Around the World in Thirty Days

I realize there are climate-change deniers, evolution deniers,and  birthers, but I doubt there are too many flat-earthers.   Undaunted I decided to check out the theory by circumnavigating the globe in thirty days.   As you will see this was a very bad idea.

It happened on my second annual visit to South Asia, as Country Affairs Officer.  I flew first to Pakistan, where I went to four cities where the US Information Agency had posts: Islamabad, Peshawar, Lahore, and Karachi.  I learned at a Peshawar diplomatic reception that cabinet ministers, when asked by the bartender what they would like to drink, would reply "oh, something refreshing," meaning something alcoholic.   In Lahore, at a minister's house, the host got out scotch, vodka, gin and the like.  All this in an officially teetotaling country.

I next went to Katmandu in Nepal, where, contrary to what you would expect, the city was shrouded with smog (thanks to the profession of motorized and poorly maintained rickshaws spewing exhaust) and most people went around nursing respiratory infections.  The Public Affairs Officer took me on a long drive into the countryside so that I could actually see the Himalayas.   Then on to Dhaka, where business men walked around the city in boots because of the mud and flooding.

Here's where it got interesting.  I theorized that if I was in Dhaka, it made no difference whether I went east or west on my way home. ,   Why not go east, visit Hawaii for a couple of days and then on home?  To justify my visit to Hawaii, I arranged for consultations at the East-West Institute, a cooperative academic venture.

My first stop was Bangkok, where I visited a friend who was Public Affairs Officer.  I had dinner at his house and asked to go to the airport hotel where I had a room.  My friend said there was no point in going until later at night because the traffic gridlock was overwhelming.   So we walked around visiting functioning crematoriums and I didn't get to me room until midnight.

Boarding for my plane was 2 p.m. giving me a mere two hours sleep before setting off on my foolhardy adventure.  We flew several hours to Narita Airport, outside Tokyo, where I had a seven hour layover.    The plastic seats were scientifically designed to prevent rest and the international boarding area was devoid of distractions.

Finally, still with only two hours' sleep,  I took off for Hawaii.   On the way, we crossed the international date line, putting the finishing touches on my disorientation and exhaustion.   Was it Tuesday or Wednesday, morning or evening?   I had no idea.   When we arrived in Honolulu,  I checked into my hotel headed for the bed, but no.   Mt hosts informed me that they had scheduled wall-to-wall appointments at the East-West Institute.   So I sat through scholarly discussions of oil pipelines through South Asia and similarly soporific topics.

I actually wandered off to Waikiki Beach where I utterly failed to appreciate its beauty.  Ultimately I was off to Detroit and finally back to Washington, arriving in total exhaustion.  The smart thing to do would have been to accept that the earth is spherical.   There's no need, believe me, actually to check it out.

How to Stop Some Wars

As you look around the world, do you notice how many conflicts are based on religious or ethnic differences?  In Iraq, especially, and throughout the Middle East, we see the Sunni and Shia factions of Islam killing each other.  There are the Hindus and Muslims fueling the India-Pakistan conflict over Kashmir, the Israelis and the Palestinians so wary of each other that they seem unwilling to negotiate.  We have the Hutus and Tutsis in central Africa, the Africans, Indians, and whites in South Africa.

And so it goes.   We tend to lump people together into groups and say, in effect, I don't need to know those people individually and personally because I know what people in that group are like.  But that's just what we do need to know.

My focus today is the little known, small island of Cyprus, in the news recently because of its precarious finances.  Reading the stories you'd think the Greek-oriented government was the government of all Cyprus.  In fact  since 1974, Cyprus has been a divided island with the Greek-Cypriots controlling the southern two thirds and the northern portion controlled by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, protected by 30,000 Turkish troops.  There is a border between the two which is difficult to cross.

When I retired from the Foreign Service I had the good luck to get a job with AMIDEAST, a non-profit promoting educational exchanges.  I was assigned to the Cyprus-America Scholarship Program.   We monitored academic progress and visited several students twice annually.   But an important aspect of our program was promoting understanding between the two sides.   When I started on the program we had Greek- and Turkish-Cypriots on the same campus who didn't bother to talk to each other.

As a result we organized week-long conflict resolution workshops held at Coolfont resort in West Virginia.   The students lived in cabins in the woods and spent their time in a series of role-playing exercises run by the Conflict Management Group of Cambridge, Mass.   One game I recall: groups of Turkish Cypriots were asked the imagine they were Greek Cypriots, and a group of Greek Cypriots
were told to pretend they were Greek Cypriots.  Then the "Greek Cypriots"(actually Turkish Cypriots)  were asked to say what they thought of Turkish Cypriots and the reverse.  It was a way of seeing the others' point of view.

After classes the students socialized as one homogenous group, taking meals and playing sports and outdoor games together.   They formed a circle with a blindfolded student in the center.   He leaned back untl he started to fall, but was caught by other students.   He had trusted them.  then there were the high ropes with trip wires.   Below are two pictures of the students talking and listening to each other.

After a week together, the students were hugging each other and singing together.  The camaraderie continued back on the campuses where if a student got sick, he/she was sure to be visited by both Greek- and Turkish- Cypriot friends.  What the students had learned was that whatever cultural, ethnic or religious differences exist between people, their common humanity draws them together.  Before all, we are just people, wanting to make something of our lives, needing to be loved.



Adventures in Pakistan

After fourteen years in Africa, I returned to Washington where eventually I became Country Affairs Officer to South Asia, responsible for Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladish.   I supported and oversaw USIA activities in these countries and, once a year, I visited to check out their programs and meet relevant government officials.

Reading the newspapers these days, you might well conclude you didn't want to go to Pakistan what with suicide bombings and sporadic attacks by the Taliban.  My first visit to Pakistan was in 1993 when things were less volatile, but not without adventure.  When I arrived in Islamabad I checked in at the Holiday Inn, a familiar and comforting presence.  Around 5 p.m. a delicious looking spread was laid out in the lobby and where I, a vegetarian, tucked into the fresh salad makings.

A bad mistake.   In a few hours I came down with a major case of gastro-intestinal infection.   The next day wall to wall meetings with ministers and the like lay before me like an obstacle course.  The challenge was to try to focus on substantive issues all the while wondering if I could make it through an hour without needing the rest room!

I next went with some USIA officers to Peshawar close to the lawless west and various warlords.  I checked in at the Continental Hotel (since blown up by terrorists) where a large sign in the lobby read, "Gunmen!   Please check your weapons at the front desk."  What?   There were gunmen staying at the hotel?  I had noticed driving through town that almost everybody was carrying a weapon and recalled a US Consulate officer intoning that an armed society is a civil society.

After the usual round of meetings with Pakistani officials,l my hosts decided a trip to Khyber Pass would give me an idea of the section of the country not controlled by the central government.   Khyber Pass was officially closed but a special exception was made for the visiting Washington official.   The government assigned a soldier with a rifle and a sash of bullets, ostensibly for my protection, but possibly to keep an eye on me.   We drove up a long, narrow winding road past the fortresses of warlords to the top of the pass overlooking Afghanistan, which was definitely closed to us.   Large trucks, probably loaded with contraband, seemed to be crossing the border into Pakistan virtually uninspected.   As a momentum of the occasion, I was photographed with my protector.  Afghanistan is in the background.

In the picture directly above, he has handed me his rifle, presumably to impress my friends.  

The next item on my getting-to-know-Pakistan tour was a trip to a village, rural certainly, but the home of a rich man.  A nice outdoor lunch was spread out and we ate peacefully with our hosts.   But not for long.   The after-lunch entertainment was. . .shooting off machine guns at the sky to wild yelling and cheering..   I hate to think of where the bullets came down.

Finally I arrived in Karachi, a violence plagued city.   I checked into an international hotel and thought what I really wanted was a cold beer.   I called room service and in due time a man showed up with a bottle of beer, a chilled mug, and a bag of potato chips.   First he had to inspect my passport to be sure I wasn't a Pakistani in this officially teetotalling country.   Next I had to sign an affidavit:"I certify that this beverage is for bone-fide medical purposes only."   But of course.   Welcome to Pakistan!