On the first day, Liz Hand had us do some generative exercises centering on description — this is what I came up with. I may have been writing for thirty years or so now, but exercises still help — they take your mind in new directions.
*****
Thirteen Hours to Doha, Three Hours to Lahore
“They exit the airport, bone-tired, having failed to sleep on the plane. Slump of bodies seeking collapse, parents cradling sleeping toddlers, struggling to balance on swollen feet.
They step off the concrete, and though the street is paved as well, the dirt rises up to meet them. Smoky thickness, overlaid with pine and spice and human sweat; a traveler says, with deep satisfaction, “Ah, the smell of Pakistan!”
The foreigners stumble on, blinking to keep their eyes open, desperate to reach their hotel beds. No need to fret for them; they have plenty of cash on hand to assuage their bodily needs. For the homecomers, the land rises up, taking spirit shapes, opening their arms, singing songs of welcome.
Nani, gone these dozen years, leans against a weary mother, lending an unseen circling arm. The mother straightens her spine, takes a deep breath, filling her lungs with the cool night air of home. She shifts the child in her arms to a better hold, straightens her crumpled dupatta.
Nani smiles in satisfaction. That’s the girl she helped to raise.”
*****
I had by that point acquired some dupattas in the market, so even though I hadn’t received my suitcase yet, I did get to feel somewhat less travel-clothes-grubby. 
Also pictured, standard breakfast — Pakistani omelette (tasty, a little spicy), dal and paratha, fruit cup, juice, cardamom chai. They have Western options for us too, but I can’t bring myself to eat French toast or cereal when I can have dal and paratha for breakfast instead…
Last note — LUMS is a very clean campus, because there are men constantly sweeping the leaves off the path. It seems very labor-intensive. Most of the campus workers don’t seem to have much English; I’m guessing that’s class-based. They do all smile at me, and nod in response to my ‘thank you’s’.
All the faculty and students I’ve met seem to speak fluent English — English-medium schools are the norm here. If you travel here, you won’t have any trouble getting around with just English, especially if you have a local hotel guide to help you haggle.
Our students and colleagues do also generally speak Urdu, and when they’re not making a conscious effort to stay in English for Liz and my sake, they tend to do a lot of code-switching, speaking a blend of English and Urdu. It’s rather lovely to listen to, even if I don’t understand it entirely — musical and often full of laughter. If I were here for a month instead of a week, I suspect I’d pick up quite a bit of Urdu by osmosis.
