One of the difficulties of living in Bangladesh is the game of Bideshi 20 questions. Someone will accost you on the street, and run down the list of questions. They must have all read the same script because they very rarely vary. What is your country? What is your name? How long have you been in Bangladesh? What are you doing? What is your Salary? “What is your Salary?” is one of those questions which is culturally appropriate here.

If you get past those questions though you’ll often get lectured about how Bangladesh is such a poor country and how it has so many problems. The power goes out because they can’t produce enough. They have the twin problems of traffic jams and lots of road fatalities because the roads aren’t big enough and the vehicles aren’t road worthy. Just today I saw a man bloodied and dazed being loaded onto a vangari and taken to the hospital. There’s either flooding or water shortages. It’s often contaminated by arsenic, or bacteria, or pollution. People eat lots of rice, but not enough vegetables so they don’t get good nutrition. Businessmen manipulate food prices. Natural Gas one of the few natural resources of Bangladesh is running out and already there is a shortage in Dhaka which means people end up cooking in the middle of the night. The air is polluted. Dhaka was listed as the second worst city in the world to live according to the Economist. Buildings are falling down because they weren’t built to code. Politicians, public servants and police are corrupt. Facebook got blocked… etc. etc. etc. It’s easy to get overwhelmed, negative and advocate changing everthing.

In the midst of all these problems the challenge is to stay positive and determine what small things that can actually be done. This week I saw the first of a batch of new BRTC buses(the government bus company) that was clean and modern. There are thousands of buses in Dhaka, so It probably won’t last, but it made me smile, and I was reminded how small changes can make a big difference. matha beta hole matha kete phelbo? If you have a headache will you cut off your head?

My Grandma, Miriam Charles, gave the message at Habecker Mennonite Church a few weeks ago. [download mp3]

I’d like to say that I’m an easily contented person, but I’d probably be lying. I’d like to live simply, but I don’t do a very good job. For instance, biking is a simple pleasure, but somehow in my enjoyment of biking I ended up with 5 bikes and a unicycle. This is not to say that I find contentment in stuff, it’s just that I don’t feel contented as often as I’d like.

This summer I ended up wandering around Europe for a while. I went for LinuxTag, staying to do some more work and a bit of vacation. With a memorial day holiday thrown in, I spent a good long while away from home in North Carolina and by the time I got back my roomate had gotten a TV and cable. The journey got a little lonely at times, but at the end I was completely contented. My entire life was in my backpack and it was more than enough.

Right before I left MCC offered me a position and I told them I wasn’t going to think about it till I got back, but wandering around with nothing but your own thoughts or the meditative worship at Taize isn’t exactly the best situation for ignoring decisions. I think at some level the desire to simply led to my decision to come to Bangladesh with MCC. The idea being that by putting yourself in such a new situation, you can be confronted with your wants and desires. I have no desire to be an acetic, but I’m not sure I want to be distracted from the things I think matter.

Last week I moved to Bogra. Bogra is where I’ll be based for foreseeable future. On the whole I think I’m enjoying Bogra more than Dhaka. My observations have been slightly tempered by being slightly sick and the desire for a proper latte. Surprisingly enough there were several places in Dhaka where one could get good coffee. Bogra is much smaller and while it’s pretty dense downtown and has most of the things available in Dhaka, traveling a few kilometers will take you to rice patties. I’m not sure of the population of Bogra, I’m pretty sure the number listed on Wikipedia was pretty far off, but there are less than 10 Bideshi’s(expatriates) in the whole city. I haven’t seen one on the streets that I didn’t know. Right now those of us who work for MCC make up the majority of that number. We eat together for most of our meals and the majority our conversations consist of the state of our digestive system, how we’re getting along with the local food, and the things we miss. Figuring out why you miss something is sometimes very telling. Deciding how to replace it and justifying it even more so. Some of the justifications and rationalizations can be a little embarrassing.

A few days ago I used my limited Bangla to take a rickshaw downtown where I bought UHT milk, sugar, tea and an electric tea pot so I could make tea. As I walked down the last alley before getting “home” I thought about where I was. I hadn’t showered in 3 days. I had a brush burn on knee, I was in as “foreign” of a place as I’m ever going to be able to get in my life and for no discernible reason I was content. Ami kushi – I am happy/contented.

Incidentally the electric tea pot has also been the source of a surprising amount of joy.