of Melote and 'funny' people

Allow me to introduce you to Melote :) She is the caregiver for the big boys' room and she is GOOD at what she does. She's probably not much older than I am but has more life experience than I could ever imagine. Melote's been with Bangla Hope for many many years now and is loved by all because of how hard she works and how she is so great with the boys. On top of that, she has such a sweet personality and is always so excited to see me and give me a hug. She's such a wonderful person. I'm going to miss her as much as I'm going to miss those kids!

Quick side note: I took advantage of the fast internet (and extra day) I had in Dhaka and was able to post a bunch more pictures. I couldn't believe I hadn't posted since January so there are a ton of different events up! Thus, you aren't a Facebook-er or we aren't friends for some reason, use this link to check out some great shots!!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=171272&id=549112159&l=908d7b94fe

So this morning, Ashok (the guard at the dental clinic) and I headed to the Embassy at 8am. I still hadn't heard from the visa guy but I went in good faith that I could at least talk to someone if I got there and it wasn't ready. Shilpi (his wife) made a fantastic breakfast of dhal, vegetable fry, and japatee and we were off!

When I got to the embassy, I had to wait in line for about 15min before I could even go in to see about my application for an application :P And it was the same two guys from yesterday. When I sat down, the one visa guy asked me if I had tried to call him. I told him I had because I was curious to know about what was going on with my visa.

Then the other guy turned me and told me that my application had been denied. When I asked why, he just said that his boss looked it over and had denied me. For no reason. I started to panic instantly, my mind running at about a million miles an hour. I told him I didn't know what to do because my dad was coming over in ten days and that we had planned to go to India together. He told me that I should call my dad and tell him NOT to come over. I'm not kidding! I told him that we had already booked our flight out of Delhi so that wouldn't work either.

Then he asked me why I had booked a flight without knowing for sure if I had the visa or not. Well it was a heck of a lot easier LAST time to get this darn thing taken care of so I didn't think about it. I was panicking so much.. I ended up just asking him what could I do and all he told me is that he didn't know--but I wasn't allowed to go to India.

Then the other guy reaches down and pulls out my application and says "alright, I'll do your visa for you." Then the "joker" breaks into a huge smile and starts laughing. Yeah, he was pulling my leg the whole time. Looking back, it was a little bit funny but in the moment I was absolutely in shock as to what my next move would be. So I have an Indian visa... That's the end of that story.

After the embassy, Ashok helped me get from Gulshen to Kalanpur (or something like that) where the bus station was. I was able to get on the 10:40bus out of Dhaka and Ashok went as far as the bus change in order to make sure I was getting on the right bus to Hili. He's such a good guy. He doesn't speak very much English at all but between my alpo Bangla, his alpo English, and a lot of charades, we get by. lol Shilpi taught me a cool way of tying my orna so I wouldn't get as much attention but in the end I got more as people kept asking me if I was Muslim :P But it does help to keep your hair clean from the nasty Dhaka air!

The bus trip back was quiet and uneventful for the most part. Everyone around me stared at me for the first twenty minutes but then they turned to their cell phones, sleep, or boredom. I pulled out my book and read for the first half of the trip, taking time to take in the scenery along the road every now and then.

When we got to the halfway point rest stop, I was planning on staying with my bag when two girls about my age asked me if I was going to get off. I told them I didn't really need to, plus I didn't know if it was safe to leave my bag. One of the girls volunteered to watch my stuff (she looked pretty trustworthy) and the other one guided me to the bathroom and held my stuff whilst I used the good ol' squat pot. Then I held her stuff while she was in the washroom and then we both headed back to the bus. But first, she stopped and bought us both ice cream bars, bought herself a pop and me a bag of fried peas. She was so sweet, never asking for ANYTHING in return.

When we got back on the bus, we talked until the bus began to lurch forward. She took a picture on her cell phone and I got a picture with my camera. An older man (when I say older, I mean the cutie pie had not a single tooth in his whole mouth lol) sitting ahead of me saw we were talking a mixture of Bangla and English and turned to smile. Then he held up his napkin containing fried eggs and japatees: "Tume cowl?" He wanted to share his lunch with me. Such a nice guy! I politely refused but in turn offered him some of my fried peas. He shook his head no, explaining he had no teeth in one big toothless grin. The people you meet on a bus from Dhaka to Hili eh?

But all this just means that I am now an accomplished Bengali traveler. I can make it around the city by myself and even all the way up to Bangla Hope :) Not that I'm going to make it a habit but I can just remember back five months ago when I would hold onto Elliot's shirt wherever we go. I've learned a lot over here, that's for sure!
ami tomake bhalobashi