Lahore so far

The night before we left, it really started hitting me that we were MOVING TO FREAKIN' PAKISTAN!!! I freaked out a little, and I looked like this for the entire day of travel. It really started settling in when we switched planes in Abu Dhabi: we stepped out into the oppressive heat, surrounded by strange new people, and knew there was no turning back.

Our first view of Lahore! The airport was a little bit of madness, but nothing we hadn't dealt with before. The hardest part was trying to get our 12 PIECES OF LUGGAGE through security. They eventually gave up on scanning them and just let us cart them through, where we were overjoyed to see some familiar faces waiting for us. The school sent the whole administrative team to pick us up! Then it was a quick drive through a new city to our house at Swedish Flats.

We made it! We have so much space here, we're a little overwhelmed. We got in late on a Wednesday night, did some preliminary shopping the next day, and interviewed a housekeeper on Friday. 

Watch out! Rani's driving! We went out with our neighbor Jill (who's been here awhile and has been an invaluable help settling in) early Saturday morning for a driving lesson. Rani picked it up quickly, and is dealing with the challenges of driving here like a champ: right side driving, stick shift, traffic. I've been out once for some practice, but I'm fine being a passenger as long as she enjoys it. I'm a better navigator anyway.

Here's the local market, part of a roundabout. If you zoom in on the yellow sign, you'll see one of the popular last names here, which means I have to be careful not to make fun...

My first beer in Pakistan! A neighbor was nice enough to share some of her supply left over from last year while we work on getting our alcohol permits. I won't lie - this was a relief. 

The American Club, or International Club. One of the few bars in town. It's in a house and has a gym and a swimming pool for members.

Happy Birthday Rani! Again, Jill stepped in with some pancake mix and syrup so that I could surprise Rani with breakfast in bed for her 30th (heehee) birthday.

Got my alcohol permit! Went right out after school, across town to one of the fancy hotels, walked around the side to a shady little permit shop, and bought two cases of beer. There are exactly 5 different types of beer to choose from, all made by the one brewery in Pakistan (as is all of the liquor available). This guy is helping carry it to the car (this is not unique: white people here are rarely allowed to carry their own purchases. Last trip to the grocery store, an employee even followed us around and held our basket while we shopped).

Lahore is so green! Not quite what we expected. The heat here is something different than we've experienced before: oppressive and unrelenting and heavy. We both suffered headaches for a few days before we figured out that we just have to chug water constantly to keep up with it. I'm hoping it will break soon so I can get a good run in; if I tried now, I'm pretty sure I'd pass out.

Two things in this shot from our ride to school yesterday: 1. BIRDS!: everywhere in the sky, you'll see flocks of circling birds. Big birds, like crows and rooks and hawks. The crows at our home are vicious; I've been dive-bombed a couple of times, and I'm watching them beat up other birds, and even stray cats, as I write this. They also have the worst call of any bird I've ever been around. 2. That's a truck full of cows that I thought was funny!

We are settling in and slowly finding ways to deal with the small frustrations of a new place. Reliable internet has been a challenge, electricity goes out multiple times each day, our bathrooms are really small with weird toilets and lame showers... We each have moments once in awhile where it all gets to be too much, but overall we're staying positive. We'll figure it out! It's all part of the adventure...

Peace and love! We miss you all.
Jon