Tonight I went to my first Islamabad party. One of the Pakistani women I met just before leaving the States introduced me, via Facebook, to her best friend's younger brother (the siblings are half-Dutch, half-Pakistani), who lives here. I got in touch with him once I arrived and he invited me out tonight to what is apparently a monthly gathering at the Australian High Commission's bar, aka the Coolabah Club.
He and a friend of his picked me up at the hotel and we drove to the diplomatic enclave here. Took a couple of tries to get in because I don't have a credential yet -- it's not enough anymore to be foreign, apparently, they've tightened security around the bigger embassies. But we got in and went first to the French club for dinner, where a couple other friends of theirs met us, and then drove a short distance to the Australian party. As a generally friendly and extraverted person, it's fun to be the new guy. Like in Kabul, expats here are curious and outgoing, and I spent the night being introduced to this person and that person and being invited to various parties and events, including a weekly ultimate frisbee game. Plus I found out there are pork connects, which is just the best kind of news.
Tomorrow is going to be really busy at work, and then I've been invited to two things: the first is an opening reception for an art show by an Argentine artist, hosted by the Argentine embassy (helloooo, opportunity to speak Spanish!); the second is a vodka-and-cheese-tasting party hosted by my new acquaintance RF, who gave me a lift home tonight and is from the UK.
Promising start to my social life here, I have to say.
He and a friend of his picked me up at the hotel and we drove to the diplomatic enclave here. Took a couple of tries to get in because I don't have a credential yet -- it's not enough anymore to be foreign, apparently, they've tightened security around the bigger embassies. But we got in and went first to the French club for dinner, where a couple other friends of theirs met us, and then drove a short distance to the Australian party. As a generally friendly and extraverted person, it's fun to be the new guy. Like in Kabul, expats here are curious and outgoing, and I spent the night being introduced to this person and that person and being invited to various parties and events, including a weekly ultimate frisbee game. Plus I found out there are pork connects, which is just the best kind of news.
Tomorrow is going to be really busy at work, and then I've been invited to two things: the first is an opening reception for an art show by an Argentine artist, hosted by the Argentine embassy (helloooo, opportunity to speak Spanish!); the second is a vodka-and-cheese-tasting party hosted by my new acquaintance RF, who gave me a lift home tonight and is from the UK.
Promising start to my social life here, I have to say.
No comments:
Post a Comment