Inbetween Days

This is a song to say goodbye

2009-10-15T06:43:00.004+07:00

This blog, no longer active, detailed my experiences as a volunteer working in International development in Bangladesh from October 2008 - October 2009. My new home on the web is Meeting in the Aisle. Come say hi! Things I'm going to love missing 1. "I wanna' live forever..." This last installment was going to start in a very different way. Any regular readers of my blog will know I’ve found

Song for my sugar spun sister

2009-10-13T08:23:00.000+07:00

For her first day in Dhaka, I whisked Kara off to the beautician where we promptly got pretty toes. It's all about easing her in gently...

Lullaby

2009-10-07T07:35:00.002+07:00

Things I'm going to miss loving 4. Getting my gear on Know what it’s like to dress up as a grape? An orange? A lime? What it’s like to wear your pyjamas to work every day? How it feels walking into a meeting with conservative VIPs in thongs? What it’s like to not have a fat day? I do, I do, I do! For a whole year I’ve been spared the strict rules and regulations that are the dress codes of

Border Song

2009-09-27T14:41:00.002+07:00

Things I’m going to love not missing 3. Living in a petri dish of putrification The sheer stench of humanity has caught me unawares in Bangladesh. Of course I expected some stinkiness. I’ve traveled through countries with worrisome approaches to sewage before, let alone markets, food and all the other sources of smell. But true to style, Bangladesh takes the smelliness factor to a whole new

We used to vacation

2009-09-27T11:55:00.001+07:00

What does one do when one has four weeks left to move out, pack up a life, finish up a job, and say goodbyes? Leave the country of course! A 10 day trip to Darjeeling and Sikkim in India has hopefully restored my sense of balance and will enable me to become super packer. Super detached from material goods. And super tough (read no tears) when saying sayoonara to my colleagues. Rather than gab

Stories from the city, stories from the sea

2009-09-14T10:23:00.001+07:00

Do you work on women's empowerment? My response to this question, posed by Nicholas Kristof at the New York Times Sure, I can tick the box saying I work on the empowerment of women and girls. A big tick. But truth is, I don’t do much. “Can you write your own name?” I might ask. “Does your daughter go to school?” Probing question after probing question, I tease out the threads of women’s lives

It was a strange time in my life

2009-09-12T13:35:00.005+07:00

Things I’m going to love not missing 2. Oh s*it, bu*ger, cr*p, f**k, da*n I’m gonna ddddiiiiieeeee A quick glance over at my upper arm is enough to remind me I’ve had more than my fair share of near death moments this year. The impressive bruise I’m currently sporting is the result of an incident with a motorbike. I was on the footpath, and soon, it was too. The collision wasn’t major, but it

Hyperballad

2009-09-06T20:39:00.005+07:00

According to my diary, I’ve got about 5 weeks left in Bangladesh and then it’ll be end of chapter, moving right along folks, please GFC clean up after yourself so when I’m done spending all my cash, I can find gainful employment come March. Pretty please. This gives me 5 weeks to post about the 5 things I’m going to miss loving, and the things I’m going to love not missing. Oh yes, a list, one

Sleeping Rough

2009-09-03T09:29:00.004+07:00

Call me slow, but I used to wonder why it is often difficult to get people in dangerous mosquito prone areas to sleep under a mosquito net. It seemed like a no-brainer: Sleep under net & avoid nasty blood-letting and possible infection with malaria/dengue. End of story. I even thought it was kind of...exotic. Sleeping under the net would be akin to those princess type beds I wanted so much when I

The Distance

2009-09-01T10:09:00.005+07:00

It might be after the event, but I want to give a big shout out to my sister Kara who did the Oxfam Walk last weekend. For those who don't know, it's a 100km slog, which she and her fellow Snail Trails knocked over in 32hrs. Ouch! It was in the name of charity, and so far they've raised a tidy $4,335. You can still donate (come on, all donations are tax deductible!) here. Kara climbing for

Wish you were here

2009-08-26T14:06:00.003+07:00

I love TV. Everyone who knows me knows that. Especially Channel 10 (with Channels 7&9 coming in a close second and third of course). Neighbours! Big Brother! That AYAD documentary... Yes, an AYAD documentary! Screening on Channel 10 (Australia) this Sunday August 30 at 3pm. Find out more, before sitting down on the couch with a glass of wine to toast those out there who can't toast.

These days...

2009-08-17T14:02:00.007+07:00

On the job - getting the low down on a cucumber farm in Cox's Bazaar Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Damn, that girl screams 'glamour'! Yes, glamour glamour glamour is what this job is all about. I got to play out one of my favourite Beatles songs recently (have a guess) by taking Sally with me out 'into the field' to research stories. In three days we covered: a women's group in a slum:

Chasing Pavements

2009-08-11T10:21:00.006+07:00

From one kind of ordinary week straight into another, I'm back in Chittagong and relieved to know I can still have a laugh at the complicated, bureaucratic, time-consuming and sometimes straight out absurd South Asian ways yet. With a long weekend looming and no concrete plans to celebrate it, Sal and I decided a weekend away could be just the thing. Our criteria centred on proximity and cost -

Let's take the long way home

2009-08-08T19:23:00.003+07:00

I’ve had what can only be classified as an ordinary week. I’ve worked from an office with views and air conditioning, drank real coffee with skim milk, eaten Japanese, Korean, Italian, Australian and Bangladeshi. I’ve had red wine, been to great parties, worn a dress and makeup, had broadband Internet access, and watched some TV. I even used a washing machine – it has been that ordinary. After a

That joke isn't funny anymore

2009-08-03T15:28:00.005+07:00

Can anyone else see what is wrong with this picture, or is it just me? 'I'll have one white virgin thanks'

Girls just wanna' have fun

2009-07-26T14:54:00.010+07:00

Or so I thought until a couple of my favourite girls landed at Zia International Airport in Dhaka about ten days ago. It turns out girls not only want to have fun, but they want electricity to power fans, oral rehydration salts to power bodies, and regular toilet stops to, um, well, yes. Lucky for Penny, Sally and I, the 'desh has largely been able to provide all of these between the 'race

In the flesh

2009-07-11T22:29:00.027+07:00

I am a vegetarian. This term is not as straight forward as it should be, and I’m partly to blame because I am the kind of vegetarian that will sometimes eat fish. Ergo, I’m not really a vegetarian. But, for the sake of this post, let’s just be lazy and call me a vegetarian. Even worse than being a vegetarian, I am the kind of vegetarian who has read, no, gobbled up really, The Ethics of What We

Beggar on the street of love

2009-07-02T21:05:00.003+07:00

It’s fair to say I didn’t know a lot about Bangladesh when I applied for this job. I knew a few hazy details – they had a cricket team, for example, and it was near India? And some taxi drivers in Sydney were from Bangladesh. I knew this for certain because three nights before I got on the plane I was having one last hurrah with my friends Michelle and Jez, and the taxi driver who took me home in

Caffeine in the morning sun

2009-06-30T20:37:00.003+07:00

What a way to start the day: chuckling at the improvised rain hat my rickshaw wallah was wearing. It made my morning. Well that and the two cups of freshly brewed coffee I drank warm for the first time in ages, courtesy of the welcome drop in temperature. So far monsoon season gets two thumbs up from me.

Little earthquakes

2009-06-25T12:56:00.006+07:00

Shunajur Village is sixteen kilometres from anything resembling a town centre. To get there you have to follow a small dirt road for fourteen kilometres, then continue on foot up and over the river. At the small shack on the left after the bridge, turn left and follow the dirt path into the trees. You know you’re in the right place when you get to the thatched huts. If you’ve got access to a four

We're all in this together

2009-06-19T22:22:00.006+06:00

I love technology. I love the Internet. I love my lap top. I love mobile phones. I love my iPod. I love electricity. (This last one I shouldn't really say out loud given how most electricity is generated the world over, it's terribly 'unleft' of me). I especially love these things today because even though I've not left my apartment (thank you recurrent Bangla belly for at least being mild this

Where did you sleep last night?

2009-06-16T16:24:00.019+06:00

Another month in the 'desh has come and gone and I've been a busy little bee, albeit one who feels like it's been blown about in one of the almost daily monsoonal lightening storms here. This part of the world being as full on as it is means I've had barely any time to really contemplate 'the big questions', like where my next paycheck is going to come from (given I'm at the 8 month mark); I've

Today's Lesson

2009-06-05T19:03:00.006+06:00

Guilt. Five letters. Implies regret for an action(s), intended or unintended. I’m carrying around bucket-loads of it at the moment. Which could seem out of place given that I’m not exactly living the high life, or taking it easy on the work front, or earning money, or doing a whole host of other things that normally induce feelings of guilt in me (eating the whole pad thai myself/ordering a

Shelter from the storm

2009-06-02T09:58:00.009+06:00

While I was busy entertaining the Chittagongian city-folk during Cyclone Aila, the coastal areas and islands in Bangladesh were (and still are) having a tougher time of it. In terms of cyclone severity, it didn't rate very high on the danger scale, however so much damage has been caused because the cyclone hit at high tide, which meant already high waters just went higher, and higher, and higher.

A little rain - little water song - city rain/city streets

2009-05-26T20:55:00.027+06:00

My monsoon look Confession: I am enjoying a natural disaster. I know this means I'm playing with karma, and earning some of the negative kind, but I can't help it. My paltry excuse is that I am from a country where the Google keyword search results for "drought" would number in the quadbillions (if there is such a thing) so I have a reason to get all excited over rain. But I know it's wrong

What if no one's watching?

2009-05-22T18:04:00.003+06:00

Humans are social creatures. This is not some epiphany I woke up to this morning over my (non existent) cornflakes. Really smart people with degrees n stuff have asserted this theory many times over - too many for me to list them here. And while that's all very good and well, frankly I'm far more interested in what happens to humans when they can't be social. Luckily I'm conducting my own human

I was only 19

2009-05-19T23:10:00.003+06:00

In an unusual move I am taking the time out of my Bangladeshi adventures to add my two cents worth in to the The Matthew Johns Incident even though I’m far away and even though it’s no doubt been done to death in the Australian media and even though I see so much worse on a daily basis in terms of the treatment of women and the construction of masculinity and femininity here in the ‘desh but …

Six months in a leaky boat

2009-05-12T10:51:00.009+06:00

Three things I love about Bangladesh (right now): · My job: I’m back from a week in remote Kishoreganj mixing it up with Early Childhood Centres and Women’s Empowerment Groups and loving it. Now I get to spend the next couple of weeks turning these hours into case studies, articles, fact sheets and monitoring and evaluation assessments. All while wearing aqua and lime green pyjamas, Birkenstocks

Such Great Heights (Nepal trek part 2)

2009-04-30T11:41:00.006+06:00

Day 3 – Ghorepani Now, where was I? Right at about the 4:30am wake up call point so I could climb Poon Hill in the dark and catch the sun rising over the Annapurna Ranges. Oh it sounds so impressive and hard core, doesn’t it? Well, it did to me, which is why I wanted to get plenty of sleep in me. After the couple of days I’d just had, I admit to being a bit nervous at the state my body would

Ask for Answers

2009-04-28T20:33:00.005+06:00

As enthusiastic as I am for my job, there are some days where I ask myself why I've elected to give up living in a great country, in a great city, in a great house with great flatmates and a great salary to fund a great lifestyle to ... well, if you're a regular reader of my blog, you can probably insert the relevant experiences yourself. And then I come across articles like this in today's

Running up that hill

2009-04-21T20:09:00.013+06:00

“Himalayas, Himalayas, Himalayas”. If you say that three times really quickly it sounds exactly like you’re saying “Himalayas Himalayas Himalayas” three times quickly. Which is what I’ve been doing nearly every day since I got back from my trek which took me within cooee of the Himalayas Himalayas Himalayas. Because this could end up being a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing (though not if I can

Couch Surfing

2009-04-15T10:06:00.004+06:00

Along with just about every other person in my generation (or so it seems) I unsurprisingly list ‘travel’ as a hobby in things that require descriptors of my personality. Whether it be Aussie sites I’m seeing, or struggling through a variation of charades, smiles and goodwill in foreign countries, I don’t care – it all brings me a sense of inner peace that some other people apparently get from (

Back in the good old world

2009-04-12T15:55:00.001+06:00

I know I haven’t finished uploading the photos which match my blog post about Kathmandu, and I also know I haven’t even written the post about the fantabulous trek I did in Nepal, but it seems my nine days back in Bangladesh are demanding to be written about in the middle of it all. The ensuing chaos fairly matches the way life goes here, so I figure jumping around a bit should be no problem.

You Gotta' Love This City

2009-04-07T14:29:00.005+06:00

Eleven days seems like a relatively short time when you start making comparisons between how long it took to build the great wall of China, or how long elephants are pregnant for, or … no, I won’t go absurd. I’m sure you’re following. In any case, the past eleven days for me have followed this alarming trend of brevity, as is becoming apparent to me in my current situation. Typing by candlelight

This is love

2009-03-26T09:05:00.005+06:00

You will have to please excuse me for ten days while I continue falling in love with this glorious country. Nepal, let me be yours?

Subbacultcha

2009-03-20T14:22:00.005+06:00

To continue on with the cool things theme, I went to this on Wednesday: And now I’m the proud owner of this: So now I know what it feels like to be one of those people who goes to an art exhibition and can then actually afford to buy something they see. This scroll set me back a worthwhile AUD$18.60, and included a personal explanation by the artist herself (it’s a depiction of an

How to disappear completely

2009-03-15T15:38:00.010+06:00

As I mentioned last post, this weekend Tania and I played hosts and had a slumber party in the gong for all our Dhaka buddies who are normally lost in the concrete jungle that is Bangladesh's capital city. One of the main attractions of Chittagong is the Ship Wrecking Yards, and as such, we went in a big bideshi (foreigner) bunch drawing about as much attention to ourselves as is possible, and

Weekend(s) without makeup

2009-03-10T10:48:00.025+06:00

Some days end more excitingly than others. I was reminded of that yesterday as my day in the field ended with this:Nothing too dramatic, just a smashed windshield and cracked rear passenger window (my window) after a wayward truck driver decided 80km/hr was the right speed for driving on the wrong side of the road through a crowded town centre. Luckily the truck sailed on past us. Unfortunately

Another Girl's Paradise

2009-03-08T16:13:00.001+06:00

While International Women’s Day isn’t huge in Australia, it’s a pretty big deal in Bangladesh, at least among the Government and army of Non Government Organisations here. I celebrated this morning with my colleagues by singing a song, forming a ‘human chain’, strolling down the street behind a special-purpose banner, and having a workshop where we each reflected on why International Women’s Day

Tightrope

2009-03-01T16:28:00.001+06:00

So the 'gun battle' turned into a bloody mutiny of Bangladesh's border troops in Dhaka, complete with horrendous mass graves, mutilated bodies, and nation-wide condemnation. It looks as if things are settling down now, but this is a scary and sad reminder that democracy and law and order in Bangladesh remain fragile. Fingers crossed the new Government can respond to the crisis in a way which

You Never Give Me Your Money

2009-02-26T18:01:00.001+06:00

What does an aid worker do when restricted to the house by a gun battle – stranded with no form of communication as the phones and internet go down, and with a bag packed, waiting for word that it’s ok to jump on a bus and head into the capital? No tv, no flat mates, no radio, no work? Go on, ask. Ask me. Really, I’m so starved for conversation that I’m simply bursting through my skin to tell you

The Ship Song, continued

2009-02-23T10:36:00.006+06:00

Not to be outdone by the eventful journey there, the trip back proved just as jam-packed full of memorable moments, though not quite of the Hallmark Card variety. I rose early ready to depart at ‘8am sharp!’ as instructed. We were returning to the mainland not on speedboats, but on a local fishing boat. This development made me quite happy as I figured there was no way a fishing boat would be

The Ship Song

2009-02-19T15:05:00.022+06:00

Colleague: We want to go to the field, and you have to come, but you are a bideshi (foreigner)Me: Ah, yes, I am, is that a problem? Colleague: I don’t know, what do you think? Do you think it is a problem? Me: [quizzical tone] why would it be a problem this time? It wasn’t last week, or the week before that, or… Colleague: Because this field needs a boat. Maybe it is not comfortable for you?

Dirt in the ground

2009-02-16T20:56:00.003+06:00

I keep getting off the bed and going to the bathroom to walk through the remnants of my shower. The moment where the soles of my feet are wet with water cooled from the tiles cannot last long enough. The trick is to try and get back onto the bed while my feet are still wet. I have developed a beggars way of walking, tipping my soles inwards to each other, walking on the

Learnalilgivinanlovin

2009-02-08T16:01:00.005+06:00

Procrastination, that old thief of time, persists and as my digestive tract heads into what feels like round ten of an unfairly matched super-heavyweight boxing match I am staring at my computer screen willing myself to work. Obviously I have failed. Frustratingly, even though my To Do list is both long and filled with interesting projects, I just can’t muster enough concentration to actually do

Little miss pipe dream

2009-02-05T14:32:00.005+06:00

Begging will be uprooted foreverThu, Feb 5th, 2009 12:49 pm BdSTDhaka, Feb 5 (bdnews24.com)Vagrancy and begging will forever be rooted out from Bangladesh within the next five years...----------------I nearly spat peppermint tea all over my computer screen when I saw this headline. Ten points for optimism, but it is full of even more folly than Bob Hawke's (in)famous pledge that, "...by 1990 no

I was hoping you'd say that

2009-02-04T18:30:00.006+06:00

Learning a language is a bloody hard thing to do. I should know, I’ve had a crack at it before, and only partially succeeded. Now I am back in the position of grappling ineptly with words that feel foreign and furry on my tongue, and sound about as intelligible as a teething toddler. While I cause momentary fits of hilarity amongst my colleagues by testing out my best colloquialisms, “hey, how

Fame

2009-01-30T13:54:00.007+06:00

I couldn’t go past a bit of Bowie when picking the song title for this blog post. Ah, fame, who doesn’t want a piece of it? And while I’m tempted to launch right into the very middle of my story which features me as Angelina Jolie (without the lips and the hair and with a bit more meat on my bones and the kids. Oh, and Brad), I’ll resist the temptation and start at the beginning. Sonargaon,

Try (just a little bit harder)

2009-01-19T17:15:00.002+06:00

A billboard I pass every day on my way to work in Chittagong.

A Little Ramblin' Blues for Any Hour

2009-01-15T12:32:00.005+06:00

A definition of ‘direction sense’:Noun 1. sense of direction - an awareness of your orientation in spaceOr so says the online free dictionary, which is surely a ‘source of truth’ if ever there was one. I could go a few steps further and really interrogate the obscurity of this definition which I find about as precise and clear and unambiguous as the ‘mixed vegetables’ option on a Bangladeshi menu

Was There Anything I Could Do?

2009-01-14T16:17:00.003+06:00

Another week in Bangladesh and I’ve collected a pocketful of stories like shells from the beach only they’re not as shiny and I’m sure if I put them to my ear I won’t be hearing the sounds of waves crashing. Especially not since it’s the noise from inside your ear you’re hearing reflected back at you from the inside the shell. What a disappointing day it was when I found that out – the idea of

A Day In The Life

2009-01-06T16:28:00.005+06:00

As I stumbled off the plane in Dhaka, trying to stash my duty free liquor in a non see-through bag while shoving my pillow and blanket from the plane into my back pack (thank you Malaysian Airlines) I was a bit nervous as to how I would feel living once again in Bangladesh.Lucky for me there are psychologists with expensive degrees out there who have come up with a cultural bell-curve thingy

Electioneering

2009-01-02T12:47:00.004+06:00

After all the hype and hypersensitivity - Bangladesh has a new democratically elected government! In an (acknowledged) rare move I will refrain from giving my personal opinion on the election and the winning party for the dual reasons of following AYAD policy in keeping our noses out of politics, and because I spent 99% of the election period inside my apartment in excellent company with

A Guide to Love, Loss and Desperation

2008-12-28T16:11:00.003+06:00

What do you get when you throw someone living in a third world country a ten day pass into hedonistic heaven (Sydney) which covers three festive events of significant magnitude - a wedding, a birthday and Christmas? One very well-fed, well-liqoured, well-loved feeling little girl (yes I can still call myself this at the age of 28) is what. The highlight of my return to Oz was definitely the

Four seasons in one day

2008-12-15T10:08:00.003+06:00

As an Aussie girl, born and bred, there is little more soothing than waking up to the sounds of waves crashing, in a tent, with the smell of salt water still on my skin from yesterday’s swim. Call me a pessimist, but I had relegated experiences like this to the back of my mind along with things like margaritas, balsamic vinegar and strawberries. So you can imagine my joy when in my bid to escape

Abattoir Blues

2008-12-06T09:25:00.002+06:00

Sacrificial AnimalsTraders up prices on short supplyPurchase and sale of sacrificial animals have already started at different cattle markets in the city ahead of the Eid-ul-Azha but prices are high compared to the last year's prices because of low supply of cattle....Oh how I can't wait for 'Bloody Eid'.

Weird Fishes/Arpeggi

2008-12-05T23:59:00.004+06:00

For those of you not very up on the blog technology (which includes me) there are things called 'gadgets' which you can put on your blog which do all sorts of things like tell you the time where I am. See the digital time on your left? - that's a 'gadget'. Anyway, since it's after midnight here and I uncharacteristically got a lot of sleep last night I am trying to do quiet things, and playing

Let's Take The Long Way Home

2008-12-05T22:56:00.003+06:00

Me: There wasn’t a jam last time, I don’t know where all the traffic is coming fromTania: Um, we’ll be right. It only took you 15 minutes last time right?Me: Yes, but … I’m getting nervousTania: We still have half an hourMe: (to myself) this doesn’t look very familiar…Tania: Are we sure he knows where he’s going?Me: I bloody hope so. We said train station. We said train to Chittagong. He said ‘ok

Food In The Belly

2008-12-03T19:36:00.007+06:00

I sit with the sounds of a generator humming in my ears, the stench of 80% DEET insect repellent up my nose, and a stomach full of food which I am optimistically hoping my immune system will fail to recognise was unlikely to have been prepared following any of Dr Bob’s rules (peel it, cook it, boil it or forget it for the non-developing country traveller types). Dr Bob, I apologise now for

Anniversaries and adversaries

2008-11-25T16:09:00.002+06:00

While I’m on the topic of elections I notice it has been twelve months since I cast my vote, along with millions of other Australians, to bring the Howard years to an end. I’d like to take this moment to say thanks Kev for saying sorry, and cheers Julia for the hard slog that has been (and will continue to be) the burying of the ironically termed Work Choices.As an aside, it is a welcome breathe

The Times, They Are A-Changin'

2008-11-22T12:37:00.004+06:00

Can anyone else feel the winds of change whipping through their hair (or over their shiny head, or through their flourishing mo’vember mo as the case may be)? With Little Johnny not only ousted from the top job, but ceremoniously dumped from his own electorate too; with Helen Clarke waving goodbye from the back of her horse and carriage folding up “if it’s not broke…”

Fascination Street – or how transport can remind you that these boots were indeed made for walkin'

2008-11-17T22:04:00.021+06:00

Being South Asia, which is very close to South East Asia, which is renowned for what could be considered questionable respect for traffic rules, it comes as no surprise that getting around provides opportunities on a daily basis for the religious to say their prayers. And because I’m the sharing kind (especially if it’s from your plate) I’ve provided some visual aids to help convey at least in

Everything in its right place

2008-11-16T22:19:00.003+06:00

Me: I want to go to Dhaka this weekend, how should I get there?Local friend: By overnight train or bus, whatever you preferMe: Oh, I prefer trains. Is it safe?Local friend: Safe on train, yes. I think it is no problem.Me: Ok great, I love sleeper trains! I’ll get a sleeper berthLocal friend: What? No, you can’t, you are travelling alone?Me: Of course I am. Why can’t I

Just me and my monkey

2008-11-16T21:53:00.002+06:00

I am back in the Gong after a couple of very long days ‘out in the field’, which is the endearing term used for visiting our projects ‘at the implementation level’, to use some jargon. As expected, ‘field work’ is loads of things. Exciting, challenging, confronting, dirty, funny, outstanding for my Bangla, and a bit like being in a zoo.What I must say though is how

‘The fun in every start’ or learning the hard way that youth has not made me invincible

2008-11-03T11:49:00.003+06:00

Almost famous! Having been in Dhaka for all of three days, I was introduced to the local Aussie Club (yes, we’re everywhere, kind of like cockroaches but with beer bellies). I know, not even a week in a dry country and I manage to find a bar. So, after enjoying a few drinks (two actually) I notice it is nearing midnight and we’ve been told we turn into pumpkins very soon.

2008-11-03T11:47:00.000+06:00

Chittagong one day, Paris the next!

2008-11-03T10:30:00.005+06:00

A brief glimpse of the fashion statement I am making as I duck and weave through the streets of Chittagong. I feel just like a character from "A Passage to India", only not so colonial, and not so Indian...

Please be patient while we consider your technical difficulty. The wait should not be long

2008-11-03T10:27:00.002+06:00

...or so says 'Grameen Phone' who are supposed to be providing me with internet access. Admittedly, my technial know how is limited at the best of times, and I am trying to set up internet access using my mobile phone as a modem, and connecting via bluetooth (cue jargon metre), so this was never going to be a smooth process but!!!Good to know though that phone companies the world over are

Life in a glass house* or 24 hours for a melanin-challenged girl in her new home

2008-10-22T11:24:00.003+06:00

There is something just so Christmas Eve For A Five Year Old about the first morning in a place where you’re not quite sure what you’ll be getting for breakfast. And not in the “oh I wonder if it will be bacon and eggs or cereal and toast?” kind of way. More in the “do they even eat breakfast?” kind of way.That’s exactly where I was about…oh, 48 hours or so ago. Since then not only have I eaten

and the countdown begins

2008-10-02T05:31:00.006+06:00

With around 18 days to go before I board the plane (did anyone actually believe that nonchalant 'around'? Thought not) I'm well on my way to being prepared. At least I think so. I've finished up at work, moved out, bought stuff and aside from restringing my guitar, I think I'm pretty well right. So I've been using some of my new found spare time to find out 'fun facts' about where I'll soon be

Where in the world is Bangladesh?

2008-08-25T13:47:00.001+06:00

I've recently received the much awaited e mail with the magic words, 'Welcome to the Australian Youth Ambassador for Development Program' from AusAID. This means you will be able to find me here from the 20th of October:To find out exactly what I'll be doing you can read the position description for my role as the Regional communications assistant for CARE BangladeshThis blog will track my

Becoming a good boy scout

2008-08-10T12:42:00.004+06:00

I should land in Bangladesh on October 21. By my calculations, that gives me an alarmingly reducing number of days to transfer my life and I over to another country. Not being renowned as the most organised kid on the block, this task is, I admit, slightly intimidating.Here's an example of my 'to do' list, in no particular order, obviously:- get jabbed, no (preventable) nasties for me- get my