From cold Islamabad to sunny Karachi

The Finnish crew with the Ambassador Lipponen, picture in a local newspaper

Me and my 3 Finnish friends travelled to Islamabad on first days of December to celebrate Finnish independence Day at the Finnish consulate in Islamabad...After sightseeing trip which included beatiful Faisal Mosque, the Monument and Saidpur Village we headed for the Finnish consulate where there were around 200 guests in the reception, and it was interesting to meet diplomats from different countries and most importantly to hear the stories of the other Finns living in Pakistan...like one lady who had been living in Pakistan for 42 years and some others who work for the embassy, Finnish companies or for the UNMOGIP! It was also great to listen to Finnish National Anthem and taste Finnish food...the next day sightseeing continued in the Red Zone with Parliament buildings and admiring the amazingly beautiful sunset from the cozy Monaal restaurant in the gorgeous mountains...Islamabad is green,clean,well-planned,cold and very pretty, the most European city in Pakistan...actually reminds me of Bogota a lot, as it is situated in a valley in-between beautiful mountains, has many pretty parks and cozy cafes...and the coldness and green spaces remind me of Finland! After a fun-filled party with the UN military observers and more gorgeous Finnish food (mashed potatoes and veggies), the other Finns returned back to Karachi, and I stayed in Islamabad and went to admire the Lakeview Park...and the pretty pillars by the lake reminded me of Italy!

For the next 5 days I was busy going from company and NGO meetings to another, whilst coaching and training the local AIESEC chapter, and met a lot of interesting people, and many potential places to work next year...whether it is NGO, company or embassy, Islamabad is full of great opportunities!

My trip ended with 25hour bus ride to Karachi with buses reminescent of the ones I travelled from south of Peru to north of Colombia few years ago with the luxyry bus hostesses, movies and refreshments...

Now we are preparing for Xmas...and got a Xmas calendar, hat and candle from my mum from Finland, and have been joyfully opening the scout Xmas calendar (like I have done since my childhood), listening to Xmas songs and decorating my room and changing to Xmassy red curtains ;)