winter's drawing in (not that you'd know it)

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Can't believe it's been over a month since I've written...mostly cos not much has happened and I've been so busy at school. It's that time of the term when reports are due, parent-teacher conferences are happening as well as exams which I have to make up...when's the next holiday again?!

Anyway thought I'd add a few more photos to enhance people's idea of Bangladesh which seems to be woefully inaccurate...by the way, yes we did suffer a cyclone as you may have seen on the news, about 5000 dead so far but Dhaka itself hardly suffered so I was fine. We are collecting old but good winter clothing for the cyclone-stricken so please contribute to your local Oxfam etc if you can, people really need it. Although it's hardly winter by British standards (it's dropped to about 28'C) everyone here is wearing scarves and jackets (honestly!) and in flattened areas with no shelter let alone no sanitary water it's tough.

Ok well I decided to give myself the afternoon off from lesson planning yesterday by going on the boat again. It's hardly a rollercoaster ride but that's the point, it's good to get out of the city and see some rural life as it were. Yesterday turned out to be a perfect day. Lately now the rains have ceased we have blue sky almost every day, bright blue and cloudless with the sun shining through, I'm guessing it's going to be my favourite time of year here. That makes for great sunsets and yesterday evening we were treated to a ginormous sunset and equally humunguous moon which were spectacular. I've always loved the dusk time - in China you could see all the lights in the shops, it was cooler and I felt less like a celebrity because I was less noticed as I walked around, smelling the ma po do fu, and here (at least on the boat) it seems really peaceful. The only downer was seeing the complete putrid blanket of fog hanging over Dhaka as we approached it. 'We breathe that in every day!' I thought. Because of the pollution I have been suffering from a blocked nose every day and headaches every day which I try and solve by taking anti-histamines but it's a bit of a pain in the arse really.

This weekend I'm playing two venues with the band I sing with, the Australian Club and something called Picnic in the Park which actually happens in the evening! Should be fun.

Anyhow it's about a month til I break up for the Christmas and Eid holidays and I am off to Nepal so looking forward to the coldness and fresh(er) air! More photos and blogging when I return.

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