Press 219 for Tea

So one of the coolest things about work so far is that if you dial 219, Syed shows up at your desk with tea the way you like it... lemon tea, little sugar please. I shouldn't say it's the coolest thing, but it is pretty nice. Anyways, today was the second day at the office and consisted of a lot of reading, a meeting with the National Youth Forum, where they got in trouble from Sheela for messing up with their funding, and a meeting with the head staff including Farouk, our senior economist in going over the monthly poll the Foundation puts out testing the public perceptions and such regarding elections. Interesting what questions get asked, and how careful you have to be with wording, not to step on anyones toes. Another exciting thing today - I have my second bag! My feet are so happy to be out of running shoes and into sandals. It took a bit, had to go out to the airport, get clearance to go back into the secure area, then go through customs with my bag, and then out finally. Everyone was so nice and helpful, but it is funny, because nothing is done efficiently. 

Just thinking of other things I noticed today - traffic here is crazy (I seem to say that in every place I travel, but this is up there with the scariest). The cars, baby taxis and rickshaws have little awareness of anybody else and I have yet to see a car (other than the F

oundation cars) that don't have scrapes all along the sides. It is crazy! I was also thinking of how it doesn't smell. Africa had a very distinct smell, but I haven't noticed that here, which is nice. 

Also, I wore one of my Salwar Kameez today and got so many compliments. I feel like I am wearing pajamas, but everyone seems very pleased with me dressing like a Bengladeshi woman. Too funny. But yes, they are very comfy. Ok, I am off to sleep, hopefully a full night this time...