Asha Neir had a three year anniversary celebration yesterday, and Patrick and I attended. There was a birthday party for one of the residents, and dancing and singing. Gifts, flowers, and cake were the birthday essentials as well as the Bangla English version of "Happy Birthday to you." Many of the Taize boys were there as well as people from CCH and Bubly, so it was fun to be with so many friends. They served us lunch and one young boy wanted to eat from my bowl. He had his own bowl and his own helper who was trying to feed him, but he still tried to grab my potatoes. The lady that cleans my room and does my laundry has a handicapped child and they were both present. Her son was adorable and I got to hold him for awhile.

Patrick and I had stored our bikes that MCC had just delivered at Asha Neir for the night. Asha Neir supplied us with an air pump, and we filled our tires. Just as we were about to leave Patrick's tire popped. We asked some Taize boys and they helped us find a repair shop just down the street. We would have taken the bike on a rickshaw for a 10-15 minute ride in order to try to repair it, because we didn't know better. Just as we got to the repair shop Patrick's other tire popped. While we were waiting for the tire to be repaired, Richard (Germany), Patrick, Super (Bangladesh), and I played UNO and had tea.

After we picked up the bikes, Patrick and I rode to the park and to Taize for Wednesday mass. I was wearing jeans in the first time in a month and riding a bike, which isn't that common for a woman, so I got a lot more stares and comments - if that is possible. People just stopped in their tracks and their mouths would fall open. I thought it was hilarious, but only because I was on a bike and could make a fast escape. Back at Taize the priest didn't show up, so we just had normal Taize prayer and had time to walk around the park before dinner.

Ms. Nath started teaching me how to read Bangla today. I have a first grader's book with stories and pictures, and it is really fun to learn to read all over again. Bangla doesn't use the English alphabet - they have their own characters, so it is a completely new experience.

Today I went to the mobile store to buy more mobile minutes and I was there for 45 minutes. When I got to the shop there were at least four employees, but apparently none of them were capable of putting more minutes on my phone. Finally the man who was capable of putting more minutes on my phone arrived, but in the meantime they served me tea and I tried to converse with them in Bangla.

Jerry and Ethel are the new MCC country representatives for Bangladesh, and they have just moved into the house in Muktagatcha that I will be living in when we all finish our language study. They will then go to Dhaka to live. They need an iron, and since I am coming to their house tomorrow and am the most experienced MCCer expat in the area, I have the pleasure of doing this. They said it should be 800-1000 taka, so we'll see how good I am at bargaining.

**Does anyone want to have a Bangladesh pen pal. One of the Taize boy's life-long dream is to have a pen pal, so if you send me your address you can make his dream come true!