Aboroad

From yesterday the country began its second shut down of the month and all the trains, buses, and motor vehicles were not allowed to be on the road. Blockades are set up all over Dhaka and throughout the country and no one can go anywhere without risking their life and their vehicle. The ports are also shut down. No one knows how long this will continue, but if this continues for too long, we might run out of food. Check out CNN article: http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/11/12/bangladesh.ap/index.html

Actually though, it is very pleasant in Mymensingh. With no motor vehicles on the road, rickshaws rule - less noise and less pollution. Yesterday's demonstrations were surprisingly peaceful, but today there was a little violence in Dhaka. This evening Cicely and i were shopping in the market, and all the shops were closed and closing at 8 p.m. That's very unusual, but the shopkeepers said they have no customers as everyone is afraid to leave their home. This morning I saw a policeman on a bicycle. He was wearing a military helmet and bullet proof vest. He carried a stick behind him, and a shield rested on the front of his bike. When I walked home from work there were police everywhere. Last night they were talking about deploying the military to run the country if things got out of hand. People have been stockpiling sticks in preparation for the riots. At the MCC office all the staff are present for the first time in months as they can't be traveling.

In other news...it's cold this year!! I can definately tell that this year is colder than last. This morning I needed a sweater...ok it was only 72, but i was cold.

Cicely just moved to a convent, and I go there alot and talk with the nuns. Last night we ran laps around the school yard in the convent compound. It was dark - it gets dark at 5:30, so that limits the available times to work out. We were kind of annoyed that the only available way to exercise safely and without harrassment was to run in circles. Then some kids from the boarding school in the convent came and watched us. We convinced them to join us, and soon they were chasing us around the schoolyard. Then we were doing jumping jacks and playing follow the leader. We got a better and more fun workout than if we would have only ran with the two of us. Sometimes you just have to be a little creative.

I've blogged about the annoyances and contrictions of my job. I really didn't think much else could happen, but this week beats it all! One of our handicraft partners recently had to fire some of their employees as they are about to lose their land as they haven't been able to pay their rent for several months. We are trying to help them to better manage the organization. The accountant who lost her job locked the buildings. All the employees cannot get into the building to do their work. I can't get into the building to retrieve my recently completed samples. You would think that the executive director would just break the lock or call the police. He didn't want to cause trouble. The organization has a huge export order that it is working on, and if they don't open soon they will have more trouble. We will see what happens on day three of the paper mache project seize!