Life in the Land of the Pure, 2024-25 season, episode 1

 Life in the Land of the Pure, 2024-25 season, episode 1: Big Old Jet Airliner ….

… don’t carry me too far away.

A relatively uneventful flight of over 7,000 miles—13 hours in the first leg, 3 1/2 hour layover, 3 1/2 hour second flight—where the only blemish was that my four bags were the last to hit the baggage carousel.  Landed at 2am, bags appeared around 3am, got to the embassy around 4.  I will say that getting exit row seats for the DC-Doha and Doha-Islamabad flights made the 16 hours in the air sort of tolerable. I recall being in Delhi for President Bush’s 2005 visit where he remarked on the long flight, not sure if he was aware the rest of us didn’t get to do it on Air Force One. The food on Qatar, even in economy, was very good.  

I want to fly like an Eagle …

For your visit Ruth … I met the author and he will still be here at Post and has offered a tour  

Moving on up …. To a deluxe apartment in the sky …

You may recall that when I was here in 2019-20, I had a 5th (or was it 6th?) floor apartment that overlooked a horridly polluted river, and during COVID quarantine I’d pick out an item and try to guess is it was a bird, a fish, or trash (it was trash).  I’m in the same building now, but on the “penthouse” 8th floor, and facing inward to the embassy community center instead of outward to the river.  The “penthouse” however is no different from the floors below, same number of apartments with the same layouts.  This time though I face the “courtyard” so I see mostly other embassy buildings, but also the nascent citrus grove:

The Boy is Back in Town …

there are still a few people, including the ambassador, who remember me from my TDYs (temporary duty) in 2022, and many of the local staff do as well.  In fact I met the driver who picked me up from the airport, Kumar, in 2022, and he also was the one who drove Pepper to the airport in July 2023. But what’s really interesting is that two of my classmates from when I was at the National War College are also here: Natalie is the Deputy Chief of Mission (#2 after the ambassador), and Kate is the USAID country director.  It’s not uncommon for three classmates to all be at the pentagon or at Main State together, but Islamabad is a pretty unlikely reunion spot.  We may send a note to the alumni newsletter after Kate gets back from R&R.

Same as it Ever Was, Same as it Ever Was …

Islamabad has changed a lot since my first visit in May 2001, and I notice significant changes between many of my subsequent visits (2003, 2009, 2011, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022(x2). Over the coming months I’ll try to reflect on the changes and enduring qualities.  

One coming change is both welcome and regrettable. My favorite restaurant here, and one of my favorites anywhere, is Monal, located in the hills that overlook the city (https://themonal.com/islamabad/). It’s enormous—I heard it seats over 1,000–the food is quite good, and in the summer you can get a political economy lesson.  You watch as night falls over the city and lights come on at peoples’ houses. Then one sector of the city goes dark—scheduled blackouts called load shedding—and the generators at the wealthy peoples’ houses kick on, while the poorer areas stay dark.  That clicks over hour after hour, for each part of the city.  But, it and other businesses are being closed down because they are in a National park, there were legal issues with their lease arrangements, and undoubtedly the local flora & fauna will benefit from hundreds if not thousands of cars being removed from the area.  

It’s also where we first found puppy Pepper while hiking (to Monal) on thanksgiving 2022. I hope to visit one last time before it closes.

Well that’s all for now.  More to come, on an irregular basis, as my two-year tour continues.  This first week wasn’t terribly eventful , what with all the jet lag to sleep off and embsssy check-in assignments to complete.  But as we move forward I’d also like to invite you to send questions and ideas for things you’d like me to address.  

Love to all,

Howard