29 reasons why srimongal is awesome, or reliving my tea-nage years

Is my life on track?
So it seems.

  It's official!  I'm an old lady!  At 29, I can't even claim mid-20s anymore.  How did time go so fast?  I keep having those moments of panic like, "Am I that weird old person at the bar/party/cub that I used to think was so sketchy and weird for being here?!" or thinking that perhaps it's finally time to get rid of all clothes that I bought in high school. Otherwise I should probably stop making fun of Mike Pareles (who coincidentally, turned the ripe old age of 28 on Thursday!!) for wearing ratty old t-shirts.  And I just can't give that up.  Just like I am totally NOT giving up Taylor Swift music (never ever ever....).
I found out earlier this month that we had Thursday off from work--evidently it was also Buddha's birthday.  Once I realized we had a three day weekend, planning kicked in.  Another trip to Srimongal, my favorite getaway in Bangladesh, was long overdue.  Naveed and Shazzad immediately agreed to go with me, and then we coerced Boshir bhai into coming with us.   This was critical--Naveed is my bff(n) (Either best friend forever, or best friend for now, depending on the situation) and we have a tendency to gang up on Shazzad.  Boshir bhai always takes Shazzad's side, so it a.) means that we can engage in trivial debates for longer, and b.) meant that Naveed wouldn't feel like a third wheel (he might even have someone to hold hands with, but more on that later).  Boshir bhai has this last second wave of doubt and indecision, at which point Naveed and I really strong armed him with as much guilt, excitement, and intimidation as we could muster between the two of us.
On Thursday morning, I wake up to the sweet music of rain.  I go out on my balcony and watch the people on the street.  I admire that so many pedestrians are totally unfazed by the rain.  They don't run, they don't walk fast, they just walk while getting soaking wet.  Rickshaw drivers have pulled out their plastic Peter Pan hands, and plastic sheets for those driving in the rickshaws to cover themselves with.  I'm so caught up in the romance of the scene, it doesn't really dawn on me that this is probably not great roadtrip weather.  Luckily it's slowed by the time we take off, and we've rented a sturdy van with a surprisingly reliable driver for the journey.  The journey still takes longer than it had the times I'd gone before (about 7 hours, including all of our stops for food, fuel, and tea), but there's no comparison between the comfort of traveling in a van and the non-AC bus.  I'm just glad I've taken the non-AC bus enough to have a sense of how truly luxurious this type of travel is!

Better lucky than smart

Lucky people get to eat cake for breakfast.
With their dad at Queen City Bakery in Sioux Falls, South Dakooooota!
(and Mom, brother, and SISTER-IN-LAW, not pictured)

My dad and I have a running joke (you know, the kind you tell when jogging) that when I was a kid, he tried to make me feel like everything good that happened to me was a result a good luck, not talent.  It’s healthy for kids to have a strong sense of luckiness, rather than self-achievement.  And maybe luck really is something that you can cultivate!  Easier than learning to be smarter, right?

These last few weeks in particular, I have been super lucky!  Flying west from Dubai to New York, my Emirates flight had a wonderful crew.  I know because I couldn’t sleep and got up to stretch my legs, only to find that the guy on the aisle was in deep REM when I came back and I ddin’t have the heart to wake it (that is, after I nudged him hard a few times to no avail).  Instead I struck up a conversation with the flight crew—they were as international as you’d expect—one was from Lebanon, another from Argentina, another from the Ukraine—and really kind.  When they found out that I was a chocolate fiend, they were happy to hook me up with a nice stash that would hold me over the whole trip (there is nothing like being cranky on the bus and finding chocolate in your purse—instant good day!).

I had a great trip around the United States—New York, Boston, and even South Dakota—full of nice runs, delicious food, youtube videos (multiple viewings of the Taylor Swift "I knew you were trouble" video with goats spliced in--is this really a thing?!  Holly cried from laughing so hard!!), plus awesome company and thought-provoking conversations.  Despite the fact that it snowed a lot in Sioux Falls, South Dakota over the past two weeks, for the 4 days that I was there, we managed to have sunshine and 70 degree weather.  Good thing, since I was traveling with a pair of flip flops and no jacket.  In New York and Boston, I didn’t quite so lucky with the weather the whole time, but managed to borrow a few layers to tie me over.