Oranges!

"Oranges!!" the kids exclaimed with glee as they saw what was on the dessert table at dinner last night. They ran over and had to be told to take only one to begin with so that everyone could taste the delicious treat. 'Treat?' you may ask.

I'm sitting here thinking about your possible reactions. Some of you may be concerned, are we under feeding the kids so much so that they should be excited about oranges? No. Some of you may be wondering whether the school is so poor that we can't afford fruit. While that may be true for many families in Pakistan it is not true for MCS. Are we teaching them that oranges are some kind of super fruit where by eating them they will gain straight As? No!

I think of my dad who used to tell me that he would get an orange for Christmas. I remember being confused - and I don't think I quite believed him. I'm sure you can understand why. Oranges are available all year round in New Zealand... in most 'western' countries, in fact. We eat our own in the winter, and we eat oranges from California in the summer. I don't think I even really liked them when I was a kid. I preferred mandarins. Oranges and apples were too common - I remember being excited by chocolate and candy. Granted, the kids here also get excited by chocolate and candy. The difference is that chocolate and candy are available year round. Oranges are not.


It was so nice to see the kids excited about oranges. It's nice that I can get excited about oranges, too. There's just something...natural about eating what's in season. The fruit and vege here honestly does taste better.

As requested...

...the blog has begun! Due to my lack of newsletter writing convictions, frustrating postal services and peer pressure (!) you will now have the option of reading my thoughts/rants/raves on my life in Pakistan. I do not in any way claim to be a 'writer' but I hope the stories help you to get a glimpse of life here - the joys and struggles alike! 

Tonight I am sitting in my cold flat... I'm going to estimate it's at around 10 degrees. The 'central heating' (I can assure you our definitions of central heating are vastly different) isn't working for some reason and I have run out of kerosene for my other heater... however I have lit some candles and I am looking at two bunches of roses - one yellow, one red - sitting on my cabinet. They cost me a total of 450 rupees... that's about $7 NZD not bad for two dozen roses eh? Well.... 450 rupees is a lot but I always convert the amount into NZD if I want to make myself feel better about purchasing something. I'm slowly getting out of the habit. Lets just say living here makes me feel guilty for spending money, and at other times it makes it easier. For example; If I were a man, I would be able to go to the bazaar and get a hot meal, with meat for about 150 rupees. That's a little over $2. Some of the 'mens' restaurants have 'family rooms'. A family room is down the back of the restaurant behind a curtain. Since we are usually a group of young, single and not to mention foreign women they are not ideal places to eat despite their tasty local flavours and favorable prices. So, we frequent places that other westerners and rich Pakistanis do. I hate it because they serve exactly the same dishes for 3 or 4 times the price. This is the part where I feel a little on the guilty side. Then I get to the western part of the menu that these upper-class restaurants always have. And I see that a steak meal works out to be around $10NZD. And then I think "I'd be stupid not to order one!" Guilt gone and stomach full. Clearly, steak is the answer.