I am not sure when this will be posted, but I figured I would start it now. Things here are starting to get a little out of control. The political situation here is deteriorating really fast; it is disintegrating right in front of my eyes. This is all leading up to the elections that are still eleven months away. The Mujahadeen here have stepped up their campaign for Islamic rule. Since my last posting they have created a lot of problems. Over the past week and a half there have been five or six suicide bombing throughout the country. Two of them were in the city of Gazipur where I just spent the last three months living. One of them was about twelve hours after I walked by the very spot it happened. I was visiting my old family in Gazipur for a day and left that night, the next morning is when it took place. Three days ago the girl that lives in my city Kelly was down in the market where we shop. She said that people started panicking and running in all directions, they had found a time bomb planted on the side of the road. It turns out that a small child had been toying with it when someone noticed that it was ticking. The “authorities” said that it would have caused a lot of damage and loss of life if it had gone off, for Kelly that was a little close for comfort. People are finding these bombs planted all over the country, under busses (in my bus station in Dhaka), in government buildings and schools. Schools!! These guys have no mercy. They plant them in schools because they are not teaching strictly from the Koran. They are threatening to kill teachers that do not comply with their conditions. Yesterday twin suicide bombers detonated outside a cultural academy. These guys are nuts, this the first time that they are actually resorting to suicide tactics. It is really scaring the general population bad. All the Bengalis are very nervous right now, which in turn makes me a little nervous. There have been no direct threats to Americans as of yet, but these guys are getting pretty bold. The more press coverage they get the more threats they issue. The U.S. doesn’t seem to be too concerned with the situation, especially seeing how Bangladesh doesn’t have any resources to offer (they don’t even have naturally occurring rock). So much for the war on terror, more like the War for Natural Resources (and terrorist if you have them). I think the U.S. will just pawn this problem off on India and let them deal with it.
Anyways aside from the bleak outlook on the situation I am trying to enjoy myself as much as possible. I have been trying to play soccer and cricket almost everyday, we play a game of cricket to warm up and then we play a game of soccer. I forgot how much I love soccer, it is now becoming one of my favorite games to play and watch. It was really hard to get games together back home, but here everyone just congregates at the same time after prayer and we play. It is really funny to listen to them argue, and believe me it is to no end when it comes to gatherings of Bangladeshi men. It is a great release for the stressful days, with all this crazy stuff going I have to have somewhere to vent. Sports is a great middle ground for people who are really different, all the cultural differences go to the side. Cricket is the best it is like batting practice. They just pitch me the ball to no end, they love it when I bat. I can just try and hit the ball as hard as I can, it feels really good, and you know people pay for this stuff in America (batting cages).
I have also been looking for a house, I have found one I like so no starts the haggling process. He wants 38 dollars a month for rent without utilities (10 dollars). I have since convinced him to include the utilities, which would bring my total rent to $38. It is on the edge of town surrounded by rice patties. It is a two-bedroom one-bath apartment on the second floor. It is decent inside, all concrete, eastern toilet and a roof with a nice view. Most of all it is about the privacy, something that is really hard to come by in this country. That is something that I really took for granted back home. This country has so many people that they are always in your face, and I mean IN my face. These people have no concept of personal space it is all point blank. Anyways, living in a house alone will hopefully provide that privacy. I have been living with a Bangladeshi family for over four months now; it is starting to take its toll. It would be hard for me to live at home for four months in the states, let alone with a family I barely know. Although I will miss the three hot meals a day, there is no shortage of food living with these families.
It is really nice weather here right now, it is seventy and sunny every single day. The monsoon season ended and now it is shit (winter), it feels really nice. It hasn’t rained for at least one month solid. Everyone here is bundled up in their winter jackets freezing and I am wearing a thin long sleeve shirt riding my bike. They think that I am crazy; they remind everyday that I am going to freeze if I don’t wear a jacket.
My class starts really soon, I am in the interview process right now. I have about one hundred applicants that I have to whittle down to thirty. Even though I wrote on my advertisement that I would not take any bribes, still everyday they try. Corruption was a huge problem at my institution before I came, but now they have a new deputy director that is trying to clean up their image. The students are in disbelief when I won’t accept their bribes. This one of those issues that I will not budge on, no matter how much they push. This is one of the ways they keep the poor people down; the poorer population cannot afford the bribes. So the people with the money get into all the classes. I tell the applying students that it does not matter how much money you have or who your father is, your ability to speak English is what is going to get you into this class.

Anyways, hope all is well back home. until next time. bombs away

shada shoitan