First, last week-end, Ramadan started. It's amazing how quiet the city becomes during the morning and evening hours. The city is peaceful and quiet and very un-Dhaka-like. This morning, I was up and out of my house at around 5:30 and the streets were completely dead (which was expected, right - it's 5am!), but on my way home at around 7:40, the streets were equally as dead. Surprising considering that I can hear horns from my apartment window as early as 6:30 during the week of non-Ramadan times and that when we exit our apartment, we are flocked by rickshaw-wallahs who want some business. Now it's difficult to even find an empty one, let alone an awake driver.
Walking around this morning though made me realize how much beautiful potential this city has. There is a large amount of greenery for a large city of 10 million people and without the hoards of people, you can walk on clean areas of the streets and avoid the post-monsoon floods. The air seems clearer and the sun more bright without the smog of the cars and CNGs. The best part though is that its just QUIET! You don't want to bury your head in your legs trying to drown out the honking...you can look around, take it in, and hear birds chirp and rustle in the trees. It was a great feeling to walk around and enjoy myself in Dhaka - even if I had to get up at 5am to do it!
With Ramadan came a vast change in the work schedule: our car and shuttle to work is delayed by an hour, so we now get picked up at 9:15, meaning we don't get to work until around 10. The evening shuttle leaves at 4:15, so there is really only about 6 hours of the work day remaining and I'm not even sure how productive it is since everyone is hungry, thirsty, and tired. It will be interesting to see how much work gets done over the course of the next month and watch how the city changes as they prepare for Eid celebrations!
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