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).

I also examined the furniture that had been provided for us in what was originally to be our “study.” There were two old wooden desks, and the larger one (which would probably be mine) looked about to fall apart. For some reason I pulled out the writing board (it was one of those older desks that have such things) and it came out entirely. To my surprise, there were termites crawling all over the writing board. Further exploration yielded the sad truth that the termites had indeed infested the entire larger desk. Since there were lots of other wooden things in the house (the doors, the wicker furniture, etc.), I was anxious to have the desk gone as soon as possible, lest the termite infection be spread.

To add some more chaos to the mix, we had been informed that the room where we were to have our study had an air-conditioner hole in the wall where we could place our AC (rather than keeping it in the bedroom). An overview of the room revealed that no such hole existed! This meant we were back to the drawing board as far as setting up our study room and keeping our computers cool in the Dhaka heat. We discussed the possibility of acquiring a split-AC unit (where the compressor is placed outside the room–in this case, on the balcony–and a pipe leads cold air to the distributor inside the room), but the costs involved would nearly equal one month of Taara’s salary, so we ruled that out. In the end we opted to move the entire study to what was originally going to be the guest room. Since that room is next to our bedroom, we figured that we could blast the AC with the door open and, if we closed the hallway with a curtain, the cold air would be directed back into the study.

Purnima showed up shortly before 10, in spite of our clear instructions that she need not come on Friday (which is the Muslim holy day). She washed some dishes and Taara sent her home before she could find anything else to do. About an hour later we were whisked away by Debra to the American Club for a “Mongolian BBQ” lunch. After a hearty meal I finally reached my first objective for the day, the Grameen Phone Center on Gulshan Avenue, where I hoped to get as SIM card for my Treo. The Grameen folks were actually quite helpful and my phone was set up right then and there, though they informed me that Internet access on the phone would take 72 hours to enable (more on that adventure later).

After a quick ricksha ride home, we hopped onto a CNG (compressed natural gas vehicle) and headed off to church. Our driver decided that it would be too much trouble to find a place to turn on one of the main highways he took, and so we found ourselves headed along the shoulder of a three-lane highway, in the wrong direction, suddenly crossing incoming lines of traffic towards a small breach in the median. At last in the proper flow of traffic, we made it to DICC (Dhaka International Christian Church) without any bodily harm (though I think I need a psychologist after that little trip).

The church service was quite nice, though it was apparent that many people are away during the school breaks, given the number of empty seats. After the service we met Ray and Glenna Thayer, who invited us to their home for dinner. Little did we know that several others were invited as well, since it was Ray’s birthday party! We had some great food and were able to get to know many of the other people from the church, such as Richard and Carol Waddell and Mr. and Mrs. Ko (that’s how they were introduced, I think maybe they wanted to spare us– or their ears–the agony of trying to pronounce their Korean names).

The ricksha ride home in the dark actually caused less palpitations than the daytime ones, due to the fact that the streets are dimly lit and that you can’t really see anything until it’s right in front of you (which makes most people–but not all–drive very slowly). The evening was a nice welcome to the church family and an enjoyable amalgam of stories and interesting experiences.