System Shock

 I arrived yesterday afternoon at 4pm local time. It is insanely hot out here, and the humidity makes it much worse. Driving to town from the airport, the roadsides appeared very similar to what I had seen in India. Hundreds of small stalls stacked together in the dirt tracks, mainly pedaling foods and crafts. The traffic is as bad or perhaps worse if that is possible. Rickshaws, CNG's (which stands for compressed natural gas, and is the same as a tuk-tuk in Thailand), small cars, buses and trucks all honk and compete for space on what little amount of drivable road they can squeeze into.

 Part of the drive was actually stunning, as the road is surrounded by rivers and deltas, banked with palm trees and other lush greenery. It was surely the affect of this scenery, and the fatigue from the flight, that induced me to leave my blackberry on the seat of the taxi, never to be seen again! 

 The Grand Prince Hotel is not "grand". Far from it.  It sits 2 floors above a sort of Bangladeshi mini Wal-Mart. My "blosom single" room has AC, carpet and a rock hard single bed. Most curious of all is the door at the end of the room. It opens into a fairly large shower, but within this space are to be found my toilet, sink and mirror. While shocked at first, I can now testify that the convenience of this situation is, in my experience, unmatched.

 I struck up conversation with some Americans in the lobby (the hotel is mainly filled with Grameen interns), and asked them if I could join them for dinner. Much to my fear, we ended up at a place down the road that was quite possibly the most run down restaurant I had ever seen. To make matters worse, we were seated on the top (3rd) floor and it was smolderingly hot. The room was packed. And for good reason, because my chicken bone and lentil soup, marinated roast chicken breast with rice and naan, and condensed cream and rice noodle pudding (clearly a subcontinent favorite) were all delicious. And with a bill that came to $16 for 7 of us (ie just over $2 a head), I was pretty speechless. 

 Today we went to the Zoo and saw some malnutritioned Indian lions, and then I met two more girls in the lobby and ate lunch with them close to the hotel. I treated them both. Our bill for 3 currys was $1.80. After lunch we took a CNG to a very up-market store that had beautiful saris and kaftans on several different floors. Nothing was more than about $20. 

 This evening I went to the parliament building, which is an incredible piece of geometrically inspired architecture. Unfortunately they were in session while we were there, so we couldn't get around to the front. My night ended with some friends and some Bengalis at a fast-food restaurant called "Delicious Food". Delicious it was. So far they only have one outpost, but are looking to expand, so watch this space. 

 Tomorrow will be my first day at the bank, so until then, 

 Richard