The Sun Highlights the Lack in Each
My first year here I had a subscription to Surfer Magazine; the pictures of the beach, the waves, and the sun are a taste of heaven in this land-locked city. After I paid for the subscription, (cost's double for international shipping and handling), I was surprised not to find my magazine arriving after the second month. I did however find that a certain magazine vender in Gulshan started stocking a single copy of Surfer Magazine. I could buy my magazine back from the thief for 150 taka. It made me angry, but I did it. He had the gall to ask me to re-subscibe when the year ended. I don't go there anymore.
It is hard to get good magazines in Dhaka. Legal copies of outdated InStyle or Vogue are available at the bookstore for 500 taka. National Geographic Adventure, People, or anything else I'd like, are available at the news stand for 300 taka, but are probably stolen - taken out of the mail like my Surfer Magazine. I usually settle for the Asia Edition of the Economist. Legal and easily available, it has good English and catches me up on the News. But sometimes I yearn for an easy reading magazine with lots of pictures.
Last night I was at the magazine stand, ready to be content with The Economist, but wanting more. The salesman offered Vanity Fair, Vogue, InStyle. I pointed out that Ladies Home Journal had a square cut out of the cover where the address had been. "I don't want stolen magazines." He put them all away, except the InStyle. "Here you go, then" "I don't want stolen magazines. You take these from the mail." He didn't deny it, except for one - "InStyle is delivered to me by hand by the captain of a British Airways flight." I don't know if I believe it, but it's a pretty fantastic thing to come up with if he is making it up.
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The Committee's Bangladesh and India partners are meeting this week at a conference center out of town. It'll be a great time of sharing the work each is doing, learning from each other, and meeting old and new friends. I get to present on Adolescent programs, lead worship at devotions and figure out what the partners want me to do for the rest of the year. Hooray!
It is hard to get good magazines in Dhaka. Legal copies of outdated InStyle or Vogue are available at the bookstore for 500 taka. National Geographic Adventure, People, or anything else I'd like, are available at the news stand for 300 taka, but are probably stolen - taken out of the mail like my Surfer Magazine. I usually settle for the Asia Edition of the Economist. Legal and easily available, it has good English and catches me up on the News. But sometimes I yearn for an easy reading magazine with lots of pictures.
Last night I was at the magazine stand, ready to be content with The Economist, but wanting more. The salesman offered Vanity Fair, Vogue, InStyle. I pointed out that Ladies Home Journal had a square cut out of the cover where the address had been. "I don't want stolen magazines." He put them all away, except the InStyle. "Here you go, then" "I don't want stolen magazines. You take these from the mail." He didn't deny it, except for one - "InStyle is delivered to me by hand by the captain of a British Airways flight." I don't know if I believe it, but it's a pretty fantastic thing to come up with if he is making it up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Committee's Bangladesh and India partners are meeting this week at a conference center out of town. It'll be a great time of sharing the work each is doing, learning from each other, and meeting old and new friends. I get to present on Adolescent programs, lead worship at devotions and figure out what the partners want me to do for the rest of the year. Hooray!
1 Comments:
I'm not sure, but if I were you, and the guy admitted straight to my face that he had stolen my magazine, I might take it back and walk out of there with my wallet and pride in tact. But, then again, I'm not sure.
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