Hello from Dhaka

This is my first blog post from Dhaka. It took me a while but I am alive and well. Unfortunately, my notebook and my digital camera aren't. Whiskey tango foxtrot. That means there won't be any pictures until I get them up and running. That kinda sucks.

My time here, so far, has been pretty darn hectic. No matter how hard I try, I can't really explain what it's like in Dhaka. It's one of those things you have to experience for yourself. Dhaka is hectic, frantic, always moving, always bustling during the day and there's always something going on and there's always something to see. There's this endless cacophony of noise that's different from anything you would hear in any other city in the world. I've heard the Dhaka traffic being described as organized chaos. To me, it seems like total gridlock. Nothing moves for what seems like hours. Then all hell breaks loose and it's a frantic free-for-all where every vehicle tries to squeeze itself into every available inch of asphalt before gridlock sets in again. Getting anywhere through this crazy Dhaka traffic is an experience in itself.

It's been unbearably hot the last few days but it rained tonight. What a relief it was! By the way, it rains sideways here. It really does. While the rain provided much-needed relief from the heat and the humidity for the people in Dhaka, I'm not sure that's the kinda weather the people in the coastal regions of Bdesh were hoping for, given that those regions were hit hard by a tropical storm a week ago and death tolls are reported to be over 200. The people in this country are a resilient bunch. Every year, there are reports of storms or cyclones hitting Bdesh and every year, tons of people die, many more lose whatever little they own and every year, these people rebuild their houses and their lives and start all over again. I am pretty sure I (or most people I know, for that matter) wouldn't be able to start our lives from scratch year after year, every year. Resilience should be the middle name of every Bdeshi. Seriously.

Something else I admire about the people here is their friendliness. At times, I'm tempted to think that there is some ulterior motive behind their friendliness, but every time, I'm proved wrong and I realize that even the poorest of the poor here - you know, the people who can't offer you anything but their friendship - would do so with genuine intentions and an infectious smile.

That's not to say everyone here has your best interest at heart. A couple of days ago, I had to intervene when a street thug tried to coax a few bucks out of my CNG wallah (a CNG is like a motorized tuktuk, a three wheeler that runs on compressed natural gas, hence the name CNG). I couldn't afford to be late to my appointment, so I stepped out, picked up the guy before I set him aside and bellowed CHALO, to which the bewildered 5'5 thug reacted and moved out of the way as we drove off.

On a different note, I haven't had a hard time adjusting to a different time zone. Not much of a jet lag really. I've been pleasantly surprised at my ability to sleep on time since my first night here and I've been waking up on time too. Today, I woke up at 6 am to watch game 2 of the NBA finals. Live. They show it on ESPN here. What a game! I was screaming my lungs out the whole time. I caught a Yankees game on TV the other day too. Apparently, I get HBO as well, although the programming is quite different (tons of straight-to-DVD movies). I am not sure if they will air the new season of Entourage but I have my fingers crossed.

It's a quarter past eleven at night, and I have to say that this is my least favorite part of every day. How a city that's so alive and noisy and hectic during the day can completely die by 9 p.m. is beyond me. So, between 9 p.m. and the time I go to sleep, I am pretty much left with nothing to do. There's not much of a nightlife here. I've been meaning to go to Bagha but haven't had the opportunity yet. I am not sure I am particularly fond of the others of its ilk. Speaking of Bagha, I have yet to complete my list of places to visit and things to do in Dhaka - you know, the same list I promised to post in my blog like weeks ago. I'll get around to it sometime soon. Anyway, I think that's all for now. TTYL.