Our Big News!

Home?
(Picture of Istanbul from the NASA Earth Observatory)

Things have been brewing around here...we have truly big news. After a year of dilly dallying, weighing pros and cons, waiting for the right circumstances, we have finally decided to move! Yes, we are moving to Istanbul.










I have been to Istanbul a couple of times before and love the city. I am a huge fan of Orhan Pamuk and read and re-read his Istanbul while drifting along the Bosphorus, thinking what a lovely city this would be to live in. And now it is actually happening.

Bye bye Arabian Sea, hello Bosphorus 

We got the news four days ago, and the last four days have been a whirl of school transcripts, admission forms, medical clearance forms, needs assessment questionnaires, relocation advisors...no time to actually sit down and think through what we're really doing. The pressure is on, schools start in Istanbul on September 3 and that is determining our moving schedule. What am I feeling? Excited? Yes. Nervous? Extremely. Anxious, euphoric, nostalgic...the emotions ricochet around inside me, kept in check only by armloads of checklists.

R and I have been married 15 years. We have lived in Karachi all our married life. Our three children were born here. We have built a home, a family, a life here. And now we're going to start from scratch (except the children part clearly!) and it is overwhelming. But mostly, lurking in the back of my mind is the knowledge that I will be saying goodbye to my beloved city, the city of my childhood, my Karachi and I don't know if I know how to do that.

No words...

R's employers are planning a welcome tour for us in Istanbul. What I need is a farewell tour of Karachi. What would be the last things I'd want to eat, see, experience before I left? It is time to start making another checklist.


This blog will continue by the shores of another sea. Please keep visiting and commenting! What would you do on your last day in Karachi?