Slum, wedding, embassy

Wow- two weeks in Bangladesh already! On Monday I stopped wanting to come home so badly- I’m not sure why, but now I feel much better. I have made some good friends here so far, and I’m actually moving in with one. Mostly it is because it is cheaper with him. Did I mention that I am living with my boss? That makes for a strange situation.
I have also become slightly disillusioned with the internship program here. I can’t quite figure out why they have interns, because it doesn’t seem like they care much about our research. Adnan and I are trying to work around official people as much as possible. We’ve really just been doing our own thing- he is really good as just dropping names and talking his way into things, so on Monday we went to visit a mother and neonatal health program in a slum- we went to see a birthing hut, and watched a health volunteer do a check up. We talked for hours to these people. It is much more interesting to see what actually goes on in the field than hear about it from headquarters. We’ll also go to a TB, cancer, and leprosy hospital tomorrow. We’re going to try and finish our project early and spend the rest of the time perhaps traveling or doing some more learning around here.
The other night we went to a wedding. Adnan’s cousin gave me a pretty salwar and kamiz to wear- I wanted to wear a sari but his mom said I’d need an hour lesson or it may fall off. Weddings here are very different than in the US- there are many days of pre-parties, usually separate for the bride and groom, but this one was combined. The bride was dressed up so beautifully- look at my pictures. She sat in front of a wall of flowers. Then all the relatives and friends brought gifts and laid them at the couples’ feet, and rubbed tumeric on their faces to make them glow. This was followed by a delicious dinner and then a live band. I think a lot of people were wondering who the white people were- “I’m pretty sure we’re not related to them?” But nobody asked.
Today I went to the American embassy to meet a woman who is a connection of a connection. The embassy is extremely well guarded, it took me a while to get through security. It is also the nicest building I have been into in Dhaka so far, although she said compared to all the other embassies it is quite terrible. She doesn’t really like it here, thinks there is nothing to do- they can’t take public transportation anywhere. This is a hardship post for foreign service workers, meaning they get more money and don’t have to stay as long. But other people I met seemed to really love it. She showed me around and told me what everyone does, which I already knew thanks to Jeff Lunstead’s class. They invited me to join the American Club here in Dhaka, where I think only Americans can go, to swim, to eat, do “American things”. I think hanging out there too much may detract from my Bangladesh experience, but I would like to take a swim and maybe go for the 4th of July celebration. Well that is about it for now, I hope everyone is doing well!