Sunday, June 15, 2008

The new love of my life

Meet Kasuku, our family's parrot. Full of character, this little guy has become the new love of my life. No joke. Unfortunately, Kasuku is not enamored of me; I might be his least favorite person in the house (other than my Aunt and mother).

Kasuku hates small children, making him the ideal pet for absolutely no one. He's an African Grey who's twenty five human years old, and is capable of outlasting most humans. He also has a tremendous vocabulary and can mimic any sound.

Notable things Kasuku has said in the last couple of days that I have been spending with him. And trust me, I spend a lot of time watching this bird.
"Ammmmar" in my grandfather's voice.
"Kasuku, I love you" in my grandmothers voice.
"Mummmmy" in both my uncle and my father's voice.
Kasuku mimics the sound of my grandfather spitting, blowing his nose, and washing his hands. He also knows how to respond to basic question-answer prompts, if in a good mood.
He loves ice, and does a thing I like to call a "Baraf Dance" when he sees the freezer door
opening. He shifts all of his weight to one foot, picks the other one up, squacks, then repeats it on the other foot. He has a bell in his cage, which he rings for attention, food, or because he's seen a cat. He also mimics the cawing of crows- probably my least favorite noise.

Today my father and I went to go visit our almost new apartment and on the way I tried taking pictures. Abajaan wouldn't let me get out to take pictures so most are harried shots taken out of a moving vehicle.
The mango stand, I've found is ridiculously common all over Karachi. Literally every corner you turn, you see another mango stand.

This goat has absolutely no idea what is in store for him. Look behind him at the unfocused slabs of meat, and you can get an idea of the unsanitary ways people buy food.
This rusted metal contraption is a stand for making juice out of sugar cane. One of my favorite summer treats, lemon and ginger is added to the juice and served in disgusting glasses with sketchy straws. This man holding a mango is my grandfather. He loves that I love mangoes, and buys the best ever. Then he cuts them up for me. Here we get organic seasonal fruit everyday. No meal is complete without a serving of mangoes, bananas, papaya and plums. Kasuku squawks and squawks as soon as we sit down. My father and I, both of us suckers, get up a half dozen times every meal to give Kasuku all kinds of fruit.

3 comments:

katie grosskopf said...

(removed the last comment because of typos)

the boys got a billy goat. his name is edwin. he won't be eaten though. just possibly given a mohawk.

Mariya Azher said...

ooo
awesome
I'm excited, and hope to see pictures?

katie grosskopf said...

you would hope, but that would have required bringing a camera.

how dumb am i?