Filed under: touristy stuff, Uncategorized | Tags: armenian church, banga bazar, bangsal road, old dhaka, rickshaw art
My friend Lauren that i met at church back in September, had never been to Old Dhaka. Yesterday we made the trek down there. Almost all of my wanderings around Dhaka have been on my own, so it was nice to have a companion for once. It was also interesting to see how a western woman gets treated by the locals. I was astounded at the amount of whistling, cat calling, and people yelling “sexy” as she walked by. I thought the people staring at me was annoying, but i can’t imagine what it must be like to get that treatment everyday.
We started off on Bangsal Road. This is the bicycle road that i went to a couple of week ago. Unfortunately most of the bike shops and rickshaw artists were closed. Luckily, just as we were walking away a kid chased us down and showed us some rickshaw art he had. He knew what we were looking for. We ended up following him back to his families shop and i purchased a ridiculous bollywood movie scene on a vinyl sheet. usually this would be put on a rickshaw, but it will sit on my wall for years to come. It was a little bit more expensive than i was hoping (about $7.50), but overall i’m happy with it.
After rickshaw art we walked to Banga Bazar. It’s a big market that many foreigners come to to buy cheap clothes. It’s where i found those emirates flight attendants a couple of weeks ago. All the stuff was really ugly so we didn’t buy anything.
On the way to lunch we found some really disturbing posters. I don’t understand why you would want this.
After lunch we went back to the dock i went to the first time i came to old Dhaka. I ran into the tour guide that ripped me offer a while back and declined his services this time. I really wasn’t happy to see the guy and i think he could tell that he’s not my favorite person in the world.
After much wandering we found the Armenian church. It was built in 1781. Its off on a really quiet little street in Old Dhaka. The gate was locked, but a driver waiting outside rang the bell for us and a guy came out to let us in. It was pretty cool to be in a church in the middle of dhaka. when you’re in the chapel you don’t feel like you’re in Bangladesh anymore. There are lots graves, i’m not sure of who though. The church isn’t used anymore. There is a caretaker named Father Martin but he was in Kolkota, so we didn’t get to meet him.
on another note, there is a large group of doctors coming today to setup a temporary clinic in the north west corner of the country. I inquired about a week ago if i could go along and kind of forgot about the whole thing. Today Pastor Ayub informed me that we were leaving tomorrow (today) at 3pm for the trip. I’ll be gone for a week.
I moved back to the training center last night. I already miss the conveniences of modern life like hot water, consistently running water, fast(er) internet, and air conditioning, but there is something familiar about my room at the center that i like. As i predicted i’m getting less frustrated with the culture and i’m slowly noticing the things i like about Bangladesh again. Not much else is new besides that. I have some pictures i took on the way to the conference a few days ago. the first is a partially butchered animal (cow or goat) hanging from the cage of the cng. Not pictured is the liver and other organs. there were two doctors in the car, so we spent some time figuring out what each organ was.
And here’s a picture of a protest right outside the airport. Bangladesh has been under a caretaker government for the past few months and now they are slowling lifting the emergency bans as the Dec. 18th election approaches. Now people are allowed to assemble and do political rallies and such. A leader of a political party here returned from being in the US getting “medical treatment” and was returning to the country for the first time in a long while. So there was lots of hooplah at the airport while we drove by. The political scene should get much more active (possible much more violent) in the coming weeks as the election approaches.
for some reason i’ve been getting really, really frustrated with things in Bangladesh lately. usually it’s the traffic, honking, and other things that makes me really angry. Most Bangladeshis don’t speak english, but a lot know what how are you means. often times people will test their english skills as i walk down the street and say how are you to me. today i was in no mood for this. A guy yelled “howareyou” at the top of his lungs as i walked past him and i had a hard time not yelling at him. After spending less than an hour trying to find a tour operator for a trip to southern bangladesh, i came back to the hotel room i’m staying in for the time being and slept for about 3 hours. the only way to cure my culture shock/frustration seems to me removing myself from the culture and taking a break from interacting with people.
On another note, i got some laundry done at the hotel and they returned it in plastic wrap. the shirts were pressed, folded, and pinned to cardboard then placed in plastic packaging. even my boxers were in plastic wrapping. my supervisor and i thought this was entertaining. His undershirt and my 4 dollar shirt will never be treated so well.
I’ve been at a conference about 1.5 hours north of Dhaka for the last two days. Well, actually we are commuting to the conference everyday, which can be extremely irritating. It’s really not that far, but we are usually stuck in annoying Bangladeshi traffic the entire time. Last night we were stuck in traffic for a while because a car was trying to push a baby taxi down the road because it had broken down. Instead of doing this on the side of the road they decided to stay in the middle and block traffic for everyone. I decided to stay in dhaka today and regain my composure. I’ve been getting kind of irritated with bangladeshi culture over the last few days.
One positive thing is that i’ve noticed that i’ve really been missing traditional Bangladeshi food. Because i’ve been staying at a hotel for the last few days i’ve been eating mostly indian food and kababs. I’ve been really craving dal and rice. So, i guess after about 2 months of being here i’ve finally gotten acustomed to eating the food.
Here’s some pictures from the conference. When the speakers were talking in Bangla i’d go around and take pictures of the kids and walk around.
Filed under: teaching, travel | Tags: korean food, magura, rural bangladesh, translating
The last couple of days have been hectic. My supervisor along with a ton of other people are here for various events. There is a group of dentists here doing dental work, one group of mostly europeans here seeing the work that is being done by pastor ayub, and my supervisor is here with a smaller group also seeing the work that is being done here.
One of my students got to try out his translating skills for the first time yesterday. Although most of us could tell that he was simplifying what he was saying, he still did a great job and was very smooth. The person he was translating for is from the south and used a lot of southern idioms that the student didn’t quite understand. I had to chip in during those. But overall it was very encouraging for me to see his improvement and see him putting some of the english he’s learned from me to good use. Sometimes i feel like i’m not getting through to the students here, but i could tell that sylus wouldn’t have been able to translate nearly as well (if at all) before i got here.
After vising the center we went back to Banani and had Korean food with everyone. The dentists are a group of koreans-australians so they helped everyone out and ordered a bunch of various korean dishes to try. It was fun to try new food that wasn’t bangladeshi.
Today we got up early and made our way to Magura. I made the trek there a couple of weeks ago, but this time we visited a rural house church. It was about 6 hours each way and included crossing the Padma river each time.
finally we made it back to Dhaka at about 10pm and had dinner at the hotel. I’m surprised to say, i was cracing dal and rice all afternoon. So, for dinner i had a big thing of rice, dal, and plane naan. It was really good dal too, so i was happy.
I’m always astounded at how pretty rural bangladesh is. Maybe it’s because i’m stuck in the city 75% of the time, but i think its hard to disagree with me that the scenery below is ugly.
Filed under: culture | Tags: bible school, eye liner, rural bangladesh, rural doctor
There are like 17 people visiting the pastor i work for right now. All together we represent 7 different countries. some are doing dental work throughout the country and some are just touring different churches and bible schools. today i tagged along to visit a bible school and a rural doctor training center/medical facility. I managed to get some pictures of the locals while we were going around the town.
And this baby needs some explaining. It’s thought that if you put coal dust in a baby’s eyes then it will have good vision its entire life. that makes absolutely no sense. But, it makes it so many of the babies here look like they have eye liner on.
Filed under: culture, shopping | Tags: bargaining, betel nut, paan, sandals, tongi
Some students were going to the tongi bazaar to get some shoes today after lunch. I haven’t gotten many oppurtunities to go out to markets with students so i decided to tag along. They thought i’d need to take the pedestrian bridge across the freeway, but i showed the (by leading) that i’ve learned how to effectively cross a busy freeway in bangladesh without getting hit.
When we got to the market, it was a good chance for me to ask questions about all the stuff that i’ve been seeing. One interesting thing that they sell in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh is this stuff called Paan. It’s preparation of various things that can be eaten/chewed as an after dinner breath freshener, but mostly its something that people get addicted to and continue to chew, even after their teeth fall out. I unknowingly tried this after dinner one night and was disgusted. It was super bitter. I just swallowed the whole thing because i had no idea what else to do with it. The idea is that you get a betel leaf and fill it with some shredded areca nut and some caustic lime powder. Sometimes people put a little bit of tobacco also. It’s pretty gross and you see people spitting the red juice all over the place. Tonight, there are some guests from Australia and they were offered paan as an after dinner breath freshener at the indian restaurant we were at. I kept telling them they should try and it and after about 5 chews the all spit it out in disgust. Here’s a picture of a guy that sells it at the tongi market.
When we finally found a place that sandals i asked the students what the bangla word for shoe was. They hesitated for a while and said “sandal.” Then Khokon found the shoes he wanted. the guy wanted 590 taka. That seemed fair to me. they looked like nice black faux leather sandals. but it was too much for him. As i’ve said earlier, Bangladeshis can be really touchy within their own gender. To convince khokon to get the sandals the guy was grabbing his arm, massaging his shoulder, and just overall sweet talking him into not leaving and buying them from the next guy. It was interesting to watch. they never treat me this way. I would have said 400 taka and gotten them for 450. But finally the guy agreed to 150 taka. yes, from 590 all the way to 150. Khokon left a happy man.
Filed under: culture | Tags: haircut, halloween, international night, international trivia, shawl, snoop doog, vegemite
halloween isn’t really celebrated in Bangladesh, so this post has very little to do with Halloween.
It was international night at church. Because the church is made up of people from 6 of the 7 continents, every year there is a competition with which country or region can display the most talent. Africa won. American did square dancing. I hadn’t dosidoed (sp?) since middle school. And i got kind of sick from all the spinning around. It reminded of how my brother called me “the dancer” for about a year after my parents saw me doing a ballroom dancing unit in middleschool and told the whole family about my amazing dacing skills. I am not a good dancer, so i have no idea where they got that from.
Anyways, there was also a geography/international trivia contest. My partner and i got 4th place and won a shawl. Here’s me wearing it.
Here’s Australia doing a song about Vegemite. It was really odd.
I also got a haircut today. Getting a haircut or shave in Bangladesh so far has been nothing but frustrating. The first time i got ripped off, the second time my hair got ripped out during the post shave head massage, and this time i sat in a chair for an hour while a guy cut my hair from slightly long to a buzz with scissors. It took forever and i couldn’t get him to use the electric clippers that were right next to me. Oh well, it was only 80 taka. also, Fridays are kind of like Saturdays here, so lots of people had the day off and i had to wait 45 minutes. But i did get to watch the India-Australia cricket test match and some MTV India. They had a music video called “singh is king kinng” that has Snoop Dogg dressed up as a bollywood guy.
Lately i’ve been feeling tongue tied while trying to write, so i’ll keep the writing to a minimum and just give you a bunch of picture.
My lens on my digital camera became non-operational in the beginning of October. I’ve been awaiting a new one that i ordered online, then had my parents send to me. The package arrived a couple of days ago, and i’ve been going to markets to get back into taking lots of pictures. The first market i went to I call the bamboo market. its on the side of the road and is made up of bamboo poles and tarps.
On the way there a guy selling jems was trying to get my attention. He really wanted me to take his picture.
Then today i went to a market that is about a 15 minute walk north of me. It’s right on the Tongi river. this market felt much older and much more interesting. It just had a different vibe from the bamboo market. you walked down some steps off the main road and down into the market and it winds its way through along the banks of the Tongi.
this guy was selling jewelry on the bridge over the Tongi. I really like his expression. His loud speaker was playing a tape player. The only thing I could understand from the recording was “city gold! city gold! city gold! city gold!” then it would name a bunch of cities in Bangladesh.
Michael P 
