Well, relocating seems to be off to a good start thus far. However, I'm currently blocking out the culture-shock, being online in my bed at the Hotel de Castle (do check out the website if you get a chance) while watching BBC World on television. Not exactly an immersion experience, I know, but I'm sure that will happen shortly.
Upon waking (after 9 hours of comatose sleep) on Tuesday, I felt the beginnings of a cold, but I held out hope that it was really just a manifestation of jet-lag. When I woke today, however, I realized that it really is a full-fledged bug. So sleeping and fluid-pushing have been top on my agenda--hopefully I'll be right as rain tomorrow.
Today I managed to connect with Shawn--former ND graduate student and friend currently residing in Dhaka to work on an independent project. He's been doing some very pioneering work in terms of video-blogging. He VERY kindly agreed to help me acquire a few of the essentials--thus, I now have a reliable source of power for my computer, and a new mobile phone that would love to get some calls! I also had the opportunity to meet his grandmother, uncle, aunt, and cousins, who were all extremely welcoming!
In keeping with my tradition of losing all appetite when entering other countries, I have been extremely, uncharacteristically un-hungry for the last few days. Shawn tried his hardest to find an agreeable, easy-transition food for dinner, and we ended up at the Bangladeshi version of Pizza Hut. Unfortunately, even pasta could not persuade me, though it certainly makes for an interesting "first real meal in Bangladesh" selection...
All in all, today proved to be quite the sensory overload. The traffic astounds; I'm still trying to get used to all of the staring; the language barrier is very evident... but more on all of that later. Exhaustion is overtaking me now, and I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep. Tomorrow I move to the BRAC School of Public Health for the first phase of my stay. I'm looking forward to meeting all of my new classmates, and to adopting an established routine. I imagine I'll feel more at home when I have a day-to-day agenda. Stay tuned!
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Sorry you're feeling unwell, dahling! Looking forward to reading of your exploits, particularly as your research takes you out into the real world and I'm (at least at present) stuck in law libraries :)
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