So early?!! You ok?

I don't believe I've ever written a post in the morning....interesting. Why am I even awake? I slept late last night, as usual...oh dear, now this is scary.For the world to be alright some things cannot change, and I seriously cannot be awake before 9am on a holiday! HELP!!!!!
Anyway, leaving the hyperventilating for later, looks like I"m finally going to Pakistan! Its too cold to get out of bed to do my victory dance, so I'll just complete the ritual in my head. Appropriate music...hmm, guitar solo maybe...Eric Clapton, perfect. Wow, that has to be the worst victory dance ritual ever. Ok, I'm rambling again. It still hasn't sunk in, actually. And yesterday there were moments when I actually thought that we'd blown our chance.

We (A and I) had an appointment with a senior diplomat at the high commission who would handle our visa applications. We had fixed up an appointment for 10 am yesterday. The day started off on an ominous note when A woke up bleary-eyed to discover that it was already 9.30am (expletive)! So we called the gentleman, who graciously postponed the appointment by an hour. And then began the scramble...visa forms, passports, changing clothes, checking that we had everything...sheer chaos. We left hostel with about twenty minutes to spare, with not a drop of food or drink in our stomachs. Obviously, as anyone familiar with this campus will tell you, when you really need them, there are no autos around. So we jumped into a passing cab, we were that desperate (any Delhiite will tell you that getting into a random cab just isn't something you can do over here). Anyway, we miraculously reached the place on time for the appointment. On the way we discovered that we had forgotten to read the instructions on the last page of the form which clearly stated that the form had to be typed onto. Actually, we didn't discover it. We were made aware of it over the phone by R, who had purchased the visa forms. She also graciously gave us very precise directions to the high commission. I believe she said we would find it by going on a straight road that came after a weird bridge. Totally normal, precise....sheesh. You can see what we were up against.

Anyway, we finally walked into the high commission at 11am. It was a spooky sensation, extraterritoriality had never been real to me before. Anyway, we met the gentleman, who must have taken pity on us dolts, and helped us to fill out whatever we had missed in the forms. Then he went away to process them, leaving us to wait for about two hours. We were so fidgety in the beginning, couldn't stop talking, mostly about how most men we knew were such oblivious creatures, who couldn't spot a good thing if it danced the meringue in front of them. Anyway, discussions borne out of frustration aside, the central heating soon calmed us down. We both almost went to sleep on the plush leather sofas. And then, it was done! Our handwritten forms were accepted, and our passports had the most beautiful visa I have ever seen (ok, nitpickers, the only visa I have ever seen). The gentleman was so polite to us that it amost scared me. If everyone in Pakistan is this polite, I shall be constantly ashamed of myself for being unable to speak two full sentences without saying 'crap'. And I know a few religious fans of the F word and other such linguistic pleasantries who should definitely wash their mouths with soap should they ever decide to visit Pakistan. A and I walked out of the room with a proud feeling of achievement, promptly extinguished by the fact that we walked into the wrong room and had to make a rather embarrassing exit.

The relief that we both felt on stepping out of that gate is hard to believe. It made me realize that it is impossible for me to even consider the possibility of living anywhere else except in this land where confusion reigns supreme. Comfort zones are really hard to give up...In conclusion, I like politeness but sometimes it really intimidates me, diplomatic/official circles turn my knees into jelly, if I ever have any appointment for anything, I will wake up late, and the next morning I'll be up at dawn to write about it, and, last of all, I'm going! YAY!!!