It's Friday Already!

For some reason I cannot load the photo I took this morning of Afroja and her husband, Shaheedul.  They all, including son Ujan Natik, came to fetch me at the airport this morning at 2:30, and we came home and napped until now, around 9:00.  It is deliciously hot and sticky, and when I awoke, a big, VERY big, smiley woman tilted her head and nodded to me.  She is Arati, the maid, and nobody else was awake in this little flat with two bedrooms, one of which has been turned over to the American guest... I feared that they had all gone to work, but after awhile, Afroja stumbled out, later her husband, and now Ujan Natik has joined us all in the main room where the overhead fan is forcing the warm air in circles.  The family speaks Bengali, and I assume that Arati does also; the cook, Joymala, is also puttering about; many, many people in this house, two computers going, the palms outside blowing forcefully, and empty sandels are strewn across the floor.

They have two English newspapers, so I am happy to read the news, despite one photo of a man hugging his wife, both dead and found in the rubble of the Dhaka building collapses where 900 died.  We worry about the Boston Marathon bomb?  We really should get out more!

Today we will visit Tagore's house and maybe the Victoria Memorial.  The pace is slow, much to my liking, and I feel ready to go but still a little heavy with travel and sleep deprivation.  What a long trip!  It was, however, flawless, and I did discover the use of ear plugs, a gadget that changed my life - somewhat.