Jack and Jasmine are getting married

Good job, guys.

I have nothing more to say on that topic, except to quote Michael Bolton in saying, "Love is a wonderful thing." For my money, it doesn't get any better.

Back to me and my important life now.

Oh yeah, site visit . . . So much for living in a grass hut living on uncooked rice and roasted dung balls for two years. Turns out Khulna is a pretty cool town. 1.5 million are the official statistics, which of course are grossly low, since people live in each other's back pockets here. Ironic little twist: my host brother in Khulna bought me a shirt to express affection. And it's the kind of shirt that Wrigleyville/townies/preppies would wear. You know, with the diagonal stripes? So eye-catching, those diagonal stripes. If I didn't already have a target on my back that said "steal from me, please," I do now.

Speaking of posters, on the door to my new room at my new host family's place, there's a doozy: It's a little boy in a denim jumper with a hat on sideways. In front of him are the long legs of a woman in a short skirt, presumably facing him, but all we see of her is from the waste down. Our little hero is lifting up the skirt and looking underneath. The caption is, "Seeing is Believing." You can't make this stuff up. Or at least, I didn't.

Americans have considerable influence here. Yesterday I was asked to make an impromptu speech in front of a group of ward leaders at the Khulna City Corporation Slum Development monthly meeting. Naturally, I went on about the benefits of buying an Eclipse rather than a Miata (better pickup in second gear) and how the Lear jet is really underrated (more affordable than most billionaires think). Seriously, though, it's really tempting and easy to think that, because there aren't as many opportunities for intellectual and cultural stimulation here, the Bangladeshis are thus less intelligent or don't have as many ideas about how to improve the world--at least, I've fallen into that trap. And I've been very wrong. A new friend called me out on it, and I felt like a bit of a heel. Because Americans have such a high profile here, it's easy to think that the attention we receive is, in fact, deserved. Of COURSE they all stare at me--I'm smart/intelligent/enlightened. Um, no. While it's true that we've had access to a more developed educational system, there's a fine line to walk, and I have yet to find it.

Met an army colonel and the mayor's nephew. That was cool. Ate an omelette that had a staple in it--which actually wasn't a big deal because we eat a lot of fish here and have become accustomed to reaching inside the ol' mouth and digging out fish bones. So the staple was more or less like just another (metal) fish bone.

Visit Bangladesh!