon himself to be my guardian.  He was such a wonderfully nice guy.   In the US I can’t imagine a “Christian” doing this for a foreigner.  Here I am in a land that most American’s think is populated with Islamic extremists and some random Muslim takes care of me.  I was very happy.  I like these people.  I am likely to become very angry the next time I hear someone tell me how violent a religion Islam is. 

 

BTW, my friend kept telling me how bike riding was such great exercise (in Punjabi).  I agreed (in English).  At one point as we moved through a neighborhood, looking for a repair shop, two men better off than my friend, Pashtuns I think, asked what was wrong.  I pointed to my very flat rear tire and told them it had blown out twice today.  They said something and I smiled back as we moved along.  Then it came to me.  In his heavy accent the gentleman had said: Ah, you have put on weight lately.  Too funny!  When my tube was being patched the mechanic asked my age (he spoke a wee little bit of English).  I told him 52 and both he and my friend were impressed.  I think I just reinforced their view of cycling being great exercise. 

 

If I am going to continue riding I need to order some decent tubes.  These Chinese once are crap.  That said I am very happy I had 2 blowouts today.  I would not have had such a wonderful experience.

Drone Strikes and Bike Rides

The government of Pakistan was set to begin an official dialog with the Taliban.  This would not be the first time this has been attempted.  Several times in the past the Taliban have agreed to a cease fire only to use the time to regroup and rearm before breaking the peace.  The big difference is that this time, 18 hours before the first official contact was scheduled to take place, a US Drone strike killed the head of the Pakistani Taliban along with his 2^nd in command.  Now I am not personally a fan of drone strikes.  I feel we have used them without sufficient controls in the past.  This time though we seem to have used them correctly.  This guy was a complete turd.  He was a vicious prick and had done innumerable harm to the Pakistani people.  Now there have been many drone strikes since I arrived in Islamabad 7 months ago, so why choose to bring this one up?  Because Meshud was the target, there is the likelihood his minions will attempt to strike a retaliatory blow.  Or to put it another way, because the US killed their leader, the TTP may decide to try and kill some Americans.  So, this weekend has been a slow one.  We have been restricted to our walled and guarded houses today.  No travel unless absolutely necessary and then only in armored vehicles.  This is my life in Islamabad. 

 

We found out about the strike Saturday morning.  We were told to be back at our houses by sunset and not to leave.  I was planning to go for a bike ride today (Sunday) so I decided to ride my bike home.  It isn’t very far, only a few miles.  I knew I wouldn’t be able to ride today but at least I’d have a nice ride home.  I love riding bikes here in Pakistan.  It is safer to ride here then the states.  As crazy as it is to drive here, they do pay more attention to pedestrians, bikes, cows, goats, monkeys… well, you get the picture.  In Malibu cars run into parked cars on the PCH.  I’ve never seen that here.  The other thing I love about riding a bike here is the reaction I get from the Pakistanis.  If I so much as say hello and smile they give me the most amazing smiles in return.  They are such a gracious people.  They make me feel so welcome here.  I suppose that seems odd to many Americans.  Most people I know back in the US think I live in a bed of terrorists.  The reality is quite different.  I won’t lie, things do happen here, occasionally very bad things.  A few months ago Taliban suicide bombers murdered 80+ Christians as they left mass in Peshawar.  One of our house staff lost 8 member of her immediate family in that terrorist attack.  You would think she’d be bitter in this Muslim land.  She went on to tell how the Islamic community of Peshawar did their best to protect the Christians following this attack.  They provided security, they provided food and shelter, they were aghast that such a cowardly act had taken place in their city.  Pakistan is a complicated place with complex problems that defy sound bite answers. 

 

 

So, for those of you that still worry about my safety, please don’t.  I am in a place where people have a very difficult life, and despite that, do not hate strangers, or one another.  It is the poverty here in Pakistan that is the enemy.  It is the lack of education.  It is the corruption.  The people of Pakistan are not the enemy.  So, a small request: next time you hear someone going on about “all those damn terrorists in Pakistan” set them straight.  People are not that different anywhere in the world.  There is no country anywhere on the planet made up primarily of terrorists.  So if someone is trying to convince you otherwise they are either ignorant or have their own hateful agenda.  I don’t know what the future brings for Pakistan but I do know I will have lifelong friends here.