Ping-pong

I challenged Mostofa: loser writes the DFID river sand filter proposal.

There were six or seven of the guys from work and me, gathered in the student common room after work. Bright fluorescent lights, spinning fan, shouting and cheering, the crisp ping, pong, of the ball...

These men have for the most part grown up with each other: they all come from Pabna, the rural region where our major arsenic mitigation effort is taking place, and the home Professor Zaman, the chairman of the hospital. Many of Dhaka's most successful have their roots in rural villages. In Bangladesh, Aneez Miss told me, people really remember their village roots and always go back to help the village or bring relatives and friends out.

It was a lot of fun to chill out with the men I work with--I think this is like the equivalent of going out for after-work drinks. I think they can see I'm making an effort to fit in, from wearing the shalwar kamiz to the Bangla lessons I just started with the Australians. This tutor is not cheap by Dhaka standards, but really good--she has a system for teaching, and is very systematic about learning which makes it so much easier.

But back to the game: Mostofa won, by one point. It was terrible!
Still, I had done all I could with the proposal anyway, so it was a win-win. Or a lose-win.

After ping-pong I changed into workout clothes (no spandex, obvi-- I miss volleyball!) and ran up and down the five stories of the hospital, blasting Petey Pablo and all manners of hip-hop from my iPod. It felt so good.

Today I went shopping in Gulshan with Piya. She promises to show me Bonanni which is one of her favorite places, with some must-see stores. Tomorrow I will go to a wedding reception with Piya and family--the wedding ceremony is split into four parts and lasts a week!--I am really excited to see this other side of Bangladeshi culture.