#12 ASIF, MOUSE+, MIR, H20

Asif: Yesterday afternoon a boy was waiting for me at the hotel. “Will you please help me with this?” he asked, a folder of papers in his hand. Remembering “school money” scams in other places, I reacted badly and said no.

[An aside: Only twice in my 6 weeks in Pakistan did anyone ask me for money. First was a 10 y/o boy near Passu just after the two girls had given me apples. After asking if it was ok I took his picture, showed him the image, and thanked him. And he said, "Give me rupee." For some reason it made me laugh - while smiling and telling him no. The second time was at our hotel in Booni. About 9 one night we heard drumming and singing outside. Four or five teenagers had opened the gate and come into the front courtyard. Sitting in a circle on the grass they were making their music. It surprised me to see them out. We usually didn't go out after dark and, except for groups coming home from prayers around 8, we almost never heard anyone out and about. One girl said, "Give me money." Laughing, I said no. It turns out that what they were doing was related to the upcoming Eid, the end of Ramadan, and is a light-hearted tradition. Those were the only requests for money. In each case the request had been a request, not a demand, and they accepted my refusal and didn't ask again.]

So, my reaction to Asif would have been perfectly reasonable for India or many other places, but it's different here. Fortunately, he didn't take offense. “I don’t want money or anything," he said, "I just want to ask you about American culture.” His eyes were bright and, his smile genuine. “OK, tell me more.” He did. His name is Asif Ali Shah. He is 15 and is applying for a US exchange student program. We’ve talked several times since then. He’s a top student, is interesting, intelligent, articulate, a good kid. He didn't want money or help with a test or anything like that, just info about school, families, daily life.

He did ask for help understanding the application however. Two places hadn't been filled in. The instructions said to "print" a name. One was under the signature of his teacher and the other was on the back of his photo. He told me his teacher said it was impossible to do that. The confusion came from not knowing the use of "printing" versus cursive writing. He and his teacher thought it required using a printer. A logical misunderstanding. Asif would be an asset to the exchange program and would be a joy for any host family. Here’s hoping they accept him.

Mouse, +: The mouse, who hadn't been sighted, but whose noise kept me awake 2 nights, seemed deterred by the rocks and mud I used to seal the hole in the bathroom floor. Brad had slept through the little mouse noises, and wasn't concerned as long as it didn't damage our gear (like chewing on the glider or its lines - so we moved that stuff onto chairs). We kept the bathroom door closed, and my habit was to look carefully whenever going in. That’s what let me see the scorpion. It was motionless about waist high on the wall just inside the door. Though a big scorpion, 3 inches long, it was no match for the broomstick. It’s body remained on the floor in the corner of the bathroom overnight. The next day, however, there was a new mouse hole beside the old, rocked-up one, and the scorpion’s body was gone. Maybe the mouse will eat it. Scorpion venom is strong. The murder of the scorpion is on my conscience already. I would welcome a natural resolution of the mouse issue.

Mir Safdar Khan. A couple was plowing with an ox team while another man was hand-sowing wheat. We stopped to watch. A grandson greeted us. We chatted briefly, and he invited us to tea. We walked with him and another young man along the path, across an orchard and through a gate into a lovely courtyard where we were seated. One of the young men said they were all the same clan. The clan, a multi-generational group of over 30, lives in several houses on the family land. The houses are separated by orchards, courtyards, fields and walls. The walls are over 6 feet high, so we can't see what's on the other side except for occasional glimpses through open gates. This is the same situation throughout the village.

So we were in the courtyard. In a little while we were joined by the man who had been sowing. Mir Safdar Khan, the family patriarch is 78 but looks closer to 60 - and he has a wonderful presence. It's not like the compassion radiating from the Dalai Lama or maybe the Pope. It's simpler, suggesting that he is totally contented with his life, and the twinkle in his eye hints that he might have a secret that makes him happy when he remembers it, and he's remembering it now. He didn't say a lot, but when he did speak it indicated he understood all that had been said. He retired many years ago as an army signalman and showed he remembered morse code by sounding out the dots/dashes for A, B, C. He could have continued, but that was enough to make his point. He made occasional comments, but mostly just listened - and smiled.

We drank tea, and ate grapes and apples. As we readied to leave he put his hat (a capul, the traditional hat of men in the region) on my head for a picture. I jokingly said, “Thanks for the hat.” In a flash (well, quickly at least) he was in the house and back out with another hat, a clean one, which he gave me. As we walked away, smiles all around, our stomachs full, apples in my pack and my capul on my head, Brad said, “Careful with your jokes. You’ll just keep getting stuff.”

Water project: The sky clouded over quickly on the last part of the drive up to launch on Thursday. We had just made the no-fly decision when a jeep came up the road, a rare occurrence. Usually ours was the only vehicle we saw. This was the engineer crew for a nearby water project. The Attak water project, at 13,000+ feet, is the highest water project in the world. They were happy to talk with us and to give us a tour of the sites for their project, which will tunnel about a km through a mountain in the Hindukush Range to bring water into the Mastuj Valley (where Booni is located). Unlike the numerous small channels we’ve seen, this one will be big, 12 feet deep and 24 feet wide, and will provide irrigation water for several villages. The project is just in the beginning stages, surveying the route and drilling into the proposed path of the tunnel to test the rock formations. The tour took well over an hour, during which we got snowed on, confirming the decision not to fly.