Re: Cultural Differences
me??
- im 16.
Re: Cultural Differences
sadzzz,
Like you I cannot fathom going to Pakistan and staying at a hotel unless I’m travelling/site seeing out of the cities where my relatives are. It’s all about hulla gulla, you’re barely there for couple of months at a time, and I try to spend as much time as I can with my relatives. Not to mention the royal treatment you get 
all the good food, washed/iron clothes, new clothes exclusively gotten for you by nanhiyal, dadhyal, etc. and most importantly the “love” that you get. I don’t feel like I’m imposing myself on them at all. Even the poorest of my relatives, have literally “dragged” us to their house, when we felt like we’d be imposing on them, but they gave us such great hospitality w/in their means. And the honest thing is, if we hadn’t gone, they’d have thought we’re too good for them.
Majestic - you’d (w/ ur husband) stay at a hotel while visiting ur parents? 
Okay thats beyond meand what my feeble mind can comprehend, but man whatever rocks ur boat :k:
Re: Cultural Differences
cute hehe
Sehar, yeah my sentiments exactly!!! i loooove the love relatvies give.. i know theres a lot of tension and stuff too but the fun, hulla gulla, the stupid arguments, 5-6 cousins eating out of the same plate, being total 5 yr olds even at 25.. aaah i sooo wouldnt want to miss all that by staying at a hotel.. im sooo excited about going back.. cant wait
Re: Cultural Differences
So true!! :k:
Re: Cultural Differences
I think what some of you fail to realise is that not all of our extended families are the same, both in how they behave and how they live. From the sounds of it, a lot of you already have homes, places to stay, ready for you in Pakistan. I certainly don’t, cause most of my family is here, not Pakistan. If I actually had a proper home to stay in, then the decision to stay in a hotel would have been a lot more difficult. Majority of my relatives live in one or two room apartments … and there are already plenty of people living in them. Why on earth would I stay there like that? I paid money to visit Pakistan and wanted to enjoy it. Not live according to other peoples’ rules and expectations, which is what happens regardless of where you travel and stay at someone’s house. If that makes me a snob, then so be it. 
Re: Cultural Differences
Wow, its nice to see all the different responses here and to know that I'm not quite as alone in my behavior as I thought!
If we were to travel on a big trip, like to pak, it would be to go see family and we stay with them, whether its on the floor or in our own room, no complaints there. But if its just for a night or 2, its such a nice treat for us to go to a nice hotel. We have such a lovely little vacation for ourselves, see relatives and visit with them but also have "family time" by taking the boys to the pool in the hotel etc. Just us and our boys on a new adventure. But knowing now that this offends the family, it isnt really an option anymore lol!
Re: Cultural Differences
I agree with you Mehnaz, its not what most people here think of. We have a home in Yemen and a villa in Egypt that we stay in, however in other places we stay at hotels only b/c we don’t want others to rule our lives, to tell us when to eat and what to eat, where to go and when to go. We just cannot do that. And me staying at a hotel with my husband when visiting my family is because my husband and I would not feel comfortable being “together” in my paretns home. So like Mehnaz said if my actions shock a lot of you so be it.
Re: Cultural Differences
^ ohh a villa in egypt!! is it nice.??
the only reason i would want to stay in a hotel in pakistan is if i wanted to actually go places in pakistan, and not stay home and watch tv all day. and if i wanted better food! ahhah
Re: Cultural Differences
^ its in Alexandria near the red sea, its really nice. We have family in Cario but we never stayed with them, we always rent our own place when we're there.
Re: Cultural Differences
This is where my husband (canadian pakistani) and I difer...I would sleep over and have stay over all my relatives crowded, on the floor or not if you are visitng family you must..while he says that he douln't want to impose and would want to keep his own items/etc to himeslf and so he would stay at a hotel....
Re: Cultural Differences
yeap, i get what ur saying mehnaz 
it depends on where and how ur extended family is living. Most of my relatives back in pak live in houses that have like 10 million rooms.. so its no big deal for us.. plus when i was younger and lived in pak, we were already quite used to going to relatives places and sleeping on one bed or on the floor.. and i guess when i moved to OZ.. i missed that, hence the reason why i love going back and staying with them 
Re: Cultural Differences
we always stay with relatives in pakistan. when we stay at our khalas house we order pizza at 1 am it is a lot of fun. but i hate the foam things they use instead of mattresses. the only people with a real mattress were my grandparents.
Re: Cultural Differences
we always stay with relatives in pakistan. when we stay at our khalas house we order pizza at 1 am it is a lot of fun. but i hate the foam things they use instead of mattresses. the only people with a real mattress were my grandparents.