Heat and exhaustion

Perhaps I misled when I said that the first thing you notice about Dhaka is the population. I guess it depends on what time of day you arrive. By noon, it was easily 110 degrees outside in the scorching sun, not to mention the 100% humidity. You stand still and sweat. You walk out of a cold shower and sweat. You lay down to sleep and you sweat...for the entire night. Thank the Lord we were all too tired to care, or else it would have been an even more miserable night.

What an amazing city. It boggles the mind to think that nearly 15 million people, day in and day out, make their lives here. The electricity goes off constantly, sometimes for hours at a time, because the city's power plants can't handle the ever-increasing distribution and need to offset their immense load. We were told by Father Frank that Moreau House's basketball court and garden - beautiful and almost necessary additions to the otherwise sparse and small campus - are considered "wastes of space" in Dhaka. There are no parks in the city. There are barely any green spots where kids can play. There are only buildings. Endless rows of buildings. This city is the size of South Bend, and yet contains twice the population of Chicago. The fact that it works at all astounds me.

Today, we head over to Notre Dame College, considered the best of its kind in Bangladesh. "College" here actually means senior high school or junior college; it does not have the same designation as "university." But getting into the school is highly competitive - 14,000 applicants vie for just under 2,000 slots - and because some cannot afford to go, they are placed in a work study program that aids the surrounding community. The campus is the equivalent of two city blocks in size, which gives you an idea of how valuable space truly is here. Hard to believe that this was all swampland not more than fifteen years ago.

Tomorrow's post may be my last for a while, as we venture to the north. Till then, keep reading.