Day 5, 1:54PM, ICDDR,B in Dhaka

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I am so bored. I can’t believe my internet just crapped out on me. I’m tempted to pull out my book and just read or watch old episodes of The Office I have on my computer but then it won’t look like I’m working. I don’t think anyone cares or is really paying attention but it’s my first day—I should look like I’m working even if I have nothing to do. The man I am working with, Kuntal, has his own work to do so I was put here indefinitely, at Dr. Karim’s desk next to the office printer. It’s been a ridiculously uneventful day. I woke up around 6:30, checked my email, worked out for a bit, showered, had breakfast, then went to work. Kuntal drove me today (and when I say Kuntal, I always mean Kuntal’s driver—no one in the upper classes actually drives here) to work but I think in the future I might have to take a rickshaw. I guess that will be okay but I’m a bit nervous. I’m sure once I do it, it will be fine. Maybe Ali can show me how to do it or ICDDR,B can arrange one for me. Or I can just go out on the street, wave my arm with some taka in my hand and get a ride. Internet’s working! I’m thinking of joining the American Club. There seems to be a tight ex-patriot community here and it’s also inevitable not to join it. Internet’s out again. I thought that underwater cable would ensure decent internet.
Anyway, I’m just bored and shouldn’t burden someone with a 10 page email with my wandering thoughts. I moved to my new apartment yesterday and it’s really nice by all standards. I have a nice bedroom with a bathroom and balcony and air conditioning! I have still be relying mostly on the fan, especially at night, to not waste energy and then the heat wakes me up in the morning. The A/C is great for working out though. It’s still not cold or anything but not painfully hot and humid. Ali, the girl I’m living with, is British and grad student age. She seems really cool though sad right now—basically all of her friends are leaving and she is staying for another 2 months (she’s been here for 7). I feel bad—you can tell she has enjoyed her time but is more than ready to pack up and go home. She’s an environmentalist and works for an agricultural NGO so at least no more meat, which is amazing. I really like Bangladesh and all but I almost gagged on the last piece of beef curry I had to eat. My stomach seemed to have adjusted pretty well but I mostly crave plain foods like—plain rice, granola, bread, etc. I really don’t even want to eat fruit anymore. Even though I’m not stomach sick, I think it is my body’s sign to tone down on the curries and meat, which I’m happy to do.
Last night I went to Kuntal’s flat for dinner and had to tone my excitement at Pizza Hut pizza, cake, and 7Up. He lives in Dhanmondi, which is the old upper class area before Gulshan was really settled. Lots of the upper class Bangladeshis live in Dhanmondi. The power just went out and everything went down. It goes out pretty often—it’s already gone out twice today and it’s mid-afternoon. Wealthier places have generators but I can’t imagine it’s nice in poorer areas since the outages can last for hours. I think the city is not capable of running all of the air conditioners in the summertime. You get used to it. Anyway, so I went to Kuntal’s and met his family and 3 little girls. They were quite adorable—healthy and energetic. It’s nice to see that children are really the same everywhere. The food was good but I always feel like I offend people when I don’t stuff my face. I think it’s a Bangladeshi thing.
I just met with Kuntal and we went over what I will start to work on tomorrow. I am going to create and validate an index for maternal enabling factors to be used to determine if these factors can be used to measure child care practices, which in turn play a role in determining child health and growth. I wonder if this will really take me 7 weeks. I think I might be going to Matlab next week because Marge Koblinsky, the director of this division at ICDDRB, says that Matlab will become very inaccessible soon when the government takes a bridge out of commission to work on it. There is a group going on Tuesday but it’s too soon. Hopefully next week will work out. It’s a pretty remote place and Kuntal thinks I should spend a total of 1 week there. I think it’d be best for me to spend all of next week there if the bridge going to be taken out soon. You take a speedboat part of the way and a bus part of the way—should be fun.

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