criplomats

Actually, a couple of nights in Bangkok – John and I flew out of Islamabad Friday night and came here for a couple of days for a little get-away. We had a nice flight over – our good friend Michael was on our flight, so we all hung out together in the lounge waiting for our flight.

We’re staying in a nice little boutique hotel around the corner from the Four Seasons. Unfortunately, I got sick promptly upon arrival, so we didn’t get out of the room at all yesterday. I’m still moving slowly today, but we sat out by the gorgeous pool for a while, and I napped while John got a massage. Afterwards, we walked over to the mall to see “Argo,” an excellent new movie about the Iran hostage crisis. After a stop at the hotel cafe for a banana smoothie for me and a glass of wine for John, we’ve called it a night.

Getting through the Islamabad airport was nuts – luckily the Embassy provides us with a driver and an expediter to get us through the crowds. Evidently this is the time of year when many Muslims make the pilgrimage to Mecca, so the airport was jam-packed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last Sunday we spent the afternoon and sunset on Jim and Kellee’s rooftop for drinks. The weather is cooling off, and the evenings are quite pleasant. The next morning, Kellee and I met up at Nirvana for manicures, then had lunch outside at their cafe – a nice way to pass the Columbus Day holiday.

After that, Scott and Laura came to get me and we went rug-shopping – fun! We sat and sipped tea while the proprietor showed us dozens and dozens of rugs. I brought one home on trial that I really like – and Flavia loves it! She immediately starting rolling around on it and marking it – I just it’s ours now! She didn’t deign to let me show her acting silly in this photo (and the flash makes the rug look bright orange, but it’s very muted and beautiful).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday afternoon, John and I had drinks at the club with Doug, John’s former boss who was visiting from Karachi. Good to get caught up with him.

 

 

 

The highlight of my week was buying a car – it’s a cute little SUV. It’s fun to have my own wheels! It’s still an adjustment to remember to stay on the left side of the road…and to remember which side of the car the driver’s side is on, but I’m learning!

This was a busy and fun week. Last Sunday morning, we went to Rick and Sarah’s for a yummy brunch with homemade waffles. I enjoyed chatting with a woman who is visiting them – she is here for a couple of weeks working with an NGO. We were able to walk to their house because they live right behind us – there’s a gate in between us (sort of like Mom and Aunt Bonnie’s set-up). We had met them briefly because they were in Jerusalem when we were in Tel Aviv – a very nice couple.

Monday I had lunch with Barbara from the German Embassy – I had also met her in Tel Aviv last year when we were both working there. She is lots of fun, and I hope to see more of her.

Tuesday night we took Rick out for his birthday – we went to a great Moroccan restaurant at the Serena. Even though the restaurants don’t serve alcohol, some places allow you to bring your own bottle of wine, which is nice. Rick has become a good friend – and there is also an Israel connection with him: we met his girlfriend last year because she is serving in Jerusalem. Small world.

Friday night was a big management section cookout after work in one of the courtyards at the Embassy – lots of folks turned out for burgers and beer – a good way to end the week!

I have an update on the celosia plant from last week’s post. My friend Joan wrote to say, “Actually the celosia is an amaranth which is native to Latin America.  The greens are edible and very nutritious. I always referred to this species as “brain flower.” Maybe I’ll cook up some of the greens!

Speaking of Joan, she has concluded her chemo treatments and had her surgery last Thursday, and it sounds like she is doing great! She was home after just a short time in the hospital, and was already planning a walk around the neighborhood when she emailed me  – she’s really amazing. Here’s to a speedy recovery!

 

 

Things are pretty much back to normal here. We did close early Friday because of planned protests and street closures, but they all concluded peacefully. In fact, John and I were able to go out to dinner that night with friends – we had a very good Asian meal.

Last Sunday we went to brunch with our friend Rick. Afterwards we went to the jewelry store I like so much where I bought a nice peridot and citrine bracelet. On the way home, John dropped me off at the salon where I had a manicure. A good day!

Wednesday my boss hosted a lunch for folks from other embassies, so I met counterparts from Germany, United Kingdom, Australia and France. It was nice to meet them and compare work stories.

I was happy to see my air shipment finally wind its way out of customs. It was delivered on Wednesday, so I took the afternoon off to unpack. I also spent time Friday afternoon unpacking clothes and trying to find space for it all. We have a big house, but not a lot of hanging space.

Last night we went to a going-away party for our friend Gene. He brews beer, so we got to sample several different flavors (I had a blueberry-wheat that was delicious) – it was fun to get out and socialize a bit.

I’m posting some photos of the flowers in our yard. I was describing the red velvety flower to Mom – she thought it might be an allium, but my Google search calls it a celosia. They grow two to three feet tall, and the flowers are more like velvet-covered stalks. Very pretty. Here are a few shots of it, along with roses and one of our flower beds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This week, Pakistan joined the list of countries that were protesting the anti-Islam film, and the Embassy and Consulates were targets here. Luckily in Islamabad, the protests remained peaceful for the most part. They started on Thursday afternoon and continued through Saturday. The office shut down early Thursday and most staff left. A few of us had to stay a while longer because the roads to our neighborhood were blocked; when there was a window to get us off the Embassy compound, we jumped in the motorpool SUV and made a beeline for home, where we stayed put!

Friday we were closed; John and I spent the day reading and monitoring emails and news. Saturday we ventured back into the office for a short time, then came home when we heard there was a new protest starting near our neighborhood. We stayed in the rest of the day, reading and watching our new favorite series, “Breaking Bad.”

The Embassy was also closed on Monday and semi-closed on Tuesday due to the possibility of protests in the aftermath of Libya. We were up at midnight on Sunday when we got word of Monday’s closure, scrambling to get the word out to staff and to hundreds of visa applicants.

We are hopeful that things will quiet down from here on out!

The week leading up to the protests was busy for me, as we continued to get last-minute travelers to meetings in Washington and New York. I stayed at work until midnight Monday night, and had another late night on Wednesday to get VIP visas done. A lot of my work is dependent on Washington, and a nine-hour time makes that difficult.

We did have a nice brunch at the Serena Hotel last Sunday with our friend Konstantin, who recently arrived – good to see another familiar face!

On an up note, Flavia really seems to be happy here! She loves her climbing tree at the top of the stairs; she rolls around on the Costa Rican rugs that Joan’s housekeeper made many years ago; she runs up and down the stairs; and watches birds out the front window. Her hair has pretty much all grown back, although it’s still shorter in the problem areas, but not that noticeable. It’s great to see her so content!

The headlines this week were filled with bad news. A U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed in Libya when protesters attacked the Consulate in Benghazi. There were also protests outside the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and in Tunisia. Fortunately, things in Pakistan were pretty quiet. We closed the Embassy at noon on Friday, in anticipation of protests after Friday prayers. There were some, but from the news accounts, they were relatively small and peaceful. Let’s hope it stays calm here.

We had a busy week at work. The UN General Assembly will be meeting in New York later this month, so my office has been working like Trojans trying to get the visas ready for the Pakistani delegation. Along with the UNGA, there are several other delegations traveling for meetings on the sidelines of UNGA, so we are up to our eyeballs in official visas. I stayed till after 10 PM one night just trying to get one group on the road.

On a positive note, we went to a nice brunch last Sunday at Scott’s house with our Consular management team – he made some yummy biscuits among other goodies. I also test drove a used SUV this week and am hoping we can get the paperwork sorted out so I can buy it. We have one car already, and we have motorpool, but I like the idea of having my own wheels.

The photo above was taken last Saturday when we were coming home from our shopping trip. Before I arrived, I expected Islamabad to be brown and desert-like, but in fact there  is a lot of greenery.