Siem Reap Temple with special tour guide
Since we returned from Cambodia late Monday night, I think it’s starting to hit me just how short our time is here in Pakistan. It’s a bit overwhelming! New work keeps piling up while I’m trying to get my desk cleaned off for the transition to my successor and pack-out day is looming in the near future! And throughout it all, we’re trying to spend time with so many people who have become a part of our lives before we all go our separate ways.
We spent one such night this week to say goodbye to Joseph, along with Debby and Zia, at the French Club. It was a really nice evening, made more impressive by the massive storm going on outside. I had a wonderful view over the pool watching an incredible lightning show that went on for an hour or so – and when the rain stopped and we walked outside, it was gloriously cool! Wonderful.
We had Brad, Mike, and John W. over for pizza and beer last night since Brad and John W. will be heading out next week. We spent several hours laughing it up and teasing each other. I’m really going to miss working with them and hope we can stay in touch.
There’s also pressure to get last-minute shopping done! It’s been difficult lately since we’ve been pretty locked down due to security. This weekend we were able to get out a little (albeit in armored cars) and we went to a carpet shop we’ve been trying to go to for some time. The guy is very knowledgeable and is known for his tribal carpets. We bought two lovely ones. The house still looks like a carpet shop – we have a bunch here from the two recent carpet parties that we’ve been trying out. We’ll have to make some final decisions soon about what to keep and what to return.
Herat Carpets
We have a little kitten that lives outside here at the house that we’ve been feeding and watching. He’s so cute and like to mess with Flavia through the front window. She is not amused.
Flavie and the little cat
The heat here is pretty awful. We’ve been around 108 every day with 40% humidity – heat index of 120. It’s the month of Ramadan for the Muslims, which means they awake around 2AM to eat breakfast before sunrise and prayers, then they fast all day until sundown, around 730PM. They only sleep about three hours each night – and even then, I’m not sure if they are able to sleep: it’s so stiffling hot and they don’t have the big generators like we do to run fans or air conditioning. I can’t imagine how very uncomfortable they are.
Here’s a shot of one of the places where they can (supposedly) get drinking water.
Filtration Station
My daily routine is to go to the gym around 515 each morning. The highlight of the week is our spin class that Meghan runs – it’s a great workout. And it’s introduced me to a couple of super nice folks, like Monica! A special hello to her mother-in-law!