The blockade was reinstated again yesterday, but I was able to have some adventures during the four peaceful days of non-blockade. By Thursday night I needed to get out of my house for the evening, so I joined Cicely at the convent. In the dark we ran circles around the schoolyard in the convent. Then we decided to play frisbee until one of us actually caught the frisbee, but we were forced to stop when we threw the frisbee into the bushes. We found some hostel girls and they brought over a flashlight so Cicely could retrieve the frisbee. I had dinner with Cicely and all the nuns, and then enjoyed a cultural program by the girls that live at the mission. Some of the nuns even participated by putting on colorful clothes and dancing. Cicely and I tried to watch TV in the room beside the prayer room very quietly eating chocolate chips and being bit by mosquitoes. All the nuns and girls were sleeping, so we tried to be quiet. We woke up at 6 am to prayer bells and children singing loudly. All day we rickshawed around Mymensingh stopping at the office, visiting my neighbors, and making plans for the weekend. On Saturday Toby came from Dhaka, and the three of us to Piergacha to visit Philip and Rebecca. I had one last swim of the season in the pond, soon it will be too cold for swimming and there will be no water. We played with Hannah, and took a walk to gaze at the stars. We lounged around laughing and joking like there was not a care in world. Sunday I drove my motorcycle with Rebecca to Mymensingh in the cold morning. I enjoyed driving through an early winter morning in the village as I live in the village last winter - so many memories. Rebecca and I put on sharis and drank coffee before going to the office for a full day of meetings. In the evening there was a huge rush for everyone to go to Dhaka or where ever they needed to be as the blockade started again on Monday. I went with my co-workers to the Mymensingh hospital to visit our office guard who recently had a stroke. When he was first admitted all the beds were full, so he was placed on the floor. At the time of our visit he had claimed a bed. The hospital was huge, and the hallway walls were stained red from paan spit. On the third floor I saw a cat wandering through the ward. The room that our guard was in had about 30 beds and about 20 people on the floor without beds. As I returned to my house I could sense a feeling of uneasiness, but things have been relatively peaceful. All night there are meetings with political leaders yelling in Bangla that I can hear in my house. I turn up music or go downstairs and watch the news with my neighbors.
November 20, 2006
Up for a quick breath of fresh air
The blockade was reinstated again yesterday, but I was able to have some adventures during the four peaceful days of non-blockade. By Thursday night I needed to get out of my house for the evening, so I joined Cicely at the convent. In the dark we ran circles around the schoolyard in the convent. Then we decided to play frisbee until one of us actually caught the frisbee, but we were forced to stop when we threw the frisbee into the bushes. We found some hostel girls and they brought over a flashlight so Cicely could retrieve the frisbee. I had dinner with Cicely and all the nuns, and then enjoyed a cultural program by the girls that live at the mission. Some of the nuns even participated by putting on colorful clothes and dancing. Cicely and I tried to watch TV in the room beside the prayer room very quietly eating chocolate chips and being bit by mosquitoes. All the nuns and girls were sleeping, so we tried to be quiet. We woke up at 6 am to prayer bells and children singing loudly. All day we rickshawed around Mymensingh stopping at the office, visiting my neighbors, and making plans for the weekend. On Saturday Toby came from Dhaka, and the three of us to Piergacha to visit Philip and Rebecca. I had one last swim of the season in the pond, soon it will be too cold for swimming and there will be no water. We played with Hannah, and took a walk to gaze at the stars. We lounged around laughing and joking like there was not a care in world. Sunday I drove my motorcycle with Rebecca to Mymensingh in the cold morning. I enjoyed driving through an early winter morning in the village as I live in the village last winter - so many memories. Rebecca and I put on sharis and drank coffee before going to the office for a full day of meetings. In the evening there was a huge rush for everyone to go to Dhaka or where ever they needed to be as the blockade started again on Monday. I went with my co-workers to the Mymensingh hospital to visit our office guard who recently had a stroke. When he was first admitted all the beds were full, so he was placed on the floor. At the time of our visit he had claimed a bed. The hospital was huge, and the hallway walls were stained red from paan spit. On the third floor I saw a cat wandering through the ward. The room that our guard was in had about 30 beds and about 20 people on the floor without beds. As I returned to my house I could sense a feeling of uneasiness, but things have been relatively peaceful. All night there are meetings with political leaders yelling in Bangla that I can hear in my house. I turn up music or go downstairs and watch the news with my neighbors.
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