Gazipur...week 3

Well I finally made it to an internet café! The power was down of course and it takes about a million hours to load anything from the internet but hey I am here. And for 20 taka an hour (30 cents or so) I can ride the information super highway. Yeah I did step in cow dung on my way here. Anyway, I would like to address the bombing first. We are all safe and the bombing was a coordinated attack by the Awami League. It was not meant to hurt or kill, just to scare and it was not directed at Americans in the country. We are all fine and dandy.
As for me I am adjusting to life here the best that I can. It is very difficult and training is brutal. We work 8 to 9 hours a day at our language schools and our training halls then we go home to our host families. Of course going home is not restful either because we are with people we do not know and often times I feel like I am in a fish bowl. IT is very tiering and hard to deal with the language barrier. My family is pretty cool however, my dad is a shop keeper and he dyes his hair and beard bright orange which is a local male style. Also I live with my host mother who is sweet but bossy as hell and my host brother and his wife. I have met my extented "family" who all came from Dhaka to see me and ask me to sing the American national anthem. My sisters gave me jewlery and henna'd my hands. They also gave me sweet meats and we talked about many things. They are all so very sweet but it is hard to get any private moments. I have had to adjust to so much. The food is good but I am fricken sick of curry and rice for EVERY meal and going to the bathroom is wicked fun. The left hand is used and I have had to get to know my body in ways that I never thought possible. My biggest frustration is the language and i struggle with it. The language instructor that i have is paranoid about everything and has a hard time speaking to the women in the class. I am trying to find a new language instructor. Most of the PEace Corps people and staff are great. There are a few knuckle heads but so far they are pretty cool. This weekend I am going to do a mini site visit to a town called Fardipur to the south. I will be visiting another volunteer and will be riding the bus with only one other newbie. Yipes! Bangladeshies are mostly a kind and hospitable people and way curious. I have not felt threatened just that my privacy is always invaded. The family I live with is pretty middle class by these standards. I have my own room and veranda but if my door is open they come in and sit on the floor and watch me do everything. The most unerving thing is them watching me as i eat. I am steadily getting used to the conditions here...I think. And i only had one mental breakdown. I was just sitting in my room after lunch with the door closed and practicing my Bangla when I just started to cry and cry for no apparent reason. But it passed as all these little trial do. My health is fine I just have a rice pot belly now and had to get some antibiotics for an insect bite that made my foot swell up twice the size. Other than that I am fine and I am very careful about my food and water. The most horrible thing that happened was that my first time in a rickshaw we recked. HE had no breaks and slammed into another one. My host mother and I tumbled out and the rickshaw fell ontop of us. I thought I broke my arm and i could not move. I was just laying in muck on a street in Gazipur, Bangladesh thinking I was going to die. A huge crowed formed and someone helped me up. Ultimately i was fine but I have a huge bruise. Anyway, I will try to get to a computer when I can. I cannot promise to e-mail everyone directly as our time here is so jam packed but I will try. I can recieve mini e-mails on my mobile phone. But they cost me. I have already e-mailed some of you from my phone. Also write me letters!!!!!!! That is the best way to communicate to me allbeit slow. But I could really use the support. I will be sending some of you letters too.... hopefully they will get to you within the next week. I love you all bunches and I miss you so incredibly.

Always
M