Peacocks in the Video Rain

It has been raining for days, and days. 4 days at least, it feels like longer. Annabels feet are dry in her pink rubber boots. Mine are wet in flipflops. Either way, it's fun; though transport gets more expensive with every successive day of rain.
You can see more photos on my flickr site, by clicking the badge on the left.

They ask me "What are you looking at?"

The park is not a relaxing place to go, but an excellent place to people watch. Here the street sellers hawk there wares on the corner, and the homeless sleep on the fountain. However, that is just the facade. This park of one of the major promenades in the city. People love to dress up in thier best clothes, and take their kids for a walk in the park. Every evening it is full of promenaders. The park is also one of the designated areas betrothed couples go to get to know each other. There are sufficient people that they don't need other chaperones, aparently. After a few trips to the park a couple who have been arranged for each other, should know if they have serious objections enough to not marry.

Not Everyone Can Relate

In spite of the Thai coup, the UN summit, and the US president's inflammatory comments, all major events of the last 24 hours, The Bangladesh Observer daily newspaper doesn't have a single word of international news on its front page. Instead it says:

LOAD SHEDDING SURPASS ALL PREVIOUS RECORDS- Normal life paralyzed, industrial output crippled.
20 of the country's power plants have been shut down either for routine maintenance or serious technical problems. Thus all the blackouts, all the time.

A SOUND PERSON CAN'T ASK PEOPLE TO GATHER IN CITY WITH STICKS
The prime minister, responding to the opposition party. The leader of the opposition has encouraged people to come to Dhaka with anything they can lay their hands on, choking the capital with people, and bringing down the current government.

14 PARTY'S ROAD, RAIL, WATERWAYS BLOCKADE PROGRAMME TODAY
The opposition party is laying the city under siege by blockading everything possible, in order to force the government from office. Also tomorrow is a hartal, a general strike where if anyone is found on the streets, going to work or opening a store they will get beat up by the opposition.

BUISNESS FIRM TAKEN OVER AT GUNPOINT IN CITY

This country is crazy. I love the people, culture and food, but the politics are ridiculous. For a regular dose of Bangladeshi Headlines do check out "The Daily Star" link in the upper right corner.

Little Yellow Spider

There always seems to be more wild life in my apartment when there is no one else staying here. Not only bats, but also tick ticki lizards, and this week, birds.
Sheuli (my cook) has been gone all week, recovering from surgery, thus the kitchen has been underused. Space being at the premium it is here, in one of the world's most crowded cities, so much unused space is likely to be noticed. Washing dishes this morning I found bits of sticks and straw on the floor. Looking up to the spot above the mess, I saw that a pair of birds had chosen the ventilation fan as the ideal sheltered space for a nest. Asiz, my house guard came in and knocked the birds nest down. Shortly there-after the birds were fluttering around my kitchen, looking for their nest. Asiz came back up and constructed a screen to put behind the fan. I hope this will keep out not only the birds, but also the bats that seem to enter my space in spite of my closed windows and paper covered vents.

Next week I get a new roommate. I hope the wildlife take the hint, realize that I'm using my house's space sufficiently, and bug off.

Certain things you ought to know

Shingles behind my ear tells me I'm stressed. Next week I have an all-new 3 day AIDS workshop. I like the material I've compiled. Compared to the AIDS workshop I put together last year, this one seems to flow much better. However, I have just 5 short days to translate the whole thing into Bangla.

Writing the new AIDS modules makes me an awkward dinner companion. My undying enthusiasm for Bangladesh has not slackened, but now is peppered with bits of information of Bangladeshi's drug and sex habits. When someone comments on the cuddling behavior of the men in the park (opposed to regular men's holding hands in friendship), "They seemed almost Gay!" I am armed with newly acquired Bangla culture information.

In Bangladesh there are many "men who have sex with men," (about 8%) but few who would fit into a westerners idea of Gay. The myriad of classifications include men who sell sex, those who's roles are socio-religiously sanctioned, and heterosexuals who have sex with men when away from their wives as it is seen as safer than sex with a "dangerous (potentially infected)" sex worker. None of then would consider themselves "Gay," and each needs a different approach to influence their behavior in preventing AIDS.

Other conversations might start me off with the adulterous habits of men who migrate for work and live away from home for months at a time, the drug habits of slum dwelling teenagers, or the percentage of sex workers who live with an injecting drug user. It's fascinating and essential to know in crafting messages to prevent the spread of HIV in Bangladesh. But perhaps not the best topic for an after church dinner.

Shadow's jumping all over the walls

Every time I come home the power goes out. The power is off for 3 to 5 hours a day, and somehow one of those hours always starts within 15 minutes of me coming up to my apartment. It's 90 degrees 24 hours a day, which is tolerable if the fans are moving, but without them the humidity condenses on my skin, with beads of sweat rolling off my forehead, gathering speed over my cheeks, and pouring down my neck.
I am grateful that I live in the city, where the power is off for 3-5 hours a day, instead of the village where the power is only on for 3-5 hours a day.

Don't Need A Weatherman to Know Which Way the Wind Blows

The thunder woke me up. The cool darkness of the heavy cloud cover made it feel earlier than it was. As I get ready for work there were crashes of thunder followed by waves of lightening, a good and proper storm was well under way. When I crossed the street to work the water was ankle deep, and the rain kept pouring. It poured faster than the drainage systems could take it all away. Just after morning tea Maria, the office cook, noticed a river running through my room. The water had risen so high in the system that the bathroom drain and toilet were spilling over with the extra water. All of us who had managed to wade into work today dropped what we were doing to raise all the electronics off the floor, and then sweep all the water down the hallways and out the door. Now, an hour later we are all wet, the hall smells slightly of sewage and Maria is washing all the floors with clorox.

Bad Trips Can Make Great Stories

When I first got here, I felt guilty for making the rickshaw guy pull my large North American self around the city for a few pennies. Even now when I ride with other North Americans I feel bad - the rickshaw wallah peddles so slowly with both of us on his cart. Then I see a whole bunch of Bangladeshi's on a single rickshaw. Often 3, occasionally 4 or even 5 people are pulled by the skinny little wallah in front. That makes me laugh! It is so uncomfortable, much less anything resembling safe. These kind people were very excited and happy to let me poke my head out of the CNG and take their picture.

Time to Forage for a Decent Dinner

A 30% off Lock-and-lock sale! Who doesn't NEED a lime green lunch bag with three little Lock-and-lock containers? It makes me want a packed lunch, just for the pleasure of opening it up!
(Lock-and-lock is a brand of plastic containers from Korea. They are very durable, completely water proof and have a seal superior to Tupperware. They are the most trendy thing at polucks in Dhaka.)