Whirlwind Weekend

On Friday evening, Mr. F and I left work at 5:30 pm to catch the 7 pm flight to Lahore... Luckily for us, there was minimal traffic after the attack on the politician, so we made it to the check-in counter in good time. Landed in Lahore at 8:45 pm, arrived at the family home at 9 and got ready in 20 minutes for Mr. F's friend's Mehndi (complete with heavy eye-makeup and bling jewelry!).

Next morning, I made kheer and zarda... my initiation into household duties. FYI, I don't even like zarda and my mom's never made it, so I wasn't quite sure what "good" zarda was supposed to taste like. Luckily, I'd practiced in advance and my jithanis helped me out, so both the dishes turned out ok (thank you google :-)).

On Sunday morning, Mr. F and I drove to Islamabad for his friend's afternoon Barat. We left at 9:00 am and drove non-stop on GT Road. GT Road or Grand Trunk Road is one of South Asia's oldest roads and connects all the major cities in India and Pakistan. It was built by Sher Shah Suri who designed it in a way that at no point during the drive was the sun directly in our eyes. I wonder what Mrs. Sher Shah Suri was like...

We drove through Gujranwala and passed by factories, fields and orchards... Gujranwala is a dirty little industrial town with an abundance of bananas and donkeys. The rice fields looked beautiful and orange trees were blossoming... lovely!

We reached the hotel at 2:00 pm only to learn that the groom was stuck at a toll gate! So Mr. F and I waited in the hotel lobby for 30 mins until the barat finally walked in. The wedding was segregated, so I sat by myself trying to look busy and then called a couple of friends to catch up... Sadly, none of them answered so I continued talking on the phone, having a pretend conversation :-( (yes, I know it sounds pathetic but that was my only resort in a roomful of aunties speaking a language I don't understand).

Next morning, I had my US visa interview. The officer asked me if I "was putting my education to good use" and that was it! She didn't look at any of my documents! Hopefully, inshalah I'll get it soon... Mr. F got me pizza from Rahat bakery and then we drove back to Lahore, this time on the National Highway listening to bollywood soundtracks :p. Later that evening, I boarded a flight to Karachi, Mr. F hopped on a plane to Colombo and so ended my eventful weekend...