Week 38: Playing shollo guti in Narayanganj's Sona Khanda Fort

38^th-1st in Dhaka 5/21

Moweena came early so I could leave early to make it to the Nepal Embassy on time. I got there just as it opened, and there was a long line out front. I stood in it for about 20 minutes, it wasn’t going anywhere. Some guy then come up to me and asked me if I was a foreigner. He told me that I should be able to bypass the line since I’m not Bangladeshi. So he brought me to the front, told the security guard I was a foreigner, and sure enough, they opened the gate and I was allowed right in. Inside, I was given a form, I filled it out and then they processed my passport first, in front of the fifteen people sitting there waiting. This kind of special treatment always makes me feel a bit self-conscious.

I then did 3 local buses, all #6 between Gulshan and Kamalapur. Nothing exciting. Was very tried after the third local bus. Decided to call it a day around 7pm instead of doing one more route. On the bus home two men talked to me almost the entire time. They live near me and were providing very good conversation. One of the guys actually lived on my street.

My computer has been really slow. I tried cleaning it up in every way I knew, spyware, adware, temp file removal, defragmenting, etc. still having problems. Finally diagnosed that it was Gmail, only in its standard view, which was slowing me. In its HTML only view, things were fine. So for now I’m just using the HTML view.

Also noticed that there were big signs all over town welcoming Prince Aga Khan. There were many arrangements of the Bangladesh flag and a flag which I would find out to be his royal flag. Didn’t know who this was, and even asking some people, they thought he was the prince of another country. Well I came home to find out and saw he was very important figure in the Muslim religion, the Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims. He was visiting for a few days and had a bunch of things he had come to accomplish, including laying the foundation for the new Aga Khan Academy. The Aga Khan School is already one of the best schools in Dhaka. Neat to see the huge welcome he received. The biggest signs were in Farmgate, but I missed getting a photo of them. (pics: signs in both English and Bengali in front of the President's complex welcoming Prince Aga Khan, alternating Bangladeshi flags and the flag of Prince Aga Khan on Airport Road)

Thought I could mention how to ride bikes together here. Men ride with men, women ride with men, but women rarely ride alone…never seen it actually except for Kristin Boekhoff, a past Fulbrighter. Men straddle each other while riding. Women however, don’t straddle, it’s improper, so they ride sitting to the side, legs on the same side of the motorcycle and grasp the man with one arm. Seems very dangerous, but remember you’re never going too fast in Dhaka traffic. This is for motorcycles. If you just have a bike, the same rules apply. There’s a little carrying shelf on the back of all bikes, and your passenger straddles the back as you ride. (pics: school boys sharing a bike with one straddling back rack, men sharing motorcycles, girl sharing a bike with a boy by sitting sideways on the back rack)

38^th-2nd in Dhaka 5/22

Today didn’t turn out as I’d planned. First off, by the time I finally started riding the buses, I discovered my voice recorder was broken, and this was around 5:00 in the afternoon. What took me so long to find out? Why did I start so late? Let me explain

First I had to post the blog. Always important. Then I headed out to gather all the visas for the Rangamati trip we’re planning on taking when Ben Gaddy is here. This included printing out Gaddy’s, picking up Jen and Ben’s from their flat (stopped to talk to Ben there too), and then to ICDDR,B to get Aaron’s.

I then ran over to the Nepal embassy to pick up my Nepali visa. All is well, and it was very easy, the guy was even nice! Also, dropped by Naira’s after to have lunch and conversation for a bit over an hour.

Lastly, swung over to the travel office in Banani and dropped off all these documents I’ve been collecting. They are nice a group of people at Bengal Tours and I’m glad they’re helping us get the clearance to go to Rangamati.

Had a hard time finding the #3 bus’ starting point. After about an hour, finally boarded.
Well I did it for six stops, then went to listen to the voice files because we were sitting in traffic to do some pre-processing, and it wasn’t producing any noises. Got worried. Didn’t know what was wrong. After playing with it for a few minutes, deduced that the microphone was broken and wasn’t picking up my voice. So my plans for working the rest of the day were shot. I got very frustrated, a whole day without work.

Took the voice recorder to the repair guy I went to a few months ago…even though he couldn’t repair it last time. Well this time he did a good job. The microphone was an easier repair task than a USB port. He had tons of spare microphones, he put in a new one, and things were working fine. Was very happy. I can start working again on Sunday.

The landlord’s grandson came by my flat tonight when I came home. He always is talking to me, but today he came for the first time and hung out in my flat for a bit. He discovered my electric razor. Despite my warnings that he could cut himself, he still played with it. He even tried to shave, although he is about a decade away from having facial hair. Then he thought it’d be fun to actually shave his hair a bit. That’s when I grabbed it back from him. His mother, the landlord’s daughter also came by tonight to let me know we’re going to have less water these next few days. Her son was with her. He found the razor again while I was taking to his mom about the water restrictions, and ended up shaving a bit of his hair off this time. Luckily she didn’t care. (pic: landlord's grandson and his new favorite toy...my electric razor)

Decided with the computer, under Saket’s suggestion, to use an email client. I downloaded Thunderbird so I can now email with ease without the worry of Gmail being slow. Also downloaded Google talk so I can still chat when I want to.

38^th-3rd in Narayanganj 5/23

I’ve been itching to get out of Dhaka. I’ve spent almost all of May working, and I wanted to get out for a day. I got in contact with my friend Toma, and asked if she would want to go to Narayanganj for the day. She was up for it, so around noon we headed out from Dhaka. I’ve been wanting to see Narayanganj as it’s the largest city close to Dhaka, with over 240,000 people. The city lies along the bank of Shitalakshya River, just north of where it meets the Buriganga and heads to the Meghna. It is the oldest river port of Bangladesh, and is now known for being a center of industry. Along the banks of the river I saw cement factories and ship repairing. (pics: Narayanganj street scene just west of the river port and bus station, cement plant on the Shitalakshya River, ship repairing yard on Shitalakshya River, major Narayanganj intersection at dusk)

We arrived by the AC bus Asian. There are several buses we could’ve chosen, but I’ve always wanted to take the AC Asian bus because it has AC and because their bus line was imported from Japan, and are unique. When we got off the bus, we had no clue where to go. We walked for a bit, got some fruit to snack on. Finally decided to ask a rickshaw to take us to the river.

The river was industrialized, not a place to really hang out. Took a boat across the river to see what was on the other side. After walking for a bit we asked a guy what would be a good place to go see. He suggested Sona Khanda Fort. We had a rickshaw take us there passing through many thin twisting streets through towns to get there. (pics: streets of Narayanganj)

Sona Khanda Fort was fairly empty, and no information on how old it was. Asking someone about its age, he said maybe 200 hundred years old, but really had no clue. We walked around it but it wasn’t huge. I found out that the most use is people playing cricket and soccer on its large open space. A game even started up while we there. The fort is technically across the river from Narayanganj in the area known as Bondhor. (pics: myself in Sona Khanda Fort, Toma in front of the main gate of Sona Khanda Fort, fort's large open inner space mostly used for cricket and soccer, view east from the raised area of the fort)

We decided to just sit on the steps for a bit and I suggested playing shollo guti. The game, which I first played in Comilla and haven’t played since, is very simple. Shollo guti, literally means “sixteen pieces” and is just like checkers. You jump over someone to capture their piece. You follow the lines drawn on the ground for movements, with the goal being to capture all your other pieces. It also can be played anywhere, as long as you have some dirt to draw a board in, or a hard surface to scratch a board out with a rock. The board has a neat shape which creates some interesting situations, with a big square and two triangles on either end. Also a note on games like this, in Bangladesh they don’t say you “capture” a piece, you “eat” an opponent’s piece! (pics: Toma/myself playing shollo guti in Sona Khana Fort, shollo guti playing board and pieces)

After the fort, we took a rickshaw to the nearest place on the river we could catch a launch. The building seemed to be leaning into the water. The launch actually came quickly, but we weren’t aware that it was the launch we were supposed to get on. It left without us. Confirming after it was the one we were supposed to be on, we were told another would come in a half hour. So we sat on the riverbank and watched boats go by. Small ones and big shippers. It was nice, I didn’t mind the wait, and we weren’t on a schedule so we were free to relax.
The launch ride was fun. The boat was tipping the whole time because the sun being on one side of the boat was making everyone sit on the other side of the boat. No one wants to sit in the sun. We arrived at the Narayanganj port, walked through it and the nearby bus station, and found a restaurant, despite it being 5:00, for lunch. (pics: dock for waiting for launch leaning into the water, Shitalakshya riverside showing farms and industries on opposite banks)

Then walked back through the streets in town to find another bus to go home. Passed a funny sight, a rickshaw sitting at a gas pump. When I first saw it I did a double take. Noticed only after that there was a guy with a gas tank in it filling it up. But the photo is still pretty humorous. (pic: "Fill 'er up!" "Where?")

38^th-4th in Dhaka 5/24

Found out that the Rangamati permission is not going to be allowed to be performed by the tour agency. I had a feeling something would go wrong, that’s the case a lot in my planning of trips. Today, upon them telling me that they were not being allowed, I quickly drafted a letter to request permission myself, went across town to their office, picked up the copies of the visas and passports, and then headed over to Gulshan-2 to fax it all over. Will have to send it all by courier service tomorrow, then call back to see if they received the papers. Then hope that they give the permission papers to the check post so that we are allowed into Rangamati.

The reason I need all this permission is because Rangamati is in the hill tracts and due to conflicts there with tribal groups, foreigners need to request permission, for liability purposes. They want to keep track of any foreigners in the region.

After this I headed over to Leigh’s house, where a birthday party for a guy I would meet, Devon, was being held. The main reason I went though was for the foosball tournament that was going along with the party. I had been invited by Aaron. The tournament was supposed to be doubles and Aaron said he thought twenty people were going to show up. Well only twelve did for foosball, but the tournament was still fun, double elimination. My partner was Leigh and we won our first game, lost, and then in the loser’s bracket, won our first match and then lost to the eventual champions.
The rest of the night was fun too. We played a game called 25 Words or Less and I proved to be pretty proficient at it. Would play it again. Snacks and foods were all American fare, and I thoroughly enjoyed it all, haven’t had sandwiches or hot wings or tortilla chips and salsa for awhile. Plus there was birthday cake. (pics: Ifte/Aaron vs. Devon/Sarah in championship game of foosball, Devon blows out his birthday candles)

38^th-5th in Dhaka 5/25

Went to the courier service’s office and to send out the copies of our passports and the permission letter for Rangamati. I was then very nervous to call the Rangamati Police Department and Government offices to tell them I’d sent a fax yesterday, and confirm they’d received it. My telephone Bengali is not very good, and I usually have a hard time understanding theirs. Was also worried I’d be a nuisance. But things didn’t go too bad, but not perfect. It took them awhile to understand me, and me to understand them. But finally verified that the police received my fax and had given permission to go to Rangamati.

Met with Dr. Rahman at BUET for about 45 minutes. Discussed the data collection, the differences between ticket and local buses, and graduate schools. He wants me to start analyzing data now so that I can find any data gaps, and I’m going to try doing that more.

Had dinner at Jen and Ben’s. They had invited me over to their flat for some Mexican food. I arrived and they were finishing cooking. I got to help by flipping the tortillas. The food beats out any attempt of Mexican food by any restaurant in Dhaka. We tried out some new grain that a friend of theirs had sent to them in the mail.

38^th-6th in Dhaka 5/26

Somehow woke up at 4:30. I decided to stay up, no use lying in bed and being frustrated over not sleeping. I started adding pictures to facebook and also working on a new page for donaldkatz.com. It is a music page, pretty much a discography of all the music I’ve helped make.

I then thought, if I’m up this early, I might as well go catch the sunrise over Dhanmondi Lake. So I went out with my camera at 5:10am and headed to the lake. The streets were already stirring. The lake had many walkers, there were people selling vegetables, and beggars were begging. Stood by the fence and took photos as the sun rose over a mosque and the fancy boat-like house. Some guy stood and talked with me about the entire time. By the time I left around 5:45, the streets were very lively. Tons of walkers and joggers, bus #13 was running. Amazing how lively things are so early, much more than in the US when I’d get up to row in Raleigh or Philadelphia. (pics: Sat Masjid Road at 5:15am busy with activity, vegetable carts at Dhanmondi Lake just before sunrise, mosque and fancy boat-like house at Dhanmondi Lake, sunrise over Dhanmondi Lake)

Later in the morning, I talked to parents on skype. We chatted for about an hour, first time in awhile.

Today, after the morning, took some turns in the other direction. First, it poured and I wasn’t ready. It really started coming down when I was in a tempo heading to visit Farhan at his university, and the whole left half of me got soaked. Then I had to walk in it umbrella-less and without my rain shoes, so the other half got equally soaked.
I was meeting Farhan to see the (his) new campus of Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology. The campus was incredible. It is well designed, with the one building campus facing inwards on a massive courtyard. Thus it feels like it’s a much bigger campus than it actually is, and gives the impression there are more than just the one building. If I had an urban campus in a big building, this is what I’d want. All the students hang out on the breezeways and face each other. Big whoops and yells are constantly happening, and although it disrupts classes a bit, it seems like the students are having a blast there, and enjoying their new academic home. Today, because it was raining, kids were playfully slipping, sliding, splashing, and rolling around in the water. (pics: Ahsanullah University's new campus' front entrance, students hanging out on tiered breezeways, Farhan looks out over his new university, Ahsanullah University's campus entrance area)

The labs all seemed really well fitted, although the civil engineering labs have yet to receive their equipment. Cafeteria is also still without furniture and its kitchen. Some other things are yet to be ready too, but it’s good the students are here, it brings new energy to their studies.

Realized while I was touring the campus that I had left my gas on back home. Had to go back to turn it off before doing other things today. That kept my mind busy for the two hours until I could get back. Lots of traffic because of the rain. While at home to turn off the gas, I changed into dry clothes, grabbed my rain sandals, and an umbrella. Then headed out to the buses now prepared for whatever conditions.

Bus riding was fine, was exhausted form getting up at 4:30, but still ready for the challenge. All this was fine until the last bus. This last bus only did half its route, and left me far from home. It also filled up for gas while I was riding. All this compounded to me missing a bus I could’ve taken after the mid-route finish. Had to invent ways to get home, none of which proved very efficient. By the time I got back to Jigatola, it was 11pm. Then had to figure out dinner and buy groceries. An exhausting end to a very long day.

38^th-7th in Dhaka 5/27

Called the Deputy Collector of Rangamati this morning. They said they never got my fax. They hung up on me mid-conversation too. Wasn’t too comforting. I’m going to resend the fax tomorrow and then call on Thursday. By that point I think they’ll have received the courier package, and I can inquire about both.

Took my first bus today from Kamalapur to Gulshan. Then had to go by the American Center to pick up an invitation. Tomorrow night is a July 4 party hosted by the American Embassy. Yes I know it’s May. The Fulbrights were invited, but the invitation never arrived at my house, so I had to get it from the Center.

Had lunch at Pizza End, at 5pm, the last pizza place in Dhaka I’ve yet to eat at. Pretty good. I’d put it 4^th or 5^th on the list after DPavement, Pizza Hut, Bella Italia, and maybe ahead of Shawarma House.

Second bus was from Uttara to Gulistan, the #3. I found it’s starting point and the bus got really packed. Was glad. But by the time the bus ended, two hours later, I was exhausted, had no energy to do a third bus and it was dark now. I explored the area the bus ended in, Banga Bazar in Fulbaria because I was told I might find scout patches there, no luck. I took the #7 bus home.

I applied to some jobs on Careerbuilder.com tonight. A whole bunch of entry level transportation jobs.
My dad told me about Weezer’s new album. Don’t know how I missed reading about it. Excited after hearing the single.

And I just noticed while posting this blog: Bangladesh's Google Map is now updated!!!! It includes roads, parks, area names, and everything else!

Week 35: Not able to work on Labor Day (feel better after record breaking bus riding day)

35^th-1st in Dhaka 4/30

I ran this morning. Woke up at 6am, quickly put my shoes on, brushed my teeth, and was out before my body even knew it was awake. Ran out to Dhanmondi Lake, the sun had just risen. It was gorgeous out, slightly cool, but still humid though. The lake was packed, even at this hour. Running was slow as I haven’t ran in months, and because I was running slalom style through the crowds of people. I’d say that within a 20 yard stretch there were about 15 people minimum. They are everywhere. Most are walking. Almost no one wears shorts. Only saw about three runners. And about 75% of the people are over 30. And surprisingly it’s about half and half men and women. Or at least the number of women was so large it was enough to make me say, “Wow, that’s a lot of women.”

The run itself was very refreshing. Had a good pace going and tried my best not to slow down too much. I definitely was feeling pain by the end, it’s been awhile. But it was a great feeling of accomplishment. The run was only 2.5 miles, and I think I averaged around 9 minute miles, but it’s a starting point.

When I used the bathroom at North Tower today in Uttara, I found an awesome sign in one of the bathrooms. Had saw this online once, but this was the first time in person. (pic: this toilet is for sitting not squatting so please don't use it as such)

Found out tomorrow is May Day, or International Worker’s Day, or also referred to as International Labor Day. I knew for a few days, but it didn’t process in my mind that it was tomorrow, or what would happen on that day until tonight. Tonight, a random man I talked to on the bus mentioned how the roads will be empty tomorrow, and when I asked why, he said May Day of course! I was dumbfounded. Tomorrow I had a big research day planned with Arjun, was gong to get a lot of work done, but I couldn’t do anything if the roads were going to be empty for a holiday. Arjun texted me soon after asking the same thing. I had to call him back and cancel.

On walk home, a man asked to talk to me, and he told me he is my building neighbor. Took me awhile to realize what he was saying, but finally realized that he and the woman with him are the people who live through my window in the other building, the one Moweena works for. I found out he is also a transportation engineer, and works for the city planning department. What luck! I asked if I could come visit him at his work sometime and he said that would be good. Seemed like he does a lot of neat work for the city, and even helped in making the city’s transportation plan.

35^th-2nd in Dhaka 5/1

In Bangladesh everyone knows about May Day because it is a national holiday. They are quite informed, as I was not, as apparently it is an international holiday, and is celebrated worldwide as International Worker's Day. They were shocked to find out we don’t celebrate it in the US. They had a hard time grasping the fact that the holiday is celebrated based on events that happened in the US, yet the US doesn’t celebrate it. That made no sense to them. They started telling me the whole story about the labor movement in Chicago, etc, and I could only shake my head and tell them we don’t participate. I explained that we have a different Labor Day in September, and I found out the reason why later while reading about it on the internet.

On this day of forced vacation I spent a lot of time emailing for graduate schools and data processing. In the evening Farhan came over and we watched “Into The Wild” then went out to eat at the Star Hotel. Food wasn’t very good there, but perhaps it was because it’s Labor Day and they are maybe understaffed.

I was so sore today from running. Hurt to walk down the stairs. My solution to that, I will run tomorrow.

35^th-3rd in Dhaka 5/2

Ran for the second time this morning. Was feeling so tired last night, but I just went to bed and made sure to get up this morning refreshed. I felt it. I threw my shoes on again, and left the house. Took a bit longer route today, about 3.5 miles, and did it in about 30 minutes, a little faster pace than yesterday. And it didn’t hurt that much. My legs feel refreshed after running.
I’ve put both my routes on USATF’s Running Routes database…my routes are the only two in Bangladesh.

Finished processing the bit of data I had to do, but there wasn’t much else I can do as I wasn’t able to collect yesterday, and now am behind where I wanted to be.

Went out to Rifles Square. Bought two CDs: Arnob’s first CD and The Watson Brothers. Also bought a stack of CDs to burn. And bought a 4-in-1 DVD with the main movie being Cloverfield, which I saw posters for when I was in Bangkok.
I tried going to buy some cereal, but the nice supermarket was so jam packed as it was closing soon, at 8pm, that it wasn’t worth the wait. I left and walked home hoping to buy some mangoes. Well on this walk home a huge winds swept into Dhaka. People I heard yelling it was Cyclone Nargis, which we have been warned about as it headed for Myanmar. The winds were incredible, they came out of nowhere, blowing dust every which way. Businesses scrambled to lock up and tied up there goods. No one wanted to sell me mangoes as they just wanted to get home quickly.

I watched Cloverfield during dinner. I really liked it, and I understand why they said it made me people sick, with the camera moving around and all.

35^th-4th in Dhaka 5/3

I’m feeling a bit sick today. I’m real tired, exhausted, I guess from running for the first time in awhile and not getting much sleep. Whenever I sit down or stand up I get really massive headaches. It only got worse as the day went on.

Dropped off my shirt material at my tailor for three new shirts, then headed to BUET where I spent most of the day working. Put eleven buses into the database. Very cold in there, the AC is on full blast. We have to take our shoes of course, and that doesn’t help in heat conservation. I feel like I should carry a light jacket with me just to work. You walk out and it must be at least 30 degrees hotter outside. I also listened to Arnob’s new album “Doob” while working, and I think it is excellent, his best work so far.

Tonight I got some pizza at Pizza Corner, one of the three pizza restaurants I’ve yet to try in Dhaka (yes I’m keeping track.) I would say pizza is #3 in line to fried chicken and burgers as the most popular western fast food. It has a number of chains specializing in it, including Pizza Hut. Fried chicken is definitely the most popular though, with every restaurant that serves something beyond rice seeming to offer fried chicken. Burgers are popular too, but I find this is usually the least tasty attempt there is at western food.

Then there are also the Bangladeshi versions of these western fast food items. Fried chicken stays the same, but a Bangladeshi fast food restaurant serving a burger many times just has a slab of unrecognizable meat inside a bun with a piece of lettuce. It reminds me of a failed lunch room attempt at a burger. Or the chicken burger, which is more often just a piece of fried chicken, bone and all, inside a bun. I really don’t know how to eat that without just separating the bun from the chicken. Yes, Bangladeshis eat the bones of their foods, but as a burger, this just doesn’t seem to work. Bangladeshi pizza is an interesting one too. It’s usually a 6” diameter crust with a choice of two items: beef or chicken. These are mashed into a brown paste and spread over like pizza sauce. Then a tiny bit of cheese is added to the direct center of the pizza. Maybe a few pieces of diced tomato might make it on there as well.

Went to bed early, hoping that sleeping will help stop this headache.

35^th-5th in Dhaka 5/4

Woke up and still had a headache, so I took an aspirin in the morning to get rid of the pain. I’m not usually a medicine guy, but I’ll give it a shot in some cases. Medicine is real cheap here, and everything is over the counter. I bought a packet of ten aspirins, 500 mg, for Tk8.

I left at a decent time today, not especially early, but with hopes of getting a good day of work in. I boarded a bus to take me north to my first route, and this bus didn’t even make it four blocks before it broke down. Luckily another bus of the same company was nearby and it took all of us unlucky passengers on. Also good that this was not a sign of what was to come because…

Today was a huge success! I managed to complete six buses, a new daily record! This was great for me as I didn’t get to work last Thursday and felt redeemed. And top it all off, every bus was crowded. There were no major issues and didn’t waste much time between routes, transferring quickly.

After the buses, I was going to meet Nipu at DPavement for some pizza, event though I had pizza last night. Before I got there, I went back to the shops which were selling license plates. Went to a new shop to talk to them. Asked them about license plates again, and I now finally understand why license plates stay separate of each other even though independent places are selling them. Your license plate number is the same as your driver’s license number. So you give them your number, and they make the plate for you, so you can then put it on your car. Well I could give them any number I want as I wasn’t going to use it anyway. But I really wanted a used one, and asked about the old ones hanging around the shop. After some repeated asking, they finally said sure, and I bought it for Tk200. (pic: license plate I bought DHAKA METRO-CH 51-8237)

DPavement pizza was all it was cracked up to be: best pizza in Bangladesh, hands down. The cheese was awesome, toppings done just right, and the crust was the kind you look forward to instead of dreading. So happy, can’t imagine eating any other pizza here after this. Nipu brought his friends along from his university as well.

Also found out today from my parents that Ashrafi, my friend from Dhaka who moved to New Jersey while I was here, went over to see my parents for dinner. He was at my home for two hours, and my mom cooked a wonderful meal, and they talked over many subjects, including a lot about Bangladesh. I was very happy that my parents got to host someone who I’d told to visit them.

35^th-6th in Dhaka 5/5

Today marks 8 months in Bangladesh.

The Indian visa application center is not for the meek. The visa application is infamous, as I’ve heard from others, and I experienced why. Getting inside the center is tough. The guards aren’t happy to let anyone in without a hassle. Talking to the same guard four different times I got told: to leave, to wait, to walk to a window, and my last time to go inside the gate. The Bangladeshis wait in a massive line outside the place, while foreigners, as there are less of us and have to go do a separate place inside, are supposed to be just allowed in.
Inside, I was told I had arrived too late. But I had arrived before the required noon cutoff time. They said they only take so many applications a day: 14. I was #15. That seemed conveniently unfortunate. Didn’t know what to do, had taken all morning to get in and now I couldn’t do anything. Well I decided to wait and see what happened. Several other foreigners showed up and were being told the same thing. Well as the place emptied, perhaps they got compassionate and let us in to apply for a visa. Well my interview didn’t go so well. They wanted proof that I was researching on a Fulbright and why I was at BUET. I have letters for those, but didn’t bring them today, never even crossed my mind to bring them. Well without those letters, proving why I was in Bangladesh, they would not give me a visa to go to India. I had to come back tomorrow. I asked, before I left, for tips to avoid the frustrations of today.

Went to lunch at Auvi’s home, Annita’s husband (went to the cricket match with them a few weeks ago.) Ayon came as well, and of course Auvi’s parents and Annita were there. The meal was delicious, and I was famished after being at the embassy stressing for so long. The whole afternoon helped me forget the anxiety of the morning. They served, as one dish, meat cooked in a style they said you only find in Chittagong. It was bit more like barbecued beef. Ultimately they gave me the leftovers of it to take home.
I talked to both Annita and Auvi about graduate school as they both are electrical engineers finishing up their undergraduate degrees. Both are interested in US graduate schools. I told both of them about NC State and what I knew about the ECE program there from what I know from listening to my friends Ben, Greg, and Saket.

Afterward, I did two more buses, both Dibanishi, and both relatively crowded. This route always has odd crowding patterns, with it being completely empty, than full, than empty again. Or other bizarre crowding conditions. I stayed on the same bus between routes, and waited the ten minutes while the bus sat curbside. Meanwhile I took pictures of the empty bus, and myself sitting in the empty bus. The driver and conductor also told me to take their pictures. The driver while he was driving…that was scary! He wasn’t looking at the road at all. (pics: myself alone on the Dibanishi bus, Dibanishi driver and conductor posing)

35^th-7th in Dhaka 5/6

Today was a much better embassy experience attempting to get my Indian visa. I came a lot earlier, and was the first foreigner in line when they started at 11 am. Also there was two guys who I saw yesterday who also needed to come back. They are staying at the mosque in Kakrail, which is a very popular mosque that lots of Muslims come to visit and stay and pray. One of the men was helping the other (who came from Israel to pray at this mosque) apply to get a visa since the other man spoke neither Bengali or English very well. The translator, invited me back to the mosque after we applied for our visas, and I accepted, thought it would be such a chance to go inside. He said I’d be very welcome.
Well the visa application was much easier when I had papers proving what I was doing in Bangladesh (will bring these to all future visa application interviews.) The Indian interviewers do a great job intimidating, as I am sure they are told to be. I’ve heard though from people who’ve been to both embassies that the US interviewers are very scary, and will nitpick your application for a long time. The Israeli man did not have the same luck. I heard them say that he doesn’t even have a visa to be in Bangladesh, and he has to go back to Israel to get one, then he’d have to come back to get his Indian visa. What a predicament.
Well I was told my visa would be ready next week. By the time I got out, the two men were gone. I waited around for about ten minutes, hoping to find them, but they probably left quickly as the one was denied his visa. Too bad, I would’ve been very happy to go to the mosque with them.

After this stopped at Coffee World and bought a coffee drink, and did some work while I drank. Then by Banani and stopped at Bengal tours to start organizing a Rangamati tour for Ben and I, and nicely they served me lunch when I was there. I must be a familiar face they want to feed. Then swung by the American Center and picked up some mails, both from my parents, including a Star Wars birthday card.

When I got to Uttara to start taking some buses, I found out that one of my buses, Shakti has been cancelled for awhile. That’s a bit annoying as I still have two more routes to complete on that bus. I’ll just have to wait it out and see what happens. Took other buses instead today on which I still have routes to complete .

Week 19: Dhanmondi Lake cures stomach problems

19^th-1st in Dhaka 1/9

Saw a girl take a bad step into the drain today. Bleh. Let me explain. The drainage sewers here are right on the side of the road. They are open concrete lined pits or slight indentations next to the road. They are dug for rainwater, but ultimately are for other liquids as well. Some of these liquids include urine. Men can be frequently seen peeing on the side of the street. This can be done either by squatting or by standing, but most prefer to squat. This is because most are wearing a lungi, and that is well-suited for squatting.

Anyway, with all of that entering the drainage pits, they have this solid slime layer on top, and are all are unpleasantly colored. Typically they’re covered by concrete slabs which in turn become a sidewalk of sorts. Many times there are gaps, and you have to hop over them, not very far, but you do. Well sometimes they’re not there at all. The girl who fell in today, she came off the bus and was rushing and didn’t look where she was going, and she took a wrong step into a ditch full of sludge at least 10 inches deep. It was very gross. I couldn’t imagine what she was feeling after. I’m hope she went home and bathed for hours.(pics: drainage sewer covered by concrete slabs with breaks in between slabs which one could trip through, drainage sewer on side of road with some garbage in it, open sewer holes are not a rare site so watch your step!, drainage sewer with layer of slime on top)

Went to Agora to buy some food products such as milk, muesli, and peanut butter. Agora, like Lavender and Pick ‘n Pay are the nicer grocery stores here with lots of items you can’t find elsewhere. This includes peanut butter which has no found a place in the diet of most Bangladeshis. Cheese as well is there, which is hard to find beyond ponir, Bangladeshi cheese, a harder version of paneer. Agora is a good place for foreigners to shop because of the fixed prices. Elsewhere you may get ripped off be, but here you’re guaranteed to get the proper price each time, even if it’s a bit higher. This time I just wanted those three thigns. Couldn’t find muesli, but bought cereal instead, Kellogg’s mango corn flakes. Hopefully good.

Feeling sick in the morning. Feeling sick in the afternoon, and it started to clear up around 2. But later it started hurting again. I don’t know why. Went to Dominou’s pizza for dinner. Ordered some soup and a hot sub sandwich. Ate half the soup and wrapped the sandwich to bring home.

Came home. Moaned. My stomach hurt horribly.

19^th-2nd in Dhaka 1/10

Today was spent at home. Sick. Taking ORSaline to replenish all fluids and electrolytes. Watched movies, played on internet, posted blog. Went out and collected some stock photos for the blog. Bought some crackers and peanuts to eat since they are simple foods I could digest.

With nothing else to say, I’ll include something from the list of stuff I have called “Things to write about in blog.” Today: police handling traffic. Since traffic lights aren’t really followed, human traffic enforcement is needed. Yes there are signals, but rarely are they obeyed. Running a red light isn’t even a second thought. So to keep the order at intersections cops are out there. They wear green shirts with white sleeves and blue pants. They carry sticks and they use these sticks to point in directions for traffic, but also to hit vehicles which are misbehaving, especially rickshaws. A rickshaw which is not listening to them they will wack with the stick against the rickshaw hard. They do their job as best as they can. It’s tough to handle the traffic and they do their best to control the busy intersections as a team. They also frequently wear masks since they are around the vehicles’ exhaust all day.(pic: police officer managing the intersection with stick in hand and mask covering his nose and mouth)

19^th-3rd in Dhaka 1/11

Again not much today. Enjoyed some cereal in the morning for breakfast. Was honestly very delicious to have cereal for the first time in a long time.

For lunch made PB&J after going to Almas Super Shop to buy some good jam. Also bought some muesli and enjoyed that as well.

In the afternoon I went on a walk around Dhanmondi lake. Was feeling a bit better and bit more energized with actual food in my stomach. The lake is really long all the way around since arms of it stretch in every direction. The walking path is very nice, and I want to start running on it when I start feeling better. The bridges that cross the lake are neat, and I love to just meander in all the directions. There are people everywhere. The paths are very near clogged, but I think it’s nice, so many people enjoying themselves. Mostly men though, as that’s who’s always out and about in Bangladesh. There was some concert going on alongside the lake at the outdoor theater, and it was being sponsored by some banana chip company. They were blasting their minute long advertising jingle over and over. I can’t believe people didn’t leave, because it would easily drive me nuts. I sat and read the NCSU newsletter my parents sent me, and just enjoyed being outside. Haven’t been outside much while sick.

Actually ate the dinner the boua made and talked to her today, asking her name and if she could cook some of my favorite Bangladeshi foods.

Bunch of the CCR16 group came over. CCR16 is the group of people who graduated from Cadet College Rangpur Batch #16. This includes Saifullah, Mohan, Moin, Bapi, Shibli, and many others. They all are great friends even 12 years after Cadet College ended. Four of them came over to Mohan’s and my place. Ate some dinner and we played card games. Learned 29, a real good strategy game that lasts for a long time. Must be great for long trips. Glad I picked this one up.

19^th-4th in Dhaka 1/12

Another day where I pretty much stayed at home. Eating simple foods still. PB&J. Bananas. Cereal. Muesli.

Went and got a haircut. They cut it a bit too close! Uh oh! Now I think I look like a professional soccer player, where they only keep a little bit of hair because of all the ball heading. Oh well, it’ll grow. This time I went to a nicer saloon because it was a fixed price, and they have clippers, not just scissors. But they don’t restrain themselves with such powerful tools. Next time I’ll go back to streetside saloon. I might gone today, but all were crowded since it was a weekend.

Started looking at grad schools and fellowships, such as the NSF. Realized I need to start considering this stuff. I know it’s early, but it’s never too early. I’m nervous. Thinking about the whole application process. Thinking about all I’ll have to propose. Thinking of recommendation letters. It’s all so much.

Megan and Aaron came to Dhanmondi. They were going to a couchsurfing “convention” aka a meeting at café mango for couchsurfers and those hosting in Bangladesh. If you don’t know what couchsurfing is, it’s this phenomenon where people post that they have couches for people to sleep on, and when traveling, you can crash at their place. I was first told about it by Spencer Sawyer, a guy on the rowing team. Sawyer is like 6’4” and 200 pounds, so my friend Danny Heater joked that maybe we all would feel comfortable crashing at a stranger’s home if we were Sawyer’s size too. That thought in mind, I didn’t sign up then. Well after tonight, I decided to give it a shot. I may couchsurf someday, but I’d like to host for now if possible.

Anyway, we met at café mango, and I got some soup because I was real hungry and but couldn’t still eat too much because my stomach is still readjusting. Some people were couchsurfers, some were hosts. But mostly chatted with Aaron and Megan because I hadn’t seen them in awhile, and didn’t have any couchsurfing stories to tell.

Took a rickshaw back to my place. I showed them my apartment. Was happy to show. Mohan and Bapi were also there and they talked to Megan and Aaron.

Bapi told me something really neat after Megan and Aaron left. He said he feels that it is his responsibility, as well as all Bangladeshis, to make foreigners who come to aid his country feel especially welcome, and invite them to his home to feed them. It’s them, he said, who’ve come all around the world, to work for near nothing, but to help his country and its people. Thus he feels because of this, the least he can offer is to welcome them to his home and feed them With this thought in mind, I understand more the reasoning behind why I’m always getting invitations to people’s places to eat.

19^th-5th in Dhaka 1/13

In the mid-morning I took a walk around Dhanmondi Lake. A nice walk, just to celebrate internally feeling healthier. I really enjoy the scenery and people watching. Glad to take the morning to do this. Made me feel refreshed and prepared for the day.

Also talked to Diya online how I wanted to play badminton, and she told me her friend and neighbor Oyon plays. So she gave me his cell and I got in contact with him. Made plans to come over this night to play. They play on his roof on a court he puts together (by that I mean puts up the lights and the net.)

BUET ended up being successful today. Arrived just after eating my lunch at home. Waited around the ARC for Sohel. Asked him about the library and tips on how I can find what I want. He told me to ask the librarians for the catalog. Also told me to find a man named Rofiq who could help me locate things in the traffic lab. While there I also asked for permission from Dr. Haque if I could make a copy of one of his papers in his private collection, and he agreed and got the copy made for me.

Sohel is a good guy and I’m glad to have met him. He talked to me how he used to like to play sports, but as he got older, his observance of Islam did not allow that to coincide with his life. As a religious person, the clothing he must wear for his religion is not suited for playing sports. So although he still loves cricket, badminton, and football, he no longer plays because of Islam. It is the sacrifice you make for your lord.

Found the catalog in the library by asking the librarian. It was a book with a list of all the MS and PhD thesis papers over the years. As I paged through it, I saw it’s organized by date, and then by author and title. So by going to the year 1991 I could see the few thesis papers from that year, then get the three digit number assigned to that paper, and then look for it on the shelf. The shelf, as I saw before is not organized, but now I knew what the numbers on some of the bound papers meant (not all papers had a number.) The first paper I looked for wasn’t amongst the random papers. Searched for the next, and success, I found it! Was pretty excited to find it. Then had the confidence to ask the librarian where the paper I was looking for was. He pulled out this list of professors’ names, and next to some of the names there were papers’ numbers. Well he told me Dr. Hossain Ali had the paper I was looking for. Not sure why he’s the “caretaker”, but he is. Librarian found the office number for me. Tried to go by his office but he wasn’t in.

Dropped by traffic lab and it was open for first time ever, and I looked inside and saw a guy, and he turned out to be Rofiq Islam, the guy who runs the lab. I asked him about one of the documents I was looking for, and he told me to sit while he went to look for it. It was a big document and he came back with several volumes of books. He also showed his catalogue for the lab of the undergraduate and graduate papers they had on file. Showed me that they had also many measurement tools and devices. He’s an undergrad at another university at night but is running this lab during the day.

He and I went to the BUET canteen and had a cup of Nescafe coffee and talked about engineering. We both commented on how we wished undergraduate students in their final projects would not repeat the same projects year after year. That they would see what has come before them and build upon that.

Played badminton tonight. Went over to Oyon’s building, technically also Farhanaz’s and Diya’s building as well. Went to buy some shuttlecocks. Apparently since we play on the roof we lose a lot. We bought 6.

Badminton was fun. Will be more fun other nights. This night it was a bit too windy, the downside of playing on the roof. We lost all 6 shuttlecocks, couldn’t believe it. The guys and I are all similarly skilled. All the lights and net are Oyon’s and we set them up before we play and take them down after.

Spent some time learning about the Islamic New Year which happened apparently three days ago on January 10^th. The new year isn’t really celebrated in Bangladesh as Mohan explained to me, except by extra prayer at the mosque, which unless you go regularly, you wouldn’t go to hear. Neat fact, 2008 is one of the years in which the Islamic year will fall entirely within the Gregorian calendar. This happens every 33 years. The new year is marked from the year the prophet Muhammad moved from Mecca to Medina. I did notice the new moon, and thus I knew a month was changing, but no signs that it was the new year from what I could tell. Of course I was also in the house being sick.

19^th-6th in Dhaka 1/14

Spent the morning in the library reading the thesis paper on pedestrian underpasses. Kids were collecting their grades in the library, so there was a constant stream of students. Faisal came by, a friend I met on New Years, and we exchanged hellos after he got his grades. The report was less focused on the pedestrians and more on the traffic. Instead of a safety study, it was more of an flow study and the pedestrians were causing a delay.

Met up with Ayon and his friends from DU for lunch. They took me to this place called Mama, which is on top of Nilkhet Market, literally. It’s on the roof. You climb onto the roof via some back stairs, and way on the other side are three eateries, and one is Mama. First time eating out like this since being sick. They said it has been a popular place among DU and BUET students for a long time.

Went back to BUET. Spent afternoon researching bus delay caused by overcrowding. Not much that I’m finding, really need to find where they are hiding.

Found the bus that can take me from Jigatola to BUET and back. Local bus #13. From the bus stops it’s a short walk on either end. And it’s more comfortable, cheaper, safer, and quicker than a rickshaw. Comfortable in that the bus has nicer seats and the ride is less bumpy. Cheaper in that a rickshaw costs Tk25-30 each way, this cost Tk2….7% at best! Safer because it is less likely to be mugged, and less likely to get in a serious accident. Rickshaw riding can sometimes be very scary. And lastly, it’s quicker because a bus not only goes faster, but can take the main roads.

Stayed home, read a bit of Dune. Just starting on it. My dad’s copy. I’ve heard about it over the years from many people. Especially form Saket. And since the remake of the movie is coming out, and Saket is raving about it on his blog, and even started a fan page called Sands of Arrakis. I decided it was time to pick it up. Saket warned me the first 50 pages can be tough because of all the new jargon, so with that in mind, I’m starting to plow through.

Went to play badminton. Less wind and got a bunch of games in. Glad to have found this group. A seventh guy came tonight.

19^th-7th in Dhaka 1/15

Today was “go to Gulshan and get things done and meet up with friends” day. First up was to meet with Saifullah at his new office, check it out, and get my badminton racket back after a month. He has a real cool new job. He came over with his boss from Aktel, and is part of a team which will be developing a new product line for ACI, a company that specializes in dry goods. He’ll be in charge or marketing and gets develop his own team below him. Sounds like he’s going have a good time with it. He’s real excited about all the possibilities.

Next up was to go to Banani and get more packages from the American Center. Some from my parents, the rest of the holiday gifts. Unpacked them all from the boxes and put them in my bag.

Next headed down to A&W where I was meeting up with Risal for lunch since he works right nearby. We had set this up since I was coming to Gulshan and he works there, and we had wanted to meet up more often. Farabi and his cousin also came by. The four of us enjoyed lunch together. Root beer was delicious. Burger and chicken strips hit the spot as well.

After went back to Farabi’s uncle’s house with him and spent the afternoon with him. He was two years behind me in Science and Engineering Specialized Learning Center at Manalapan High School. He’s visiting for 2.5 weeks with family and such before Rutgers starts back up, first time in twelve years. I knew he’d be coming and we’d planned to meet up while he was here. Had a second lunch with his cousins, real good home cooked food. We went to Gulshan youth club, which his apartment building was right behind, and played a few games of badminton. Later we went to cofi11 for some iced mochas. His aunt served us some chingaras, but they were ponir filled (see above)! Yummm. Like mozzarella sticks.

Lastly went to KFC to meet with Ashrafi, a guy from the Bandarban trip who asked to meet with me. He just got a visa to the United States, and wanted to talk to me about it. He will be there thanks to a company which brings good candidates to the US in his IT field and sets them up with companies. If he gets a job with one of those companies, he gets to stay and then extend his visa as necessary. He’ll be sent to Jersey City, and he will be interviewing at Exchange Place, right near where my friend Chris Rappa works! I’m going to try to make sure the two of them meet up. Also since he’s going to be in New Jersey, I hope takes my offer to go to my parents’ house and meet them.

He wants to practice his English with me to get ready for the interviews, so I’m only to speak English to him! Also he was saying he needs get used to an American accent, but what’s even cooler is that I’m providing him with New Jersey accent practice! Real excited he’s going to my home state. He asked me if the people are very friendly in New Jersey. I couldn’t lie. I told him that New Jersey might be regarded as one of the rudest and least friendly states in the US by most Americans. I didn’t want to lead him astray. But I did talk about Jersey to him for the next half hour and all the great stuff about it.

When I got back, quickly changed and headed to Oyon’s house for badminton. Played a bunch of good doubles matches tonight. I get so competitive and apparently I’m never smiling when playing. Well it’s the competition what I enjoy most, and we’re all evenly matched, so it’s a lot of fun. I’m getting back to my previous form more each night, more confident in my hits. Glad to have my racket back too, feel much better playing with it.