mai urdu janta hoon...

My declaration above might be a little ambitious. For those who don't speak Urdu, the translation is ' I know Urdu'. Which is one of the phrases I now know after my first two lessons of Urdu. Mr Ahktar Hussain is now coming three times a week to teach me Urdu, for the princely sum of Rs500/- per hour, approx 4GBP. The lessons have gone really well so far and I now have a lot of homework, and vocabulary to learn. I really want to get to grips with the language and hope that soon I will be able to communicate with some of my colleagues in their own language.

I have also arranged to learn another skill this week. Stewart (Head of Sixth Form) and I have signed up to do the PADI Open Water Scuba Diving course. This will include theory, pool diving and 4 open water dives, which will take us further up the coast to dive off an island in the Arabian Sea. Again we are benefitting from the cheaper costs here in Pakistan, as the PADI costs is about a quarter the cost in the UK. All being well I will be qualified by the time we finish for Christmas and I may get the chance to dive in the Red Sea when I am Egypt at New Year to see Thomas.

Today has also seen more rehearsals for the school production of 'An Inspector Calls'. The cast. Although they haven't quite got their lines yet, they are starting to come together. I think that we could be putting on a great show next March, ticket Rs500/- each, available from the school office, how many shall I put you down for?