Another day in Dhaka

This blog seems to have developed a bit of a split personality; either it is a serious discussion about the nature of Bangladesh's politics, or it is more of photo-journal. Today I'm going to attempt to be a little more well-rounded in my entry.

The political situation here is still chaotic and rife with uncertainty. The election date (January 21st, 2007) has been announced amidst a flurry of controversy. To be perfectly honest, I'm not following the news as closely as I was at the beginning. I'm lost in the muddle of details about who said what to whom, who has been replaced by whom, who is more corrupt than who, etc. etc...I find the news quite frustrating and depressing. All of the leaders purport to have the best interest of the people at heart, but I have to ask myself "which people"? The leaders seem to be caught up in juvenile, self-centered, self-aggrandizing games, and it is "the people" who suffer the most.

The two women at the helm of the major political parties (the AL and BNP) recently attended the same event. It was reported that they were within 15 yards of each, but refused to acknowledge each other with so much as a glance. Politics here are deeply personal, and political issues are often a disguise for personal differences. Here is a sampling of the headlines from yesterday's paper (I have added the italices for clarification):

Prof. Yunus' (the Nobel Laureate) New Formula: Proposes a coalition govt, peace deal between parties;
Key question now is whether politicians can forget differences;
14 party (Awami League- previous opposition) youth wing besieges Secretariat office;
Kahleda (BNP - previous ruling party) accuses Awami League of creating chaos;
Worried Annan to send envoy to Dhaka;
More arson attacks on election offices.

Against this acrimonious political backdrop, we are going about our everyday life. In the little while that we have been here I have managed to meet a great group of women, many of whom have small children. There a number of social events loosely scheduled during the week to give people an opportunity to get together with other moms. Bangladesh is a hard place to live, and these groups provide a comfortable, "Western" forum to socialize and discuss experiences and exchange advice.

It has been wonderful to develop these friendships, however, it is uncomfortable to realize that all the people I have met thus far are from outside of the country.

On Mondays, I host a baby massage group. Rani, a trained masseur (on the right in the forefront) demonstrates different techniques, and we copy her on our respective children
















Every Wednesday a group of 15-20 people (and their children) get together at someone's home. The children range in age from a couple of months to a couple of years. This can be a bit of a raucous affair when the older toddlers start to discover the new toys! Clara is one of the younger ones, and definitely one of the cutest! :-)


















These socials offer a fantastic opportunity to meet people, and to develop friendships. Here are some more recent, random Clara photos:

Well, that's about it for today. I hope that all is well with our friends and family. We look enjoy all of your email, and look forward to hearing how everyone is doing.