Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Pig-Tastic

One of the fascinating things about living in the Middle East, and probably any country which you're not a native of, is learning more about the culture of the place that you live, and your new friends and colleagues.

I'm used to the fact that many of my colleagues have never seen snow. of course, why would they, it's boiling here! But interestingly, today I discovered that many of them have never seen a real-life pig. Pigs are Haram in Islam and so not likely to be found on farms.

Cue this story:


KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's only known pig has been locked in a room, away from visitors to Kabul zoo where it normally grazes beside deer and goats, because people are worried it could infect them with the virus popularly known as swine flu.The pig is a curiosity in Muslim Afghanistan, where pork and pig products are illegal because they are considered irreligious, and has been in quarantine since Sunday after visitors expressed alarm it could spread the new flu strain.


Bless! You can see the poor piggy left. I think he was enjoying his last moments of freedom.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

are you joking , wild pigs are living every part of muslim countries

Britney of Arabia said...

this is based on feedback from my muslim frends and colleagues, no one mentioned wild pigs - interesting!