First Impressions of Islamabad

Greetings there, Family!
(view from the rooftop of the house where I'm currently staying: 4:30pm, Saturday, April 3)

First of all - is anybody actually reading this? If so, please give a shout out (either via email or in the comments section of this blog).

OK...now that that's out of the way, :-) I can share with you a few first impression of Islamabad. I'm sorry I'm not going to have very interesting photos at this time, since, frankly, I'm a little bit afraid to take out a camera anywhere in town and take photos. Not because of terrorists, but because of the security forces -- Islamabad (and especially this part, where most of the foreign diplomats and government buildings are) resembles an armed camp. A very, very beautiful, well-manicured armed camp. There are roadblocks and checkpoints about every 1/2 mile on the roads, where armed police or soldiers stop cars to check papers, look for shady characters, etc.. And then some streets are simply blocked off with barbed wire and anti-tank barriers, for reasons no one quite knows. I work in the US embassy, which is located in something called the "diplomatic enclave" (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=diplomatic+enclave+islamabad,+pakistan&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&hl=en&hq=&hnear=Diplomatic+Enclave,+Islamabad,+Islamabad+Capital+Territory,+Pakistan&t=h&z=14).
It's not like the green zone - there are no physical walls around the enclave. Instead, it's a part of the city where most of the foreign diplomatic missions (embassies) and important government buildings (Parliament, the President's offices, etc.) are located.

Can't live without at least a few pics? OK, well here are a few...

Here's a shot of my friend Ivan, who used to be my neighbor in Almaty, Kazakhstan, about 10 years ago! We're sitting at a sidewalk restaurant called "Kabul Restaurant." It's an Afghan place.















Last Sunday, I went hiking in the Marghalla hills (just to the North of Islamabad) with some friends. We walked up to the top of the ridge, and then had lunch at a Pakistani restaurant there. It was great to get out of the smog of the city!







The view from the ridge-top restaurant.




"But wait," you ask, "what does the place where you look like? Where are you spending your 60 hours a week?" Glad you asked...here's a shot out my window of the embassy grounds.

...and, of course, my majestic cubicle within!