Better?

After my mini-breakdown yesterday I ended up having a very nice night. Ciara and Eshanthi joined us for a very good dinner. It is really helpful to talk to people here about all that I have been feeling. Each of them had a different perspective.

We started our car sharing today with a woman who is a friend of Charlie's dad who is here in Bangladesh doing research for her Masters. This means we will get to keep the car until we leave which is a huge relief.

The American Club finally approved my membership (after a month of waiting). I debated whether or not it was worth it to join for just the 2 weeks I have left, and decided I might as well. I plan on spending my entire weekend at the pool.

I was hoping to write more about my experience at the Labour Court yesterday but for some reason I am just exhausted today. Surprisingly I'm not feeling sick, just totally worn out. I think the fact that I never get a full nights sleep is finally catching up with me. For some reason the AC in my room shuts off whenever the generator kicks on. (It is the only AC in the apartment that does this.) This means that the room eventually gets so hot that it wakes me up every night at least twice. I've talked to Mr. Dhar about it, but to no avail. This isn't a surprise considering that he still hasn't had the leak in my bathroom fixed.

He came over today and he and Ayub got in a very heated discussion. They were speaking in English but I still wasn't exactly sure what it was about. I think the gist was that Ayub thinks the government is responsible for so many of the failings of this country, whereas Mr. Dhar thinks it is the fault of the people, saying "Bangladeshi people, brain no good." They also talked a bit about the beggars. Mr. Dhar had no sympathy saying it is all just a business, but Ayub had a more sympathetic perspective saying that for many of them (especially people who are disabled) have no other option but to beg on the street. They were in agreement about how terrible and crazy all people from the Middle East were. It is a bit strange how many times I have found myself being told just how terrible a certain group of people are as if it is just common knowledge.

Today while in the car in the span of 5 minutes we were approached by a man with no leg, a man missing a hand, and another man missing an arm.