things clicked this week

* I found that I knew exactly the best way to get somewhere by rickshaw, more than once.

* The clothes I had made are pretty and the new clothes I received (sort of like "My Sister's Closet"?) fit well and the pants can be used as a sample for having more made. Since the pants I brought from the States now fall down. Which could be a problem.

* Awesome awesome CARE packages! I must have been sounding a bit discouraged about 3 weeks ago that four (!) packages were sent! We have Reece's Peanut Butter cups, new socks, earplugs, a new miniature rubber ducky, matzoh ball soup mix, kleenex - unscented (!), and a red-ink stamp "WTF?" that I think I'm supposed to use for grading. Or maybe for the bills our goofy landlord sends us.

* Work was challenging but good. I knew what I was doing. I could adjust the reading quizzes to work for the class. This week I made a list of terms and they signed up to speak about them so they knew some material very well, and knew what else to look for in the readings.

* Book launch last night for Shazia Omar's like a diamond in the sky was great fun. I knew more people than just the colleagues I came with which surprised them! Some from Fulbright, some from Bangla class, some from the conference last week, and some from the dinner party earlier in the week. Apparently it's a very small circle of English speaking, probably pretty well off, folks who know each other.

* Going on a tour of Dhaka tomorrow.

* The cello works and Matan had his first lesson here! This thrilled me beyond what I expected.

* He finished his first quarter at school, but the stress of the last week was almost unbearable for him. Too many big projects in too little time. He got a new planner and I'll try to help him plan ahead better next quarter.

* Matan has next week off school so he's going to come with me to Bangla classes (he'll have private lessons for 4 days). It's a very welcoming center and he can stay for lunch if he wants.

* I think we're travelling out of Dhaka for a few days next weekend. Tea plantations?

* Today? slept in, will read, swim, do some wash, pay some bills, talk on skype (Shaked's going to be in MN!) and otherwise relax. Cheers!


Our Bangla class at HEED language center: Rhoman, Kris, Sultana (our first teacher), Aasta, Pulock (our current teacher). We finish 2 months at the end of next week.