It was a blast that everyone in Islamabad heard. Many Muslims were in the middle of Iftar, the feast to break their fast. We just came from the park beside Serena Hotel (another hotel frequented by government officials and foreigners), enjoying the absence of traffic and the quiet sunset. Except for a group of security guards who were having their Iftar on the lawn, we were the only people at the park at that time.

On the way home we decided to stop by Illusions, a DVD store in Super market. We wanted to know if the latest season of Deep Space Nine and Boston Legal were already available. After making our purchase (including some audio CDs) we stepped out. I lingered for a few seconds by the Afghan jewelry stall outside the shop, but Brian was in a hurry as usual. He fumbled with the car remote, while holding James, and after three tries finally hit the right button to open the car. I got in and took James from his arms.

That's when we heard two explosions and felt the shockwaves. I looked up just in time to see all the windows on the second floor of all the shops shatter (I would have been seriously hurt if I was still admiring the Afghan jewelry). People started running out to see where it came from.

"Is it Illusions?" I asked.

Brian said, "No, but I don't want to know right now -- let's just get out of here!"

Driving home we saw people everywhere on the streets, obviously alarmed and wondering where the explosion is.

It just so happened that I didn't bring our mobile phone. So when we got home it was the first thing I checked. There were messages from a fellow teacher and a student, both wanting to know if we were okay. For the next two hours we alternated between answering and sending calls or text messages, and checking the news on the Internet. For once we regretted not having a cable TV.

We're thankful for the lines of communication that enabled us to assure our family and friends we were okay, and to find out that our colleagues and some students, too, are alright. I appreciated Facebook most at this time because I was able to chat with several students. As one can see, many of us posted "we're ok" on our status within minutes. We even found out through Facebook that all teachers were safe.

We still need to wait for pieces of information to come in. More important we need to know what's going to happen next. Stay posted.

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