I'm stealing this from Allie who stole it from Cath who stole it from Dave who stole it from Fred who stole it from the Economist :D

On Tuesday the Economist announced that Dhaka is the second worst city in the world to live in, behind Harare. All the things they said were wrong with this city: power cuts, gas supply problems, a lack of green spaces, a malfunctioning public transport system, extreme vandalism, dirty roads, noxious sewers, polluted rivers, high unemployment and suffocating overpopulation.

Want to come visit me?


There are a lot of things to be frustrated about in Dhaka. As much as I love my job and the people I work with Dhaka certainly has its challenges. One of my largest pet peeves is motorcycles driving on the sidewalk. I hate having to move out of the way or almost getting flattened. Today after stubbing my toe on the uneven sidewalk I lashed out at a motorcycle coming my way by slapping the top of his helmet with a satisfying whack! I'm sure he was very confused about why a foreigner taking this course of action when everyone drives on the sidewalk. I had a similar instance about a week ago when I yelled at a police officer on the back of a motorcycle going down the sidewalk. I often evilly plan different scenarios of retaliation and later attempt repentance. I haven't been successful but the Lord works in mysterious ways. :D Seriously though even though my bangla is terrible I want to be able to say "Is your head ok? Drive on the Road!" I've only had time to execute my "road go!" statement.

I haven't blogged in awhile. Partly due to being busy and partly due to not wanting to go on a tangent for 9 years. However, I have truly been blessed over the past few months. Jenny is FINALLY here and that makes me very happy! I hope she can find a job here soon! Today we went to lunch. She ordered a grilled cheese and me a chicken sandwich. Both having similar ingredients in bangladesh she took mine by mistake. After eating 30% of my sandwich I took a bite into the grilled cheese. Realizing it was missing chicken we switched. There's a new coffee roasting place in Dhaka giving out free drinks during the testing week. We decided to come here after school. Jenny ordered a mint mocha and I ordered a raspberry white mocha. After drinking half of my drink she realized it had a raspberry taste to it. Me being oblivious and still angry at my motorcycle encounter I failed to notice why my raspberry white mocha had a chocolate layer on the bottom. Twice in one day! We're awesome! It's great to have someone to cause trouble with! This coffee place is great and I think I'm going to move in. They're going to sell coffee at competitive american prices. Amar Bhalolage! I like it! I think Jenny is going to live in this coffee place a lot over the next few weeks! I LOVE COFFEE!!!!!!!!!! This place has a great atmosphere to get things done(like job applications for Jenny she says). Next week is spring break and I'm going to have am much needed trip out of Dhaka. We're going to the Bandarbans. We even have a train this time so we don't have to deal with the bus. I am very happy! It's a place where there are hills and green places and quietness. I need quiet. If you took an average db level in Dhaka it'd be like 85db at least for sure. Perhaps I will blog more soon!