Catchin' up

My flight from Kathmandu to Karachi, Pakistan was great. As we were landing, I was looking out my window. I thought how dry and hard this land looks. I thought about how hard it would be to eek a life out of the dry dust. Islamabad was much like Nepal at the airport. Hundreds of people milling about, some waiting for passengers, some waiting for work, others just watching it all. I got to the guest house just before the power came back on. Brownouts are so common in Asia. I went to bed, knowing my breakfast would be served at 5:00am. At 4:00 there was a knock on my door. "Breakfast, ma'am." I told the man that it was 4:00 and I was not going to eat until 5:00. He kept knocking. Finally, there was a call on the room phone. It was the night manager, who spoke decent English. He told me that today Pakistan was going to change to daylight savings time, so it was in fact after 5:00. I got to the airport and boarded my flight to Gilgit. The flight was amazing! The plane flies low, in between huge mountains, I spent the whole time taking pictures! Gilgit was very warm. An oasis. The hills surrounding the city are brown and dry. Gilgit is very green and many trees can be seen. I spent the majority of my time in Gilgit sick. I think I brought something with me from Nepal, but also picked something up there in Pak. An Asian cocktail! I was able to go see Hunza, the valley that first fell on the hearts of my friends and our base. A friend and I went to a fort and got to see so many beautiful old women from Upper Hunza. They were so sweet and funny. They were showing us traditional dances and made us wear their hats. Pakistan is so very different from Nepal. There aren't many restaurants in Pakistan where a woman can go, let alone go alone. I spent 3 weeks in Gilgit, but never went to the market. It was great to SEE Pakistan, put my feet into that land and pray for it. It will be great to better understand what is happening and how to pray. NEXT STEPS I am back in Colorado looking for a job, a car and an apartment. I would greatly appreciate your prayers for this. I want to get settled and feel like I am "home" thus far, I am still feeling like I am traveling. I will keep you updated on that. Check my new photos, I uploaded a pile of them so you can see what I saw.