Attention, Please

We're going to Pakistan!

That's right, folks, it's the semi-annual Pakistan Trip. And you're invited!

(Assuming you buy your own tickets. And arrange your own lodging. And your own activities.)

Um, I mean that you're invited metaphorically speaking, of course. I'd have a hard time explaining to my in-laws why all these strangers have come with me to stay in our little 10'x10' room otherwise.

We've finalized plans to go to Pakistan to attend the wedding of my brother-in-law. It's all been very rushed and last minute and up in the air. My brother-in-law still hasn't received his US visa yet because of "administrative processing," so nobody was sure if they should just go ahead with the wedding plans in the hopes that it would come in time, or if it would have to be postponed.  But he recently found out that you can retrieve your passport back from the embassy (without the visa) for travel purposes. Then, he can take it back to the embassy whenever the visa is cleared. Which is soon, god willing!

So, wedding plans back on! And that means that you special people get to hear all about the preparations of our trip. Oh, it's going to be so exciting! Shopping! Luggage! Vaccinations! You'll be so inspired, I'm sure you'll run right out and get your own tickets for a little jaunt to Pakistan.

But the fun doesn't stop there, either, folks! Both times I've been to Pakistan before, I've always kept my family and friends updated on our trip. The first time, this was to appease my parents who were (understandably) worried about their daughter traveling in Pakistan of all places. The second time, they were still (understandably) worried because that was the summer of the much-anticipated elections Musharraf had finally agreed to hold and things weren't expected to go well. And in fact, they didn't.

The first time, I sent out an almost-daily email with a synopsis of what we'd done that day and few pictures. I really enjoyed doing it because it helped my friends and family not to worry, and it was also a way to show them some of the Pakistani culture I had grown to love. Kind of like this blog, but on a smaller scale for my loved ones. The second time, I had just bought a Macbook, and it came with a free trial of a website building program, so I had a private mac.com website that I also updated almost every day. It was really helpful after Bhutto's assassination because everyone could just check in there to see what was going on.

But this time, I have you all to update too! So, rather than take a hiatus during our trip, I'll actually be liveblogging it. Well, not "live" exactly, because of the time difference and the amount of time it takes to edit pictures and think of witty things to say. Wit doesn't come easily for me, unfortunately. It's a labor of love. But I am very excited because I feel like I'll be taking all of you along on the trip, showing you some of my favorite things, giving you an inside look on what a Pakistani wedding consists of. It's going to be a lot of fun! I hope you'll all enjoy it as much as we will.

So start packing!*

*still metaphorically speaking.