Yesterday evening I met three people from the Mountain Institute for Educational Development for the first time (which is the organisation I am going to work for). I was a bit nervous before meeting them (to say the least), but they are incredibly lovely people. We had a dinner last night at the VSO Programme Office, in a marquee outside. It was so beautiful, it was like a wedding venue (there is a link to photos below).

Anyway, I met the CEO of MIED as well as someone from the administration team and a woman who will be my counterpart. Although having been told I'm sure no less than 10 times that men do not shake hands with women in Pakistan, what is the first thing I do when I meet one of the guys? Yep, stick out my hand. He looked a little surprised, but I don't think any lasting damage was done. The girl I am going to work with is LOVELY. Ghulzar, who works with VSO (who is also a star and has taken incredibly good care of us) told me that we look like each other, and she said that we should be sisters. She is the same age as me, and from Hunza in the northern areas, so she is pale with green eyes. She has been a teacher trainer, but now will be working on documentation and report writing with me. That is great cos it will make the whole process more sustainable. I have not laughed as hard last night in months - she was showing Corry and I how to do our scarves so only our eyes show, and was saying that we look like terrorists :) It seems like quite a few of the staff from MIED come from the northern areas (which, surprsingly enough are in the north of Pakistan and are very mountainous and beautiful). I couldn't believe that I was talking with a guy who is from Chitral and telling me about the annual polo match with Gilgit. A couple of years ago I was watching Michael Palin on the TV at the polo match. MIED also work in the northern areas, so hopefully I'll get to visit - they have a project very close to the fairy meadows, which are at the foot of Nanga Parbat, one of the 10 largest mountains in the world. The CEO is also really welcoming and lovely.

I've been a bit up and down about security these last few days. In Islamabad I feel safe when walking around, but then you hear the news..... Some good news is that MIED have withdrawn from Battagram recently because of the bomb there (I think their programme was finishing there anyway). Also, the CEO said that if necessary we could move to Abbottabad, and maybe if the security situation declined in Mansehra the office would also move there. In some ways that is good because there is a fall-back position, but at the same time it wasn't great to hear that things could get worse (though there haven't been any security incidents in Mansehra for the past six months).

Anyway, after boring you with my security concerns I'll just say a bit about Islamabad, because it is a very interesting city, and I am sure you all want to read about it :) It was planned in the 1960s, and has different sectors, excitingly called E, F, G, H and I. These sectors are all subdivinded into numbers from 1 - about 12. So, a park in F-7 is called F-7 park. But, the letters aren't so called because they are nicely alphabetical. No - they all stand for something - E is for the elite area, F for foreigner, G for government, and I for industry (I can't remember what H stands for). Apparently Islamabad does have slums, but I don't think that there is an S area. I can't get over the fact that they specifically planned an elite area - talk about segregation and homogenisation. But I do like Islamabad. Compared with the taxi drivers in Calcutta, they speak really good English, and a few of them have actually known where they are going (but not all, it has to be said).

More photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28852&l=f7f4e&id=579695659


Thanks so much everyone for your messages. All going well, I'll post next from Mansehra!