Home in Islamabad

Patti found the house at 40, Street 19, during the spring of 2002. She arranged to move in July, I joined her in August. The house is an enormous 2-story masonry structure with 4 bedrooms and 4 baths plus a separate guest suite including living room, double bedroom and bath. We Washingtonians were not used to so much space! She walked the two blocks to her office; I worked out of the house. We got around mostly on foot and shopped at the market at the end of the block.

Life in Islamabad is very good if one can tolerate the extreme heat of June thru August. The people are kind, the prices are very reasonable, and the ambience is peaceful. We enjoyed the leisure afforded by having our own cook, bearer,and gardener. We employed a guard as dictated by common wisdom but never had a need for his services.

Patti's only expat colleague departed soon after her arrival, leaving her to run an office of a dozen wonderful people. She counts her time working with them among the best of her life. I spent several months cleaning up behind the sales of our houses and my business, and then worked for an American firm contracted to upgrade the Education System in Pakistan. That all ended with the onset of war in Iraq. We left in March, 2003.