hmmm…u know what…i haven’t really had indian curry but well they use more veggies…and ours must be more meaty…adn well the spices are similar…but pakistanis ussually prefer spicier food. However U can be sure of one thing…what u’re getting on 2nd avenue will prob me a more americanised i.e mellower version of the curries here 'cos it would be a little tough for american folk to digest all the spices etc. Other than that i’m really the wrong person to answer this…the foods in Pakistan and india are mostly similar but Pakistanis are more meat loving folk adn well indians prefer veggies…thats the main difference! But i haven’t been to 2nd avenue and i got no idea of the curries there, so i’ll tell u when i get a chance to compare them!
Well to be honest the movie cracked me up and well I simply love Tom Green…tho i don’t get too excited about his elephant and horse jerking talents…but still I actually thot the Pakistan scene wuz damn hilarious…tho the camels and deserts had a sorta arab flavor to them.
Okay now to your questions:
Are you currently in Pakistan?
Yes I am…in Islamabad! i.e the capital
If so, can you give your opinion of the anti-US/pro-BinLaden rallys they keep showing on the news - are these folks the extreme minority they seem like, or is the resentment just that bad over there?
tricky question…first of all YES they are a minority…but they’ve got influence. I mean Pakistan is really a moderate islamic society but there are certain elements that are extremist in nature…well mostly political i guess alongwith some religious schools…in politics well the islamic parties didn’t win even 2% of the vote…so u can guess that they don’t have much support…however they do influence affairs 'cos well they’re not easy to control and they think they’re right! so well if they do rallies and demonstrations and stuff they obviously make headline news.
However small their numbers mite be…tho…the fact remains that even tho its a minority…its a very visible one!
Also, if you’re in Pakistan at the moment, is the US government doing anything to answer the anti-US dogma?
NO! the US is not doing anything…except a bit of aid here and there…kinda like throwing bones to your pet dog!..Well u see anti US dogma…hmmm…its not really dogma…okay heres the story.
Osama and his peers were heavily funded by the US. These afghan commanders etc. were also heavily US funded…the weapons they’re using against the states right now are US and Russian weapons!..the US provided them weapons and well the russians left huge weapons dumps when they retreated…hence there are enuff weapons there to last them generations.
Pakistan supported the US as a frontline ally against the soviets…pakistan wuz overrun by refugees…our economy suffered a huge shock, debts, the rise of corruption etc. etc. and well the benefits we recieved were really too paltry to mention…when the war wuz over Pakistan wuz no longer needed and hence abandoned with all the problems it had recieved. So well ppl naturally harbor anti US sentiments…its like your boyfriend using you for sex and dumping u the next day. I mean okay e.g we pay the US for a large number of F-16s and they keep our money and impose sanctions that disallow us getting the
F-16s…LOL i mean GET REAL!..well that wuz another bitch slap issue over here causing alot of feelings etc. however it is said that they compensated for taht in other ways, so that issue is being buried etc.
But its things like this that caused all the anti america sentiments in Pakistan…also the Iraq situation etc. where America is really suspected of foul play and ulterior intentions…more on that later!
The conclusion…the same ppl who supported america, now mistrust and despise it. However therez really nuffin against american ppl…its more like american policies and americas larger plan and how its trying to achieve it! Kinda like ppl hating microsoft and bill gates!
Is Al-Jazeera making any attempt at all at balanced reporting, or just giving the hard-line fundamentalist view of things?
I dunno really…we don’t get aljazeera here…all the news i see is CNN or BBC…hmmm…not whut u expected huh?
Al Jazeera is an arab channel…Its supposed to be really good 'cos they started outlining government issues etc. etc. and stuff that normal channels etc. refrained from showing. When the afghan war erupted Al Jazeera was the only channel allowed to broadcast it. Now this pissed off CNN and BBC and the other bigshots 'cos now they had to show second hand stuff and they didn’t have any control or superiority etc. Also since CNN and BBC does get pretty biased at times…i.e towards Muslims (Muslim point of view). Soo when aljazeera got the cake at afghanistan the other networks started spreading rumors of encoded mesages etc. on aljazeera (very original)…Okay the muslim point of view is that CNN and BBC are biased etc. and don’t focus on the real issues. Hence even tho i don’t understand arabic and i haven’t seen Al Jazeera however it is considered as a channel that shows unbiased news(towards muslims) and well frankly i think its a good thing that this channel is around because well CNN and BBC have been pretty biased at times…hiding the real stories or playing with words (just a personal feeling). And ya there iz nuffin fundamentalist about Al Jazeera…in fact those guyz got pretty noble intentions about balanced reporting!
Where do you live in Pakistan?
I live in the capital i.e Islamabad, the center of Pakistan
What languages do you speak?
Well
-english (DUH!)
-Urdu (The national language here)
-Pashto (my mother tongue…i’m a pakhtun and by now i bet everyone knows who we folks are LOL…btw i’m originally a pakhtun from NWFP which is the province that has the border with afghanistan)
-And i used to speak german but i’m not too good at it now
Where you born in Pakistan? How long have you lived there?
Yeps lived here all my life…well apart from the 5 years i spent in Austria when i wuz a kid hmm…well i’m 21 years old and i spent five of those i.e from the age of 5-10 in Vienna so i guess i’ve spent 16 years here.
Have you studied abroad? Where?
hmm…if primary skool counts then Yes i’ve studied in the vienna international school from ages 5-10.
Well i’m currently finishing my BS in computer science here…hmmmmm…i wuz thinking of transferring my credits to a university in teh states when the sept 11 things happened so i couldn’t apply anymore (Just my Luck :P)
**What do you do for a living? **
My dad earns my living right now :D…well however i do quite okay myself. I’m a pretty good programmer and i get alot of web stuff 'cos i’m good at that and ppl know me if they want any work like that…i woulda pasted the URL etc. of my firm and website etc. but that would be like spamming or soliciting clients so u can just mail me if you’re interested in some free advice etc. regarding the web etc. or other programming stuff.
I ussually get some web programming work from my website and well I have a regular job at a software house here…i’m pretty much a computer nerd guy but well i’m still studying so i guess that i’m doing prettty well.