Just writing to send you a quick update about how we're doing here in Bangladesh. First of all, some of you have asked what the time difference is between here and there. It's basically 12 hours, give or take a few. You can check the exact difference on any "time difference" website, like www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/. We're in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Right now it's 5pm here, and 7am East coast time and 4am west coast time. So you should be able to figure out the time difference from there. A good time to call is in the evenings, especially Thursday, Friday, or Saturday evening, any time until midnight our time, which would be 2pm east coast time or 11am west coast time.
We're doing well! Azfar and I just both gave a lecture today at Jahnaninger University, the university he used to teach at 10 years ago. I talked about Jamaica Kincaid's book _A Small Place_, and he talked about "post-al" theory. It went very well! The students and faculty there seemed very interested in both of our work. It was a lot of fun! Also, a couple of weeks ago, I gave a lecture at the Karl Marx Institute in Dhaka, on the topic of Marxism and the emancipation of women. That also went well, and people were very responsive to my talk. So I've already given two lectures and have gotten the chance to meet a number of academics, students, and activists by now.
We've also gotten a bit of a taste of the turbulence of Bangladeshi government politics. Elections for the new government are coming up in October, so until then, things will continue to get heated between the two main political parties. They're not much different from each other--they're basically like the democrats and republicans in the U.S. So it won't make much difference for us which one gets into power. But in the meantime we've already experienced a 3-day "hartel" which means that the city is basically shut down by the oppositional party, and all the shops are closed, etc. (It's part of their attempt to overthrow the party currently in power.) We've seen on tv people warring with the police in the streets on the hartel days--workers, and students at Dhaka University throwing rocks at the police and getting shot with rubber bullets, and even journalists getting beat up by the police. (We're completely safe, though.)
Also, I should mention: Azfar had an interview on national television the other day. He's such a famous national figure that it's quite a news item that he's now back in the country. He talked about what work he did in the U.S., and the activities he was involved in there. Of course he did very well, and I'm proud of him! His parents were just beside themselves with pride to see him on national television.
Well, I've gotta run, as usual. I'm writing from an internet cafe near Azfar's parents house, and I need to get back to Salma. She's doing great. She's over her diarrhea by now, and doing fine. She doesn't even cry when I leave her for hours on end with her dadi (grandma) and aunt Urmi. They take such good care of her that I'm not even sure she misses me! Anyway, gotta go. PLEASE call! We miss you all, and would love to talk to you, but it's too expensive for us to call from here!
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