Bad news day for the environment

Yesterday was a bad news day for the environment in Dhaka. The Daily Star pretty much cut straight to the chase:
Air pollution in city takes alarming turn
Staff Correspondent
Air pollution in the capital has taken an alarming turn, posing serious health problems for city dwellers.*
Things get worse in dry season as air, thick with particulates, [...]

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Normal?

A friend of mine (hi demark!) recently asked if we have a normal American life overseas.  I mean, we play golf, right?  And hang out at the American club!
It reminded me of a time when I called home, and my brother was shocked to hear that M and I were sitting around eating frozen pizza [...]

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Can’t live with them, can’t live without ‘em…

An expat blogger over in Chennai posted recently about her staffing challenges. That’s right, her household staff.
I understand completely.
Yes, it sounds bad to complain about your household staff.  I know, it’s a pretty sweet gig to have someone cleaning my house full-time.  In my defense, let me just say that I would never pick [...]

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“Fixing” traffic by stopping it

The government of Bangladesh has become desperate with the traffic situation.  You might say that desperate times call for desperate measures, but I’m not sure the new plan is a real fix.
From the Daily Star:
In another move to ease traffic congestion in Dhaka, the government yesterday divided the capital into seven zones and fixed separate [...]

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New china!

One product Bangladesh has is an abundance is ceramics.  Why?  Perhaps because of all the sand, maybe because it’s labor intensive … I’m really not sure. Anyways, there are two major ceramics companies here, Mono Ceramics and Shinepukur, and Dhaka is crowded with outlet or discount stores.  The ceramics they produce sell internationally under major [...]

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Bishwa Ijtema

Yesterday was the final day of Bishwa Ijtema in Bangladesh, the world’s second largest gathering of Muslims after the Hajj. Over 4 million Muslims from Bangladesh and around the world gathered for prayer and religious reflection.  Per the AFP:
The three-day Bishwa Ijtema, or World Muslim Congregation, concluded after an Indian imam led final prayers [...]

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Better quality

M was shopping today for chisels to round out his tool collection.  (Gotta have a hobby.)  The selection at the hardware store was disappointing – really cheap, without a handle, the edge crooked or damaged.  The price was right though, at about 35 cents each.  M asked the shopkeeper if they had anything better.
The shopkeeper’s [...]

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The bicycle shop

Dhaka is not particularly bicycle-friendly – the cars don’t respect traffic laws, there aren’t many sidewalks, and generally the streets are so crowded it’s really a hazard. For those who brave the traffic, finding parts and a repair shop is the next challenge. Here’s the tiny bike shop that our gardener recommended:

At the [...]

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