Week 23: When the Padma River and the internet run dry

23^rd-1st in Dhaka 2/6

Forgot to say last week but yesterday marked 5 months!

Mohan left today for a trip. His semester at his university just ended so he’s going to visit his wife and son at her village, then take them back to his village where they will stay until he goes to retrieve them to come to Dhaka in March. The way he said they are “going home” made me think how her village is no longer her home…how his parent’s home is now considered her home.

Our boua was sick again, and she didn’t want to wash the clothes, I understand. Feel bad that she’s always sick.

Went to Gulistan for the afternoon. I was doing some simple data collection on buses, getting their basic characteristics (number and location of doors, seating patterns, names, route numbers, etc.). Since Gulistan probably has the most bus companies passing through there, it was a good spot to start this part of my data collection. I had a spreadsheet I was filling out by pencil, noting buses as they passed. Was there for about three hours, standing from different locations trying to get different vantage points. A bus company’s buses usually had to pass 4-5 times before I could get all necessary data on them. Most bus companies don’t print their route number on the bus, so I left it blank for now, as it isn’t that important. I can always get that when I start riding the buses.
Probably the most interesting part of data collection is the stares, conversations, and crowds I collect. Most folks are content in just passing me by with a good intent stare that lasts for about 2-10 seconds. Others would rather stop and at least ask the most basic of questions: “Your country?” But a good bunch of people stopped and asked many questions and even helped in the data collection. At one spot, where I stood for about an hour. I had crowds ranging from 6-20 people at any given time. The closest ones would ask questions and talk to me. The ones in back would just listen and watch. There was usually one or two men who controlled the bulk of the talking. They were interested to hear about the work I was doing, and would read my data collection sheet aloud, showing that they could read English proficiently. I had to explain what some of the terms meant. It wasn’t too annoying, and they understood I was working so if I didn’t answer right away they weren’t upset. Having them around helped too, as I could ask them if they knew if a certain bus was local or ticketed. Realizing they were of use, some guys would yell out each bus which came by. After some time I had tell them I had those buses already, so no need to yell them out each time.
Of course the most bizarre of things still happen in these encounters. Among them were people offering me pornography DVDs, a guy ranting about Pakistan, and a guy saying that Bangladesh should rid itself of all shop sign boards written in English. Plus I had about three people tell me I should stop doing my work and go have lunch with them.

Afterwards I bought some shoes from a Bata clearance outlet as they were having a sale. One pair for regatta days/any day involving lots of water, and a pair that was lace-less and looked like Converses.
Then went to buy my TV. Went back to the stores which had first offered me good deals from about a month ago. I ended up buying it for Tk 8000, and am quite sure it is not authentically Panasonic (as in made somewhere else and with a fake Panasonic label slapped on the front…oh well.) Fine by me, it only needs to work for 6 months. I asked if he’d buy it back after my stay, and he agreed, at a buy back price of 65%.

The salesman got a young man standing outside the store to help me bring it to a taxi. The kid picks it up and puts it on his head, A HUGE HEAVY BOX! And he starts walking using only one hand for balancing. I tipped him big. Taxi was expensive as I was a foreigner traveling with expensive stuff during rush hour. Double the taxi fare displayed by the meter.

Got home and rearranged the room for the TV. Involved pushing a lot of Mohan’s stuff into piles, which he okayed before he left. Watched a real bad movie, Undiscovered, as my first movie on it. BAD. I didn’t even watch much of the end.

Played badminton with guys for first time in a week. Was great to play. Had really missed it. Got some dinner at my favorite briyani place. Been craving it for a few days.

23^rd-2nd in Dhaka 2/7

People are always quite impressed that I can type so fast. I’ve seen people stop and watch me type while at computer labs. I’ve been asked how I can type so fast, and without looking at the keys, and I tell them its all thanks to my dad who made me learn when I was in high school by buying me a learn-to-type computer program, and paying me $50 if I could learn to type 50 wpm. Here in Bangladesh, it makes sense that I can type faster than others since it’s my native language and I don’t need to think about spelling. Most people I see typing here type with the search and destroy method, or both hands on the keyboard and just very slowly, looking at all the letters.

Farhan came over. We went to Shawarma House and had lunch. Chatted about his engineering program and my experience with mine at NCSU. Over a good lunch too…we got a “pizza sandwich” which was essentially a calzone, and I am glad to have discovered this.

Bus ride to Rajshahi with Santa went pretty well. It was really cool to see the Jamuna Bridge for the first time. It’s the 11^th longest bridge in the world, and I was so excited after hearing so much about it. It was nighttime when we crossed the 8km bridge, and the string of lights going across the river was spectacular. The bridge is a divided 4 lane highway with train tracks running alongside. It is also pictured on the Tk5 coin. I took one picture on the bridge before the bus conductor told me not to take pictures…I think it is a security issue. (pic: Jamuna Bridge stretching out 8 km ahead at night, taken from my bus)

23^rd-3rd in Rajshahi 2/8

In the morning we immediately took a walk to the Padma (pronounced Pad-da) River. River was incredibly dry for being the mighty Padma (also called the Ganges River when it goes through in India.) People were strolling along the bank via a rough pathway of concrete bricks and dirt. We followed the path for a bit, then veered off back into city streets, stopping for tea and biscuits, and then breakfast of parota and vegetables at a hotel. Took a rickshaw to book our ticket for the bus ride home. (pic: Padma River as seen from Rajshahi during the dry season)

In the afternoon went to Varendra Research Museum. It is the oldest museum in Bangladesh. Houses many Hindu sculptures and relics found from historical sties around the country. The coolest thing to me though was the collection of items from Mohenjo Daro in Pakistan, which are from 2500 BC. To see them in such a small museum was impressive. One could tell what having a ton of 9^th to 12^th century Hindu carvings does to a museum caretaker though…it makes one forget how special they are, because they were lying everywhere: against the wall, on the floor, etc. (pic: 9th to 12th century Hindu sculptures lying every which way at Varendra Research Museum in Rajshahi)

Went to the river to walk along it again. Saw an International Tennis Tournament happening, under-18s, here at Rajshahi tennis complex. Never would expect an international tennis tournament to be occurring in Rajshahi, Bangladesh. I knew it was happening this weekend due to the slew of teenage Indian tennis players who were staying, and playing their stereos at all hours, at our hotel.

Got to the river. Saw that people were walking in the essentially dry river bed. Okay, very very very dry river bed. We walked across, and saw that the mighty Padma, though several hundred meters across a little downstream, was reduced to a 6 foot wide trickle at this one point, which you could hop across. Incredible. Yes, this is the dry season, but the river is extra dry these days because India has built big dams on the Ganges upstream, and thus Bangladesh is getting a lot less water these days during the dry season. And then during the monsoon season, India lets the dams loose, and Bangladesh is left with an instant flood. Thus, the river usually would be dry in this season, but not to this extent. (pics: myself walking on a path in the dry river bed, the mighty Padma River reduced to a 6 foot wide trickle in Rajshahi)

Still, it’s incredible. We met some guys in the river bed who said the river is usually 20 meters deep, and that we’d be well underwater from where we were standing. They said the river usually takes 20+ minutes to cross by boat, and now that it is dry, one can walk across in over an hour. Villages have sprouted in the dry river bed, and herds of cattle could be seen grazing. People bicycled along well worn paths. Crops were being farmed. Incredible that in a few months this is all underwater. I was at a loss of words. Another branch of the dry river apparently is on the other side too, near India, but the land in between the two spurts of water is considered Bangladesh. Way too far to walk to see the other branch. (pics: looking out over the plain which is the river bed and seeing grazing cattle and village residents, cracked Padma River bed with some growth before the river returns when the monsoon comes)

We went back to the “bank” of the river and took it into Rajshahi, got some tea and later some dinner.

23^rd-4th in Rajshahi 2/9

Took a rickshaw to Rajshahi University, way across town. Rajshahi is sometimes called a university town because of the large role it plays. I, however, didn’t really perceive this, but I guess it’s as close to a “university town” you get.
University was enormous. Was told that it is the largest campus in Bangladesh. I wouldn’t doubt it. Enormous. Took over an hour to walk across it one way, with a short tea stop, and we didn’t even reach the other side. Ponds are everywhere, buildings are spread so far apart. Roads just seem to go on forever. I personally would want a rickshaw each time I had to go even halfway across campus. I guess when you’re not bordered in by a city, you can spread far and wide. The most beautiful part of the campus was the enormous expanses of trees and fields. Endless spots to explore. Some neat sculptures too, as well as their own Shahid Minar. (pics: a dorm behind a small pond and palm trees at Rajshahi University, never ending road at RU, RU's Shahid Minar, the two main science buildings and the pond between at RU)

Bus left at 4 pm. We got some lunch from this real nice restaurant/café first. The guy taking my order was having a hard time understand what we wanted. And then he brought some of the wrong stuff (we had asked for a Belgian waffle…yesssss! And ice cream on top…we only got the ice cream.) After trying to make him understand, the owner came over and apologized. This restaurant had only opened yesterday!!! Thus, this was the worker’s second day. Everyone was still trying to figure things out. Now I understood why there were so many problems, and why the place looked so clean. But the waffle, once delivered, was great, and the coffee frappe was refreshing. Hadn’t had one in so long. (pic: my coffee frappee and cell phone)

Once back in Dhaka, I was walking on the side of street when I saw a CNG get hit by a bus. It knocked the CNG over and sent it flying. Glass everywhere. Bus kept going, not even slowing. People from the side of the street rushed to the CNG and helped tip it back up. Brought the driver and the passenger to the side of the road. Rolled CNG out of honking non-stopping traffic. Luckily it was in front of the Parliament’s main gate, so lots of police there to assist. Driver looked worse than passenger. He was real shaken, and had trouble standing, and holding his head. People got him into a rickshaw and told the rickshaw to go to the hospital. They got the passenger into a taxi with her belongings. Very scary. It was such a violent hit.

Got home and saw my internet was not working. Worried that it was because I hadn’t paid my usage bill. Thought I still had a week, but knew I should go pay it tomorrow morning right away.

23^rd-5th in Dhaka 2/10

Internet still not working this morning. Went and bought a card to refill my credit. And even after entering card into computer, still didn’t work. Uh oh. What’s wrong? Called Citycell and they made up some excuse about drops in service. Suggested reinstalling software, and I did it twice with no luck.

At BUET, had a meeting with Dr. Rahman and his seniors. Only met one new student today, two of the other kids didn’t come. I listened as he talked to them, where he told them they could work on whatever project they want, and if they work with me that’s fine. But make sure they’re doing their own work as part of the study. For example, they need to do their own literature review.
He also gave met the permission letters he got using the Fulbright letter, so I have permission to use all the libraries here.
Afterwards met with the senior students, one who’d I met, Arjun, and talked to them about what I’ve been up to, and the direction of the research right now. Told them how I envisioned them being part of the project, whether they just help in data collection, or actually take it up for their senior thesis. Explained to them the pros and cons of both. They’ll both help no matter what, which is nice.

Spent almost 7 hours in computer lab getting a database together to hold my data as it comes in. Worked on the bus database first, entering the data from last week. Listened to the new Say Anything CD while working.
Realized that by using Micrsoft Access to manage my data instead of Excel I do two things. One, I manage my data in a way that allows me to use it more effectively. Second, I force myself to go to campus to actually do my work since I don’t have Access on my computer at home!

Had to walk home. Traffic was real bad because apparently their was some disturbance/demonstration near New Market blocking traffic. I walked through that area but didn’t see anything though.

23^rd-6th in Dhaka 2/11

Internet still not working so decided to go to Citycell to get it fixed. Decided I would collect data from the bus rides I’d have to do around the city while trying to solve my problem. Kakrail Citycell couldn’t do anything for me. No technical people there. Told me to go to company headquarters in Mohakali.

On bus ride to Mohakahli to go to Citycell HQ the craziest fight ever happened (its #15, but I haven’t been posting about fights in blog recently) but this was the best ever. We were all sitting happily in our bus (in traffic, not moving), when, two guys from the street burst onto our bus already mid-fight. They were going at it…choking, punching, kicking, throwing. All in the tightest of bus quarters! The whole bus explodes in yelling and screaming. One woman runs to the back of the bus and hides. People are standing up and getting in there to break it up and yell at the two guys. People come running from the sidewalk to come and watch, and yell and shout too. Then some of them start yelling at each other too. Not sure if they knew the guys or not. Finally bus riders split the guys up, and one runs to the back of the bus sits/hides. Everyone in the back of the bus starts yelling at him. I honestly have no clue what is being said. I just sat there. Ultimately the bus was pulled to the side. Yelling calmed down. One guy stayed on the bus, one guy left. For the rest of the bus ride everyone was in a loud commotion yelling at each other.

Citycell was just an overall depressing experience, and though I wrote a long thing about it, the summary is that the internet not working is not Citycell’s fault, but my laptop’s. The modem is down, and it seems that a virus is preventing from working. We tried my internet card on another laptop and things worked fine. An IT professional checked it out himself and tried many methods to get my computer to accept the modem. But alas, after about an hour and a half of working, he finally conceded and said he thinks I’ll have to reformat. I hate hearing those words. Was quite upset, and started making mental preparations on what I’ll need to do: get installation CDs from parents in US, ask them to bring back up hard drive when they come in March, back up all data from Bangladesh, etc. I hate doing that.

Went to internet café right after a long bus ride back to Dhanmondi to let mom and dad know about what’s going on. Asking them to send all the installation CDs via DHL as soon as they could.
Came home and started backing things up, preparing for the reformat. Making lists of things I’ll need to take care of. Sigh.
And then, magic. I had to restart my computer for some reason, and checked my internet randomly…and it worked!!!!!! I do not understand at all. I can’t figure it out. I have zero explanations why it would just click.
Risal told me later that he sometimes has a problem when he pays his bill a bit too late, just like this. But although I’d say maybe I was experiencing the same thing, why would my internet card work in someone else’s laptop? It was definitely something else. Thus there is no explanation to why it works now.

The next step for today was going to buy mattresses, pillows, and sheets. I had decided already to buy it from the row of bedding stores near Nilkhet Market. They seemed to have the best prices and infinite selection. I had already collected what I thougt were good prices in the past few weeks. The second store I went to this evening blew all those prices away. I had my seller. It was quite quick and easy. Some bargaining. We got a rickshaw van right outside his store to load up two mattresses (one for bed, one for “couch”,) one mattress pad, two sets of sheets and pillow covers, two pillows, and one longer lounging pillow for “couch.” Total = a lot less than I expected.
They had stacked up all the things on the rickshaw van, and they asked if I wanted to follow in a rickshaw. No way! I was going to ride on top, just like I mentioned in last week’s post! So I hopped on, held on tight, braced myself on the van platform, and went along for the ride, during rush hour! Not easy. Legs were getting cramped. (pics: the pile of stuff I rode on top of from Nilkhet on the rickshaw van, simulating how I had to sit and hold my other bag back at the flat)

After getting home and getting beds upstairs (which required getting a key to our apartment’s outer gate from the landlord) went out to get some dinner. Celebrated computer coming back to life and the bed stuff buying with a delicious burger, fries, and milkshake at YumYum Cafe.

23^rd-7th in Dhaka 2/12

Really getting more and more into Dune. Have woken up and read a quick chapter the last two mornings. Always can’t wait to see what happens next.

Headed over to Baridhara after breakfast to go to Jahangirnagar University with my old classmates and teachers. Got to see the classroom for the first time in awhile. Looks real nice. They have a library cabinet building up, more chairs, more tables, and a more official looking office.
Lots of traffic heading to Savar where the university is, and thus I think we spent less time there than anticipated. The head teacher Farrah wasn’t there as she was visiting her daughter and son at boarding school. Rafat, the last Fulbirghter to arrive, also taking Bengali, was not there with us because the embassy was giving his security briefing.
Met the new student, Laurel, who came just to learn Bengali for three months. She did her beginners course at the University of Wisconsin after she graduated from Minnesota

Before getting to the university we had some lunch at the Dept. of Tourism’s restaurant in Savar. Saw a neat sign that I asked the owner if there copies I could buy, but he said they didn’t have any. Oh well. (pic: I really wanted to buy this sign)

Walked around Jahangirnagar University. Beautiful campus. I’d say more gorgeous than Rajshahi University which I went to earlier in the week. Ponds filled with wildlife. Nice buildings too, and reminded me of NCSU because of all the brick. University is well known for being beautiful. Nadia, one of my old teachers, showed us around, as she graduated from there. Neat to see where she went and hear a more personalized tour. (pics: lake and view at Jahangirnagar University, Nadia in front of her academic building at JU, JU's Shahid Minar, myself/Erin/Laurel all AIBS students at JU)

Went to Pizza Hut this evening with Jen and Ben. Delicious as always. Told Jen about Naira and how they have similar topics and should talk. Set that up. Also told Ben how I’d love to have his assistance in my data collection, since he’s not too busy here in Bangladesh. He said he’ll definitely help. I’m looking for him to test out my data sheets with me, since I’ll always need two people collecting on one bus. So want to hear how usable he thinks they are.

Scheduled to meet Karen tomorrow morning early with the van she’s organized. We’re taking our stuff from Lauren tomorrow morning…my fridge and drapes are amongst that stuff.

Also got a call from Ayon inviting me to the Pohela Falgun celebration at his university tomorrow. This is the “start of spring” festival. I told him I’d be late as I’d have to be moving the fridge to my place.

Mohan came home and talked to him for awhile. He asked me about all the things I’d bought when he was out of town.

Week 22: Sonargaon was the capital before Dhaka even knew how to spell "government"

22^nd-1st in Dhaka 1/30

Woke up and throat wasn’t much better. Gargled with some warm salt water for the third time. Then drank some warm water, easier to go down. Changed and went to the hospital. Bundled up in warm clothes.

The hospital wasn’t as clean or state-of-the-art as US hospitals. Diya and Farhanaz’s mom, the doctor with whom I was meeting with, told me it is because this hospital is kept affordable for middle class families. I met her in her office, the pathology dept, and she took me upstairs to a throat doctor. He took a look down my throat, said I had an infection, and prescribed me four pills to take (one antibody, two painkillers, and one antacid.) She got me some hot coffee and told me to drink it. Also gave me soup to bring home. Only warm liquid foods today. Told me to keep gargling salt water

Saw that the NY Mets are getting Johan Santana from the Twins. What an awesome deal. Looks like we’ll be contenders again and hopefully won’t have another end of season crash-and-burn.

Watched Philadelphia, staring Tom Hanks. It’s one of those movies I remember my parents watching when I was little, but I never actually watched, but still knew what it was about. I really liked it. I especially liked how the movie skipped big chunks of time at once. It gave you the impression of time flying by. And as he has AIDS, you get the feeling that his life is running out of time quickly. Makes you realize how little time he has to live. Helped the movie feel real to the viewer.

Dip came over later so i could go over his essay with him. I was reviewing some of his college essays that he's using for the slew of US schools he's applying to. Giving advice on how to make them stronger.

22^nd-2nd in Dhaka 1/31

I woke up feeling a lot better. Had kichuri and egg for breakfast, along with hot water to sooth my throat.

Went to BUET. Ok, so the university has a really weird schedule. Its weekend is not typical, even for Bangladesh: Thursday and Friday. The whole country is off on the holy day of Friday, but usually Saturday is the day taken to make a two day weekend. Well BUET decided to go Saturday through Wednesday. It would be like a US university having class Tuesday through Saturday. Of course, some universities, such as the famous Dhaka University, go six days a week, Saturday through Thursday. I showed up today and the computer lab I have permission to use was closed. I was directed to go to the central library. Getting in there without a student ID was a hassle.
Central library computer lab has 42 computers...some Dells, some HP. All are running Linux.

One thing I kept meaning to mention was something I read in the Dhaka’s STP. It is that there isn't much parking in Dhaka, and its because the need isn't recognized by those important enough to be doing the planning. Because people have private drivers, the lack of a parking spot doesn’t really occur to them, or get mentioned enough to make it an issue. It is not a perceived issue. Plus, a private driver stays in the car, so a parking lot can be real dense since the drivers can always move when needed to let another car out.

Came home and bought some fruit from the streets. Oranges, apples, and for the first time pomegranates. Thought they’d be good for eating with my cereal. Gave them to Moweena, our boua, to cut open and seed for me. She was glad to. I had kept reading people rave about them on NCSU’s student message board, and since they were so cheap here, decided to purchase.

Saw a bunch of people staring at something. Huge crowd…what could it be!? Oh, it was just a construction site. Everything here gathers an enormous crowd. Our bus got pulled over by a cop the other day, and I counted 13 people on the sidewalk who stopped to watch the cop talk to our bus for the entire duration of the conversation, about 5 minutes. (pic: a large crowd of about 20 people gather around a nighttime construction site to watch)

The girl whose Fulbright essays I helped review, Samantha Huq, made it to the next round of Fulbright. Very proud of her. Glad she moved along. Would be neat to actually meet her after talking online so much.

22^nd-3rd in Dhaka 2/1

Watched NCSU blow it against Duke this morning. So upsetting. Up by 9 at the half, only to lose by 20!!! GRRRRRR.

It’s the first of the month. What does that mean? It means everyone is moving! Like I should’ve been, but oh well. Every apartment rental starts from the first of the month, so on the street today were many rickshaw vans taking around people’s furniture. Big stacks of furniture, chairs, and household items. Sometimes the owner rides on top. (pics: two shots of different furniture moving by rickshaw van)

Talking about moving, moving big stuff in Bangladesh is always interesting. Whether you have product for your store, or a big bundle of things you bought, or delivering something for a business, there seems to be a large upper limit to what a rickshaw, rickshaw van, or hand cart can carry. Long things, fat things, tall things, or stacks of many things. It’s great when the owner rides with it, and especially on top. I think the pictures speak for themselves. Some stuff looks real heavy to carry. Sometimes the hand carts have extra pushers to move items like steel or cement. I like the rickshaws full of bags of items the best. Oh and the big stack of metal containers which always towers over the driver. Also am impressed by the bravery of the people who carry new computer towers in their laps on rickshaws! Eek!! (pics: steel rebar being transported by hand cart with pushers helping, transporting lots of stuff on top of a rickshaw van and holding tight to that TV, transporting 2 chairs by rickshaw van and taking a seat while riding (this picture keeps making me crack up...just sitting in his chair as he gets driven around), bravely transporting your computer in your lap on a rickshaw, transporting big sacks of something by rickshaw and taking the top seat, typically the biggest thing stacked I see on the streets: metal pots in giant sacks piled on top of rickshaw van)

Went to lunch with Lauren clay and some of her friends at Café Mango. They had just gotten back form Nepal and China, so heard her friends’ stories. After meeting there, went to Lauren’s to take the TV and DVD player I said I’d buy. Well the TV was smaller than she had advertised, so decided not to take it. Only took DVD player. Will take fridge at a later date.
Dropped DVD player off at home then met the girls at new market. Bought another scarf while there. Went cloth shopping with Lauren, in real tight quarters. She was buying for her bed back home, when she goes back. During this process we decided I would buy her cloth she’s using as window drapes for my place before she leaves. Found out I can make them into permanent drapes for Tk30 each piece.

Painters coming tomorrow said the landlord. I’m excited because I’ll have nice walls when the place becomes mine. She told us to lock up our valuables just in case, that you never can trust people coming into your place to work. Spent part of the evening getting things safe for their arrival, putting all electronics in my suitcase in preparation to lock it on the veranda. Also cleaning up lose items so they couldn’t find or drip paint on them.

When I went out to the shop in front of my apartment to buy some goods, the shopboy, who I’ll guess is 12 years old, asked me if I wanted to play badminton in the street. He’s always playing with his friends there and always sees me with my racket. So I said sure, and we hit it around, no net, just back and forth in our thin street for about 20 minutes. Kept having to pause to let walkers pass, and when customers came to his shop.

Spent time researching University of Texas tonight. 2 grad schools down, 9 to go.

22^nd-4th in Sonargaon 2/2

Woke up and headed out to Gulistan to meet with Megan. Before leaving, finished preparing the room for the painters. Wanted to make sure nothing could get dripped on, and all expensive things were packed and stored. Mohan said he might try and get the painting date changed so one of us could be home.

Ride out from Gulistan was uneventful minus having to keep changing seats on the bus because some were near broken. We found a bus that was express to Sonargaon, so that was convenient. When we got down from the bus, rickshaws were just waiting to take us to the tourist sites (every time I read that sentence I think of the line “They’re just waiting to give you your money!” spoken by Alec Baldwin’s character in Glengarry Glen Ross, one of my favorite speeches that I enjoy watching anytime…watch it here, and if you don't like swear words, the quote I'm referring to is at 3:55…of course its also funny because the rickshaw drivers are thinking exactly what Baldwin says!) They know why we’ve all come. So we just jumped on one, and he started pedaling us to the historical area.

A bit of history on Sonargaon, because I found it quite interesting (adapted from Lonely Planet’s guide to Bangladesh.) It was the capital of Bengal, and during the 13^th century it was the Hindu seat of power for the region. It became the Islamic capital of the region when it was taken by a sultan in 1280. In the 1300s, the first official sultan of Bengal established his capital there. It was the capital of east Bengal for 270 years, until the Mughals invaded and got rid of the sultans. They thought Sonargaon was too exposed since it was close to the Meghna river, and they moved the capital to Dhaka. Not much remains of the original city, except for some mosques, tombs, and stupas. Most of the architecture we saw there were from the Mughal period and later, and was mostly built in the late 1800s.

The first stop was Sadarbari, which was built in 1901 and was a rajbari for the area (a royal family’s home.) It houses a folk art museum but has beautiful architecture in two facades. We skipped it first and headed to the newer museum, with the intent to save the best for last. Newer museum in a modern building was definitely not the main attraction at this place. People seemed to just walk in, do a quick loop, and come quickly out.

Roamed the grounds. Took a ride on a ferris wheel. If you remember from one of my earlier posts, these things are made of wood, very rickety, and are spun by men pulling on each cart as it passes. Megan and I decided to try it. The operators always need to ensure the whole thing is balanced properly, so they give specific instructions on where to sit. Some of the extra operators took seats in other cars to make sure it was balanced. It was wild, stomach plummeted on each spin. Crazy to be on it when they’re spinning it with their hands. (pics: ferris wheel which is hand spun by its operators, operator hand spinning the ferris wheel by pulling down on one of the cars)

Finally came back to Sadarbari proper, and went inside the folk art museum/beautiful building. I took a lot of photos of the architectural details. While walking around the place, two guys started talking to us. They offered to take our photos for us and helped lead us around, and were being generally helpful. Names were Abusaleh and Ashraful. We were asking them questions too. They lived nearby and kept asking us to come see their home after we saw all the sites. We went outside and took pictures out front of the exterior. Then walked the grounds to the northern exit of the huge garden complex. (pics: front courtyard in Sadarbari, myself/Megan in rear courtyard of Sadarbari, Abusaleh/crazy looking stuffed person/Ashraful in folk museum, myself/Megan in front of Sadarbari)

Next stop was to see another rajbari. This area we went to was called Painam Nagar. You ride in on rickshaw through tons of old Hindu merchant’s mansions, very ghost town like. People don’t live there anymore. This whole area was built between 1895 and 1905 on top of the old capital city. The last one we got to was the rajbari. It’s being refurbished by two Chinese architects. Walking around the rajbari was neat. It was being repaired at points, made me wonder how stable it was. Told Megan that this is where I’m certain musical artist Habib’s music video for “Krisno”, which my friend Ishita played a part in (the building and her first show up at 1:45, Ishita is the one in the red saree..) Told the guys this, and they instantly recognized it and agreed. I knew it was in Sonargaon just didn’t know which old building. Wanted to go to the second floor, but stairs were clearly out of repair…as in they had collapsed. (pics: rajbari with man bathing in pond in front, Abusaleh/Megan/Ashraful inside rajbari where music video was shot)

We then walked back through Painam Nagar, looking at all the old mansions, taking photos of the ghost town. I couldn’t get over this single street lined with old homes. Some awesomely decorated but boarded up. Some locals had taken up temporary residence as squatters. Local kids were playing amongst the buildings. (pics: the ghost town which is now Painam Nagar, century old Hindu mansion in Painam Nagar, myself standing in Painam Nagar, myself/Megan standing in the entry of one of the mansions)

Megan had really wanted to see Goaldi mosque, one of the few buildings in the area actually from when it was the old capital. We had to ask around on where to find it, and we got rickshaw drivers who did. Guys took one rickshaw, we took another. This mosque was built before the Mughals arrived, and is a single domed mosque, and smaller than what we saw in Tangail. Apparently in 1700s it was falling apart, so they built a newer mosque across the street in the Mughal style. Now they are both there and only the newer one is in use. I enjoy seeing all these mosques, as it is one of my favorite architectural forms. And especially the craft that goes into detailing. (pics: Goaldi mosque with Abusaleh and Ashraful in front, Goaldi mosque on the left built in 1519 and the newer Mughal style mosque in the back left built in 1705)

After this, Abusaleh and Ashraful begged us to come back to see their village. Even though we knew we had to be back for pizza at 5pm with Diya, we thought we could make it since they said their home was really close, 10 minutes away, and we had 2.5 hours until we had to meet. From the bus stop, however, the bus took about 20-25 minutes, and then of course there is the 5 minute walk to their home from the bus stop. So total, that adds about 50 minutes onto the trip just with the going there and back. There was still a chance we could make it on time if traffic was as smooth as this morning, and we didn’t stay too long.
But we did stay too long. I was still glad we went, despite that we were now going to be late. We were given snacks and had to wait for Abusaleh’s mom and dad to come home to meet them. Abusaleh showed me his cucumber field, his main crop. Gave me some fresh picked ones. When his mom finally came home, we said hello and then said we really had to leave. Told them we’ll come back, which is true, probably in a month. (pics: Abusaleh showing us his cow, standing in Abusaleh's cucumber field, Megan and Ashraful in Abusaleh's home, Megan holding up traffic on the bridge out of Abusaleh's village)

Bus got stuck in some traffic. Then getting a bus to Jigatola from Saidabad station was easier said then done. Showed up at Pizza Hut 55 minutes late. Luckily Diya was there with her friends, so she wasn’t bored. They had already eaten a full pizza. I apologized for my poor judgment in arriving on time. We ordered another pizza and Megan and I ate that one primarily. This Pizza Hut just opened a few days ago, the second in Dhaka, third in Bangladesh. It was gorgeous, two stories, and delicious. Ice cream was amazing too. Might be a place I’ll go to too often.

22^nd-5th in Dhaka 2/3

Worked on fixing up my notes and ideas about data collection. I’d been writing them by hand, but needed to get them into a word document to arrange them coherently. See what my thoughts are.

Met with Dr. Rahman after lunch in his office. Brought my letter from Fulbright, but he said he won’t be able to get me a university ID since I’m not a student or staff. But he said he’ll get me a letter on university paper and signatures. I will show that to people who hassle me about using things. That’ll be good.
Told him about my progress on the project, how I was happy with my pace, and that I enjoyed the literature review. Told him about my data collection ideas, and how I knew I’ll definitely need two people at all times during data collection to do things correctly.
In the office as well was one of his senior students. He said I’ll get to meet all of them next week, but this one, Arjun, was especially interested in my project. I asked about these seniors, and tried to gauge what their senior projects were like, how much time they are supposed to devote to it, and how much time I should ask of them if they help. Didn’t want to overwork or expect too much of anyone.

After the three of us met, Arjun and I went outside and chatted. Learned about each other. Told him about the project. Asked him more in depth questions about the senior project process. Appears that for senior projects, the teacher highly recommends what they do, but they have the option to design and do their own project. He could jump on with me and make his research topic close to mine. Also found out that senior projects are not a class, but just an outside thing, meeting only with professors weekly and working independently. They get their advisors by picking professors’ names out of a hat from a certain discipline…so he picked Dr. Rahman’s name out of the transportation topic hat.

He showed me his dorm room too. He lives in the all-Hindu dorm. All the other dorms are all-Muslim dorms. And then there’s one girl dorm. Three students to a room, which is a bit bigger than what I lived in one other student at NCSU. Each student gets a table, chair, and bed. All rooms face outside.

Went to dinner with Jen and Ben. Hadn’t seen my old roommates in a long time. On the way over my tempo had a flat tire. More than half the people said screw it and went to find another vehicle, but I stuck with the poor guys. Didn’t mind a 4 minute wait. They had it replaced real quick and we were on our way. Conductor was laughing how this was probably the least profitable trip he’s ever had.

Found Jen and Ben’s place….enormous but the price isn’t too high. We walked to road 27 and got some Chinese food. My stomach was on edge a bit, possibly from some tea I took from a tea shack earlier, but I felt great after eating.

22^nd-6th in Dhaka 2/4

Woke to see that NCSU had beaten Wake Forest. It was a pretty bad game for us as we trailed for most. But we came back to tie on a 17-7 run, and then took the lead into the end. We were up by 2, and J.J. Hickson had a chance to seal the deal with two free throws but couldn’t. Wake Forest then scored 2 points with 3 seconds left to tie it. We had once last chance to prevent it from going to overtime. Ben McCauley inbounded it to Gavin Grant at half court. They were all expecting him to drive the lane, but instead he put up a 3! It bounced off the rim, but what happened next was incredible. Ben McCauley, comes out of nowhere, across the entire court, and dunks the shot back in! Incredible. Watch the video, it still gives me chills. What an awesome way to go out.

If it wasn’t for the giants beating the patriots in the Super Bowl that would’ve been all over ESPN’s Sportscenter top 10.

Sitting outside in warm sun to do some of my work. Inside the CE building it’s surprisingly cold. And the warm sun after lunch was very soothing. Today was going over some of the tougher questions I needed to consider about the data collection. For example, if a bus is stuck in traffic, and people are getting on and off as it sits there, how do you classify those movements in terms of stops on the route? Those kinds of questions needed to be answered.

Met up with Santa at Sonargaon Rd and Elephant Rd. We had talked about a trip to Rajshahi this weekend, because I’ve been thinking about going. We made our plans on times and such, and then went to the bus ticket office to book tickets for Thursday. Will be neat to get out of town and see a calmer place.

I was going out to buy things after dinner and Mohan asked me to bring back “ek hali dim”…which I thought was a type of egg. Told the guy at the store I wanted those types of eggs, and said I wanted 4. When I got home I assed mohan what type of egg that was, “ek hali.” And he said 1 hali is equal to four of something, just like one dozen is equal to twelve of something. Had no clue about this. This changes my life because “four” is the hardest number for me to say. People always confuse my “four” for a “six” (4 = “char” 6 = “choy” and my “r” isn’t very hard) but now I can just “hali” from now on if I want four of something…makes it so easy!

22^nd-7th in Dhaka 2/5

Spent a little bit of time researching MIT this morning. The third school I’ve randomly chosen from the eleven schools to research.

Had lunch with Naira. We went to the restaurant I’ve been frequenting, and had soup and noodles. Afterwards we walked around BUET’s campus, obviously not her first time, but her first time in the CE building.

Avian flu has come to Bangladesh. Very scary. Don’t think I’ve ever been that scared of a disease before. The fact that you have such a short time to find out if it’s a cold or avian flu if you have symptoms is scary. They had to kill thousands of poultry in northern Bangladesh. Luckily no human cases yet. Luckily the disease is inefficient and doesn’t transmit very well.

More on that New Zealand rowing rivalry. This past weekend Drysdale beat out Waddell in their most recent head-to-head matchup, but only by half a boat length. They’ll face off one more time at the Natl. Championships before the Olympic Trials in March.

After leaving campus I went to Naira’s place to play badminton. She invited me to play at her neighbor’s house where I played once earlier. The bus ride took 1.5 hour to get there. And was exhausting as I was standing the whole time. There were tons of people at badminton, and thus in the entire night I only got to play two games in 2.5 hours of being there.

Faisal, Naira, and I went to Bella Italia after. Bella Italia is apparently the best Italian restaurant in Dhaka, and it definitely lived up to its reputation. Pizza, two pastas, and tiramisu were all well done. They were nice enough to drop me off at home in Dhanmondi.

Week 21: Cool weather and rain can ruin your health, trade fairs, and large religious gatherings (BUT NOT MONEY!)

21^st-1st in Dhaka 1/23

It has been a bit cooler and windier these last few days. Not as sunny out either. Perhaps it’s the start of the seasons changing. On a side note, I’m so intrigued by the idea of the monsoon season. It’ll be my last season I experience here. And it’s the most unique. I’m always wondering what life will be like then.

Washed our bed sheet, I will finally feel clean sleeping in that bed.

At BUET I was waiting to get my computer access approved today. So while I waited I did some research work on crowded buses, collecting my last bit of literature before I start reading into it more critically.
When the director was finally available to approve my computer usage application, the security guard told me to come in. They were very hesitant to give me access as I wasn’t an official student. I didn’t have an official letter showing where I came from either, and only my professor’s signature proved someone knew I was supposed to be at BUET at all. After lots of discussing amongst each other, it was decided if the director’s boss approves me, I’m ok. So another bit of waiting, then that top guy approved me. They gave me a username and password and showed me the computer lab. The internet isn’t especially fast, but it’ll be good enough, and it’ll be nice to be able to use programs and internet without bringing my laptop to campus.

When I got home, Ashrafi called me and said he and Popel were going to go see Radioactive at Decagon Café. Radioactive is a band I saw the night of Cyclone Sidr, with the spectacular vocalist. They also were the winners of DRockstars, a rock band American Idol-esque competition in Bangladesh last year. Wasn’t really a concert, more of a café performance. They did two sets. Mostly English songs. They played a few of their own numbers. During the intermission, Popel introduced me to the vocalist who was his roommate for a year. I asked when their CD is coming out, and he said soon enough.

Spent the rest of the night trying to get a currency converter to work in the sidebar of my blog. Required me to learn a bit of HTML to edit what was already available on the internet. Wanted people to be able to convert from taka to popular viewers’ currencies to understand the values I’m throwing out.

21^st-2nd in Dhaka 1/24

Went to HSBC to get money for the Bangkok trip, and because I needed an encashment slip to show the money I was paying with was originally US dollars. But there, I realized that Megan still hadn’t given me a firm yes/no on whether she’ll come or not. Called her, and she said it was likely. So I’m going to wait until Sunday then see if the answer is still yes, then rebook the ticket on GMG if she comes.

Three weeks ago, I completed my collection. Of what? Money! And by that I mean the bills of Bangladesh. Waited until a week with less to write about in the blog to put all these pictures up.

For weeks now I’ve been trying to gather all the taka notes, but with a certain aim in mind. I was trying to get a brand new and a real old bill of each denomination then take their photo together for comparison. The main motivation behind taking these comparison pictures was the Tk2 note. The old ones are so unrecognizable, they might as well just be scraps of paper. They are torn, brown, and look like garbage. And they are probably the most often exchanged note because of this. No one wants it in their wallet, and whoever you give it to will give it away just as quick. As well, local bus fares are usually around Tk2, so Tk 2 notes are commonly being passed around.

As you can see, the oldest Tk500 note I could find still doesn’t look so bad, despite it being old enough (at least 2004 or earlier) to have a different picture on it altogether! The holes in the new notes are because they come in bundles with a string passing through them all. I took shots of each bill front and back. Each bill is a different size and color. (pics: what I felt was the "front" and "back" of the Tk2, Tk5, Tk10, Tk20, Tk50, Tk100, and Tk500 notes. New above old in each)

The only time I actually had all the notes in my wallet at one time, happened in Khulna, and I took a picture of them all spread out. Also took a photo of the three coins, and the one different Tk1 coin I had. The coins differ in that the Tk5 coin is actually 12-sided (that’s the Jamuna Bridge on it,) the Tk2 coin is a bit thicker and its edge is smooth, and the Tk1 coin’s edge is reeded, like the US quarter. (pics: "front" and "back" of Tk5, Tk2, and two different Tk1 coins; all bills spread out the first time I noticed I had all of them in my wallet at one time.)

And that last note which took me many months to find….the newer Tk20 note.
The following link has information on all the bills, you just have to click through to read it all.
In my collection I also have a 50 poisha coin (half of Tk1) and a Tk1 note, but don’t know where they are packed up right now.

Went to Shawarma House for lunch and to do research. The staff watched me the full 4 hours I was there. Finished gathering the articles for my literature review there. I think I have what I want now to understand my topic fully. Diya came by for a half hour or so. Showed her pictures on my laptop of friends and home.

Naira invited me to come watch a movie at Probal’s big movie watching room. When we picked up Probal and Nerpa, we got to see their new place they’ve moved into after marrying. Not much furniture yet, so it looks enormous. They even have a pool in their apartment building. That’s really unheard of here.
We went to Probal’s movie place, and we watched Shoot Em Up. What a violent bloody shooting movie. Still cool. The girls really didn’t like it. But for the theater like environment there, the guys felt watching a drama would be a waste of the big screen and sound system.

Rained today. A lot cooler. This is surprising weather actually for this time of year. There really isn’t supposed to be rain in the dry season. People are blaming global warming.

21^st-3rd in Dhaka 1/25

This morning I woke up to see it was raining still. It was very cool outside, and the rain was light. Apparently the cold and rain caused seven deaths in northern districts of the country, people who can’t afford warm clothes even for 55 degree temperatures.

Went to the trade fair. It’s a big annual event which lasts a month. It’s set up behind the Chinese-Bangladesh Friendship Center, a big convention center. Fair had pavilions and shops. There’s apparently a competition for the company who creates the best pavilion. In the past, when it came, the Trade Fair used to be the only time and place you could buy international goods, but that time is long passed. (pics: entrance gate to the trade fair with pavillions in background, fountain and pavillions at trade fair and in the background is the big central spire with a globe on top.)

I was supposed to go with Ayon, Saquib, Nipu, and others, but as of last night they all backed out. So Megan came with me, and she invited Karen as well, so it ultimately was the three of us.
Walked around, asked about prices. Though I heard it’s supposed to be really cheap here, I’ve seen cheaper prices elsewhere in the city. Looked at a few shirts, but they were all too small. It was wet and a bit cool, but not too bad. (pics: many of the stalls which form the border of the trade fair, Karen and Megan inside a stall that sold Bangladeshi made handbags.)

By the way, in Bangladeshi shirt sizes, I’m a XXXL. Crazy that I’m the big guy around! The XXL size is usually too short in the arms.

Also a major event happening in Bangladesh right now is Biswa Itjema. Its technically in Tongi, next to the Turag River, but that’s still in the Dhaka Metro Area.
It’s the second largest gathering of Muslims in the world, after Hajj in Mecca. Over three million people will come in the next three days. I know many people who are attending. It’s a big prayer gathering. Throughout its duration, the event causes a lot of traffic in the area. And a lot of extra flights are coming in and out of Bangladesh.
But as I was writing this, I read a news report that the event is getting cut short this year because of the rain and the cold, which left three people dead. Such a shame. Since this just happened, I updated the wikipedia article (go see from the link before.)

Ate lunch at Diya/Farhanaz’s place, which has been in planning for a few weeks. Delicious home cooked food. Was there until 5:00.

Today I started really looking at graduate schools. Made a spreadsheet to compare them, like my father made for me when I was choosing undergraduate schools. Have several points for comparison including what the school’s most popular transportation research topics are, how many transportation professors they have, and if they have a student section of ITE. However, just as important items like how good the weather is, how their football team performs each year, and of course the likelihood of rowing there or not is included in the spreadsheet! Tonight I completed my analysis of Cornell. I have eleven universities on my initial list, which was pulled from a list of the best civil engineering schools. Texas, Berkeley, Stanford, Cornell, Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Purdue, Georgia Tech, Northwestern, Michigan and MIT, as well as Virginia Tech’s Metropolitan Institute and comparing them all to what I know already about NCSU.

21^st-4th in Dhaka 1/26

Supposed to go to Sonargaon today. But the rain and the cold made Megan and I decide to cancel it. It’s mostly an outdoor affair there, and it wouldn’t be fun with 60 degree rainy weather.

Today is the KKC back at NC State. 3000 people registered, and they had to cap it there because of t-shirt limits. Wonder what it could’ve grown to. It is so exciting. Can’t wait to see how it goes. I care about it from an organizational standpoint, as well as how it succeeds in raising money for the NC Children’s Hospital. Saket, Greg, Peyton and I, as the past organizers, keep sending emails around and commenting on how we think it’ll turn out. (graph link) The way registration grew day by day compared to last year is spectacular (graph thanks to Saket.) Incredible what happened. 400 people in one day near the end!

Was home most of the day. Started a literature review document which I’ll gather all my thoughts on the articles in.

Met up with Saifullah, Ashrafi, and Sunny at Anam Rangs Plaza. First helped Saifullah buy some CDs of American music for his new car. He wanted some faster stuff and slower stuff, but not rock. So I suggested Justin Timberlake, Black Eyed Peas, and Coldplay. Hopefully he’ll enjoy. I know Coldplay is rock, but it’s not heavy metal or punk, which was what he was trying to avoid. Back at Popel’s house later we had some snacks and hung around and talked. Celebrating that Ashrafi will be going to the US next month.

Newspapers posted on walls everywhere. I’m going to make the guess that this is the way that most people in Dhaka get their news. In many locations around the city, the daily paper from different newspapers are posted on the walls of buildings and fences. Sometimes just one newspaper, sometimes up to eight different newspapers. New editions are put up each day. No English papers, only the Bengali ones. There’s usually a crowd of four to five guys reading the papers each time you pass by. I also see rickshaw drivers stop to take a break and read too. A lot are put up near bus stands as something to do while you wait. This practice seems to be a good way to keep the general population, who can’t afford a TV or a daily paper, up to speed on local, national, and world affairs. It certainly promotes knowledge and discussion among the readers. Couldn’t imagine how else they would get the news if this wasn’t done. (pics: five men separately passing by stop to read newspapers on a board in front of the Jigatola bus stop, two men stop to read newspapers on a wall near Dhaka University/BUET)

21^st-5th in Dhaka 1/27

BUET students are doing online course registration for the first time ever this semester. They are continually coming into the computer lab in which I’m sitting to register. Many times in pairs to explain to each other how to navigate the nuances of the new system. I see a lot of them staring at the registration page for minutes on end, trying to understand what exactly needs to be done, and exploring the possibilities of this new online system.

The computer lab I’m in is fairly nice. Twenty computers, all Dells. Not that fast, but fast enough. Most people are coming to browse the internet. We remove our shoes before we come in. and we leave our bags in cubby holes near the entrance. Meaning I have to empty the contents of my bag at my computer station, then bring the bag back to the door.

Went walking to find a place for lunch. Went south from BUET to see what was there. Found a restaurant that looked really nice inside. Well designed tables and chairs and a neat interior. I ate lunch there, and it took about 45 minutes, and in that time, NO ONE ELSE CAME IN. Felt bad for the owners. They obviously put a lot of effort into the place, and no one is coming. I wonder if I was the first all day. Took them forever to make my food, and although I’d like to blame their lack of customers on bad service, I think the case is rather that they had to fire the stove up and cook everything fresh since I was the first.

Going carefully through each document for the literature review, and taking notes on the parts which are important to my project. There are no studies that I can find that did exactly what I want to do, or even 50% of what I want to do. In what I’ve found, buses are simply deemed overcrowded, but how that affects operations is rarely even mentioned.

21^st-6th in Dhaka 1/28

Today’s plan was to buy tickets for my flight to Bangkok. Last night Megan confirmed she’ll be staying in Bangladesh an extra month and a half so she’s definitely interested in coming to Bangkok with me. So we made plans to get that done today.

First I went to the American Center to pick up a letter telling of my affiliation with Fulbright. I’ll be giving this to my professor at BUET so we can get me access to other places on campus. While there, Harvey told me about the conference for Fulbrighters that India holds twice a year. All South Asian Fulbrights are invited, but we have to pay our own way. Honestly, I’d go if it wasn’t so expensive. It’s a $500 dollar plane ticket to get there and the hotel is $150 bucks a night, all inclusive. That one trip could be almost two months of living for me. I just can’t take that kind of time and money to do this. Although it’d be nice, I’ll have to say no.

From Megan’s job we headed by bus to my travel agent from last week in Motijheel. We booked our tickets at the travel agent, but not without them serving us lunch first: fried chicken, fries, and a roll. Just like last time. And it’s not like they were trying to win our business anymore, really not sure why we’re fed there.
We got the GMG deal just fine, Buy 1 Get 1 Free to Bangkok. Had to shift our travel dates because of flight availability, so now we’re traveling from February 15-19. Will be a fun trip to see Bart and Shariful and now have Megan there too. Hope to see a lot of the sites in Bangkok and see what the rave about the city is. Had to go to the bank to take out the big wad of cash…handed over 91 Tk500 bills to pay for the tickets!

When I got home this evening I couldn’t find my disembarkation card. This piece of paper is given to you when you arrive in Dhaka at the airport. They stamp it and it says you entered Bangladesh through the airport. Very necessary if you leave the country over land to prove how you go there. It’s a big deal. I had brought it with me to the travel agency inside my passport. Must’ve lost it there went they went to make photocopies of the passport. Quite frustrating. Wondering if I’m will have to fight to leave the country next time. Will try calling agency tomorrow to see if they have it, but not crossing my fingers.

Got sick again tonight. Stomach problems. And no one can see it was street food this time, as I’ve only eaten at good restaurants the last few days. Was not happy get sick again. It always seems to start at night too. Don’t know what’s causing it.

21^st-7th in Dhaka 1/29

Today I’ve been sick. At home all day. Worked on my literature review from home. Reading about New Zealand's mens single sculling rivalry. Watched videos from KKC coverage(including Technician slideshow and UNCTV pre-event coverage.) But mostly just recovering and drinking oral saline.

Called the travel agency to see if they had my disembarkation card I lost at their place. Nope, they hadn’t seen it. So now I’m going to try and see what will happen. I’ll try and see if I can get it all worked out before I arrive at the airport on February 15.

Had cereal for breakfast. And managed to have rice and some blandish curry for lunch. Potato and tomato curry only. Felt good to eat the warm food. It’s been cold in the house lately too. Given me a sore throat as well.

Talked to Lauren online, one of the other Fulbrights. She’s going to be leaving early. She was mugged once, and recently her roommate got mugged for the second time, all in their neighborhood. Well its enough that she’s calling it quits and doesn’t want to stay anymore. I’m likely going to buy her TV, DVD player, and fridge. Win-win for both of us as she gets some money for the stuff she bought and I get cheaper prices for used items.

Throat this evening has gotten worse. Hard to swallow food, and also hard to swallow water. Will go to doctor tomorrow. Diya and Farhanaz’s parents are both doctors, and their mom’s hospital is real close by. So I’m going to get this checked out if it’s not better tomorrow.