It's Thursday!

(Ok, so now it's Friday here, but I started drafting this yesterday, so decided to keep the title.)

For some reason, "It's Thursday!" just doesn't have the same ring to it as "It's Friday!" I thought by now I would be used to working Sunday-Thursday and having the weekend on Friday and Saturday, but I'm beginning to think you never get used to it. It's always strange to watch tv Friday night and realize that financial markets are open in the U.S. and people are going about there regular business day. Not to mention the Sunday-Thursday work week makes it more difficult to connect with Washington. That's probably the hardest part. Due to our different weekends and the time difference, we only overlap with our Washington colleagues on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, making it sometimes tough to get things accomplished in a timely manner.

But our election event went great the other day. Like so many others around the world, the Bangladeshis that I've talked to are EXTREMELY excited about the election of Barack Obama. I think everyone feels that change is in the air and no matter what, it will be an exciting time. I particularly enjoyed reading the first paragraph of Ethan Bronner's NY Times article from November 5, 2008, which I think accurately portrays what people here are thinking of Obama's election: "From far away, this is how it looks: There is a country out there where tens of millions of white Christians, voting freely, select as their leader a black man of modest origin, the son of a Muslim. There is a place on Earth — call it America — where such a thing happens."

It's also interesting to juxtapose our American elections with the upcoming Bangladeshi Parliamentary elections that will be held on December 18th. Many Bangladeshis are skeptical as to whether elections will even happen in the first place, but if they do happen, the transition from the current Caretaker Government (which came to power in a "quasi-military coup" in 2007 and has attempted to make significant reforms over the past two years, all the while maintaining a State of Emergency) to the next government will not be smooth. As a result, it makes people nervous and anxious as to what the future holds for Bangladesh. Which, makes me grateful that I am from a country where, despite political differences, the transition from a Republican administration to a Democratic administration will be smooth. It's quite an amazing feat when you think about it.