criplomats

We enjoyed our last few days in Arkansas before we headed back to Islamabad. The highlight of the trip was taking Mom, Aunt Bonnie, and Bonnie’s caregiver Tammy to see the holiday lights at Garvin Gardens – it was beautiful and I think we all enjoyed it. It was nice because they had golf carts available; otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to do it.

John spent last Sunday getting Mom’s new computer set up. From looking over his shoulder, Windows 8 looks like a nightmare. He spent a long time trying to make it look like her old computer. He did a great job, and I think she’ll be happy with it. We celebrated by going to eat a great steak at The Porterhouse downtown – John also had a good appetizer: shrimp with avocado in a pesto sauce – yum!

We did a lot of running around shopping, and before we knew it, it was time to head to the airport on Tuesday. We lost a day coming east – we left on Tuesday afternoon, flew through Chicago and Abu Dhabi, then arrived in Islamabad Thursday morning around 4AM. My body is so confused!

Thursday and Friday we just spent around the house, sleeping at odd hours. Our good friend Rick came over Friday night after he got off work. We yakked, drank wine, had dinner and got caught up.

Saturday evening my friend Kelly, my counterpart in Karachi, came to town for consultations. She’s staying with us (our first houseguest!). We went to the Polo Lounge for a good dinner – such a nice atmosphere. The weather has gotten chilly here – since the Polo Lounge is basically outside, they have those nice big heaters set up. (John was disappointed in the weather in Arkansas – unseasonably warm and no need for the jackets we brought! He’s happy to be back in cooler weather – we’ve even turned on the heat in the house.)

Flavia was sure glad to see us! Our housekeeper Saleem came by every day to feed her, so she was fine. At first, she hid under a chair and cried, then she finally came out and hasn’t gotten off my lap since! She’s so cute, and I think she’s really glad we’re home!

Here are some parting shots from Hot Springs. Click for all of our R&R photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our R&R continued this week, and we had the chance to see more family and friends.

Monday I had lunch with David and Alison while John visited with his good friend Russell up in Mount Ida. Later in the day we drove to Little Rock and visited with Mary, then had dinner with John’s former co-worker Leland and his wife at their house.

Tuesday, John went back to Mount Ida. Mom and I went with Aunt Bonnie and her caregiver to Bonnie’s doctor’s appointment, then we stopped by Walmart on the way home. Later that evening, I met up with John, Russell, his wife Kathy and daughter Heather to eat sushi – fun!

Wednesday I dropped John off in Mount Ida, then hurried to my hair appointment at Mike and Peggy’s salon. Thank goodness someone knows how to cut my curly hair! Afterward I had lunch at a really disappointing Mexican restaurant (Taco Mama’s – don’t bother if you want good service!), then some shopping. At the end of the day, I ran back up to Mount Ida to pick up John. Russell and Kathy have a great place with lots of land – and they have a menagerie! We love playing with their dogs – they have five, plus four cats and a couple of birds. The dogs are so funny – John wants to bring little Penny, the pocket beagle, home with us!

Thursday I dropped John off in Mount Ida again (I say he’s going to day care), then drove to North Little Rock to have lunch with my old friends and co-workers, Lynn and Jim. We had a  great lunch together – so fun to get caught up with them.

Back in Hot Springs, I drove back to Mount Ida to get John, then Mom took us to dinner at KJ’s for a good steak – yum!

Friday we stayed in Hot Springs and ran errands all day. We had a great lunch downtown at Rolando’s – great food and service. We stayed home and watched “Prometheus” and ate pizza for dinner.

Yesterday was another fun, but busy day. We drove over to Little Rock and first stopped by Mr. Magic to say hi to Jim, John’s magician friend. We got caught up on all of the local magician gossip, then headed over to Dail and Nancy’s. Dail was in the hospital for five weeks’ worth of chemo treatment for his leukemia – thankfully he is almost in full remission! He’s lost a lot of weight and hair, but his appetite seems to be coming back: after a big plate of Whole Hog BBQ, he declared we needed to go to Izzy’s for lemon ice box pie!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Later in the day, we met Ann, Jim, Pamela and Ike for dinner at Star of India – delicious! So fun to see my buddies! They seem to be doing great.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the way home, we stopped by Markham Street Pub to say hi to Hooper before his band started playing, then made our way back home to Hot Springs.

I’m very proud of John and me – we got a temporary membership at a gym here in town and have been going to work out every day! We get up early and head over there – it’s been a great way to start our days here.

Here are a couple of photos from Mountain Home last weekend – one with the family and another of an interesting plant/phenomena in Ginger’s yard – I can’t remember what she called it, but frost forms a neat column around the stem of the plant. The frost is pretty – up close it looks like silk ribbons.

Click for more photos from Thanksgiving and R&R.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We made the trek back to the United States last weekend. The driver came to pick us up a little before 1 AM. The airport was a zoo in Islamabad, but the expediter finally got us through the hoards of people. We transited through Abu Dhabi at sunrise, then got on our 15-hour flight to Chicago. Luckily, John had the foresight to book us business class, so we had comfortable lie-flat seats – although after 15 hours, any seat on an airplane is tedious! Our shining moment came in Chicago when we managed to get on an immediate flight to Little Rock, rather than waiting for six hours! Even our luggage made it, and by 8 PM, we were at Mom’s in Hot Springs.

We took it easy the first few days at home – a few doctors’ appointments, naps to help with jet lag, etc. Wednesday night Pete and Ginger came down and we all went to KJ’s for a steak dinner.

The next morning, the four of us drove down to Carthage, Texas, for Thanksgiving with John’s relatives. This year we went to Brad and Marcia’s house. It was a fun day – we got to see Roberta, the Harwells and Mitch and Laurie. The leaves were still turning down south, making for a pretty drive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday, we had Aunt Bonnie, David, Alison, James and Mary Beth over for a BBQ lunch. It was great to see everyone! David has retired and is living back in Hot Springs now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday John and I drove up to Mountain Home, and Philip, Michele, Alise and Andrew drove over from Springdale. The kids are in 8th grade now and all grown up! The guys spent most of the day putting Pete’s electric truck on a flatbed to be hauled back to Philip’s for repair. Pete and Ginger treated us to a steak dinner at Hopper’s last night.

 

 

Time here is flying by – one reason is that we’ve met some really nice folks!

Last weekend was a welcome three-day weekend. John and I did some shopping on Saturday for groceries and gifts – it was fun to get out because we rarely do. Saleem has us spoiled by grocery shopping for us, and any other items we need we just pick up at the commissary at work. But it’s fun to poke around in the little shops. When I say we went shopping for groceries, picture a two-story 7-11 that is cram-packed with random items. One thing I really miss is fresh milk and cream. We don’t use it that much except for coffee, but a latte just isn’t the same with the long-life shelf milk that is prevalent here. Otherwise, though, we can find pretty much whatever we need.

Monday we hosted a brunch. We started at 11AM and the last four people left at 5PM, so we think it was a success! Lots of mimosas and Bloody Mary’s were consumed, as well as some great food. Guests included our neighbor Sarah, Susan who is visiting from DC, Mike, Fred, and Mike and Carla.

Thursday night, John, Rick and I went to Des Pardes Restaurant in Said Pur Village. It’s just across from the Polo Lounge. We sat in an elaborate outdoor private tent, with day beds with pillows for seats. The food is more traditional Pakistani-Indian and was really good. They made an exception for us and let us bring our wine, but they insisted on serving it in a teapot with tea cups, so the other patrons wouldn’t know we were drinking – pretty funny.

Friday night we headed up to Rick’s office after work with Mike and Carla for a private happy hour – lots of fun and a good way to unwind after a busy week.

Today we’ve been busy around the house, getting ready for our R&R – plus we went to work for a while this morning to clear off our desks and take care of last-minute things. This afternoon we picked up Rick from the Embassy and went by a shopping exhibition in someone’s yard (pretty common here – vendors set up in a host’s yard and it’s a shopping/social event), then we headed over to Mike’s house to watch some beer pong – don’t ask! Afterward, we went over to F-7 to do a little more last-minute shopping and walked around some of the shops. Saturday night is the night when it seems that everyone is out on the road and at the shopping centers – it seemed like the social thing to do and was fun!

 

We celebrated John’s birthday this week! Last Sunday night, we went with our friend Rick to a neat restaurant called Polo Lounge. It’s partially an outdoor restaurant – it was a beautiful evening out, and we enjoyed a nice bottle of red wine with our steaks (being a Muslim country, restaurants can’t serve alcohol, but some places let you bring your own). We got tickled on our way out – a family, dressed up for a nice night out – stopped to ask to have their picture taken with me. Is it because I’m western or taller than average or sort of blonde or …? It makes me giggle.

Monday was John’s actual birthday and his staff brought in his favorite pizza for lunch. They’re a cute bunch, especially the girls who like to laugh and tease. So, I think he had a good birthday overall!

The rest of the week was pretty low-key. John took me to lunch at the French Club on Thursday, and we ate outside the other days this week at the American Club.

My partner in crime Scott has been in Thailand all week, and my other “work husband” Michael was gone Thursday and Friday, so my office hasn’t been nearly as much fun without them. I am so lucky to work with both of them. Michael is head of the Fraud Prevention Unit and Scott is the American Citizens Services chief. We see eye-to-eye on pretty much everything, and we share a sense of humor – they really make going to work fun and I sure will miss them when they leave next summer!

Speaking of friends, Rick had been away for a three week R&R and just arrived home last Sunday. We’ve missed having him around as well and it was good to catch up with him. We all sat down in John’s office Thursday after work and had a mini happy hour together. Friends are a good thing!

There are several of us here in Islamabad who worked together in Juarez (Michael included), and we found out during our meet -and-greet with our new Ambassador that his first tour was also Juarez, back in the 80s. He came down to tour the consular operations this week – he seems very personable and down to earth.

Yesterday John and I got out to do some shopping, which we rarely do. It was fun to  get out and poke around some stores.