I thought I would post here and see if anyone gets an email that there’s a new post on this very dusty blog. I’m running blogging classes this summer for SUSI Pakistan and for a group from the MENA region. I ask them many of the same questions I asked everyone on this blog while we were in class, those many years ago. How is everyone? Please respond!
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Fortune cookie
This made me think of BUPP.
Yes, fortune cookies are silly but I like this one.
Best Quotations / Top Quotes
My top 8 moments from Pakistan 2019
Thank you Ken. For giving life to your experiences now they live forever!
This guy, at the Peshawar wedding. He did this for five very long minutes. I’m sure he was just cold and had never seen a movie about Dracula.
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Phool Patti in Amherst
Is this blog still here? It’s really dusty.
Here’s some color to spice it up.
https://wordpress.com/post/fernsehturm.wordpress.com/1258
Expectations of Myself
Back to Reality !!!
It has been almost a month since I last posted a blog here. I had returned back to Pakistan after spending 5 weeks at UMASS and now had to carry on with the day to day routine of an educator at BUITEMS. Before leaving for Pakistan everyone had made the usual promises of staying in touch and transferring what was learnt back to our classrooms.
Coming back to work I was met by remarks” did you enjoy your trip, why are you looking so weak and when will you teach what you have learnt????”
I had learnt a lot about myself, about the program and the people involved and of course the topics they had covered. Becky and her team of leaders and mentors: Ish, Ken, Olivia, Kelsey, Deepika, Mike 2.0 and Pato (Civic staff) were warm and welcoming to everyone from day one. To do what Becky does on a day to day basis you need strength, patience, understanding, respect and never to accept bull shit. I see myself as a strong person but I do not think I could do what Becky does and still have a smile on my face or any energy to motivate people to get out of their shells and shake it. Ish, Ken, Pato I enjoyed their company and had conversations ranging from Gay rights to religion and for me it was so refreshing to talk about such issues and to see how far opinions have changed from when I was there age to now. Also to talk to Deepika, Ish and Ken about growing up as a minority in the US revealed little differences to my experience as a UK minority. The freedom to ask questions and to express your thoughts was something I missed about the US and UK, that is not easily encouraged back in Pakistan.
Pato an Argentinian was part of the CIVIC Program is a political scientist, a patriot and a agriculturist, (he may argue about it, but this is what I thought of him). I found he loved his country and really wanted to make a difference there. he is such a learned individual that you need to read up in order to even attempt an intelligent conversation. Its people like him that makes you want to take an interest in national and world affairs.
Deepika, Olivia and Kelsey, my girls they are amazing and Julie the White walker is a free spirit who takes no nonsense from anyone. The girls were full of energy and made sure everyone was ok having fun. I am so envious of them to be at such a young age and be part of a program where you make a difference in peoples lives. They get to influence opinions, to change perceptions and to instill confidence in our girls. This goes for Ish, Ken and Mike that you get to change the directions of the lives of my students. You get to meet people of all ages, nationalities from all walks of life. Olivia who wants to I think be a journalist should could be such a bad ass international correspondent, or Deepika who wants to work in the State Department. This program has given these young people to really change lives and I hope they realize and appreciate the impact they are making and how jealous I am of them right now.
Becky & Jim
Both of them have set the bar high in terms of how to engage students in a class. Becky your energy, smile and how you get us involved is something I want to try and emulate. I have found that in general Americans are louder and more energetic compared to the British and that goes for me too. I now want to try and be more energetic and louder in such away that engages the student. The techniques and the way we discussed case studies was what I really needed and expecting from this trip. I actually can not wait to start planning for the new semester.
Jim to me is like the GURU of case study writing, not sure if anyone else has said that to him. An MBA from Harvard and extensive years teaching exclusively using case studies made him the best guy to teach us how to write a case. Btw I am still working on mine, and it seriously needs a lot of beef in it!!! But am hopeful that I will be able to finish it and make my Guru proud of me. He was great in teaching us Capsim, by throwing us in the deep end of a swimming pool with only armbands to help you stay afloat. Zia was a born natural and I was still struggling till the end. One day I will beat Erie.
Ken & Blogging
A great tool to express ones thoughts and to share with the world what you want to say. Ken showed us how to blog and what we should expect from ourselves when we write. He encouraged us to be open and honest and I know he has done great work with our students in providing them a safe environment to be open and honest about their feelings and experiences.
And Now at this Moment???
I am typing and still not completely sure how to move forward with this new semester. The intentions are good and a lot work is to be done, (I still have to supervise two case studies OMG!!!!). More importantly I want to make the people who fought and encouraged me every step of the way in getting into the program proud of me and not to feel their efforts have been in vain. I want to give back to the students and colleagues that what we have learnt can be applied here in our own classrooms. In the end I want to show what I am capable off.
MOMENTS With Civic Initiative
Well it is hard to say that which moment during my stay has not influenced me. Every day was a challenge for me and provide me an opportunity to grow as a person and as a lecturer. When we arrived and meet Becky square again I know I will learn more from them and they both have contributed a lot through their sessions and talks. Becky showed me how to tackle people outside the class and Becky Mazur you were the one that showed me how to tackle people inside the class. I think not only me but every lecturer/ Professor sitting in this room writing blogs. Thanks is a small word but I would Like to say it. THANKS ❤ ❤
Mentors I would like to call them Little angles, sweet and helpful in what ever way a person can help you they have done it, proud of you guys KEN, ISH, OLIVIA, DIPIKA, KELSY. Patho is a person who have given me respect every time I get a chance to interact with him. I will miss your Mathi that was the first step for me to try new things in my life after landing on Boston airport. I am glad that now I have so many friends not only in U.S but other parts of the world.
I think the happiest day here was cooking tea with Ma’am Safia and Gul and enjoying the film along with the funny comments by Ma’am, we laughed and laughed like crazy. The hardest thing for me was the group activity and idea generation. Dr. Sana has helped me a lot during that time and I am very much thankful to him for that.
I would like to make a promise here to all the Civic Initiative team that what ever I have learned from you people I will try my level best to implement back home.
A Journey worth thousand lives!
I was sitting in my office, feeling grumpy and uptight when i came to know via email from Dr. Noor Muhammad Yughur that there is going to be an Entrepreneurship Summit that will be held in Karachi, Pakistan. At that time, i was totally indifferent, i had no idea how this summit is gong to be and how can i qualify to be part of it? After a week i came to know that I have been selected based on my interest that i had shown to be part of that summit, when we reached Karachi, we reached Avari Hotel and there i saw a bunch of Pakistani- SUSI Alumni none of them was known to me previously so it triggered in my mind that how come this whole program will be attractive to me when i know none of the organizers and event managers except for folks from BUITEMS, Quetta. Next morning we met a group of Americans who were also there with us but i didn’t know about their presence, the group comprised of 3 people, Becky Howland, Becky Mazur and Ken Leblond, it was the second time in my life i was meeting foreigners. First, when i was a kid i was taught by 2 guys from Britain, one was Pakistani-britisher and other was pure Britisher they taught me how to write? Next, was this group of three intellectuals i met at Avari, i tried to talk to them but i couldn’t, i have always been reluctant meeting new people especially those whom i don’t know much about. It was 3 day summit and during the stay i got chance to talk to Becky Mazur once, Becky Howland and Ken Leblond twice. Afterwards, we returned back to our universities and the life began in its very usual way. After a few weeks i came to know that there is the same kind of Program going to be held this time in US and will be 5 weeks program not like the previous one. I was confused whether to go for the PhD admission for what i had secured recommendations from DAAD, Germany and at the same time i was unable to get my MS thesis review done from my supervisor, because i was into a very turbulent kind of relationship with my supervisor, he disliked me for so many reasons and i did the same but i was supposed to work and finish my thesis, still i am in the process. Luckily, i got a chance to fill my form in a matter of a week brainstorming on each and every component of the form in order to make it more meaningful and rational and i did. Months later i got an email that confirmed my selection for the Program but i was supposed to go through an interview in order secure final approval, i got it as well. When it was time to go for visa interview there i came to know that the Program has got a lot of other folks from different universities in Baluchistan, this things helped me feel more comfortable as i envisioned a group of teachers going to US. After few days of interview i got my passport with US Visa it was matter of immense pleasure for anyone who belong to the region where i live, in the like manner i felt glad but i had a lot going on there at home. My father’s maternal uncle a renowned scholar, intellectual, human right activist, nationalist and deputy chief of PkMAP , Abdul Rahim Mandokhel died, we were all mourning his death and it was a big loss i was totally indifferent once more whether to sit in the condolence or to be leave for US, i just made a single time visit to his place and left back and decided to leave for US, even before the last day of arrival i couldn’t finalize the decision, whether to go or not but it was too late to decide and my father wanted me to go, so i came to US. So, i left for US and reached safe and came to know that we are going to stay at UMASS, Amherst and in the next few days our sessions began. An overview of the sessions is given under:
Course work
The sessions became in a way I was expecting them to be, i entered the class and there i saw Jim Theroux a well known name and an intellectual who needed no introduction. The CAPSIM, simulation class began and it was an amazing experience to know that it was we the participants doing all the stuff rather than the teacher, in old school way. The next session was of Becky Mazur it was active learning session and made us learn that people learn in different ways and the pedagogy of hers made us learn more than i was expecting of myself, thanks to her. Later on, we came to know that we have a blogging session, where once more i got chance to meet Ken Leblond, an amazing person with a lot of really cool habits and he taught us how to reflect with the experiences we have during our stay in US into writing and we learned, thanks Ken. During all these sessions, we had some people always with us we knew them as mentors and it was a diverse group of individuals with some strong knowledge about us, luckily, the team was comprised of Ish Elgadi, Kenneth Sao, Olivia, Deepika, Micheal Andrick and sometimes Kelsey as well, they were all very much curious about our timely getting into class, having no problem lodging and dining, they were like mothers to us, on a lighter note! All sudden one day we came to know that we are going to have some real business activity going to happen and we saw Hassan Shahid i guy that i knew from Karachi Entrepreneurship summit. Fortunately, he knew me as well and it was another plus for me i was easy to work under his direction and helped us do the things easily we were supposed to do. In the meanwhile, all these things were overseen by another brave lady, Becky Howland who was there in almost each and every session, she knew how to manage diversity without speaking anything, i love a lot about her and her personality and interaction is enough to justify the her kindness, humbleness, upbringing and curiosity. However, there was something we were lagging behind in that was knowing about the politics and history of US, how it institutions work and in what way they influence the rest of world and luckily one day we were informed that we have got session with Micheal Hannahan the Boss, it was amazing part of program i had so much interest in history and geography, the politics being Pakistani we are all political one way or other, so was I. We learned a lot from Mike Hannahan the best thing about him is when in class looks scary when out of class he is one of the guys who always has something to say and people will probably laugh, he has tons of jokes and relevant to the situation that makes it wonderful. In this manner we had learnt a lot from the people who taught us, educated us in their own domains.
Time as a group
The best part of this visit to US was i had 2 really close friends with me Arbab and Rehan, i felt like i am still where i was because of the people who surround me. We had people in the group that i have never known it was really diverse in our own way. Every next day the class room setup let us interact with our fellow participants in different ways, i was trying to get to know them all as soon as possible but we were from 3 different universities everyone wanted to stick to their own university fellows, but still i managed to know them all!
We had traveling, lodging, dining, working, sitting experiences together that helped me to learn them more in every different area we used to interact in. I still love all of them because everyone is unique in their own way and the best part of being human is to understand another person from their point of view, I tried sometimes failed on other occasions i was good.
New friendships made with non-Pakistanis
When i left airport i saw Becky howland, Ish Elgadi, Deepika, Kenneth Sao the first ones i saw waiting for us and that moment i can’t forget ever, they are my first and foremost important friends from this part of journey. The journey of making new friendships began right after i reached Amherst, everyday i met new people especially Civic staff they were cool enough, rather i might think whether i was fit for their friendship or not, they were absolutely fit being friends. Becky Howland, a person who belongs to Pennsylvania i don’t know much about that place but i know 3 people from that state, and i can surely say the area will be as beautiful, honest, sincere, humble, kindhearted and friendly as i have seen the three legends, Becky, her mother and Heather Day, who works for APD program, she is a real friend and amazingly cool person. I met Ish Elgadi, a guy with really strong voice, who was more of a guy who lived his life in troubles and knew how to manage it for the rest of it, he was unique in a sense he spoke less as well and when asked had much to tell and i started sharing my music collection with him and Ken Sao who was as humble and decent as Ish himself. I was getting close to all of them, then i met Mike Andrick, a calm person who speaks less but works a lot, met Kelsey an amazing person with lots of experiences and traveling, they were kind of people who attracted me a lot. Then, one day we came to know that Pato Penalbo an Argentinean guy who is part of Civic staff, is here to meet us all that moment i came to know he is man of different qualities and has much to say when asked, i really liked his personality, and talked to him began from there stretched to everyday talks and discussion on different topics of common interest, he became a good friend. Deepika, the youngest of the Civic staff and a learned person who was as open and cool as i could have wished about a young lady to be, Olivia a person with sense of how to do something professionally, an amazing person with not much to speak mostly kept her work important than any other thing used to stay busy doing her work. After a few days i came to know that a group of Argentinean are traveling to US in a likely manner we did but for a short span of time, it was matter of pleasure and we knew that it is going to be an amazing experience and learning to be with them. They reached and we met Maria, a person as pure as a child, as bold as chieftan and true warrior, she was a strong person, had very good sense of humor, and got attached to us the way we did to them, i still miss her for being the purest of people i have ever met in my life.
overall impression of US
A place that everyone should at least visit once before s/he plans to die.
It is world in itself.
Missed the most about Baluchistan
I missed my family, my friends and students a lot.
Overall Impressions of the US
Before coming to USA, I had many misperceptions about this country and its people. In these five weeks, I realized that whatever I used to hear about this country was simply misleading. After going back to my country, I will surely be interested to know the route causes of these mispercepions.
I realized that everyone who lives here loves this country from core of heart and almost every one is playing their part to make this country more stronger and safer for the current and upcoming generations.Here, people may have differences of opinions but everyone wants to do some thing good for the nation. I think that if any country want to progress than US history provides an excellent model to follow.
People are very friendly and helping, they love cultural diversity and want to maintain supremacy of Law. Americans love their culture but they also welcome change. I never saw anyone violating rules and regulations which is very common in third world countries. The US system provides excellent opportunities for growth and development to everyone.
There is alot to write but as its our last day of the program and almost every one is sad therefore I cant help myself to write more and express my feelings and gratitude regarding the overall program and this wonderful country..
I am really gona miss everyone and every single moment, we passed together…….
“Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes.” (Henry David Thoreau)
Reflections
Current visit of UMass Amerst is a memorable experience for me in many ways. I met different people, ate different kind of foods, visited different places and learn about teaching pedagogy. Those people I used to think are my friends have shown their really faces to me.
Course work:
undoubtedly, the course work was intensive which allows me to gain knowledge in a limited period of time. Many subjects were offered during the course study such as, Capsim, Blogs, learn and teaching pedagogy protocols. I love the Blog sessions and learning/teaching sessions most. I do not remember a single day when I met Becky Mezouar and did not learn something new in terms of teaching, students interaction and active learning. I learn from Becky class most because she responded to my queries very well. She had fair enough knowledge about both Pakistani cities and culture, and provided an intensive feedback on my submitted case.
Blogs are quite innovation way of social interaction. I will use Blogs for my course in Pakistan; I am sure that my students will like it.
Group:
We achieved certain tasks while working in the groups. I was been in three different groups during the study period. I personally have no problem with group and tasks. while working in groups allowed me to learn many things from other people experiences, too. While working with Gul parna, Zia and Humaira are most interesting experience for me.
Challenges:
I got into some health issues. Many time, I experienced allergic reactions which I usually do not.
NEW Friendships:
Networking was one of biggest opportunity I got in UMASS. I met people from different nationality such as Americans (trainers and mentors), Argentina (students) and African (professors). Our Mentors are our new friends. I met a Argentinean Girl Maria who is my new feminist friend.
Social Activities :
Always, I used to participate actively in classes during the study course. However, I was quite passive in social activities.
I can not forget Becky Holland support for us (particularly for females) to participate in different social activities. She is a very strong woman with a leadership role. She inspired me in many ways; she taught me the lesson of being myself. I never ever dance before in my life; first time I dance was in Monkey Bar. Attan is traditional dance of Baluchistan, but i never did before. This traditional dance is usually performed female group and male group separately. In Monkey Bar without gender discrimination we performed the dance together that was amazing.
Becky was the one who let me get out of my shell and participate in social activities. I embraced myself to the available opportunities in UMass. Thanks to her.
Impression of the United State of America:
During my stay in UMass I saw many cultural difference between USA and Pakistan. Being a female and a feminist (researcher) I believe that American society is quite open to diversity such as age, gender, race, culture, religious and sexual orientations. I really like this aspect of US culture that is not the same in Pakistan.
In America, I got better opportunities for socialization and mobility (travel). During my stay I was not excluded in different social events and interaction with others that is quite often missing in the context of Pakistan.
I like American universities that are rich and privilege in terms of finances and knowledge. Teaching through case studies and Active teaching styles were open new door of learning for me.
US Weather was a bit challenging issue for me, particularly allergic reactions.
Missed about Baluchistan:
I missed nothing particular about Baluchistan just miss my old father who is living alone back at home.
Balochistan University Partnershp at UMass 