CTV and CFMT Correspondant Rubina Ahmed has seized an opportunity and is now in Islamabad covering the issues making news in Afghanistan and Pakistan. She has agreed to share her perspective as a journalist and as South Asian from Toronto. We look forward to more her and wish her the best!

PART ONE: ADRENALINE

As soon as you get off the plane in Islamabad, there is this nagging feeling in your stomach to turn and race back to the plane, strap yourself to your seat and go back home. I was just here a few months ago and the feeling is still here.

But this time I can't just leave, I'm here for a purpose. My mission is to try to intrepret or at least make some sense of this situation that has been unfolding all over the world. I'm here to help Canadians understand what Pakistan's position is, its dilemma and its mood in the truest most unbiased sense. Above all, I am here to become a better journalist.

I came here soaring on what I could say was the biggest adrenaline rush of my life. I was uneasily waiting for this brand new experience. A new experience in a place that really isn't that foreign to me; I've been here many times. That knotted twisted feeling in my stomach finally went away yesterday. The rush is over and now it's time for me to address my job. Time to start finding out what's going on here. One feeling that IS sticking with me is that this is going to be one of the most memorable experiences of my life.

Before I left, my National Assignment Editor really struck a chord in me saying, "Rubina, you are going to learn more in 3 or 4 months in Pakistan then you could learn in 10 years in Canada." After three short days in the thick of this deluge of information I can see that he was right. There are journalists here from all over the world, news agencies that I have only heard and seen on TV. Now they're right in front of me. Every where I look I see world-renowned people working hard. They're in their element, trying to get the best story possible. What an inspiration for me. I'm one of them, not an observer or a student of their work, but actually one of them!

Here at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad the entire place has been turned into a massive news room. Fully functional, with editing suits, satellite rooms and top brass producers hungry to tell the world about what is going on.

That feeling of wanting to go home is still here, but that call of adventure and that feeling of incredible experiences on the horizon keep me here.

Rubina Ahmed in Islamabad...talk to you soon.

Part One: Adrenaline
Part Two: Special Tea and a Protest
Part Three: Thoughts from the Flight Home