Daily Living

So I have been here a total of five days (am not going to lie, though the days go fast, it seems much longer). It has cooled down some, such that after a cold shower (under two fans at high speed) I actually needed my sheet for some warmth (if only briefly).

Typical day for me consists of waking at ~7 AM (initially earlier, now later). As most people know, this is ridiculously early for me, but I find it easier to work in the mornings - its cooler and I am less likely to be distracted. The fact is, there are seven of us living in 3 rooms. Rupa (the doctor I am with here) and I share a room (while there are FIVE!! people who share the other bedroom. Though bedroom is a loose term, as it really does function as office, living room, entertaining room and sleeping room. Last night, I literally just packed it in and laid down despite the fact that two additional people were working in my room.

From 9 until about noon Rupa (and now I) work(s) with the staff, for "capacity building," basically training them to give surveys and process the information. (I also just realized I never fully explained my project here. Basically we are going to the more remote villages outside of Narsingdi (which is, itself, an hour outside of Dhaka)... they are small communities on the chars (islands) of the Meghna River. A friend of Rupa's is setting up an NGO - Ongkur (which means sapling in Bangla). We are currently working on determining the family planning practices of the women and men on these islands - we want to know if they use contraception or if they want to and how we can improve access. Why do we care? Bangladesh is amongst the most densely populated countries on the planet, with a current population that exceeds 150 million. Couple this with ridiculously limited resources and you get a very large problem. The poverty is astounding. The healthcare nonexistent).

Sorry for the digression... back to a typical day. Around noon we leave by CNG - a motorcycle-like object (run on compressed natural gas, hence CNG) with a covered seat in the back: usually 5 of us pile in and take the ~40 minute ride to the "dock," where we pick up a wooden motorboat (steering is provided by a wooden rudder, operated by the boatman). The CNG drivers are reminiscent of cabbies in New York - lots of honking and swerving (though it is usually on account of the cows or goats leisurely crossing the road, or the massive number of people on the streets of the mass of rickshaws and CNGs coming in the opposite direction). As for the boat ride, it is usually quite pleasant. In ~20 minutes we reach the chars and administer our survey to ~4 or so people (which actually takes ~1.5-2 hours). More on char life later.

We take the same route home, where I usually take my second of 3 showers. There ensues eating, more work and then collapse into bed, only to awake and repeat!