It’s always something. The most recent something started with my involvement in a motorcycle accident in Bogra. It started out as mechanical failure and ended with user error. I ended up with a few minor brush burns and a sprained hand. I thought I was fine and went about my week. However, about 5 days later I was persuaded by Daniel, my roommate, and his appeal to authority (his mother, Karin, who is a doctor) to actually visit a doctor. After a $3.01 x-ray I realized my 3rd metacarpal was broken. The doctor taped up my hand, charged me $4.41 and sent me on my way with a list of meds and instructions to be back in 2 weeks. Karin actually lives in Bogra, but she’s back in the states right now on the receiving end of a double hip replacement. Her surgeon was gracious enough to take a look at my x-ray and surprised me by recommending surgery to prevent foreshortening. Karin recommended either Bangkok or going south to Malumghat.

Two emails later I was on a night bus with Daniel down toward Cox’s Bazaar. The actual hospital name is Memorial Christian and has been located for many years just north of Cox’s Bazaar, but 10-13 hours by bus from Dhaka. Last year I went with Daniel up to LAMB hospital when he had a concussion and broken right wrist so it seemed very apropos that he would come with me. Upon arrival I was very quickly run through a consultation before gowning up and getting moved into surgery. I remember being wheeled into surgery. I remember being placed on an operating table. I remember a conversation with one of the surgeons. But I don’t remember anything else until waking up in my hospital bed about 3 hours later, hand in a half cast and slung up in the air.

There’s something odd about post injury. Life slows down very quickly. I spent the next 20 hours mostly sleeping, then resting in the guest house for a few days. We got to have some interesting conversations with hospital staff and even observe some surgeries. Now I’m back in Dhaka, healing, and struggling to type one handed. There’s a project I think I can work on here that doesn’t need too much right hand movement. Aro kerup hote parto – It could have been worse

I’ve been spoiled by good bread.  When I was growing up my mother would bake bread almost every week.  Everybody who visited for dinner or something would compliment my mom on the good bread but it was something I took forgranted. One year my Uncle Dan’s Christmas story was about his quest to find good bread in Washington D.C.  It was interesting, but at the time I couldn’t really relate.

I went off to college and didn’t eat much bread.

After graduating in 2004 I went to visit some friends in Europe.  The first day I ended up eating in a bakery/cafe just outside Brussels that had these huge loafs of artisan bread.  It wasn’t something I had seen before, and the bread was wonderful.  Since then I’ve found several places that a little closer which are similar, but they fascinate me.

A few years ago the Independent weekly put out their food issue with the title, “The rise and fall and rise of good bread”.   An interesting issue which sat on my desk for a long time, it had different peoples stories and their experience with bread.  My favorite article was by David Auerbach who ended up making several bread ovens in this quest.  That sounded really interesting to me, so I started thinking about making a bread oven.  I didn’t really have really have the space or felt like I would use it enough, but I filled it away in the back of my mind.

In Bangladesh there isn’t much in the way of wheat.  It’s one long term goal of MCC has never been very successful with.  The best bread that is available is tandori rutti or nan and that’s just considered a snack.  While designing the workshop and house I started thinking about a wood fired oven.  Austin and Daniel started also started thinking about it independently.  So a few weeks ago we had everybody out to the house and had a oven making party after another saturday and a few mornings this week we wrapped it up.  I put some pictures of it up on flickr.  Asha kori ektu pore khub bhalo ruti hobe –  I hope there will be good bread soon.

or Digital Bangladesh – why my computer is in Hanoi

Ethos, according to The Oxford English Dictionary, is defined as “the characteristic spirit, prevalent tone of sentiment, of a people or community; the ‘genius’ of an institution or system.” The current ethos in Bangladesh is that of “Digital Bangladesh”‚–what Bangladesh needs to be a modern thriving country is to be Digital. So when I read the paper every day I see the new policies which the government is implementing as part of the new “Digital Bangladesh.” Some of these ideas seem noble and others just seem to be off the deep end.

I’ve mentioned the power problems in Bangladesh. One thing the government tried to reduce electricity consumption was to implement Daylight Savings Time. Seems simple, change your clocks and take advantage of longer days. It hasn’t gone well. There are many reasons for this, but mostly because it wasn’t really understood. The first problem is that some people didn’t change. Others, like the bus companies, changed their clocks but also changed their schedules so there was no real change. The remainder actually moved their patterns forward, but the end result was confusion and people started asking whether events would take place at “Digital time” or old time. However, even asking that question wasn’t a guarantee of success. Buses and meetings often start an hour late. Our office in Bogra changed our clocks, kept with the government schedule and after a few days of confusion things were sorted out and seemed to run relatively smoothly.

Aside from the logistical challenges, another problem is ‘Digital time’ isn’t so easy to deal with in the Digital world. Most electronics keep time based on Greenwich time and an offset and know nothing of politics in Bangladesh. I’ve had to set all my gadgets(computers, phone, etc.) to the Hanoi, Vietnam time zone so I can get the “correct” time. Daylight savings time was supposed to end September 30, however the Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, was out of the country and as a result the switch didn’t happen. The latest news is that we’re going to stay in this new time zone because they can’t figure out how to move back. With the shorter days this makes 8:00am seem very early for office hours.

In Bogra, we changed our office hours. Ek lafe tal gache ota jae na – One doesn’t climb a palm tree in one jump.