The meat in a Matt sandwich

I am writing this blog from the 'comfort' of our new Dhanmondi flat! We (Matt, Matt and I) finally moved into a flat to call our own. It hasn't been an easy first two weeks in Bangladesh, the adjustment made all the harder finding a place to live.

House hunting in Bangladesh is incredibly stressful. Bideshi's aren't exactly a landlord's dream tenant (least of all three bachelor bideshis). We literally scoured every street in Dhanmondi and Lalmatia to find a place a) that we could live in, and b) where the owner wasn't totally replused by the idea of bideshi's renting his flat. We lucked out and found a government employed landlord who 'sympathises' with our situation (there's no point being offended here. "It is what it is" as Badrul, our In-Country Manager would say).

Also, forget having an organised system involving real estate agents (silver lining?), house hunting in this part of town involves keeping an eye out for "To Let" signs, then enquiring with the security guard (who may or may not allow you in, depending on his mood).

The flats we did get to see ranged from dark, dirty and within budget to light, new and ridiculously outside of our budget. In a great number of Dhaka flats any one window can be seen into by a number of adjoining buildings. Which means natural light is a valuable commodity. And when Bangladeshi's say 'not furnished' they mean it - light bulbs, ceiling fans, stove not included. Again, we were lucky to find a place with light bulbs included. We also were luckier than other AYADs in finding a place including an air conditioner and a service fee each month that includes gas and water.

A great sense of relief yesterday when we moved into "Villa Rose"...that is, until the cockroach farm happily living and breeding in the flat reared their heads (the biggest roach I've ever seen actually crawled over my shoulder in a clear act of defiance). I retalited (initally with a scream) with a full-force attack. About 50 roaches lost their lives. That was either all of them, or the others have (intelligently) retreated. I hope they aren't planning a future attack...but I'll be ready.

This was all very funny to my Matt's who thought that we Queenslanders would be right at home with roaches...silly, naive (smart-ass) Victorians. Anyway, they can cook (and like to - herbs were brought from Australia) so no love has been lost.

One of the joys of living in such an overcrowded city is that (some) things happen quickly. Yesterday we went to buy beds. Beds that were MADE from scratch with the fabric of our choosing and delivered within 24 hours. Today we called to enquire about getting internet. 4 hours later: online!

So 24 hours after moving into our new home we have our basic essentials - beds, mossie nets, cooker and gas, fridge and internet. We'll be picking up some day beds for the living room, a coffee table and a bookshelf on Friday. We also bought some great fabric at the market yesterday and I put my (completely inadequate) sewing skills to work and we now have great new curtains. We're really embracing the colour exposion within the apartment (each room is a different colour - lounge room is pink/ochre, hallway blue and bedrooms are green). Think Bollywood hits Dhanmondi.

I start work at UNICEF in the morning, so will be catching my first rikshaw alone...hope my Bangla is up to it! More on that next blog...