The Kind of Friendship I'll Miss

Ok, so we're all starting to wax a little sentimental right now. Go figure. The irony that many of you have likely experienced before, is that when you finally get used to a place it's time to leave. Right? We are finally getting to know our way around Dhaka, we know where all
the basic neccesities: grocery, laundry, reliable coffee, and we leave in two days. Allah!

Being the friendly sort myself (what you say?), I think I will most miss the ease of making friends in this state sized nation of 150,000,000. Below is a photo with a man I met in the hallway of a Rotary Club hospital for physical rehab of those unable to afford health insurance. This was in Sylhet. And though I may have found Sylhet to be the most challenging chapter of my time spent in country, this moment of "ginger bearded brotherhood" brought me back from the brink. Just moments after this photo, which was taken because we were comparing the red in our beards, this man bear hugged me with all the joy of an Olympian who had just taken the gold. I'm not a bromantic man by nature, but I have to admit that I hugged right back. This is
the unexpected heart of Bangladssh: that when you are feeling low or disoriented, suddenly the beautiful face of the human is there to bring you back into the fold of mankind. Bangladesh is all mammal. It doesn't matter if you're Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, or Baul if you are mostly behaving you are a brother. I have a few friends in Ojai, a couple more in Ventura. What I find most surprising is that I'm wondering if I'll be feeling a little lonely compared to how it is
for me here, halfway around the world from my home. I said it at the conference and I'll say it again here: I love you Bangladesh. Jim