Snapshot of 11.00am in our Flat

Well we've come to the end of our first week here and we're sitting in our flat reflecting on the week we've just had whilst waiting for the AC guy to come and install the AC (only 1 hour late, so that's pretty good going).

I thought I'd give you a detailed insight into what we're experiencing at this very moment. So, we're sat in our lounge, which is quite small and at the moment we've got in it 2 chairs, a sofa, coffee table and lamp - all made of cane. I'm looking out on to our balcony, which is also quite small but useful for hanging washing out on. There are a few items of washing on the line over our balcony, blowing gently in the breeze and which I haven't bothered to move into the ironing pile yet.

Beyond the balcony about 6 ft away there is the roof of another building with an enormous satellite dish on it. There's a few palm trees that we can see the tops of and then more apartment buildings in every direction. Although there are buildings everywhere we are actually quite lucky to have a bit of a view.

It's quite peaceful here, apart from the constant whirring of the fan. There is the occasional sound of a drill (someone's having some work done to an apartment near by) and I can hear a man shouting in the distance, which I assume is something to do with the nearby Mosque.

There is a lovely aroma of someone cooking nearby. It's not quite the same as the smell of Indian cooking you experience in the UK, which sometimes can be a bit overbearing, this is very pleasant; not too spciy but very definately authentic Bangla cooking. You can quite often smell food being cooked at all times of the day. Food preparation and cooking takes a lot longer than in the UK - no such thing as quick convenience food and savoury meals can be eaten at any meal time.

The sun is shining and the sky is a beautiful hazy blue. I'm not sure what the temperature is but it's definately warm - especially on the 5th floor of the building! The fans and gently breeze are keeping us relatively cool but it does require a lot of effort to do anything in this heat (hence a much slower pace of life and why it takes ages to get anything done).

We've got a massive pan of water boiling in the kitchen, which we've got to transfer to the filter once it has cooled, so it's a bit like a sauna in there.

Anyway, the plan for today is to hop into a CNG and head to church this afternoon (if the AC people every arrive), which is over the other side of town. The main service is in the afternoon at 2.30pm. There are quite a number of different churches in Dhaka to accommodate the missionaries and expats and the times of the services all tend to vary.

On refelction this seems like a bit of a waffley email and I don't seem to have told you very much. Oh well, I'll put it on another post.

Hope life in the UK's ticking along alright. Please feel free to email us and let us know your news.

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