The Embassy

4/28/13

Early day today. I got to the embassy and was blocked from entering for having a camera. Understandable but he expected me to put it in my car, the one I don't have, or go home and come back without it, i.e. another 45 minutes would be wasted walking in intolerable heat. All this was infuriating to hear when you're already upset. Why couldn't he have just asked for me to try fitting it in the locker? Or disassemble it and then put it in (alright, maybe this one was a stretch)? So I got through and met up with Cindy, a friend of an Aussie I met the second night. She got me sorted with all of the paperwork and everything else I needed to do. I went back home to book an appointment online and to grab the police report that I forgot (too scatterbrained these days).

Since my appointment wasn't till 13:15, I went back to Banani to sort out the card reader. I must have looked strange to the people in the street as I walked back and forth trying to remember where I had bought it. When I got there, they told me my it was my memory card that was the issue and not the reader. Of course I didn't take their word for it and made them exchange it. I ran to an Internet cafe to check the new one out and discovered it had a crooked pin. This did not help convince me it was a memory card issue. I ran back down to have them fix the pin and then back up to the cafe. Now I must seem strange to those in the cafe too. Oh well. "Keep calm and chive on," right? The computer still prompted for the card to be formatted before use. So this meant it would not be easy to extract my photos. By now, I should stop expecting for things to come easily in Bangladesh. Okay, so whoever came up with troubleshooting online, thank you! I ran a "chkdsk" in command prompt and got "raw drive." I looked this up online and found I could extract the .RAR files using a software. However, this software was not compatible with the computer's operating system, so I would have to wait to borrow someone else's. Sigh. No picture taking for today.

Time to get back to the embassy but of course after a quick bite. I went back to the corner stand I had the potato puffs and bought a naan and singara. It's always so nice to see familiar faces. Thinking I might be late, I caught a cycle rickshaw only to be stopped half way by the traffic police. I guess I'm just not meant to ride anything in this country alone. So I sprinted the rest of the way, except when I had to cross the street lol. I was late but I should have realized that it wouldn't matter. Bangladesh runs on Asian time, so lateness is expected. When my name got called, the lady told me I didn't have an appointment on file so an officer wouldn't be able to help me today. Panic! What?! Then I explained that my passport had been stolen and I couldn't bear waiting another day for it to be processed. So more waiting to see if an officer is willing to see me today. Luckily, he did and he was the nicest guy there. You could tell he was actually listening to and not just hearing your problem. Sometimes that's all we really want, isn't it: someone to lend an ear and heart. Jack then laid out the options for me: I could get a limited passport the next day or wait a max of two weeks for the full one. I asked so many questions that I think I managed to confuse myself in the process. I opted for the full one thinking I could only exchange the limited one back in the states. After realizing this was not the case after I looked it up later, I called the next morning to switch it.

I had began looking at traveling options in the country and they all seemed to reach a complication. Everywhere is surrounded by political unrest for one, so it's unsafe to travel alone. Even if I decided to go alone, I would need a passport and permit to go hiking in Chittagong. It's low season for the Sundarbans National Park so a low frequency of tours, which is imperative for the tiger watching. Which leaves Sylhet. At least this makes choosing easier.

So here's a question for all those out there: is it unethical to take a picture of someone sleeping on the streets if they are half bare? I saw some people sleeping in an alley way and wanted to take a picture to show how thin they were. I felt horrible at the thought. Is this a reaction to their social conditions, the thought of personal violation, or my inability to do anything or change their situation? Or all of the above in some immeasurable percentage?