Hello from Bangladesh

It's really nice to be able to touch base with you all after my first few days in Dhaka.  I have had very little access to any sort of technology that would allow me to converse with anyone other than those in my immediate vicinity, but I suppose that is merely a sign of things to come.  As I write this, I am recharging the batteries for my laptop, camera and mobile on my new "multi plug" powerboard, which I bought today from the "Shop 'n' Save" around the corner.

I, along with my fellow youth ambassadors, was greeted at Dhaka airport by our lovely in-country manager, Badrul, a local man who is taking care of us at the moment.  We are staying at a gorgeous guesthouse, which is somewhat of an oasis from the mind-bogglingly crazy streets of Dhaka.  No amount of warning could have possibly prepared me for the complete and utter chaos that awaited me on the roads coming out of the airport, and there are no words that I could use that could possibly do it justice.  However, to give you some indiciation (without any exaggeration whatsoever), technically, traffic should flow on the left-hand side of the road, however in reality, it is basically whatever gets you there fastest.  The roads are completely packed with cars, trucks, buses, rickshaws, CMVs (auto-rickshaws) and baby-taxis (all tooting their horns and ringing their bells, not necessarily out of frustration, but merely to let other people know that they're there, so that they don't get hit), and pedestrians simply walking across the road without any warning.  The only advantage of such a traffic "system" is that the roads are so busy that no-one can really go very fast. Crossing the road is interesting.

As soon as we venture outside of our oasis, we are greeted with a thousand eyes staring at us.  I think it's quite amusing that we are as interesting to them as they are to us.  While I'm starting to get used to it all now, I have been feeling like I'm living in some sort of picture or movie, and am half expecting to walk around a corner into a place that feels normal again, with normal cars and buildings, etc. 

But I'm loving it.  I just keep smiling and laughing at the fact that I'm actually here. 

And the heat?  Well, as I sit at this computer, at 6.15pm, I can still feel the sweat rolling down my back, despite the fan over my head and the tiny breeze that wafts through the window every few minutes.  But that's all good too.  The oasis has air-conditioned rooms, so sleeping is not an issue.

My Bangla is coming along nicely.  I have learnt how to hail a rickshaw and give a few directions, although today I got mixed up and I said "Go straight" instead of "stop", but I had my friends to help, so that was good.

Today I found another oasis, which I am planning on escaping to at every possible moment whenever I come up to Dhaka.  The Mango Cafe.  It reminded me slightly of Bar Doppio in Alice Springs, where you feel like it's your kind of place and the music is great and the food is FANTASTIC.  I had a thai noodle soup and a banana frosty (kind of a banana/coffee/chocolate milkshake) there today.

There really is just so much to say, and I'm doing my best to take it all in.