#17 LAST FLIGHTS, INAYAT, ASIF, GANGI 10/20

We had our last two flights – about an hour each. Nothing dramatic, just good flying, focusing on safety and getting into good habits. On the last flight we landed in a field only a 10-minute walk to our hotel. Seemed just right. Oh, and Jilles, another Swiss friend arrived, so there have been 3 paragliders in the air the last 4 days.

We had a couple more meals at Inayat’s, both in the guesthouse room. As always we left our shoes outside the door. As we started to leave Inayat hustled out and lined our shoes up so they were facing the right direction for us to just step into them. A kind gesture.

At the last meal Inayat’s father (“Baba” is the respectful form of address) was there. Brad had promised to show him paragliding pix. Baba was enthralled, and his questions showed that he understood the concept. Inayat’s 15 y/o nephew brought his laptop and copied Brad’s pix onto it. To me it seemed odd, to be sitting on the floor eating as people have for hundreds of years, then to have 2 laptops in our midst.

At the next to last meal Freddy and Jilles had mentioned that they don’t eat meat. When we arrived for what was to be our last meal there (on this trip), we found a meal that was totally vegetarian. It was another example of Inayat being a good host.

Asif also had us to his house for dinner. He had apologized for not having us over before, but his father is having a new house built, and Asif didn’t want to have us to the old one. When he realized we’d be leaving soon he asked us, and we’re glad he did.Five of us went: Brad, Freddy, Etienne, Jilles and me. We had a variety of delicious dishes, and the meal was wonderful. As was common here most of the time, the dessert was fruit, and it was my first experience of being served pomegranate seeds - out of the fruit and on a plate.

Gangi
One day Freddy and I stopped to visit Gangi, a guy Freddy met last week. He’s 60 and looks like a strong, handsome 45. We found him working in his field. He stopped his work, took us to his house, and had his son climb a tree to get us some apples. We enjoyed an hour of interesting conversation, during which he smiled almost all the time. He’s a fascinating guy: intelligent, personable and complex. The son of a retired army veteran, Gangi was in the army for 7 years, but resigned because the pay was low. What did this strong, rugged-looking guy do in the army? He was a nurse, and I’m sure a good one. He speaks English, Arabic, French, Farsi, and 18 Pakistani languages. During the winter he works as a guide for wealthy Saudis on trips to Europe. As Freddy said later, traveling like that Gangi sees a side of Europe, 5 star hotels, for instance, that we’ll never see. And we learned this in a quiet courtyard in Booni.