Walking in snow

We had a great holiday last week in the hills to the north of Islamabad. I had planned to go to the far north but had to cancel that when we found out they charge foreigners twice as much as locals for the plane tickets, and there was also a pretty good chance the flights would have been cancelled anyway due to bad weather at this time of year. So instead Rashid and I went to back to Nathiagali, where we went last year. It’s a small village which is very popular in the summer when people go to get away from the heat, but at this time of year it’s almost deserted and bloody cold! The temperature was in the 80s when we left Lahore, but the night we arrived we were dressed in most of our clothes even in bed. Difficult to believe it’s also a honeymoon destination!

But the skies were clear and the views were amazing, right up to the snow covered high peaks in the far north. We did a couple of walks, one to the top of a local peak which was covered in snow – the first time Rashid had walked in it. There are wild leopards in the hills and we saw quite a few tracks, but none of your actual leopards. It was a really good holiday, but tinged with sadness as neither of us could forget that I’m leaving the country soon.

We still haven’t had any news of the appeal for Rashid’s visa. Its four weeks since we sent all the papers in but they won’t give any indication of how long it will take. I’ve still got a little bit of hope that they’ll review it here and realise they overlooked some of the evidence we submitted, but it seems more likely it will go to appeal in the UK, which will take several months. It leaves me in a real quandary about what to do, and the thought of all that time apart is unbearable. Part of the reason for going back early was so that we’d have some time to settle in to life in the UK before I start work, but now I’m left with the thought of being there by myself for months. The other option is to come back out here – I could probably find some work at the British Council, but Pakistan isn’t the safest place to be right now and, apart from being with Rashid, the idea doesn’t fill me with enthusiasm. He is really unhappy at the thought of me coming back because there’s no way of knowing where the terrorists will strike next. Another option might be to fly back to Pakistan but spend some time in India – at least that way I can pop back to Lahore when it’s quiet. He’s in a really difficult situation too – he was sacked from his job at the place where I used to work, most likely because of me: the director must know that I spilt the beans to the donors about corruption, and she knew we were friends. So now he’s trying to find work, and the situation here is as bad as it is in the UK – in fact probably worse because jobs here are given through connections, not merit, so you have to know the right people. So life is pretty tough at the moment, and the next week will be awful.

How to move your goat

A few random shots of Lahore transport....

I guess the driver can see something...

Parrots for sale

The milk man

The road outside my house

Sweet potato seller. He has a wood-burning stove underneath his (wooden) cart.

And my favourite...

Too close for comfort?

When I was getting ready for work this morning I heard a boom in the distance. Another bomb, maybe? To be honest I didn’t think much more of it.

Rashid was, unusually, a bit late picking me up for work this morning. As we drove away from Model Town (where I live) and into the centre, we realised something was up – long queues of traffic and lots of police. We tried to take our normal route, past Liberty roundabout, but got diverted by police. Then the calls started coming in from friends at the British Council and from VSO. Gunmen had attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team at Liberty roundabout, killing several people. This is the first time here I’ve really felt at any risk – if we’d been a few minutes earlier we’d have been right there when it happened.

I’m not sure if the blast I heard was anything to do with it – but I guess it means something when you hear a boom and the first thought is that it’s a bomb. The Punjab, and particularly Lahore, has always been thought of as the safest place in Pakistan, and I’ve always thought that I’d be OK if I kept away from western restaurants and busy markets, but it seems that’s changing.

Rashid has just texted me saying that on the TV they’re reporting that some of the terrorists are on the loose in Model Town. OK I’m locked in and I guess they’ll find them, but the quality of life here is diminishing rapidly. Last week they announced that two popular politicians, the Sharif brothers, were barred from holding office. The announcement came just as I was about to get on a bus to Islamabad. Suddenly all the buses left the bus station without passengers and I was left standing there. I jumped in a rickshaw home and had to pass crowds of protesters burning tyres in the middle of the road then, although it was quiet where I live, there were demonstrations in other parts of the city so I was housebound for two days.

I guess the question is, when is it time to get out? I’m leaving anyway in the middle of April, but have got three weeks holiday after finishing work to have a trip up north and get myself together for leaving. Part of me is thinking should I just get out now? But then that means leaving Rashid, and we’ll be apart so long while we wait for his visa appeal I don’t want to go sooner than I have to. Its making life really tough.

Gutted again

Rashid didn’t get his visa. We’re gutted once again but we think there’s a strong chance of winning the appeal – it seems like the visa office haven’t applied the rules correctly and didn’t read all the documents we submitted. But it could take around five months before the appeal is heard.

Signs and stuff

Huh?

Nuts for sale by the road

The leftovers from Eid - millions of sheep, goats, cows, and even camels are sacrificed

Pizza local style

Waiting

Rashid finally submitted his visa application last week. It took about two months to get all the paperwork together and by the time we’d finished there was more than an inch of it. Luckily we got the help of a visa consultant – well worth the money. There’s so much the visa office don’t tell you about gathering evidence – not only do you have to have third party corroboration of your own documents, but you need evidence to prove the corroboration is genuine. For example photos of us on holiday with my family had to be backed up by letters from the family and then copies of their passports. It was a really stressful time, especially as we couldn’t rely on post from England reaching us. It was fortunate that one of the other volunteers went home for Christmas so could bring lots of documents back with him.

The stress was even worse on the day of the application. They had told us the visa fees in advance and advised paying by bankers draft, which takes hours to organise. But then on the day they put the fee up by £20 without telling anyone. They wouldn’t take the extra money in cash, and only gave Rashid an hour to drive the 20km across the centre of town and back to get a new draft. He made it with minutes to spare, otherwise he would have had to wait a week to get another appointment. But now it’s in we’ve just got to wait. Although they say it should take about a month we’re not banking on it. Hopefully we’ll know in time before I fly back in mid-April.

My job is OK but I’m glad I’m not doing it for more than a couple of months. It makes a change to have some work to do, although there’s still not enough of it to keep me busy full-time. Thank god for the internet and emails! The team I work for are pretty unfriendly and keep ‘forgetting’ to involve me in things, even official events about my project. I can’t work out if it’s deliberate but the manager keeps saying she’ll make it her ‘personal responsibility’ to make sure I’m included, then nothing happens, so I guess it must be intentional.

Christmas and new year were fairly quiet, although we did get some booze for new year’s eve. I went along to the store at the back of one of the hotels and asked if I could buy a few beers, and the answer was ‘why not madam’. I nearly said because I haven’t got a liquor permit – but if they didn’t mind then neither did I. I love Pakistan sometimes.

A couple of weeks ago it was Ashura, when Shia muslims mark the death of the nephews of the prophet. The roads were closed and there was a big procession past my house – hundreds of people, lots of black flag waving, people giving out food and drink to the crowds. In most processions the men also beat themselves, often with knives on the end of ropes that they swing across their backs. I’m sure it’s a sight to see, but I was glad to miss it – the worst I saw was some ambulances and a few people in blood-stained shirts or with bandages.

Happy Christmas everyone!

The good thing about working for a British organisation is that we get a holiday at Christmas!

My new job is going OK, though it’s a million miles removed from Pakistan. I’m working on a project that’s funded by the High Commission and managed by the British Council, with an Italian organisation providing training to a trade union. I’m supposed to be doing monitoring and evaluation and it’s a bit if a dog’s dinner but at least I’ve got a job to do, which makes a nice change! I’m based in the British Council offices which from the outside look more like a prison – 15 foot walls, barbed wire, metal gates, police and security guards with guns, metal detectors etc etc. But inside there’s a nice garden and a lovely old colonial building with verandahs and all. The work ethic is much more English than I’m now used to – concern for staff, work-life balance, proper policies etc. Sometimes it feels like I’m back at ESCC – except for the fact that they’ve flown me around Pakistan and put me up in nice hotels!

Although it makes a nice change I’m glad this isn’t my first job in Pakistan. People are friendly but in a fairly distanced way and although I hated my last job the people were lovely and I miss them. The British Council are also paranoid about security. I have to take chauffeur driven cars whenever I go out for work but I’d prefer to be in a rickshaw. I think they’re shocked that I get on local buses, go to markets by myself and haven’t got a man with a gun on my gate at home. If I lived like they advise I’d be too scared to go out by myself and I’d have a really bad impression of Pakistan. There’s an English youth exchange going on here at the minute but they’re being so protected its almost not worth them being here as they’re not allowed to go anywhere. Its nice to be able to chat easily with people though, and hear their impressions. They talk about all the things that seem normal now – the oily but lovely food; the men holding hands and cuddling; the dust and smog; how friendly everyone is; and that you can get 6 people on a motorbike without helmets.

We’re hoping to go away for a few days over Christmas to somewhere there’s snow as Rashid has never seen it fall. Otherwise it will be a bit of a non-event again – though I will put up my musical Christmas lights (luckily you can turn the music off or Jingle Bells would drive me mad).

Anyway, wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, have a fab Christmas – if you’ve sent a card thanks, its lovely. If you haven’t, thanks for the Christmas cheer!