of rickshaws and fender benders

Yesterday I got lost in Dhaka with Elliot. In downtown. At night. In a rickshaw. Don't tell my parents--they'll never let me out of the house again. We had just picked up our tailored seloar kameeses and were going to head back to the dental clinic for the night. Mrs. Waid and Brittni were in one rickshaw and Elle and I were in another. Mrs. Waid told our driver to follow and he did. But at one point in the trip, their rickshaw turned right and we got stuck behind traffic. A lot of traffic. We sat there for almost 5min, knowing that we wouldn't be able to find the other rickshaw in the sea of cars, buses, and rickshaws ahead of us. I grabbed Elliot's hand and said a quick prayer, hoping we'd find them. No such luck. Thankfully, I've written out the address of the dental clinic a bunch of times between this blog and emails so I had it memorized. Also earlier yesterday Mrs. Waid had our usual driver Jason teach her how to say road in Bangla: rusta. So as our driver was now aimlessly driving down the crowded road, I poked him saying Rusta thien, sector six (I forgot six in Bangla). Luckily all countries can count on fingers so I counted on my fingers the road and what sector the clinic was in.

We seemed to be doing fine until he turned down a side street, not very well lit. Elle and I were not happy about this and tried our best to tell him that. I told Elle that if he stops at a place we don't recognize, run like [heck]. lol But he was just avoiding all the crazy traffic that gets brought out at night when all the shops open. Eventually things started to get more and more familiar and we pulled into the right side street to take us back. Just as we pulled onto the side street, a frantic Mrs. Waid shouted "STOP!" as she went by in a rickshaw with Tuli from the orphanage. She got her rickshaw turned around and we all made it back to the clinic. She had been so worried about us and Simpson, the man we stay with that lives above the clinic, had gone to look for us. She said they had pulled over to wait for us, but we never went by them because of our detour on the side street.

Ahh... it was mildly nerve-wracking and we're going to be a lot more careful and descriptive before we get in a rickshaw that's for sure...

Today was not much better.. We went to old Dhaka which is the original city but the streets are too narrow to accommodate the amount of daily traffic so they moved it. [Side note: on the way there this morning, I saw the 3rd white person since my arrival in Dhaka! He was in a van and looked like he belonged to a sports team or something. We waved and smiled at each other knowing that there wasn't many like us!] Most of the day was spent shopping for fabric for uniforms for the village schools--which if you know me becomes kinda tedious after awhile. I definitely got some interesting pictures so that makes it worth it for me. Because there was 7people travelling today in a 5passenger truck, two had to ride in the back on a tarp. After loading the truck bed with bolts and bolts of fabric, packing two people on top proved tricky... I refused to go on the back--nuh uh.. that's not my cup of tea. But on the way back, our substitue driver Nikhil accidently rear ended someone. We're not talking flying shrap metal, it was just a tiny bump. The other driver got so mad though. For some reason our driver decided the best thing to do was drive away... Not sure why. But he's weaving in and out of traffic trying to get away from the angry bumpee. In doing so, he weaved onto the boarding side of a bus, almost hitting all the many boarders as they were about to get on. Not cool Kool-aid man..
Eventually the bumpee made us stop, involving the police. It was so humid that Elle and I climbed into the back with Tulie and Brittni and hoped to get some more of the night breeze while the two drivers came to some kind of agreement. Yeah, three white women perched on the back of a truck was like a neon sign attracting bugs. There must have been literally about 50men just staring at us. Nothing else, just standing and staring. Again, I hate being a celebrity. It's not fun after awhile. Luckily one of the police officers shooed people and beggers away from the truck so we weren't bothered too too much.

We made it back to the dental clinic after that but spirits were definitely low. Mrs. Waid was so upset about Nikhil going through all those people. She talked to Mr. Waid who got even more upset and basically said we couldn't go anywhere tomorrow unless Jason drives us. bah. I miss the quiet orphanage so much right now. If I hear one more car or bus horn tonight I may cry. Dhaka city is NOT fun.

And my throat is sore from the air. Dhaka air is so bad--it smells, it makes you cough, it makes your eyes itch. General rule of thumb: if you can see what you're breathing it's no good!

Anyways, I need to get to bed. I'm still kinda wound up from the day but need to sleep nonetheless because I know tomorrow will bring its own challenges and struggles. Good night, sleep tight, and don't let the darn mosquitoes bite!
ami tomake bhalobashi