The owner of the Pakistani barbecue left a deep impression on me, and every time I eat barbecue, I still think of the scene I experienced. This was my first experience after coming to Pakistan many times, and I really want to thank the locals for their help, which was an eye-opener for me.
In 2015, we came to this port to unload 120,000 tons of grain, and at that time, we traveled from Argentina all the way to Pakistan. On the way, our third mate was very excited, and every day he had to mention Pakistan, and his mouth was full of "Pakistan and Pakistan", which made me more interested in this country.
I've been to this country many times before, and each time I just take a ride with them to the red light district, but later, I think my colleagues' approach is boring, so I don't like to go with them.
At that time, after our ship arrived in Pakistan, the local customs were indeed very friendly, and when they came to the ship, they gave the captain a big hug, and they were also full of "Long live the friendship between China and Pakistan!"
Listening to the slogans of these people, and seeing the enthusiasm of these people, I can't help but have a strong interest in this country.
On the day I arrived, I decided to go down and have fun alone. When I asked the captain for a landing permit, the captain temporarily said to me, "You must come back early when you go down, and don't stay in the local area at will." ”
The captain's words, I understood him to mean to be safe.
Leaving the living quarters, came to the dock.
There was only one staff member in the dock booth, and when he saw that I was going out, he behaved very enthusiastically and said on the spot, "Welcome Chinese, my friend." ”
I was really touched by their warm looks.
When the eldest brother in the sentry box learned that I was going to visit the downtown area, he said to me, "Where are you going? That's a long way away." This dock is relatively remote, if you don't mind, I'll help you call a car to drive you there. ”
"Okay, okay, thank you very much," I said with a smile and nodded.
When Brother Gangting learned that I was sure to call a taxi, he immediately said, "However, the cost of my call to you is very expensive, and you need to pay for it, and besides, I will also pay for you to call a car." ”
At the time, I didn't think about it that much, and I thought it would be very good that people were willing to help me, so I said to him, "Yes, how much does it cost?"
The big brother pondered for a while, found a piece of paper, a pen, and wrote as he spoke, "$10 for a phone call, $15 for a taxi." ”
I was scared by the big brother of the post on the spot, this is blackmail, I don't want so much even if I take a taxi.
In this case, I didn't receive his kindness, and after registering alone, I ran straight out of the registration room, and walked along the road outside the sentry box alone.
Seeing that I wasn't going to call a taxi, the eldest brother ran over enthusiastically and shouted, "Friend, don't you want a car?" I don't charge you for your phone bill, just give me a little bit of the benefit fee for calling a taxi." ”
I wanted to ignore him, but I thought about the captain's instructions before leaving, but I turned to him and asked, "How much do you want, I don't need it if it's expensive." ”
The big brother at the sentry was worried that I really wouldn't be in the car, so he pointed at me and said, "Five dollars, just five dollars is enough." ”
I think the price is okay, but I still have conditions.
I have been running boats for so many years, I have been to more than 90 countries, I have had too many experiences of walking and taking taxis, and I am still very clear about the consumption of poor countries. Foreigners see that Chinese people feel that they are easy to deceive, so pitted, they will definitely shout indiscriminately.
So, I turned back to the big brother and said, "If you can help me negotiate with the driver later, I'll give you the five dollars." ”
Brother Gangting nodded hurriedly, looking very satisfied.
At that time, my sensitive heart was made again, and I thought to myself, "Will Brother Sentry Pavilion be in the same group as the driver, if so, then I will still be cheated." ”
So, I deliberately said to the big brother of the sentry box, "I have been to this port before, and the ride cost only 15 dollars, if you can negotiate a price for me, it only costs 10 dollars, and I will add an extra dollar to you." ”
The eldest brother of the sentry pavilion was still very willing to hear this, so I did not continue to walk, but waited for the eldest brother to call a driver to take me to the downtown area.
After about fifteen minutes, the driver finally arrived. Brother Gangting chatted with him very well, and he negotiated the fare after a while. The elder brother said to me, "Friend, get in the car, the driver agrees to the fare you give, and you only need to pay ten dollars." ”
In this case, I was also refreshed for a while, and directly gave the big brother the post a benefit fee of six dollars, and then got on the bus directly.
I have to say that it is difficult to see the true face of the Pakistani locals without experience, and what I saw and heard next really impressed me.
Sitting in the driver's car, along the way, I saw a lot of scenes. These are scenes that I have never experienced before. After some experience, I feel a lot.
The driver is quite friendly, there are no potholes on the road, unlike Indian drivers, who deliberately drove halfway to the road, saying that the car was out of gas, hoping that we would help him refuel. If you don't refuel, there's no way to get me to town.
The Pakistani driver is quite friendly, he can talk to me about the local customs on the way, chatting, and he also said that he can be my tour guide. When I heard that I could be my tour guide, I felt so happy that I felt that I had picked up a bargain for ten dollars.
Led by the driver, we came out into the street.
The people on the street were very enthusiastic when they saw me. They seem to have a pair of eyes that can read people by nature, and they can see me at a glance and know that I am Chinese.
Walking down the street, several people greeted me on the spot and said, "Hello, Chinese, welcome to Pakistan." "Some people were very enthusiastic and took the initiative to come up to me and shake my hand.
This kind of scene can be seen every time I come to this country. It's just that this time, their performance on the street made me feel a little disappointed.
The more I walked down the street, the more I realized that something was wrong, and the scene became even more serious.
When I saw the scene in front of me, I couldn't help but ask myself, "Are Pakistanis really poor, are people here really unable to find jobs or are they lazy?"
Walking on the street, there are fruit stalls and vegetable stalls all over the place. It seems that business is not very good. From time to time, a pedal tricycle driver would stop in front of me and ask me if I wanted to ride.
Looking at the whole street, the economy looks like a depression. Look at these people in front of you, they look pitiful, but they are not worthy of pity.
The scene you see on the street cannot be described in words, and you can only perceive what is wrong if you really put yourself in the local area.
At that time, I was holding my mobile phone and wanted to take pictures of the scene in front of me, and the children and old people around me greeted me with great interest, and surrounded me, hoping that I could take pictures of them and take a picture.
My driver reminded me that the mobile phone must be held tightly in my hand, and at this moment, it should not be carried in my pocket, otherwise the mobile phone will disappear out of thin air in less than half an hour.
After hearing the driver's reminder, I began to perceive the true face of these people who were going to take pictures.
When I started to pay attention to everyone in the crowd, I saw something different again.
From the moment I took a picture of them, it was clear that there was a group of kids who were very active, and the faces of these people were not local.
I asked the driver, "Friend, I see these kids are petty thieves." ”
The driver drove the children away on the spot and said to me, "These children, these are not Pakistanis, these people are from the slums, most of them are refugees and poor people from Afghanistan." ”
The driver pointed to the children standing on the side of the street and at the foot of the wall, and said, "Friend, look over there, the children over there are poor children in our Pakistan." ”
I looked at the other corner of the street and saw two children, sacks in their hands, watching us, watching these children who had been surrounding us.
They were dirty, but they looked kind.
The driver helped me drive away batches of children, and just as we were standing at the intersection waiting for the traffic light, a group of middle-aged people suddenly appeared, who were about the same age as me, or even older than me.
They held out their hands to me and said very politely, "Ba Tie, our good friend, can you give me some money?"
At that time, out of kindness, I was really going to give them some change, but the driver stopped my hand again and said, "No, friend, you must not give them money, otherwise you will not be able to get out." ”
When one of the middle-aged men saw that I didn't plan to give him money, he stuck into my pocket and grabbed it, and then immediately went to the crowded place in the middle of the street.
It was a tragedy within a tragedy, the young man thought I was going to chase him, so he ran away when he got the money, and unfortunately, in the process of running quickly, he was hit by a car at the base of the wall.
When I saw that scene, I was very nervous and thought to myself, "Oh no, woe, I'm in trouble." ”
I was about to run to save him, but the driver stopped me again and immediately led me away from the crowd.
The driver took me out of the street and asked me, "Friend, how much money did you just lose, I'm going to help you get it back now." ”
I shook my head, felt in my pocket, and said, "Forget it, it's not much." I was mentally prepared when I came down, so I put it separately
When the driver learned that I had lost a lot, he continued to take me shopping.
We were on the other side of the street and saw a barbecue.
It's rare, I offered to invite the driver to eat barbecue, and the driver was not polite and agreed on the spot.
The driver took me to a nice barbecue stall and then chose a safe spot for me to sit in.
I was curious about the way Pakistanis barbecue, so I went to the boss's barbecue place.
When I saw the barbecue, I lost my appetite.
There are a lot of flies eating on the barbecue skewers that have been skewered next to them, and even the skewers that are grilled on the fire have sticky flies that are grilled along with the meat.
If you don't get sick if you don't eat it cleanly, then this kind of taste is really good. They have to sprinkle a lot of spices on it, and it smells so good that even dogs love to eat it.
When the driver saw that I was also participating in the barbecue, he came over with a smile and said, "Friend, do you also have barbecue food in China?"
I laughed and said, "China is a food kingdom, and it has it all." ”
I ordered fifteen skewers of barbecue, and when the boss helped me grill it, it attracted a lot of children. When I started paying attention to these children, I don't know when these children started to gather around each other around the barbecue grill, and more and more together.
Everybody's eyes were staring at the skewers, giving me a sense of insecurity.
The child stares at me, I stares at the child.
I suddenly noticed that there were two children in the crowd who were the same two children I had seen on the other street.
The child was still holding the sack and standing at the back of the crowd. They kept an eye on me, but they didn't dare to approach me easily.
I said to the driver, "Look, there are two kids over there, and we saw them on the other street." ”
The driver looked at it and said disdainfully, "Oh, those two children, you ignore them." They are brothers, their mother died young, and in reality their father also collapsed in bed, with no money for treatment. ”
The driver continued, "Still, when it comes to these two children, I still think they are hardworking than most children. In fact, there are more than two of them, there are younger brothers and sisters at home, and the two of them don't steal or rob, they just come out to pick up waste every day. They picked up scrap and sold it at a nearby buying station, and when they sold it, they bought some food to give back to their younger siblings, and some medicine for their father to eat. ”
Hearing the driver say this, and thinking about the adults who are asking me for money all over the street, it makes me think that they are not even as good as children.
The barbecue boss's skewers were ready, and the people around me watched me and the driver eat. The driver wouldn't let me leave and took me into the store to eat.
I said to the driver, "These people look dangerous, can you help me get those two little brothers in?"
"What about the two little brothers who pick up scrap?" the driver asked rhetorically.
I nodded, and the driver looked at me and said, "They, you still don't want to be too nice, be careful that they ask you for money." ”
Since the driver said that they were kind, it would not be bad. I asked the driver for these two people again, and the driver reluctantly helped me go to the opposite side and called the two little brothers.
The little brothers came to me, and I offered to sit down. The little brother didn't dare to sit or speak, but just watched me.
I took five or six sticks from the plate and gave them to the little brothers, and one of them shook his head and didn't speak, just kept staring at the mineral water bottle in my hand.
I thought they were thirsty and wanted water from my hand. I handed them the water, and they shook their heads again.
The driver smiled and said to me, "Friend, they don't want your water, they want this bottle." ”
As soon as I heard the water bottle in my hand, I quickly drank the rest of the water.
They took my bottle and one of the little brothers pulled a plastic bag out of his pocket.
I watched him carefully open the plastic bag, revealing what looked like bread.
It turned out that the bag contained a kind of naan from Pakistan, which tasted bad, and the rich people used it to pack things to eat, and those who had no money used it to satisfy their hunger.
Seeing that the little brother carefully distributed a large piece of naan to me, I was passive on the spot. These two little brothers also understand it too well, and they work hard to sell the waste products to buy food for their families, but they are so generous to share naan with me.
小兄弟有骨气，他不想欠人情。 我给他瓶子，他给我馕。
Impressed by their efforts, I picked up the remaining skewers from the plate again and shoved them into everyone's hands.
After some politeness, the children finally accepted it.
The driver and I ate the skewers in our hands, and the two little brothers walked out of the store with the bottles and meat skewers I had given.
The abominable scene happened again, and I was impressed by the Pakistani man.
The little brother had not been two steps away from the store when an older brother in his thirties snatched the meat and bottles from their hands on the spot.
The little brother chased after him, but it was not so easy to chase in the crowd.
I think this situation is really hateful, an adult is not as hard as two children, and he thinks about robbery and stealing all day long.
The driver didn't say anything when he saw this, but reminded me again that I must pack my things well. He added: "This phenomenon is happening every day on the streets of Pakistan. ”
It seems that the law and order in Pakistan is not very good.
The two little brothers chased after a while and then gave up, knowing that there would be no result. And I am unwilling, such a kind person has such a suffering, it is really unfair to God.
I decided to buy them something in the hope that he would be able to take it back to see his family.
I said to the driver, "You hurry up and call my two little brothers for me, I want to buy them some fruit and clothes." ”
The driver sounded a little reluctant, and in order not to snub the driver, I also expressed my willingness to buy him some fruit. The driver was willing to help me.
With the help of the driver, the little brother was called back. Led by the driver, we went to the center of the market, bought clothes and pants that fit the children, and also bought three kinds of fruits at the roadside fruit stall.
When the driver saw that I also bought some for him, his heart was happy, and it was already on his face. And the two brothers were also very grateful to me, kneeling directly down to me, and kept saying words of thanks in their mouths.
Children are so sensible, more sensible than adults. At this time, I was reminded of a saying: "Children from poor families are in charge of the house early and sensible early." ”
This is so, the child in front of him is more sensible and hardworking than adults.
In order to prevent the things I bought for the children from being robbed again, I asked the driver to personally drive a few of us to the entrance of the slum, and the driver said that he was afraid to go in for fear of causing trouble for himself.
Helplessly, we can only do this step.
The children took my purchases, got off the bus happily, and invited me to their home.
For security reasons, I turned down their offers.
After saying goodbye to the two little brothers, the driver drove me directly back to the boat.
This time I went to the land to play, although I didn't have the good experience of traveling in the red light district before, but I had a wonderful experience.
Adults robbed on the streets, and children worked very hard to earn money in order to save their fathers and raise their younger siblings. It's disappointing that adults don't perform as well as children compared to children.