A Tale of Two Kitties

Say hello to Leo and Mintu, the newest members of our family! We’ve been dying to adopt some kittens for ages now, but have never lived in a building that allowed pets. So naturally, one of the first things we did in preparation for our move here was to research Dhaka’s animal shelters! We found these two energetic fur balls through Obhoyaronno, an organization that does wonderful animal welfare work here in Dhaka. We have a lot of feral cats and dogs here, so a big part of their work involves immunizing and sterilizing street animals, rehabilitating those that have been injured or abused, running a low-cost pet clinic, and educating the community about how to interact with and care for stray animals. They also look for homes for abandoned cats and dogs – and we got to be the lucky people to take home Mintu and Leo!

Rubaiya, who runs the organization, keeps some of the younger and more vulnerable animals at her home; we visited her to see if either of her foster cats wanted to come home with us. When we heard they were good friends, we had to take them both! Mintu is only 4 months old; Leo, who’s 8 months, has been looking after him.

You can find out more about Obhoyaronno here:

http://obhoyaronno-bd.org/

Mintu and Leo, BFFs forever

Birds! BIRDS! I see birds out there!

Kathleen FINALLY makes it to Dhaka!!

I made it to Dhaka at last! After months of living out of a suitcase and sleeping on couches and futons in various cities around the world, I am finally living out of a suitcase and sleeping on a futon in my very own home! Looks like we might not get our furniture shipment for another month, so our new apartment is pretty empty and echo-y. But on the plus side, there's enough room in here to do cartwheels...

I’ve only been here a week, but I feel like I’ve already got to see quite a bit of the city. We’ve done a lot of driving around (and sitting in Dhaka’s infamous traffic), and I’ve had a chance to explore our new neighborhood and sample some of its amazing restaurants. We've had a chance to do some furniture shopping, and we had a great time walking through the antiques shops near Gulshan Circle. It was a bit like stepping into an Indiana Jones film, trawling through room after room of what looked like long-buried treasure – shelves and tables piled with ornate daggers and oil lamps and dusty statues of Hindu gods. Because of the ship demolition industry here, there’s a huge assortment of paraphernalia from old ships - things like lanterns, telescopes, sextants, and sand timers. If you want to decorate in the style of a 19^th-century explorer, this is the place to shop!

On my first day here, our landlords and neighbors, Humaim and Neela, took us to Savar (just north of Dhaka) to see the National Martyr’s Monument, a memorial to those who lost their lives in the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.

The surrounding park is lined with trees planted by world leaders over the years. Here's one planted by Nelson Mandela:

That's been my only 'touristy' adventure so far, but I hope to do much more exploring in Dhaka and beyond very soon - stay tuned!

Man against the mosquito

I am a man against the mosquitoes here in Dhaka. While malaria has been fully eradicated from the city, there aren't many diseases you can get from mosquitoes, but they are still awfully annoying and can make you sick.
Apparently during the dry season (which is now), mosquitoes do all their reproducing and a lot of their biting. Even though mosquitoes typically would thrive with an excess of water (as they lay their eggs on standing water), because there is SO much water here in Bangladesh all the time, they actually wait and do most of their breeding when it's drier, since there is still enough water, but without the rain to disrupt the standing water and wash their eggs away. Consequently, I have found myself locked in a heated battle against them and have equipped myself with an impressive arsenal to defend myself against the vile creatures.
Exhibit A: mosquito netting over the bed (you are most vulnerable when you are sleeping and they prey on any opportunity to feed when they will be least disturbed by hands swatting them away)

Exhibits B-G: so this is the battery of assault weapons that I have to ward off the horrible creatures. I have the traditional coils that slowly burn (like incense) that go outside and emit an odor that they don't like. There are plug in versions that are safe for rooms where humans are. Then there are the sprays: there's DEET, prallethrin and allethrin. And then, finally, there is the final weapon: the made in China electric swatter. These are my weapons but I can't say that I win all the time. These bastards are clever and they taunt me with a buzz in my ear or the dreaded prick on the arm or neck. This is war, mosquitoes!