Archive for October, 2007
It’s a really difficult to teach people how to use an internet-based application when the internet doesn’t work.
Damned if somebody didn’t cut a cable today and kill the internet connection to the office where I was supposed to conduct a training session today to ~25 people. It wasn’t the fault of anyone in the office, but damn it made it hard. I did the best I could – tried to facilitate discussion; get people talking about common problems and solutions; etc… It just didn’t freaking work.
Frustrating… and I leave tomorrow, so there’s no second chance.
It’s an early morning here and I’m having trouble sleeping, so I’ll write.
I arrived on Sunday, early morning, after a long flight with little sleep. Oh well, such is life. My control officer and one of the Pakistani staff of the office here called me and we met for lunch (which gave me a little time for a catnap). Islamabad is at the base of the foothills of the foothills of the Himalayas; we drove up the mountains to a park with a restaurant overlooking the city. Quite a stunning view – the food was great! I took a few pictures that I’ll be able to share once I’m home.
From the overlook we were able to see the Faisal Mosque, the largest mosque in Islamabad and possibly the country. It was built by the Saudi Royal family I was told, and is quite a piece of architecture. With Mahmood as our guide, we visited the mosque after lunch. I was able to get inside just before the call to prayer. The inside is a stunning clear-span space filled with carpets, mosaics and a _huge_ chandelier. I can only imagine that this place must be awesome when it is lit up at night.
Impressions after a couple days:
- Islamabad is not a war zone. Yes, there are risks, but they are manageable. No, I haven’t heard gunshots or bombs, haven’t seen a riot or anything like that. The biggest disturbance has been the dogs barking in the morning.
- The Pakistani people show the legacy of the Silk Road. I’ve commented before about Jordan and Lebanon being crossroads of cultures – so is Pakistan. I’ve seen people whose features are decidedly European, Indian, Arab and East Asian.
- The drivers are crazy!
I’m sure there are more, but now I’m getting drowsy again. It’s 3:30am, and I’m going to call it a morning.
Wow… woke up today to the call to prayer. I haven’t experienced that in years. I know for sure I’m not in Kansas any more
I wish I could claim that I had an itinerary chock full of all the highlights of London that I ran through from top to bottom today. But I can’t, because I didn’t. Instead, I got rolling in mid-morning and walked from my hotel to Wellington’s Arch, quite near Hyde Park Corner and just went from there. I ended up walking over to Buckingham Palace and the monument to Queen Victoria, up the Mall to the Admiralty Arch and Nelson’s Column, down Whitehall to Downing Street, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, back up to and around the Palace, the Royal Mews, the Queen’s Galleries, and finally ending up back at my hotel.
I remember seeing many of these things in the ’70, the last time I was in London, but I don’t remember them being quite so close to each other. That’s the difference in perspective between a 10 and a 40 year old I guess.
While I was hanging around at the Palace (which was originally built as a private home for the Duke of Buckingham and later purchased by the Royal family because it was nicer than their own digs) a platoon of mounted guards rode by on the blackest, biggest horses I’ve ever seen. These animals were at least as tall as I am at the shoulder and the simply absorbed light; boy, were they impressive.
I would have also posted pictures, but the batteries in my camera died the moment I turned it on and the only shops I could find that were selling AA batteries wanted almost five Pounds (~$10) for four batteries. I anticipate I’ll do a similar walking tour in a couple weeks, and I further imagine batteries will be a bit less expensive at one of my other stops. I’m also going to try to find the Imperial War Museum again.
Somebody important from the Saudi government must be in town. All along the Mall between the Palace and Nelson’s Column were flags, alternating between Union Jack and Saudi.
One thing I’ll say for this area of London is that they have certainly made it look regal. The parks are perfectly groomed, the tall iron fences are painted black with gold atop. Even though the skies were gray, everything looked quite good.
I’ve arrived! Long flight, 3 screaming kids, interesting seatmate, I’m bushed.
I’ve made it this far! My flight was 3 hours late leaving Washington due to some problems with the plane’s landing gear. I’m glad they took the time to fix that before we left. We arrived London, just about noon yesterday, and it was a couple hours until I got to the hotel and checked in. I turned around pretty quickly and went back out to the British Museum and spent the rest of the afternoon wandering there and in the neighborhoods around the museum and Holburn.
The British Museum has one of the best collections of Sumerian, Persian and Akkadian stuff anywhere in the world. They’re on par with the Louvre and maybe exceed the Met in depth if not in variety. Anyway, I wandered around with my mouth gaping open as I looked at the statues, the gold, and even decorated bronze straps that used to wrap the gate of the city of Nimrud. I know that doesn’t mean a lot to anyone, but this was all stuff I studied and saw in books, but yesterday it was real. Amazing.
This afternoon I’m back on the plane, but until then I’m going to wander over by Buckingham Palace and just see where I go from there.
Once again, I’m headed off. This time, for roughly three weeks, to Pakistan and Bangladesh. I’ll be about a week in each place, with about a week for travel. At the moment, I’m not sure what to expect in either place, except a fair bit of work to be done. 