ridiculous

sometimes i have ridiculous interactions here.
sometimes it drives me crazy.

here is a list of things i wanted to get done today (besides stuff i had to do at Sari Bari)...

• pick up contacts (i ordered some a few weeks ago)
• go to ATM
• make last minute photocopies for the team
• check into the hostel we will stay at this week (because they arrive late and i was hoping to avoid any hassle later)
• drop off some fabric to have a shirt made.

here's what i accomplished...

• photocopies

and here are some of the ridiculous conversations/discoveries i made...

• the contact shop was closed both times i went by (i know it closes for awhile in the afternoon...but didn't know the exact times)
• ATM is broken
• I tried to check into the hostel, but the lady told me that they only have one key, so if i lose it, then what will they do?! (to which i thought...hmmm, interesting situation...so you can give me the key tonight when i get here...and i'll take it with me when i leave (and risk losing it)...but it's somehow more dangerous to give it to me now??!?!) lesson learned - do not try to solve problems before they happen...
• after waiting for about 5 minutes the shop keeper/tailor asks what i need. I tell him i'd like to drop off from fabric to have a shirt made. He tells me it won't be done until Oct 15. I say okay (i figured it would take awhile...it's the holiday season and everyone is getting new clothes made). Then he tells me to bring my fabric on Sept 30. I say, can't i give it now? no, i can't. Why? "I don't have anywhere to keep it" he says....seriously?!?! it's as if he's hoping his service is so bad that i'll never bother to stop again...and i'm left wondering why he didn't just tell me that 2 days ago when i stop to ask what time his shop re-opened after lunch so i could drop fabric off...
• on my way to my hostel check-in fail i got stopped by metro security to look in my bag. most of the time i just try to ignore the little table they have set up where they "check" bags...mostly because it's an absolute waste of time. I open my bag, they glance at whatever happens to be on top for about 1 second, and then wave me by. so i breeze by the checking spot...and a police officer calls me back...so i go back, open my bag, receive the cursory, 1 second check of the top layer of my bag to be sure i don't have anything i'm not supposed to and go on. (as a sidenote, if i have something in my bag that i know will be questioned, i just cover it with something else, and then still breeze by their little station...i sure am glad they have that bag checking system in place!) i think he was just trying to annoy me...and today it worked.

...and then the power goes out....

sometimes this country drives me crazy.