Reading (For Dummies)

Thanksgiving...

Tariq, myself, and Zeeshan (from left to right)

Zeeshan, Tariq and I had a little Pakistani dinner, sharing stories about living in different parts of the world (they are both from Pakistan). Zeeshan just got here last week, so has some catching up to do in classes. Tariq I met when I first got here but hadn't talked with very much.

It is sometimes hard to ask the probing questions; like how they feel about their religions restricting freedom in their country while the rest of the world runs around naked fornicating. They both seem to accept that the world is like that, but they don't seem to buy into it too heavily themselves.

We prepared dinner, talked some politics, watched television for a few minutes (first time I have watched a TV since August).

I explained the concept of Thanksgiving thusly: "We are supposed to celebrate Thanksgiving to thank the Native Americans for teaching our ancestors how to eat when they first got here. Of course, we really thanked them another way; we killed most of them, and raped the rest. Now they get to sell us dreamcatchers, necklaces, and leather wallets at highway rest stops, hoping to get enough money for their next opium fix."

I'm not sure if my point got entirely across, but they understood. So happy Thanksgiving, and remember your gluttony is a sign of being on the right side of imperialism.