Have you ever been at an intersection with a street light that lacks consistancy? You wait, you're never sure when you can go, and when you are able to go you are not sure for how long you will have the green light. Living in Bangladesh is very similar. With the political situation as it is, the amount of time that you have to move around the country is never certain. For me personally, this has a very small impact on my day to day life, but for the majority of people, it is life. Take for example a 3 of my friends who work with MCC and are in town this weekend. Reba and Cicely live in a city a few hours north, the same city that I almost got stuck in before one of the last hartals and Darren lives even farther away and does not come to Dhaka as often. All of them have to "plan" according to whatever the political situation might be for the next day. This means that they are all probably going back home tonight, as will be the rest of the country. Traffic on the day before a hartal is interesting, it's kind of like the travel you see during the holiday season in the states. Everyone wants to get to where they need to be. Buses are packed as people cram not only into the seats and the aisles, but also on to the tops of the buses as well. Keep in mind, these are not double-decker buses and they are not the most travel friendly even when sitting inside the bus. The highways here are like country roads, except that there really aren't any rules. Do I feel safe if I'm on a bus on the highway? Yes. As strange as it is, the system of driving seems to work for the most part. Even in these hartal situations where the buses are packed beyond capacity, there is a system that works. Occasionally a bus will crash and once in a while a boat will have too many people and capsize, but for the most part, so long as you are smart about your travel, you will be fine.

One thing that I still have a hard time getting over is the fact that today is December 2nd. Yesterday I was on a boat, wearing a t-shirt, travelling down a river with the youth group. Jean Sack, one of my friends from the church, took our high school group out on a boat ride yesterday. It was the same boat the I took when I first got here. Unlike last time though, the river was really low and so we had to board the boat somewhere else. It was really weird taking the boat in the same place as before and noticing land that had been covered by water before. It was nice to get the youth out of Dhaka and take them to a village. Hopefully once the blockades end and the election is over, we will be able to do more of these kinds of excursions.

In other news, the church website here has been updated, so feel free to give it a look sometime: www.churchindhaka.com.