Greetings from Bangladesh

Well after a teary goodbye we've arrived safely in Bangladesh and have even had our first exploration.

The flights from Bham - Dubai - Dhaka worked really well, although a little tiring and the second leg of the journey was kind of stressful with loads of men coughing their guts up all over the plane but fortunately not in our immediate vacinity, so hopefully we should have avoided all nasty germs

Got out of Dhaka fine - bags were there straight away on the carousel and Sandie (lovely lady from Oasis) was waiting for us complete with local driver John - perfect. The journey back to Sandie's flat was a bit hair raising - the strategy seems to be find a space, hoot to signify your presence and move in. Not sure we'll get used to that very quickly.

After a bit of a snooze and a bite to eat we went out on an outing in the local area this afternoon and stumbled across this Hindu festival, which was going on. They have erected a massive temporary undercover area to house 3 large goddesses and there was bright colours, lots of seats, dancing, a band and artists painting all going on in this area. We went in and joined in - all very exciting. Nic even got asked to join in the dancing but wimped out (5 hours in and I'm not quite brave enough for that yet).

We then wandered the streets getting our bearings with Sandie and then went to a Salvation Army shop and cafe for an Iced Tea. It was lovely - it stocked loads of great art and crafty things, all Fair Trade and it event sold those cloth advent calendar things and loads of Christmas decorations, so maybe we will get a Christmas after all! Then we were very brave and went for a wander on our own. As Westerners we get stared at wherever we go but it's actually not as bad as you think.

After church tomorrow morning we have been invited to lunch with someone from Sandie's church (kind of an open house affair), so that should be good - first attempt at eating with our hands. After that we'll come back to the flat and then head over to the ex pats club for a bit of a swim, socialise and evening meal. Apparently there's a few ex pat clubs around the place and they're great for getting to know people, so that's what we intend to do - so should have a very nice birthday. Might even get a glass of vino at the club...!

Anyway, missing the UK but feeling very excited about what lies ahead. Not nearly as scary as we were imagining and with Sandie holding our hands for the first few days it should be fine. We've seen pictures of our flat and hope to move in on Saturday.