I had breakfast the other day with Tahir, a LtCol from the Pakistan Army. It was a real pleasure to meet him, compliments of my Croatian buddy Srecko (turns out Tahir speaks Croatian and he'd met Srecko a while ago)
I have to admit I was a little surprised the first time I saw Pakistan soldiers in the ISAF camp, given the tensions between our countries (not least of which is the current border situation). But sharing a meal with him was just a very natural thing to do.
As we ate and talked, he mentioned that his family sees the news and gets worried about his safety. He reassures them with the fact that ISAF HQ is a very safe posting. That scenario sounded so familiar to my own situation - the universality of our experience was a real bonding event.
So I've invited him to come to the juggling class. He sent me an email with some beautiful photos of Pakistan's mountains and landscapes. I'm very much looking forward to getting to know him more. I've said it before, but building these international relationships is one of the coolest (and maybe even most important) things about being over here.
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