Setting up a new home (January 2013)

On the outskirts of Dhaka city, our tyre picked up a nail and needed urgent attention. We were lucky it happened early in our trip to Naogaon, as another hour farther along the track we hit the main highway going north, where there are no nifty repair shops like the one you see above. 30 minutes and Taka 150 (AUD1= ~BDT80) later, we were on the road again. Of course, I was the only one singing (ok, ok, that's asking you take a huge imaginative leap, but the thought popped into my head as I typed this post, so that counts, right?). 

Five and a half hours later, I arrived at Saburo's project site. The food storage warehouse will be built next to a pre-existing grain silo. According to Google Maps  it is 231 kilometres from the Dhaka office to the Santahar silo. Less distance than from my hometown Merredin to Perth, but almost double the driving time. Another half an hour and we pull into the road leading to our new apartment. It is approximately ten kilometres from the site but the travel time is long due to "traffic" such as  rickshaws, CNG scooters, buses, cars and many pedestrians.

The Nittsu van carrying our Manila shipment arrived bright and early next morning. The supervisor was delayed a few hours because of a suddenly-called the day before hartal (strike), but he also arrived safely. All the boxes were unloaded and accounted for, and in a very short time, I was left with a mountain of boxes to sort out.

Since I had nowhere to put everything, I visited my local Otobi shop (Bangladesh's Ikea) and had some furniture delivered and assembled the same day. Some order-made furniture arrived the next day but it had to be cut down in my living room (due to a slight miscalculation by the carpenter, who nevertheless asked for his bakshish tip when he left).  

The following days were taken up with various, and at times it seemed, never-ending jobs: mosquito net installation, leaky pipes, automatic voltage regulator repairs, changing the fittings on the gas stove because we bought the type that is good for the 'line' gas available in Dhaka but not in Naogaon, and so on.

An additional challenge was the imminent arrival of company visitors, for which one of our bedrooms needed to be converted into a company guest room as the nearest decent hotel is an hour's drive away, and the first floor bedrooms were all occupied. This required ordering a bed, mattress, wardrobe, and curtains to be made, and buying a desk, chair, lamp etc. It was a rush job but everything was ready with thirty minutes to spare.

The delivery of our dining room table was the definite highlight as it made our apartment feel like a home. I visited the workshop before settling the bill to make sure of the quality of the finished product. Standing in the fading sun, it looked pretty good to me. It is impressive to see that kind of craftsmanship up close and personal. Out of all my purchases, this one is my favourite!

Epilogue: a week later the table had to be hauled away for white-ant treatment and returned with an extra coat of varnish and a slightly darker burnish. It had not crossed my mind to check for ants. Living in Bangladesh heightens my awareness and teaches me something new every day. I admit I was upset when I saw the hole eaten into the underbelly of the table. I was the only one who felt upset at the destruction however. The shop owner was nonchalant, a bit of "treatment paint" and there would be no problem. I insisted he take care of it, and he did. So maybe he is right?

** Due to an incredibly slow internet speed, I was not able to upload all my photos. This is the incredibly abbreviated version.