Electricity

One aspect of life that I take for granted in North America is regular and consistent access to electricity. In Bangladesh, access to electricity is regularly intermittent. Throughout the day and the evening, power to our area gets cut off for about an hour at a time, probably about 4 or 5 times a day. The power goes off at 50 minutes past the hour, and comes on exactly one hour later…that is the only thing that is regular about it. It is anyone’s guess as to when the power will go off…last night, it was off from 7:50 to 8:50 and from 10:50 to 11:50. Now, when I know that I am doing something that needs light, I am always rushing to get it done before 50 minutes past the hour, just in case we lose power! Sometimes I turn on my AC to try to cool my room down a bit just in case the power goes off (our average indoor temperature is 32.5 degrees, so it’s a bit stifling with no air movement!)

Intermittent power…one of the many unique aspects of life in Dhaka!

And just for fun...the view from inside a CNG (CNGs are these green three-wheeled vehicles that you hire to get around the city...I'll make sure to take a picture of what they look like from the outside for a later post!)  CNGs feel kind of like a cage on wheels...kind of scary, but fun too!