I've been back 4 days. Seems like I was never away. Time in flying by. Karachi is quiet and there are no signs of any unrest. Driving round things seem normal. No signs of burned cars, demolished homes or shops. Well only a few burned out shops. Nothing like when I was in Jakarta many years ago at the time of the deposing of Sutauto. It is only in talking to people and asking around that you realise many here are nervous of the 'possible' violence which may or may not occur. There is an overall clam but you sense there is fear and nervousness just under the surface. Might be me being over sensitive to it all. There have been several stories of gangs of political followers breaking into peoples homes and getting really quiet violent with the residents especially some districts where Benazir has large majority following. One story I heard was of an incident at a house not far from my work. 18 men burst in and were starting to get nasty with the owner and his family. The only thing that saved him and his family was the fact that their maid was from the same tribe as the intruders. She started shouting at them and they realised there was a feudal connection and they left. I don't have such connections here in Karachi and being part of the UK tribe does not instill much confidence in these circumstances. All a bit scary. Both the British Consulate and the Thai Consulate have been excellent keeping us informed of developments so we are not out on our own so to speak.
For us, Wanna and I, in our area where our Condo is situated all is quiet. The worst I can say about Karachi at this time is complain that it's cold and windy. Winter has arrived so I am told, and I believe them. It's about 22 Degree C here and windy. I find it not cool but cold so that tells you how long I've been away from the more temperate climates of Europe. There's no heating in the Condo so last night we went to bed with T Shirts and socks!!!! If we visit UK this year it will have to be in the summer.
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