Day #5 - Islamabad

Today was a black day for the team.

Dave, Shelly, Michelle, and Julie all fell to “taliban tummy” – an equally derogative term for Montezuma’s Revenge.  Dave fell first, followed by Michelle and Julie but to a lesser extent.  Dave was on bed rest all day, though the rest trooped with us for the morning.  Shelly was initially buoyed by her better ability to with hold, but suffered a double stroke in the afternoon and she and Michelle returned to base camp to rest and recover (hopefully).  Shelly thought that she and David were probably done in by eating roadside coconut (no – don't do that!).  I am thinking, given the wide spreadedness, it was more likely yesterday’s lunch at the guest house.  There must have been something in that….from the salad to the oils or chicken.  Something….

We had fresh eggs for breakfast and the morning call to prayer was accompanied by the roosters crowing.  A nice touch.  At one point during breakfast, a car alarm went off and the Peacocks answered.  Another nice touch!

After breakfast, we went to the Islamabad Club and had tea while we waited for our rides for the day.  They actually had coffee (served black, to the aghast of my hosts) and better yet, a speedy wifi signal! (yea!!).  I used both!  Then, we went out to Taxila, the museum of Buddhist artifacts that have been uncovered in several villages (or remains of villages) around the east of Islamabad.  Accordingly, Buddha started here and they have a trove of artifacts to prove it.  The most phenomenal thing with these artifacts is how sharp all the edges are, as if they had never been handled, as if they were newly fashioned.  These were all carved out of various stones (limestone, onyx, etc.) but, there were also some spectacular terracotta figurines as well.  As part of the excavations, they also found trinkets and other bits of daily life in all materials from bronze to gold to wood and other metals.  From cookware to toys to urns et al.

The curator was so taken with the fact that he had half a dozen keenly interested americans, though his associate/underling told us more than once that he was the best curator, he had to because the Prim Minister of Sri Lanka was here last week and he gave the tour; the curator kept saying it was more of an honor to show americans his treasures.  He gave me a book and his name and his cell phone number and told me to pass it around and get more americans to come over to see what he had!

After the tour, we had a soda in the garden while the ill tried to still themselves for the trip back.  In the parking lot of the museum, there was a man with a cart with a fire underneath heating a large iron wok-like skillet that he would spill some corn in and pop it.  It smelled heavenly….should have bought some!  Prior to hitting the road, we stopped briefly so that our guides, from the rotary club of Islamabad bought us presents (agate bowls and necklaces for the women) – what generosity everyone has shown. On the way back to the main road, we stopped at the train crossing for a train and then headed back to town.

On the way out, we drove through a market area and passed what seem to be a goat market (many of the buyers, sellers, and goats were still there on the way back) and a cow market (which seemed to be over – there were no cows left, but we did see some on trucks). The road was lined with dealers of heavy machinery (all used or very used) and truck stops where multitudes of the funky spectacularly decorated trucks stood being fixed or awaiting loads or unloads.  Instead of driving around town, we drove through and split up – one car taking Michelle and Shelly back for some rest.  Those remaining went on to the Butterfly Valley Golf Club for lunch with a couple more clubs, including Peshawar South.

Butterfly Valley is a new development (a huge one) of concrete houses and apartments and office space. Curiously, they have dinosaur statues in it too.  It if more formally Bahria Town, but I think that is made up too.

We had lunch with some great people, all wanted to let us know that the areas to the mountains were not dangerous, and that any danger comes only from the fanatical fringe, which is in the US as well.  You could not disagree, particularly when they ask how many murders there are every day in the US cities.  I talked with a man who used to work for IBM Global services until he decided to come back to Pk in the 90s to start his own offshore company.  They did well until 9/11 when all of his contracts were canceled.  He could not keep the company together while he looked for more work and so the company went under.  I have now heard it from 4 people that 9/11 was the deathnell for the Pakistani outsourcing.  The most vocal about the need for americans to not quiver in fear but to get out and see for themselves that there was nothing wrong in Pk was a commercial banker.

To close out the lunch, the staff had the keeper bring out one of the two pet lions.  A junior male cat of about 150 pound.

We came home and dressed for dinner. Pervez’s daughter in law made red velvet cupcakes for tea, but I was the only one around to eat them (everyone else had gone off for naps).  They were quite nice, particularly with a cup of strong tea.  We dressed for dinner and went back to the Islamabad Club where we had a short meeting and a nice buffet style meal.  I sat next to the Assistant Inspector General for the Police and across from the retired Defense Attaché to Germany and Central Europe. I also talked to someone from the local internet provider who was a bout to embark on an MBA at MIT Sloan and another gentleman who was going to a freight forwarding conference in Boston in April.  Julie sat next to a woman who split her time between here and England, but when she was younger, lived in Derry NH for a year.  Tom sat at the inner wheel table next to a Japanese woman with a greencard who was working for some NGOs in Bangladesh and Islamabad.  She has been working on developing Sesame Street in Urdu and getting it through the regulation (and ensuring appropriate content).  Small world.