Well we are not in our new abode yet – lots of issues such as
having to rewire the place to bring it line with UK electrical standards never
mind Bangladeshi ones. Install air conditioning,
actually put a kitchen in to be honest, general maintenance and solving problems
which should not have been there from that start. I was told this was normal when a property is
taken over for diplomats etc. What was
more concerning, that this is a brand new building with the paint still wet and
all this work still had to be carried out.
I think it is called the joys of design and construction in Dhaka.
Anyhow I digress. We
have a visitor staying this week - a
chocolate Labrador called Minstrel (a bit of typecasting there me thinks). So why he is staying you cry? Well, the a Diplomatic colleague needed to go
out of town on business and failed to mention to Mrs Diplomatic colleague that
she would be going with him. This
resulted in Mr Dc chatting to Madam to see if we could look after the waif for a
couple of days. Madam, of course has
been nagging the TS for months / years for a ‘little doglet’ – I know, I cringe
as well and please don’t ask.
Delightedly she said yes and then truly informed me.
Minstrel with Rudolph |
Now walking a dog in Dhaka is an unusual thing. The only people who have dogs as pets are
expats. Generally the dogs that do exist
here are feral and roam the streets – the first problem. Secondly the pavements don’t generally exist
and you have to dodge traffic, rickshaws and tuk-tuks whilst walking, never
mind the people who seem to be on the whole, scared of dogs. The big stick is needed to fend off the stray
dogs and kamikaze cats.
One doesn’t realise the number of dogs roaming the place
until they all start coming out of the wood work irrespective of the ones
sitting behind gates. Apart from having another
set of eyes, a guard dog would be helpful just to take pooch out for
walkies.
One of the big conundrums I keep asking when walking – do
they have any planning law? You have
maisonettes which would be typical in middle England, to some Mediterranean
style architecture followed by some hotch potch of something alongside a sleek
glass apartment block. As well as the
various construction sites dotted about with their very own breach of health
& safety rules as we know it. This
is all within a 12 block area. So when Minstrel
departs at the end of the week, I can honestly say I have seen more of the area
and lots more of the weird constructions called houses in Dhaka. Minstrel of course is oblivious to all of this
focussing on the next sniff and where his dinner is coming from – it is true –
it is a dog’s life!