Met up with more people today than I’ve met up with in weeks. I didn’t work much at home, only getting some data processing done. Spent majority of the morning posting the blog which included a virtual tour of BUET.
For lunch, I met Nafisa, who leaves in less than a week, at American Burger. As her Fulbright is ending, we had plenty to talk about: our projects, reports, Fulbright itself, leaving, and of course her engagement and wedding. It seems like she’ll be coming back next year to work for a bit after her marriage to her husband. However, she is looking forward to seeing her family at home in a week. We also talked a lot about our graduate school planning. We’re both at the same point in our processes, and we shared stories of letters we’ve sent and advice we’ve received.
In the evening, I headed to Gulshan, where Naira and I had planned to meet at Time Out. We ordered a certain mango drink which is only available now, during the peak mango season. As well, I decided to order a dosa for a small snack before dinner. I had no clue how big it would be though; dosas are huge as I’d find out. Though it’s very thin and you eat a lot to fill you up. It was delicious, found a new Indian food favorite.
After this, I met up at Arirang for Megan’s goodbye dinner. She leaves tomorrow. Well we thought she did, she told us tonight that she changed her flight to Saturday, so she has a bit more time left. Korean food was good, and we ordered a few dishes for the eleven of us there. I was the first to arrive by about fifteen minutes. We were there pretty late, late enough that when Karen and I headed back to Dhanmondi, I began worrying even the local buses had stopped. But alas, one finally came, and despite it making many stops (being very local) on the way home, we made it back, and my faith in buses was upheld. (pics: L to R Erin, Ben, Jen, Rebecca, Farrah, Ifte, Leigh, Megan, myself, Aaron, Karen at Megan's goodbye dinner)
37th-2nd in
Today’s goal, as I received Travis’ visa last night, was to finish the purchase of plane tickets. Almost didn't happen. When I first walked in three weeks ago, and again one week ago, I asked if it'd be okay to purchase a ticket for him, and they said yes. Well even today, when I walked with everything we needed, they still said yes.
But alas, they found a problem. They were concerned since I didn’t have a copy for his ticket out of
Well I sit there steaming. The agent sits there looking blankly at the papers I'd given her, and the computer. She then goes next door, comes back, asks for my credit card, and starts processing the whole transaction.
I never got an explanation of why things all of a sudden were "okay" but I just sat there with an unchanged expression, hoping that being angry was fueling the process. Well another hiccup was on its way. They were out of the credit charging papers, and thus couldn't charge my credit card. They tell me they can't do the purchase today because they don't have the papers. Frustrated, I ask if their other office (across town) has them. They make a call, and find they do, and they tell the office I'm coming over. So I take the bus two hours across town (granted, this is a very short distance, but traffic is horrible, I go about one mile in 45 minutes at one point) to the other office. I finally am able to purchase tickets because they have a credit card form. Purchased! The total time invested in buying tickets is now around eight hours!
To give a good example of what I’ve mentioned before as all things gathering a crowd, today our bus watched a concrete mixing machine. We were sitting in traffic, and to our left, at a building under construction, a concrete mixer started up. Instantly, everyone’s head spun to watch the interesting sight! And it wasn’t just a “oh what was that” kind of watch. It was a “this is the most interesting thing I might see all day” kind of watch. Some people, who were on the far side of the bus, even stood up to get a good view! In total of the 34 people on the bus, 18 of us (including me) watched the concrete mixer do its thing for the few minutes we were sitting there in traffic, and three people had at least stood up at some point for the better view of the concrete mixer.
After riding three buses, I went to 
Right after met Diya in Dhanmondi for 40 minutes for some roadside tea. We talked for awhile. I mostly complained about not working as fast as I’d like, and she complained about her A-level exams. Rode one more bus after, and I was really worried that because it was getting late, it wouldn’t get crowded….wrong! It was gloriously crowded, and it made me happy to end the work week like that.
37th-3rd in
This morning, Moweena cut herself while cooking. I didn’t know it until I saw her putting some of my toothpaste on her finger. I had no clue what was going on, so I asked, and she said she cut herself, and this would cover the wound…
Mohan came over at some point, he picked up the rest of his stuff, and stayed to chat for a bit. Later, he called me saying I should come over for dinner tonight as his mother is in town, and she would like to meet me.
I headed out to visit a slew of people. I visited Megan in Baridhara to say goodbye before she leaves tomorrow, Tamzid in Uttara, and got a snack with Ragini after in Dhanmondi.
Later I went to dinner at Mohan’s. Got to meet his mother, she was very sweet. The television was on so conversation wasn’t flowing as we kept getting distracted, but we did talk about her job as a teacher, her students, and her daughter who just got married. She asked me some questions too, but nothing out of the ordinary. Dinner was simple: eggs, rice, spinach, and potato and mutton dish. They said the mutton was actually goat head, and it is my first time eating that, at least to my knowledge. His mother served us and watched us eat.
After Mohan and I watched TV for a bit. First time watching Bangladeshi TV in a long time. I was understanding more than I have since I last watched, even the comedies. Humor can sometimes be lost with me because it can be a silly topic, and I always doubt that the ridiculous things I’m hearing are really the right thing, or just a misinterpretation. Tonight’s example was that the main character was being told by his boss to go get to the streets and get into fights to see how beat up he could get…that is why after I asked Mohan for verification on this.
37th-4th in
A morning of processing, and an afternoon of databasing. A very typical Saturday for these past few weeks. I spend the morning at home processing as much data as I can, until I have to go to BUET to database them all. Usually getting lunch someplace fun.
In between lunch and getting to BUET I dropped by New Market. Had to return, for the second time, some of the jeans I had bought. Again two pairs were too tight. Exchanging is a bit tough, they don’t seem to believe me when I say they don’t fit.
As I’m nearing the end of my ticket buses, its time I finally get to compile a fun piece of data I’ve been collecting: people selling things on the bus. Now the list is quite long for the types of items you can buy, but let me touch on a few things before I give you the numbers. All of this information will ultimately be in the report I write from her as bus sellers and beggars affect a passenger’s comfort level for riding buses.
First, I’ve defined bus hawkers to be people who actually come onto the bus to sell their goods. This does not mean they also don’t sell things in the street, and in fact, they likely spend more time selling things on the street walking between buses. However, they were counted as a bus hawker when they boarded the bus to get sales inside. (pics: bus hawkers selling water between buses, bus hawker selling a newspaper on the bus)
The most popular items such as water, cucumbers, popcorn, ice cream, and newspapers are almost constantly seen walking between buses, and are just some of the many sellers who come inside the bus. Many items, such as toothbrushes, dictionaries, razor blades, or face wipes are only vended on the bus, and are usually preceded by a speech before being sold. The seller will stand at the front of the bus, try to scream above the engine’s noise, and give a small bit trying to talk up their product. This speech generally has a common pattern with a description how life is bad without the product, demonstration of the product and how it’ll improve life, saying how expensive the item would be if you bought it in the market as opposed to from the seller, and then talk about how great a deal they are getting. (pics: cucumber bus hawker, water bus hawker)
The other people I kept track of are bus beggars. There are different categories of beggars, the most common being a beggar with some form of physical problem such as blindness, missing appendages, burn scars, and distorted figures. They come onto the bus and make an effort to show their problem to bus riders. For example, if your arm is twisted in the wrong direction, you would roll up your sleeve and then put that arm in people’s faces. Or if you don’t have an arm, you would walk up and down the aisle of the bus stating simply repeating “I don’t have an arm.”
The other kinds of beggars include beggars with credentials. These beggars all are healthy, but have proof for what they are begging for. Perhaps it is a handwritten story of a family member with a problem along with a photograph or simply just a hospital bill. Other beggars come onto the bus and sing a song, usually praising Allah. These tend to be old men.
Although most beggars are men, there is one type of beggar which is predominantly female. This beggar type has a typed letter which they hand out to each person describing what they are begging for. They don’t say a word, just hand out the letters walking up the aisle, and then walk back down the aisle collecting the slips back and any money that’s been donated. Sometimes they provide a piece of sucking candy as an incentive to donate. It is polite not to throw away their piece of paper, and simply hand it back to them.
Bus hawkers and beggars are only permitted to come onto the bus if the conductors let them. Conductors certainly use their discretion. Some let no one on, some let all on, some only allow sellers and no beggars, and some allow no sellers and only beggars. However many scamper on unnoticed by waiting in the line of boarders, taking a seat, and then when the bus starts moving, standing up and trying to sell their item or beg. This is mostly for the smaller items that can be concealed in a bag or beggars who don’t have a physical problem. Conductors usually don’t try to pull them off the bus once they are on and starting to sell, sing, or beg.
So on to the numbers. Not all hawkers are represented here as I only kept track of those who came on the bus while I was collecting data. So those who were selling Bengali-Arabic dictionaries, cell phone screen covers, carrots, or peanuts somehow did not come on in my many rides and did not get recorded. Other items, such as cough drops, only got sold twice while riding, although I feel that they are sold a lot more often than that. Otherwise, I think the list is pretty comprehensive for the period I was recording. The first column is the name of the item, second the cost, and third how many times it was observed. I assumed a donation of Tk2 to each beggar, as this is the smallest bill and easy to give away. But I commonly see donations of Tk5 and Tk10. In total, if I had donated Tk2 to each beggar, and bought from each seller who came on the bus (data was collected over 70 bus rides), I would’ve spent Tk1195 total, about Tk17 per bus ride!
| Item | Price (Tk) | Occurrences |
| Water | 10 | 18 |
| Popcorn | 10 | 28 |
| Beggar w/ credentials | 2 | 5 |
| Beggar w/ injury | 2 | 25 |
| Toothpaste | 10 | 1 |
| Cucumber | 2 | 2 |
| Beggar (just begging) | 2 | 4 |
| Folding toothbrush | 10 | 1 |
| Newspaper | 2 | 21 |
| Shaving razors | 10 | 1 |
| Ice cream | 10 | 12 |
| Book about plants | 20 | 1 |
| Dates | 2 | 2 |
| Dontation letters slip | 2 | 2 |
| Cough drops | 2 | 2 |
| Hand towels | 10 | 2 |
| Breathing masks | 10 | 1 |
| Face wipes (4) | 10 | 1 |
| Pen | 5 | 1 |
| Chocolates/Mints | 2 | 5 |
| Beggar w/ song | 2 | 2 |
| Pens w/ lights | 10 | 2 |
| Tiger Energy Drink | 20 | 1 |
| Music CD | 50 | 1 |
| Sweat rags | 10 | 3 |
| Toothbrush w/ changeable heads | 20 | 1 |
| Toothbrush | 10 | 3 |
| Flowers | 10 | 1 |
| Bengali-English dictionary | 10 | 1 |
| Push pencils | 10 | 1 |
| DVDs about Koran | 60 | 3 |
37th-5th in
Tried to leave the house early, but Moweena was late and worked a lot this morning, so my goal of getting to the
Today I started the local bus portion of my research. I’ve realized it’s a good thing I waited to do these after the ticket buses. The ticket buses, a more controlled environment, gave me practice for the odd things that happen more regularly on local buses. It helped me build a process for doing the data collection quickly, as well as confidence. Today, I was ready for the local bus data collection, and I think this first one went well. Local buses are ALWAYS crowded, and thus my second half of the data collection will have a huge feeling of satisfaction attached to it.
One interesting thing to note about the difference in buses, is that the passenger types are a bit different. Those on local buses, seem to be a lot more interested in what I’m doing. In just this first ride I got asked three times what I was doing! It took about a month of ticket bus riding until I got asked even once.
On the last 3 buses, it was nothing special. I had one Trans Silva bus and two Midway bus routes to complete to say I was officially done with the ticket buses. The best part of these routes is that ticket sellers on these routes know me, and always tell me to sit and chat. The Midway guy actually bought me some petha and gave me a sweet while I sat there.
37th-6th in
Discovered that the Pizza Hut lunch special, which says is for two people, and won’t be served to any other party size, can be served to one person, and is just perfect for a hungry guy like me. If they weren’t going to serve me it, I had already prepared what I would say in my defense. Assuming that whoever was serving me would not have been the one to write the rule, only enforcing it, I would showing them how that rule only makes sense for parties of 3 or more, and with parties of one you are losing no money. But didn’t have to happen. Everything was fine, and tasty.
A ferret lives downstairs in our garage.
Today was a holiday, so no working today. It is Buddha Purima, one of the holiest day for Buddhists.
37th-7th in
I was unfamiliar with litchis before coming here. I only knew of this fruit because I’ve had litchi juice before, but never seen the fruit itself. Here in
The outer prickly peel is easy to remove. You crack the shell and it comes off in big chunks. The inner white fruit is what you eat. Pop the whole thing in your mouth and work the fruit off of the big seed at the center with your tongue and teeth. Then spit the seed out, its pretty big, and impossible to miss. Litchis tastes a bit like a green grape, with almost the same consistency of a peeled grape. (pics: litchis bought from the street, litchi's shell, litchi's fruit inside after removing peel, litchi's seed after sucking the fruit off of it)
Today I met up with Jayita to hang out for a bit. Haven’t seen her in several months… that’s what happens when two people really start working. We took a rickshaw from Shahbag to BUET and just chilled on campus talking. She told me about a new store she, her sister, and another partner are planning on opening in Banani selling exclusively Bengali gifts, especially cards. I was pretty amazed at such an endeavor. Said the store should be open by June. We also talked about her recent engagement, the weddings which will happen in the next yearz: hers, Annita’s, and Altaf’s. Found out that Anwar and Sanjana will be coming in for two weeks, although Ben will be here at the same time. Perhaps we’ll get to meet. After this we headed to Baily road and got some lunch at
From there, I went to ride the local buses. However I took a side stop at Gulistan in search of a Bangladeshi flag patch. I figured if I could find a place selling scouting materials, I could find it, as they wear that patch on their uniform. No such luck. After about an hour of searching, being misinterpreted for saying “skating” and being directing to a sports store, I gave up.
The first local bus I rode didn’t get crowded at all, and I got frustrated. Local buses, notorious for crowded conditions should always be crowded! Well I realized mid-way through the route that this bus was providing service which was advertised as “sitting”…which means they don’t aim to crowd the bus, just to get enough people to turn a profit and finish the route quickly. If crowding happens, so be it.
Well I took it to the end since I knew where it stopped, in north Mirpur, several local buses started. The next two routes turned out well. I rode the #9 bus to Azimpur and back and had some crowded conditions. I am learning a lot more about local buses and how they work in just these first few days of researching them. So different form ticket buses and it’ll be fun to compare them.
Was exhausted when I came home. A long day out, and didn’t sleep well last night. Tomorrow I have to get up early to go get my
I can’t complete this week’s post without including this music video I found. It is of Tishma, a popular teen singer for the past few years. But this purposely unserious video is hilarious to watch. It also gives a good video of some
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