Posts by Edward Mortimer
Making Myself At Home
I visited the house of a friend this evening, and whilst I was there one or two other visits came and went. In an off-the-cuff way I commented that the house seemed to have quite a few visitors that evening. They looked at me strangely at first, afterwards explaining that tonight is unusually quiet, it…
Read MoreA Waiting Game
I have been thinking that you can tell a lot about a culture by looking at the way people queue (or don’t as the case may be!). I was in the bank today to take out some of my penultimate scholarship instalment, and everyone waiting to be served was standing in little groups around each…
Read MoreIt's All Relative…
As I sat down to write I began to think about how the meaning of the word ‘family’ here in Pakistan (and in South Asian culture in general) is rather different from how it is defined in the West. In Pakistan, if your third-cousin once removed is getting married to a girl from the same…
Read MoreThe White Rabbit
I had the opportunity to visit a Gypsy tribe only last week, and what a fantastic experience it was. The children I saw were dirty, poorly clothed and unable to read and write (probably) and yet they were so beautiful. One girl in particular carried a perfect white rabbit beneath her arms; it was the…
Read MoreAn Aural Extravaganza
Today I thought about the menagerie of sounds that one hears on an average day in Pakistan. There is the ice-cream cart that plays an electronic version of ‘fur-de-lise’ on repeat, I wonder how it doesn’t drive the poor man bonkers. There are the cats and dogs. Nobody owns them (indeed, the average Pakistani is…
Read MoreMaking Light of Things…
Today has been a fairly relaxing day. The weather is changing here, slowly but surely the temperature is rising. Although fortunately the mosquitoes have launched a full-scale invasion as yet, and the ceiling fan has not been needed as yet. Every day the citizens of this country go without electricity for between 3 and 10…
Read MoreEyes of Sadness
Our Changing World
It is now drawing closer towards the final month of my scholarship, so I want to make an effort to blog more regularly. I would like to give readers an insight into what life is like here, and the potential ways to strengthen ties between the UK and Pakistan in decades to come. A couple…
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