Ma Go Ma...

Emrika, here I come!!!!

After a lot of haggling and sweet-talking with Northwest Airlines (done of course by my Dad Elvis), I have finally confirmed my flights home. Next Saturday, July 23rd I will be back in the United States of America. I can hardly believe I just typed those words. I can also hardly believe that I will be expected to operate a motor vehicle soon, as I have completely forgotten how to drive. Seriously.

I have been living in this prematurely nostalgiac haze the past few weeks, and now the culmination of my TEN MONTHS living in Bangladesh has arrived. I've been randomly tearing up as I watch 'hotel' wallahs frying unhygeinic snacks outside of their hut-shops. I swallowed a lump in my throat today as a man cycled a van rickshaw full of green coconuts past my old apartment this morning, and another as garment workers in their brightly colored salwar kameez streamed into the cramped factories to start another day's exploitative work for Walmart. Two weeks from now it will all seem like a bizarre dream.

On that note, I got to live one of my actual dreams today. After devoting over one year of my life to his organization, I got to meet Dr. Fazle Abed, Chairperson and founder of BRAC. In a conference room with 15 other interns, I sat to his left hand side and felt a strange sense of awe-come-familiarity with the unassuming (and oddly adorable) man. It was a pretty predictable session. He talked about BRAC's history, vision, and future, and we asked a few mild questions. I laughed embarassingly hard when Dr. Abed talked about the BRAC AFGHANISTAN project. He mentioned that a portion of the funding was supplied by the Bangladesh goverment...the first time in history that the nation of Bangladesh actually GAVE money TO another country. Ha! God, I am such a development nerd. You are too if you laughed.

I've been spending most days cooped up in the Embassy house where I'm house sitting. Along with my roomate Jennet, the fluffy Japanese spitz I'm looking after keeps me company...perhaps a bit too closely. Despite the king-sized bed, she always has to sleep directly on top of me each night. It's killing me. The air conditioning rocks, however. As does the oven (two batches of brownies so far...TWO).

On a more somber note, I wanted to express my deep sadness at the tragic bombings in London. I feel pretty numbed to the extremely violent incident after the horrific September 11th attacks and the rash of violence in Iraq---an alarming fact in itelf. I have several friends attending grad school in London next year, but this simply proves that it can happen anywhere in the world. I hope the British Gov't and people make thoughtful and critical decisions as opposed to lashing out at "those Muslims" or "that country." I have many Bangladeshi friends who live in London who could easily be the targets of such ignorance.

Well, I should run. Plenty of things to do that writing in my weblog is allowing me to put off...

8 days and counting.

TKP