Success!

W, J & M all were worried about their respective school swim competitions: "But what if I'm bad?!"
As a kid, there is always someone faster than you, prettier than you, cooler than you and smarter than you.  But every now and then, still you taste success, and it is far far sweeter than it could otherwise be.
And they took 1st, 2d and 2d in their respective races.

By contrast, I sometimes think AE never worries about anything.

3 conversations: Hilarity and Humanity

And two gratuitous unrelated pictures.

Card stock models are currently all the rage in the
Herman Household.

    So.  The first conversation today is best described.  I spent the afternoon in an apartment with a bunch of young people.  One, a young man I've been working with, was describing to me someone gossiping and spreading rumors about him, his wife and their work after they had a bit of a falling out.  This, though lamentable, is common to all mankind and encouraging grace, forgiveness & reconciliation was straightforward.
    Then he recounted how another expat he's known for a long time listened to the rumors and came to 'have a talk with him', without first fact-finding or seeking another side to the story.  This caused a lot of 'koshto' - emotional pain - for him and his wife, since they respected this older & wiser expat.  That brought out a lot of expatriate/national dynamics that have a long history.  I will need to be very careful how I step.  This is a post-colonial culture and it is not ancient history.

The second conversation was with our landlord, exploring whether our security guard (who handles the electric bills, etc) has been cheating us.  This will also be delicate - I need to pursue it, but, likewise, to do so with grace and forgiveness.  If he gets fired, his family won't have the income they need, so again, I need to watch where I step.

The last conversation was more lightedhearted, at least for one of us ;-).   I was crossing the street near the bazar on my way home with some groceries this evening when an older man addressed me in heavily accented English:

"What is your Country?"
"Amar desh America." showing off my Bangla!
"Oho! Mine too!  I'm from San Diego!"
"Tik?  Kintu Apni....but you're here?"  OK. Back to English.
"Yes.  I came back.  America just wasn't for me.  Too many problems."
"Tell me what bothered you."
"Ah.  It's the aliens you know.  Too many of them, especially around Laredo, TX."
"No kidding?????"  I always suspected as much....
"Nope.  They have too much influence.  Of course, you can't talk about them there - because of the American military.  It's forbidden."
"Ummm..."
"It's true!  I read about it on the internet.  You can see youtube videos all about it!  The aliens are in control.  For many many years, now!"
"You might not trust everything you read on the internet."
"No! No! If it was false the government would shut it down, cancel the website!  besides - there've been over 70,000 contacts!  It's undeniable!  You must read about them!"
"Thanks!"

I guess it's the same everywhere.  Especially around Laredo.

Aerophyte

This species of flower is an aerophyte (or epiphyte).  Epiphytes grow on other plants but are not parasitic - they derive their moisture from the air and nutrients from small pockets of dirt on the host tree.   

"Send that 'Old Navy' shipment, STAT!"

A very common sight

The ready-made-garment industry is huge here.  Doubtless you recall some the tragedies and news stories in the last few years centered around this industry.  Even so, I can't help but chuckle every time I see this on a car.

Petay Betha and Margin

resting 

Petay Betha (belly pain)

Opportunities to help abound.  Choosing how or when to help or whom to help is often more challenging.  Today was easy.  My tutor and I were out running a few errands and on the way home our rickshaw-wallah was clearly ill; I've never seen someone have as much trouble pedaling a rickshaw (though I'm not permitted to help - talk about uncomfortable).   Of course he must work even when ill, or he doesn't eat and probably his family doesn't eat.  Finally, at the corner near our flat he had to stop - he simply couldn't go any further.

We hopped off and I asked what was wrong and examined him, streetside.  Several people, including several other rickshaw wallahs stopped to watch, listen and offer opinions.  Patient confidentiality is little different here ;-)

He had belly pain, subjective fever, and very little else in the way of other symptoms. Picking the two most likely diagnoses (worms or typhoid) I ran upstairs grabbed our last two tablets of albendazole (for worms) and a bottle of clean water and brought them down.  I wrote out instructions for him that if he was no better tomorrow, to purchase ciprofloxacin and take it for a week.  He probably can't read, but the pharmacist can.

Margin

I often think about 'margin' in our life - the amount of space in which to rest, reflect, recharge or relate with others.  I can think of margin as a sort of emotional or mental bank account from which I draw to live, raise children or help people.  It's a good thing to not get so busy that there's no margin; I have not always managed it.

By comparison to our rickshaw-driver this morning, though, I have infinite margin.  He can't even afford to be sick for a day much less spend time simply thinking.  That does not mean that I should feel guilty about having margin, but rather that I should encourage and act, in the small ways that I can, to help others have margin.  

A Flurry of Consultations

A flock of geese, a parliament of owls, an ambush of tigers, a murmuration of starlings, a shrewdness of apes...

I worried I would get rusty, not actively practicing medicine this winter, and though we worked over Christmas it was a quiet winter - just an occasional thing here or there, but in the last two weeks I've seen: pneumonia, dysentery, urticaria (hives), intestinal worms, infected leg wounds etc.  Delightful, eh?  All just in time - we move up North in about 6 weeks.  I don't feel quite so rusty now.

Some other favorites:  A sleuth of bears, a kindle of kittens, a destruction of cats, a rake of colts, a scold of jays, a piteousness of doves.

Not Savage

Homemade paper doll by M

Notification that savage stuffed animals are not welcome at the party.

Sidewalk

Bhumikompo

If any of you wake to see news of the M7.9 earthquake in nearby Nepal, know we're fine.  It was felt here in Dhaka, but we're far enough away that it was quite mild.  On a rickshaw I didn't even feel it, but I watched Lake Banani sloshing!
We learned the word for earthquake.

Our hearts and Thoughts go to those who died, lost homes, or loved ones in Nepal.

Pure Geek

This has very little to do with culture, or language, or medicine.

This is a photo of an ant, right?  Kind of strange, though - it looks both black and red.  And wait a second... count the legs.  There are eight.  It's not an ant, it's a spider!

This is batesian mimicry (try to look like something that tastes bad so you don't get eaten).  It even moves like an ant.  I would've been completely fooled if I hadn't seen it swing down from a door frame on silk.

Pure geek.

Seen in Passing

New business model?