F-10 area of Islamabad
I was excited to get out with a couple of girlfriends to go shopping yesterday! Aroosha is a Pakistani-American who speaks Urdu and has been here a couple of years, so she knows her way around. She took Kellee and me to a little jewelry shop above the shopkeeper’s house – a treasure trove! I found a lovely pair of citrine earrings. We stopped at a couple of jewelry stores, a leather store and a clothing/rug shop – lots of fun!
Ravia, my new favorite jeweler
Ravia is the jewelry designer at the little shop we liked so much. She looks very young; we’re not sure if she has had medical problems that kept her from growing a lot, but her English is good and she has lovely jewelry! I couldn’t get her to smile for the camera, but her face lights up when she does.
Click for more photos of my shopping trip.
Saturday was pretty busy – before shopping, I went with two of John’s co-workers from the Embassy for a golf lesson at the Islamabad Country Club. We were there at the crack of dawn, before it got too hot (although I was still drenched from the humidity). I had a good lesson with wedges and low irons – I hadn’t had a club in my hands since 2006 but it’s funny how your muscle memory works (including bad habits!). It was a lot of fun and I appreciated Gene and George inviting me to go with them.
Last Sunday we had six people over for a welcome brunch for our friend Mike from Tel Aviv. We had lots of good food and mimosas, and everyone had a good time. It was so nice to have a group of friends around the table – very warm and comfortable.
Later that day, we went to Jim and Kellee’s for a fun sunset cookout on their rooftop. They’ve added a “disco cat” to the roof, bequeathed to them by someone who had left post. I’m not sure what the story is, but these things are everywhere. You can get other animals, but the cats are the most popular. Theirs is about three feet tall:
Ubiquitous disco cat
Monday was a holiday. John and I stayed home; I logged in to the computer at work and spent most of the day working. After that, John took me over to Nirvana to get a manicure.
You may have heard about the car bombing in Peshawar this week. Peshawar is one of the most dangerous places in Pakistan – it’s a couple of hours from us and a totally different world from what I have heard. Thankfully our co-workers made it out alive. Very scary, but we are fine here in Islamabad.
Here’s one more photo taken at the ribbon store.
At the ribbon store