2 weeks

We have been in Bangladesh now for 2 weeks and have mostly been resting, eating, and going to orientation activities for work. We've finally unpacked our bags and are feeling somewhat settled in our house, although there is still much to do (like buying furniture!). We are staying in a temporary home that a former staff member lived in and will be looking for a new place that suits our needs. The home we are in now is quite nice with running water (and hot water for showers), electricity, air conditioners (although you have to turn them off when the electricity goes out and the generator is running), a refrigerator/freezer, and a gas stove for cooking. We can buy things like a tv or microwave, but aren't splurging on such luxuries yet.

We have hired staff to help with cooking, cleaning, and watching Ezra. Cleaning has to be done everyday because there is so much dust and hand washing clothes takes a long time. Cooking is done from scratch each day by first going to the market and selecting fresh vegetables and fish/chicken/meat. We have really liked the food so far. Our lunch and dinner meals are usually rice, dal (thin lentil sauce), cooked vegetables, small piece of fish/chicken, and sliced cucumbers. They serve us a breakfast similar to what we are used to in the US - toast, eggs, and coffee (instant Nescafe). The Bangla breakfast is curried potatoes and vegetables, eggs, "parathas" (fried flat bread), and cha (tea). We have this occasionally too. Bananas are in season right now, and they are everywhere. Most of the bananas here are fatter than those in the US and they are much more flavorful too (I'm not sure I will be able to go back to eating our bland ones). We've been buying things to stock the empty kitchen and purchased an electric water kettle. This appliance is fantastic - it boils water so quickly! I think I'll be adding this to my appliances when we move back to the states.

Thankfully, Jeremy and Ezra have not been sick at all. I have been sick once with some kind of intestinal problem, but it was very short lived (just one night). The main doctor on the project insisted I drink ORS (oral rehydration solution) for 24 hours, which made me feel like I was "experiencing" Bangladesh and public health here. In case you didn't know, Bangladesh is the home of ORS, and this public health effort alone has saved hundreds of millions of lives. It is mostly used with children to prevent dehydration from diarrhea, but was initially developed to save people from dehydration during a massive cholera outbreak back in the 1970s. You can read more about it at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_rehydration_therapy and http://rehydrate.org/ors/index.html#1million. The beauty of this therapy is that it is just salts and sugar - which in the right balance will allow water to cross the damaged intestines into your body. Water alone will not be transported across, which is why people die of dehydration, not the cholera, rotavirus, etc.

It is nearing the end of the rainy season here. The weather is sometimes sunny and hot; other times it is raining and not quite as hot. It rains everyday and is always muggy - much wetter than Houston. Thankfully it is past the peak mosquito time and we haven't seen many of those.

We have been trying to learn Bangla, but it has been slow going so far. It is hard to find a tutor and most of the office staff we work with speak pretty good English. So we've been getting by, but won't get far doing things like bartering at the market if we don't develop good speaking skills. Thankfully, another student from Hopkins (Becky) who speaks pretty fluent Bangla is also here. She was a Peace Corps volunteer in Bangladesh, which means she knows the language and the culture - which is a huge help for us.

Our weekend is Friday and Saturday, so tomorrow it's back to work for us. I'll write another post soon about the work I am doing here.