We got an early start since we needed to shop for several household items in the next few days, and we wanted to make the most out of the daylight hours.Our first stop was DIT II (Gulshan II Market), where we bought a fan for our kitchen (we didn’t want our poor aya to melt), an AC adaptor for my Linksys wireless router (somehow I checked every AC adaptor for 220 compatibility except for the one our network/Internet access depends on), and a couple of clocks to place around the house so that we can keep some semblance of punctuality. It was good to get out of the DIT II dungeon…er…market, since it was blistering hot inside. Read More »»

An interesting fact about Bangladeshi apartments, even recently finished ones like ours, is that there is apparently no rhyme or reason to the way in which the electrical outlets have been placed around the flat. Read More »»

Ok, so the weekends here are weird. It’s like having Sunday before Saturday. So Sunday is actually on Friday, Friday is actually on Thursday, and Monday is actually on Sunday. And if any of that made sense to you, you’ve either been living in Dhaka way too long or you need to have your head checked. Basically, Friday is the holy day (like Sunday in the Americas and Europe), but Saturday is still part of the weekend. So a lot of people have Friday and Saturday off. Sunday is the first work day of the week, like Monday in the Americas and Europe. Read More »»

Our second day in Dhaka began with that dreaded task that is an unavoidable curse for every traveller: unpacking. After emptying some of our suitcases into the wicker closets provided by GIS, we stepped out of our air-conditioned bedroom only to immediately notice a strong, peculiar smell that permeated the rest of the house. Upon inspection, we realized that the smell was emanating from the heavy curtains that hung in front of every window. It was a smell reminiscent of sweat mixed with old cloth, and it was at that moment that I think the decision was made to acquire some new curtains as soon as possible (not that easy of a task in Dhaka, as we would later find out). Read More »»

We arrived late last night to a nearly deserted airport. The heat and humidity didn’t seem as bad to me as everyone had predicted. However, I did live in Manaus (in the Amazon) for five years, so perhaps I’m just better prepared than many others are for this kind of weather. I won’t deny that it’s hot or humid, just not unbearably so, for Taara or for me.

Getting through immigration was a breeze. The guy didn’t say a single word. He just took our passports, frowned at them a few times, looked at our visas, frowned at them as well for good measure (I think maybe they get paid on a per-frown basis?), stamped them both and nodded us past. Read More »»