Life in Islamabad

 

I feel I should apologize for these posts being so few and far between.  The work load has picked up considerably.  As the lead logistician at a time when moving hardware to Pakistan is job #1 I am pretty busy.  Add to that the other areas I am in charge of, vehicles for all the personnel assigned to the Security Assistance Office, housing, and generally providing stats and answering questions about all of these processes I stay pretty busy during the six day work week.  Today is Sunday, for me it was another work day.  I owe an updated brief on vehicles to the one star in the morning.  This was my one chance to tackle it interruption free. 

 

The one thing keeping me grounded is Tai Chi Chuan.  I wake up and practice for a half hour every morning.  It keeps me from having allergy attacks, keeps me from stress, and generally makes me feel amazing.  I find that the more I practice the more it feels as if my feet are anchored to the earth.  The only struggle is trying to learn the remainder of the form from my teacher’s CD.  I miss the classes.  If anyone in the LA area wants to learn Wu style Tai Chi properly let me know and I’ll put you in touch with her. 

 

Life here is not bad.  I was a bit worried as I recalled the animosity between State and DOD at the embassy in Kabul.  Luckily this is an entirely different scene. This embassy is much nicer.  Lots of trees, hills, it has a college atmosphere to it.  None of the twisted Sci-Fi feel of Kabul.  Of course I do work in a welded steel building without windows.  That bit is a bit odd I suppose.  It is likely the safest building on the campus though.  Oh wait, there is one other surreal aspect to our Embassy in Pakistan.  It is in the large diplomatic enclave, a closely controlled and guarded area.  Coming from SoCal it was a bit weird to see thousands of marijuana plants growing like the weeds they are right across the small road from the main gate of the embassy.  It is an endemic plant in these parts. 

We work long hours but are being paid well for it.  I will contribute a fair amount of my pay to the local economy I imagine.  Tribal rugs and hand carved furniture are dirt cheap by western standards… but let’s put this in perspective.  A driver makes about $6,600/yr.  My usual lunch at the Handi Shandi costs less than $1.40.  I am one of the few who routinely eat with the locals who work at the embassy, curry chicken, dall, briani, naan, it’s all cheap and tasty!  Pakistan has had a deteriorating economy for years now and it shows in the prices.