Week 13: Are you a soccer, cricket, or museum kind of guy?

13^th-1st in Dhaka 11/28

Today was museum day. Both classes took a trip to the Liberation War Museum and the National Museum.
The Liberation Museum was very powerful. It goes through an incredible amount of detail describing what led up to the war in 1971, and then even more information about what happened during the war, including personal stories. They’ve collected tons of documents, photos, and objects from the war period, and aim to describe every painful detail.
The museum showed a 10 minute long film while we there, so we went in the theater to watch. It was very engaging, and showed excellent footage, showing the mostly foreign audience views of the war they were likely largely unfamiliar with.
The displays were both in Bengali and English. Sometimes I saw that the Bengali description was a few times longer than the English, but I was okay with it. Even with that, it still took me two hours to go through the 2-story museum which wasn’t much bigger than a house. There was just so much to read, absorb, and understand. For someone who knows only a handful of dates and names, it’s a bit difficult to grasp it all. For someone who knows nothing at all, this museum would be very overwhelming, not just in the volume of information, but also in the emotion behind it all.
Seeing and reading about some of the things that Pakistan did to the Bangladeshis when they were still in control made me tear at points. For me, and others, the worst event was what occurred two nights before Pakistan surrendered. They decided before they left they should kill all of Bangladesh's top doctors, educators, scientists, and philosophers. In the middle of the night they went to their homes, took them away, and murdered hundreds of them. Then left Bangladesh two days later. There was no strategic purpose to this; they knew they were surrendering soon, so to do just one more bit of damage before departing, they did this.
What’s incredible to me is that people here still remember the horrors of that war.
Three million people were killed in genocide then. People have mothers who were raped during the war. It’s incredible. I can't imagine living in the US thirty years after the civil war for example. To know of the horrors which happened on your land just such a short time ago...(pics: displays at Liberation War Museum, Erin/Santa at lunch between museums)

The National Museum is exactly the opposite of the Liberation War Museum. It’s several stories tall and looks like a museum; a large imposing structure with beautiful grounds. And inside, it is full of, well, very little information compared to the size of the building. The top floor has some reproduction of paintings from elsewhere in the world, a room of international dolls (the US dolls were represented by two Barbies and a doll that was obviously a gift shop toy purchased in New Orleans (the words New Orleans were on the doll’s dress,) and some other raggedy gift-shop like doll.)
Downstairs there were floors with Bangladeshi art, historical items, clothing, musical instruments….just a collection of everything a national museum should have about its respective country. Downstairs there were more scientific displays about Bangladesh’s geological history and agricultural history. Also displays on cultural life.

Went to Megan’s in the evening and we listened to the first 12 tracks of the Radiohead 01 and 10 mix that I’ve mentioned before. So, I did my senior English thesis on OK Computer, a bit of a concept album, and compared it to Catcher in the Rye. I remember when I was analyzing the album that many times I felt stuff was happening between songs that wasn’t being explained. For example, between Exit Music and Letdown, I felt something tragic must’ve happened and I could only postulate what. But when you stick Weird Fishes/Arpeggi in there, it’s like turning on a light and you see what happened to the two lovers in the songs who’ve escape. Or, how about Bodysnatchers right before Subterranean Homesick Alien! We only did the first half because it was getting late, but supposedly the last 10 songs is where the two albums really mesh. Will give my final opinion after it’s all over.

13^th-2nd in Dhaka 11/29

Starting to be sad that class is going to be over soon. Will miss the fun we have every day.

In class we learned to cook. Farah taught us how to make pulao and chicken gorma. Everything has a lot of fat, I’ll tell you that. But also a variety of spices: mostly cardamom and cinnamon. We put that in both dishes. It took 2 hours to cook it all. It was fun to learn everything, and see how some of my two favorite dishes are cooked. Erin wrote down what we were doing step by step, so many ingredients. Ultimately, I’ll copy them down from her, but these dishes look like it takes practice to get just right. If I make them in the US I’ll likely have to go Indian grocery store to buy all the ingredients.

I’m not sure if I ever officially said that food is eaten with your hand here. All food, well except soup. And it’s always the right hand…never never your left. Your left hand is reserved for bathroom business. I was once told, when you use the hand to eat, it’s supposed to make you feel closer to your food. You get to feel the textures, which they say makes things taste better. Yes, your hand gets very messy, but it’s not rude to lick your hand and fingers. Since the staple of all food is rice, it’s important to understand how to eat it correctly. You push your rice grains together, mushing them into a ball almost, then pick up the ball with your four fingers, and bring it up to your mouth, then push it into your mouth using the thumb. Because your left hand isn’t being used for eating, you can use it to grasp your water glass and drink. However, I’ve noticed that many folks here don’t drink a sip until the meal is over, then they drink the whole thing in one gulp.
Anyway, because you eat with your hand, you want to make sure it’s clean before you eat with it. So that’s why all restaurants have several sinks right in the restaurant, and you wash your hands after you order. And then, since your hand is all messy and greasy, you wash it at the same sinks afterwards. In homes, sometimes there is a sink right in the dining room for washing.

In the evening I went to Nafisa’s aunts house for dinner. Talked with her uncle and his friends for the beginning. One guy was in from Florida and he works for the Florida DOT, so we talked about one project he is working on, the new Orlando beltway.
Hung out with Ishraq for dinner. Dinner was delicious as usual. They had a lot of company over. After dinner had a conversation with one of their sons there. A 9 year old boy who was proud to show me he could speak English. So we had a conversation, him speaking English and myself speaking Bengali.

13^th-3rd in Dhaka 11/30

Went to Saquib’s house today. Was a great time.
I waited for Farhan at the bus stand since I got there when he told me to meet him but he arrived 30 minutes late. While I waited I talked to two of the bus ticket guys sitting at their tables under their umbrellas. They asked what I was doing, how I know Bengali, the typical questions. I asked them how long they sit there every day, what time they arrive. 8 hours a day, 7 days a week they work these counters. I think it’s a fun job. All this action around you, ever few minutes a mad rush for tickets. Friends come to hang out with you and talk. In fact, conversations always seem to spring up at these ticket counters.
Farhan arrived and we took the bus to Uttara.

We chilled in Saquib’s room for most of the day. Looked at pictures, listened to music, and watched music videos. Opu and Ayon showed up after about an hour separately, it was the 5 of us all day. Arm wrestled, listened to music. Sometime after a delicious lunch served my Saquib’s mom, we went up to the roof, cricket ball and bat in hand! (pics: Farhan/Ayon arm wrestling, Saquib taking a photo of Farhan/Opu arm wrestling, Ayon sporting Saquib's hat, Saquib/Opu)

On the roof we played cricket. It was a lot of fun. For the first time I got to bowl and bat. Ayon taught me the basic points of each. We switched off who was bowling, batting, and fielding in a cycle. We had to bowl and bat softly since we didn’t want the ball going off the edge of the roof and falling seven stories to the ground. Well, one of my bowls was maybe too hard, and Opu’s hit too hard as well, and the ball went over the side into the grassy area 7 stories below next to the apartment building. Three of us went downstairs and had to get some kid to hop the fence for us to get our ball back. (pics: our playing area with Saquib/Farhan/Opu, Opu hitting a ball bowled by Ayon, Ayon batting, oooooopsssss ball is now 7 stories down, myself batting, Ayon giving me pointers on batting, myself hitting a ball bowled by Farhan)

Later we climbed above the elevator shaft building to get an even better view. Uttara is quite impressive. 5-8 story apartment buildings as far as the eye can see. And it’s growing! It’s the main suburb of Dhaka. People are migrating out here at a good rate. In fact, just from the roof of Saquib’s apartment building, a 360 degree turn will allow you to spot over 50 new apartment buildings nearby. The growth is incredible. Its places like Uttara that is causing Dhaka is growing as fast as it is. (pics: how many new apartments being built can you spot in Uttara?, Saquib/Farhan on Saquib's roof in Uttara, Opu/Ayon, Opu/Ayon/me/Farhan posing)

I took a bus to Dhanmondi where I was meeting Nafisa and Khalid for a late Thanksgiving dinner at Khalid’s grandmothers house. Lot of people I knew there, Elizabeth and her Australian roommate, Naira’s and Khalid’s friends Nadia and Samia.
Desert was pretty delicious. They made a pumpkin “cake” and were worried about the results. A delicious chocolate cake, the kind that makes you want to get a drink afterward…milk would be best, but even a coke or water will do. Yum. (pic: Nafisa/Khalid cutting the pumpkin "cake")

13^th-4th in Dhaka 12/1

I went running, longest yet. Measured out that Baridhara is roughly 1000 meters long for running, and about ¼ mile wide. My old runs were about 2 miles, and the run I did today was about 2.75

How do you count? Just with you fingers? Well the Bangladeshi way is much more effective. I’d seen it for a few weeks, but I’d never thought twice about what was happening. But it was Megan who finally pointed it out to me. Bangladeshis use the lines on their fingers to count. Look at your hand, on each finger there are 3 pronounced lines, even on your thumb…look close! Then, if you add your fingertip, each finger has 4 points to count. Bangladeshis count this way, tapping their thumb along each line and then on the finger tip…and lastly use their index finger to count the thumb. In this way, you can get up to 20 on just one hand! 40 using both hands! It’s quadrupling your hand counting capacity! Pretty neat. Try it out, maybe you’ll get converted.

13^th-5th in Dhaka 12/2

I headed out to find Guide Tours to book my parents and my trip to the Sundarbans in March. Finding the office was a bit of an issue. Sat down with them and received trip options that I’ll explore and choose for my parents and myself. It’ll be a 4-day 3-night trip, likely at the end of their stay due to the timing of things.
Left, and went across the circle to check out if I could get the strap on my hat shortened…my favorite cap from H&M has a real long strap, and I thought it looked silly. And since they say you can get anything and everything done on the streets here, I was searching out someone to cut it and resew it. Found a guy with a sewing machine on the streetside, in the back of bazaar, asked him. He did, and I gave him Tk 20. We chatted about his son and my studies while he worked. Some other guy came over during and also talked with us.
Next went to find a badminton racket. Checked three stores, two sport specific stores and one shop in the bazaar. After asking about prices and the like finally decided on a racket in my price range. Also but a shuttlecock. I bought a low-to-mid range racket so if it gets stolen I won’t be sad. And at least its not cheap and break in the first game.

After dinner went to Gulshan Park to play badminton. It’s been a few months, so my lack of skill to those I was playing with really showed. I got to play 4 games, the first 2 with a guy who asked me if it was my first time every playing L Played the other 2 games with folks who seemed to be of lesser skill level, the category I fit into. I only played co-ed intramurals with Kristen in college and took badminton as a course sophomore year.

I like that pickup games just happen at local parks, every night, for a few hours. They only play in the winter because it’s cooler out unlike the hot hot summer. But they’ll play all winter. I’m looking forward to doing this most nights. Talked to a few people there, but was nervous to say the least. My skill isn’t as good, in badminton or in Bengali, so I’m sure I look a bit foolish. I’ll try my best to keep my head up.

13^th-6th in Dhaka 12/3

Headed down to Bangabandhu national stadium. A big soccer match today! Mohammedan vs. Abahani, the two best teams in the country. It was a best-of-3 series, with proceeds benefiting the Sidr victims. This was game 1. Apparently whenever the two teams play, it is always very heated, so even though these were Friendly matches, they aren’t necessarily friendly. Fans or players. A bit of history on what makes these teams such big rivals, as explained to me by Shakil:
Sheikh Mujib Rahman’s (the leader of the Liberation Movement in Bangladesh in 1971) eldest son started Abahani. Because the Awami League political party rose out of this family, leading eventually to Sheikh Hasina, recent president of Bangladesh and now in jail, this team is frequently supported by those who are in the Awami League.
Mohammedan was first organized by the royal family of Dhaka who lived in Ahsan Manzil in Old Dhaka. It was started in the 1930s and in modern times has received support from those in the government of Bangladesh, mainly because the Bangladesh National Party has been in power, and they are rivals of the Awami League. In fact, those who don’t like the Awami League support Mohammedan, plain and simple. Much of this team’s fan base is in Old Dhaka, because the ties the royal family had with that part of the city.

Abahani has its own practice field in Dhanmondi, while Mohammedan practices on either some of the Army’s fields, or the police’s fields.
Abahani’s colors are light blue and yellow and Mohammedan is black and white.
Because Ayon supported Abahani, I decided I would too, but by the end of the game, I was against Mohammedan for valid reasons.

The game resulted in a tie. Many scoring chances throughout the game, but nothing materialized. The action got hotter throughout the game. With about 10 minutes left, a fight broke out in the midfield. And the captain of Abahani (also the captain of the Bangladesh national team) and one of the best defensemen of Mohammedan were ejected. They both left the stadium to much riled yells from both sides of the crowd. The crowd, just like at concerts when they don’t like a band, started yelling “boo-wah, boo-wah!” (pic: the fight which got the two players ejected)

The crowd was definitely heated toward each other, even in the more expensive seating section in which Ayon and I were sitting. At one point, the Abahani goalkeeper made a miraculous save, and one guy supporting that side next to us stood up and gave a yelp of joy, shaking his arms in the air. Some guy 5 seats over, supporting Mohammedan, immediately stood up and started barking at the Abahani fan, “Sit down, sit down, shut up!!”…very emotional on both sides. And this wasn’t even that crazy of a match apparently! (pic: guy on far right was the Abahani supporter and four guys over is the Mohammedan supporter during a heated point in the match)

What made me decide to dislike Mohammedan was how they treated the end of the game. After the two squads tied, Abahani quickly came back to wait on the field for the expected shoot-out. However, Mohammedan went to their bench and started collecting their things. No one knew what was happening. Then Mohammedan began to walk off the field! Mayhem! Crowd is booing/cheering, going crazy. Abahani is just standing there wondering what is going on. Then, one of the VIPs who was sitting near us in a special booth goes down to the field. Ayon pointed out to me earlier this man was one of the great players in Bangladesh history, now much older. He used to play for Mohammedan. He goes down and talks the players back into doing the shootout. Meanwhile people all over the field are yelling at each other. The crowd is cheering going wild and seem to be on the verge of fighting. I was pretty turned off by Mohammedan’s action. What would stop you from playing a shootout for CHARITY?! Anyway, they ended up winning the shootout…dang, I wanted Abahani to win. (pics: Abahani waits midfield for a shootout while Mohammedan walks off, ex-Bangladeshi soccer star convincing his former team to do the shootout, Mohammedan wins the shootout they didn't even want to play)

The food during the game was interesting. There weren’t any official stadium food vendors. All food vendors were from the street who bought a ticket to come into the stands, and then sold their food. Peanuts, tea, potato chips, water, and soda were some of the options. As well you could buy a crushed chick pea, tomato, and onion with spices mixture which is real popular. We bought some peanuts, tea, and the chick pea stuff. Prices weren’t any higher than they would be on the street, except for the tea guy, who blamed it on having to buy a ticket to the game. (pics: Ayon with his tea, nuts wrapped in old Bangladeshi newspaper, food hawker who had to buy a ticket to sell his food, the popular snack he sells)

From the stadium you can see the National Mosque. The game lasted through two azans, so it was neat to hear the azan singing while the game was happening. About 50 fans gathered near the north end of the stadium and did their prayers in the stands during the game. (pic: white building outside stadium is the National Mosque)

The Boy Scouts were helping out at the game. They helped collect tickets and during the game they were the ballboys. Also carried a banner when the teams were brought out. They had similar uniforms and some of the same patches as those in the US. I got some pictures with some of them after the game. We talked about scouting in our own countries for only a short time, but enough to exchange some ideas. Since we shook with our right hand, I asked them why they don’t shake with their left, as this is supposed to be the international scout handshake. Well they explained to Ayon and me that Bangladeshi scouts used to shake with their left hand, like all scouts in the world, but when Ziaur Rahman was President of Bangladesh, he gave a decree that all Bangladeshis should shake with their right hand, and thus the scouts followed suit, a show of loyalty to the then young nation. I also asked where they meet, and with the help of Ayon’s translation, we understood that there are two branches of scouting here, the educational branch and the non-educational branch, the latter which he was part of. Not exactly sure what that meant, but I’ll guess and say it means certain troops are associated with schools, while he, at 21, is not in school anymore, and its only a club. I think what he does is similar to the US’s Venture Scouts. Ayon told me that the common activities Boy Scouts are known for in Bangladesh is camping and service projects. Just like American scouts! Was very excited to meet them, and I hope vice versa. (pics: Boy Scouts with a banner midfield before the game, a Boy Scout ballboy, Bangladeshi Boy Scouts, and a shot with me)

After the game, I bought a Bangladeshi flag on the street and a headband for Ayon and myself for next time we go to a match. Victory Day is coming up, so flags are being sold all over now.

Day ended poorly. Sadly. I accidentally put a lock on my phone, and don’t have the code to unlock it. Spent a lot of time tonight trying to figure out what to do. Sujit tried taking it to the store to get it unlocked, and they couldn’t help. My friend Toma, who works at Aktel, my service provider, assured me online she could get it to work, so I’ll go by tomorrow.
Also got upset at badminton, I think I was being teased in Bengali for my lack of skill. Eh, that’s never fun.

13^th-7th in Dhaka 12/4

We cooked khichuri and three types of fish today in class. Our second cooking class in one week. Food was good again. We made a dessert this time called firnni. It requires to be stirred the entire time! So that was my job for about 15 minutes. All was delicious in the end.

Midway through, I had to go to the Aktel office to get my phone fixed. Toma met me there, and gave me all my codes, and helped me get the phone working again.

Went to Lavendar’s (grocery/everything store) upstairs where they have toys. Saw a really cool board game where you have to navigate the streets of Delhi, India in your taxis, collecting fares, avoiding traffic signals, and competing for things…I thought it was a real cool transportation related game! I’ll buy it at some point.

The use of bamboo here is quite impressive. Its strength is used in many applications, whether to construct carts to pull heavy machinery around or to make ladders for workers. But one of the most impressive uses is to support the formwork for setting concrete. As buildings go up floor by floor, the bamboo takes the load of the wet concrete. Also, on this note, many buildings are occupied even while being constructed. Many buildings are occupied in the lower levels since they have been completed, and as the owner’s get more money, they complete the building floor by floor. So it’s common to see a several story apartment building, with drying clothes hanging out windows, and the top floor is a forest of bamboo posts holding up the next floor of setting concrete. (pic: bamboo supporting new concrete)

Week 11: Cyclone Sidr Comes to Bangladesh

So, I wish I could say more about Cyclone Sidr which hit Bangladesh hard, and tragically killed many people. I know many people read about it in news reports, but honestly, I cannot provide more important information than that. In my blog you'll find how it affected my personal life. However, Dhaka, at least what I get to see roaming around the city, was not devastated. Some shacks were knocked down and many people lost power and water, but it was all restored within two days. So what follows in this post is just snippets of what happened here, and how it affected me. Again, I wish I could say more, but the worst hit areas are 12+ hours away. I would like to let you know that if you'd like to make donations to help in the relief efforts, two places to do it is through the Red Cross or Save the Children. My roommates and I have talked about ways we can help out, and will be looking around to see what is possible. Dr. Haque, who I worked with on his GIS project, has produced some good maps himself of how the cyclone hit Bangladesh, see the link to his blog in the left column.

11th-1st in Dhaka 11/14

Zoo day! Both the beginning class and the intermediate class are going to the zoo. We have a van from the school to take us across town to see the animals. Before we left, Shakil and Santa went over my test with me, got 40/50! Yay. Not bad.
Getting into the zoo only cost Tk10. So cheap. We brought our lunches in that we’d bought from Cooper’s. We saw all different kinds of animals, some you wouldn’t see in US zoos, those which were Indian varieties of African species. Like the Indian lion, the Indian porcupine, and such. The Bengal tiger was there of course. The cages weren’t the best, but weren’t as bad I imagined. Not made to look like habitats, but not cramped cages. The otter for example had a linoleum pool in its cage, not that much effort, but also not that much money I’m sure. The animals probably aren’t the happiest, but I will applaud the effort, its important for education of people. Food is covered in flies, but I guess that would be the same in US zoos as well. (pics: monkey's cage and zoo visitors, the Indian lions cage, Shakil snapping photos and Santa looking at the animals, a peacock who put on this display for a few minutes)





























One gross part was the zoo museum, where stuffed animals were held. They were old, and falling apart, and thus a bit gross. What was also really gross were jars of animals preserved…like little monkeys…or parts of animals, like hippo skin. It was not the best. (pics: stuffed animals of different sorts, jars of animal parts/whole animals




















We ate lunch by a lake. Little kid played with us, and I ended up giving him my extra cookies. Climbed a tree with him. (pics: Nadia/Farah/Erin/Santa/Shakil sitting down for lunch, myself and the little kid in the tree)
















After we went to the botanical gardens which was right next door to the zoo. Entry was Tk5. The gardens were pretty big. They were also covered in trash. You would hope the gardens would be well taken care of. We took many pictures as we roamed the grounds, went all the way to end where there was a lake. The last place we went in the gardens was a giant “fountain” which many Bangladeshi movies have been filmed at. (pics: the intermediate Bengali class at the gardens, I really felt this picture captures what there is to do in any botanical garden around the world...stand and observe, Santa at the famous "fountain")





























Upon getting back I went to Aktel’s office to drop off my passport information to Saifullah who will give it to the trip organizer for our trip to Bandarban in December. The place, if I haven’t mentioned is restricted to foreigners, so I need to special permission to enter. He also told me that an opening might be happening in the apartment building I’m going to be room-sharing. He said he had his friends reserve it for me and it’ll probably open up in January. It’s a bit bigger, so more than Tk7000, maybe 8000 or 9000. still in my price range for sure! Very excited!

11th-2nd in Dhaka 11/15

After class I headed to the American Center to pick up packages. Got two from parents, NCSU stuff and some Halloween goodies…Oreo cookies! Yumm!

I was in a bad mood because of the lack of transportation options today. It was raining today. The cyclone in the Bay of Bengal made it rain all day, and its coming our way, so throughout the day the winds were picking up in intensity. So, due to the bad weather, not many rickshaws were out riding. Thus finding a rickshaw took forever, and 2 out of 3 times I tried, I couldn’t get one, and ended up walking to my destination. When it’s raining, a rickshaw will give you a piece of plastic to hold up in front of you while you sit. The rickshaw top covers your head, and the plastic covers your legs and windblown rain from your body. The plastic also serves to cover the seat when no one is in the rickshaw, so the seat stays dry.

In the evening I headed off for the concert in Dhanmondi. It took me 2.5 hours to get to Dhanmondi, and another half hour to get a rickshaw to bring me across Dhanmondi in the rain to the concert venue. There was tons of traffic since it was a Thursday afternoon/evening/night (last day of work week) plus the increasing rain and wind from the cyclone. Luckily I had a seat, but its still a long time to be on a bus. For many minutes at a time, our bus would just sit and not move. Then finding a rickshaw in Dhanmondi was tough because there weren’t many because of the rain and the increasing wind. Plus they weren’t willing to go very far. There was a lot of competition to get one from everyone trying to get out of the rain. I stood under a shopping center awning in between asking for a rickshaw to remain mostly dry.

The concert, at least the bands I saw was good. I was with Farhan. We hung out and talked. Between the two bands we got some pizza. The last band, Radioactive, who performed on the American Idol-esque DRockStars was incredible. The guy had an incredible vocal rang. He pulled off Skid Row and Guns n’ Roses, and the last song was their original and was impressive as well.

Farhan and I took a rickshaw (long time to find one of course) for a high cost to the bus stop closest to his house so I could grab a bus and he could go home from there. Rickshaw was really having to chug through the wind. The buses I liked were not running at this time. And there were no CNGs either. So I ended up taking a local bus home again. But this was not the nice local bus, it was the short tiny ones, that always have jammed people in them. And look like they are falling apart. And you just jump on and off and hand money to the doorman. And it was a cyclone, and it was rainy and windy…what an experience.

11th-3rd in Dhaka 11/16

Last night was a crazy crazy cyclone! The cyclone came from the Bay of Bengal. The wind and rain was incredible. Although it was bad during the day, it came worst at night. I was supposed to go to Mymensingh today with Ayon and his university friends, but we cancelled at like 7 in the morning via phone because of the bad weather. Actually by 9am it had calmed down, but it was still gross out. It was hard to sleep with the incredible wind, howling. Erin took our clothes in which were hanging up outside.
This morning, branches were everywhere, some shacks were destroyed, including Megan’s favorite tea shack. People were everywhere picking up the debris, from kids to older citizens. It’s been a long time since a cyclone has come apparently I was told. (pic: Megan's favorite tea shack near my house crushed by debris, the man in the red shirt owned the tea shirt, and the tea shack is under the pile of brush behind the fallen tree)















Our power is out because of the storm.

Worked out this morning. Went up to the roof of my apartment building and jumped rope. Our apartment building’s lift operator was up there too. He told me he lived up there, and showed me his one room concrete home on the roof. It’s cool he lives up there. It’s neat to look out over my local area.
After that, I went on a run around Baridhara, my first run in the daylight. Saw the debris everywhere.
When I returned I stretched in our parking garage. I gathered a crowd of about 7 people. All the guards on duty, the apartment caretaker, and the drivers all watched me intently. The lift operator even did some of the stretches with me. He said he exercises on the roof in the mornings. They were very interested. One of the bigger guards showed me his belly, and told me how he needs to exercise. Funny experience to say the least.

The power was out in the city all day. Internet down to. The cyclone must’ve really affected the area. Our home was working off of generator all day, meaning only certain circuits are given priority. In my bedroom, it means only one outlet works, the one my computer, lamp, speakers, and mosquito repellent is attached to…best one to be working in my opinion. It’s not too bad I guess for our place. But parts of the city don’t have water either, since the water is pumped and that requires electricity.

11th-4th in Dhaka 11/17

Still no power or internet this morning.

But spent the morning writing, and such. Then remembered Lauren had asked about hanging out today. So we decided to meet up. We first went to fix a problem with her DVD player, then went to the market to look around. She decided to buy some potatoes so she could make some French fries. Went back to her place and we made the French fries. She had internet so I got the chance to check online my email and saw that many people had sent me letters of worry. So I sent one big email to everyone to let them know I was still alive.

We then headed out to go to the Parliament building area. The bus we took there was packed to the max, and she and I were left standing near the front door. Worked out well since we were one of the firsts to get off. We took a walk around the Parliament buiding, which you can’t get close to right now. Currently the two infamous ex-leader’s of the country, Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina are being held in sub-jails on the Parliament Building’s property, so no one gets to be there anymore. But you can still walk around the streets surrounding it. We walked around the Zia Uddyan as well. This time in the light. And the grounds surrounding it too. We decided it was time to get a late lunch, and so we went on a search for the Chili’s I saw last week.
Well after a lot of walking we finally found it. To see the “chili’s” sign outside (I'll post a pic when I get them from her), with its recognizable shapes, but to see inside only Thai and Chinese food, well its makes you laugh. Also reminds me of the Best Buy in my nearby market. Same yellow sign, same black block letters and font, but it’s an iddy biddy store NOT selling tvs, computers, dvds, cds, etc.

Celebrated Tamzid’s birthday with Siraj and Megan at Spaghetti Jazz.

11th-5th in Dhaka 11/18

I set up a meeting with Professor Rahman tomorrow at 4 pm, he called me during class.

In class today I made a challenge with Shakil and Santa. I told them I could learn all the names of all of Bangladesh’s 64 districts by final exam time. And for every ten districts I get correct on the exam, I get a bonus point. We’re also going to include 6 of the major rivers, for a total of 7 possible bonus points. Today I started preparing my study system. I took one of my maps with all the districts, outlined their shapes dark, and scratched out their names.
A district is similar to a county in the US. A division would be equivalent to a state. The 6 divisions are: Rajshahi in the northwest, Dhaka in the north-central, Sylhet in the northeast, Chittagong in the southeast, Barisal in the south-central, and Khulna in the southwest. As late as 12 years ago, Barisal was a part of Khulna, and Sylhet was a part of Chittagong.

I made the Radiohead 01 and 10 mix, which combines OK Computer and In Rainbows in alternating sequence…apparently it’s supposed to be excellent, that they were “made” for this. But I’m quite sure its just a bunch of good Radiohead songs all sounding good, and maybe not really being made to be fit like this.

I took some pictures of these the other day: the school vans. Like the flat bed rickshaw vans, the school vans are also rickshaws but made to hold people. These cages are also put on backs of pick up trucks or CNG engines, bigger than the cages used for schools, and use to bring around adults. But the rickshaw driver picks the children up and drops them off at home. The symbol on the back is the number. Usually about 10 kids fit inside, all in their school outfits. (pics: two school vans with rickshaws in the background, a clear picture of a school van)
















11th-6th in Dhaka 11/19

Got on the bus with what I thought was plenty of time to make it to BUET to meet with Professor Rahman. But by the time I was in Malibag, still half hour away, it was already the meeting time. I called my professor and told him I’d be late, but he said he had a meeting after my meeting, so he wanted to reschedule. I felt real bad, I should’ve known a big jam could’ve happened, but didn’t prepare correctly. I’ll leave extra early tomorrow.

So instead I took the bus all the way to Dhanmondi. I was aiming to go to the Petha (pronounced pita) festival. Petha are considered cakes. They are thin, made in oil, are sweet, and come in a variety of shapes. For many, the center of the petha is softer, with a crispier rim. One looked like a sun, some are decorated and ornamented. But they’re all sweet, and all fill you up quick. I tried two.

After I walked around the lake, heading toward Nando’s since I really wanted to eat there. Nando’s is a South African chain restaurant that I enjoyed many times in South Africa when I studied abroad there.
Nando’s was bit different here though. In South Africa, its only fast food, you go to the counter and order, and they’ll bring it to you. But here in Bangladesh, they had waiters and menus. It was like an upscale restaurant, but the food was the same! I ate my French fries like I did in South Africa: with vinegar, peri-peri sauce, and the salty seasoning I always used.

11th-7th in Dhaka 11/20

Today I met with Dr. Rahman. After class, I got my lunch at home and headed straight to BUET. I wanted to arrive early if necessary, and I did, so I waited around patiently. We met for an hour or so. We started first talking about what he thinks will be my likely course of action, not going into detail, but summarized what he thought I’ll do in a few sentences, now that Jatrabari is not happening.
He was thinking that I’ll first research US, other western world, and other developing countries large scale projects’ planning. The next step would be pick two or so case studies in Bangladesh, and research their planning practices carefully. Finally I would make comparisons between what is happening here and elsewhere in the world, with the idea of making suggestions to the system here. Some of the case studies we considered were some major river crossings here, very big bridges, and also some non-transportation related stuff, such as a new major landfill in the southeast part of Dhaka. He thought it would be better to look at completed projects, because there will be more data available, and more literature. Also a project being worked on would be less willing to share its information. Also talked about looking at Dhaka’s Strategic Transportation Plan (STP), which was just finished. It goes over a lot of the near future plans, seems like a great thing to do, since it is itself a plan!!
We touched on some of the problems Bangladesh has with projects. One issue that stood out in my mind was the lack of data. Many projects get built with very little collected data, non-thorough data, or poor data. And thus many times the actual volumes are much higher or much lower than what was predicted. This lack of data causes money to be distributed to projects that may not need that much, and other projects which should be bolstered, being built underfunded.

Recently they’ve gone to the Paksey bridge which crosses the Padma River, and did traffic counts and surveys of drivers. The bridge is currently running at 60% of the expected volume, which is an issue since it is a toll bridge, and its not making back the money it was supposed to. They’ll have finished a report on it by February.

Afterwards, since he gave me another student’s copy of the STP, I took it to Nilkhet Market to get it copied. The thing is about 200 pages long, and bound. But this place, which I posted about earlier, is the place to come for copies, as they’re stands upon stands of copy machines. I found one which would copy the book for Tk0.72 per page, and bind it for Tk10. Left it with them and was told to come back tomorrow same time.
In fact, most books in Bangladesh seemed to be copied this way. A master copy is acquired, and the binding is removed, than it is mass produced via copy machine, with each being binded after. This seems to be the main reason funding Nilkhet Market’s many copy machines. So I find many books with copy machine quality paper. But since its so cheap to do this, it brings books to more people because they can be sold at a lesser price. All around Nilkhet Market, outside of the copy machines, are book stores, selling the books copied on copy machines.

Naira wanted me to come hang out and watch a movie. We went to her sister’s fiancee’s house and watched Fracture, was a good movie The guy's movie watching room was well done. Basically, his family’s old apartment he turned into a theater with a drop down screen, projector, and amazing sound system. Pillows on the ground to relax on and watch. We got some burgers and sandwiches.

Week 4: Buriganga river ride, Lalbagh Fort, and getting sick

4^th-1st in Dhaka 9/26

After class, decided to go mapping with GPS. After connecting the device to the satellites, I walked to Bashundara. Then hired a rickshaw to drive me around to various parts of my side of the city, so I could map quicker. I explained to him in Bengali what I wanted to do, how much I would pay, where I wanted to go, that I would be directing him point to point. And he agreed. We rode around for about 1.5 hours. Bashundara is a pretty empty place. It’s a newer housing area with many patches of open land and apartment buildings scattered hear and there. It’s what most of the housing areas look like before they get completely filled in.
We went through DOHS and Gulshan too, collecting good data. I tipped 25 Tk.

For dinner went to Arirang, Korean BBQ, with Megan and her coworker Aaron who is in medical school at Brandeis. Inquired whether Aaron had plans for Eid break, and he is going to India. So no luck seeing if he’d want to explore this country.

4^th-2nd in Dhaka 9/27

My cook Sujit went home for the weekend. His home is in the southeastern part of the country, near Chittagong. He got a replacement cook in his place, Debu.

Today I was sick, food poisoning. I went to class just to tell them I was sick. I drank saline solution, which Debu got for me, and it tasted not so good. I asked Debu to buy me some Tang to make it taste better. Felt bad that I had to put him through me being sick. He made me bland food so as to not upset my stomach.

Played Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 to pass the day.

4^th-3rd in Dhaka 9/28

Today I feel a lot better. I had some nausea at some points, but overall ate well. Dinner was even fried rice and chicken. Had iftar food at Farah’s (well most of it, left the fried stuff and spicy stuff.)

Altaf, the brother of my father’s coworker Anwar who helped me gain my affiliation with BUET, and I met up after my bland lunch. We met in Gulshan-2 and chat for a bit. Then decide to go for a drive around Dhaka. We stop by Parliament, just to look at it, but are quickly scolded for stopping! The area is quite sensitive right now due to the status of the current government. We end up going by his family’s home. On the drive, hear all about his family, Anwar, and himself.
Met Altaf’s mother, father, and grandmother. I would have to say, it was my most successful Bengali conversation thus far. I understood them pretty well, and I was saying things which I could not have said before arriving here. They took a picture with me. They were pretty excited that I could speak Bengali, and at a proficient level.
Anyway, we started the drive back to my house, but realized he would never back home in time. So we got a bus for me, and I took that home. I got great GPS mapping done today everywhere I went. Very successful.
On the bus I got to stand in the doorway, not hanging out of it, but in the staircase. People jammed around me on all sides. When someone gets off the bus, I have to find a way for them to get past me. Some guy on the bus talked to me, but I really couldn’t understand most of what he said. He did ask for my phone number, and heeding advice from past Fulbrighters, I said no.

Farah’s driver then picked Megan and me up to go to her place. It was a get together to honor the anniversary of the death of her father in law. It’s a reason for family to meet and pray and eat. Men and women separated during the service, and the women left ¼ of the way through. So I was now alone with all the men. Could understand some of the words the leader said, but not comprehend full sentences. Iftar was served while we were outside. We ate, I finished only some because of stomach pain. The men then prayed after Iftar. We left soon after, with a prepared dinner for us to eat later.

Spent the rest of the evening playing RCT3. Really wanted to finish the level.

So excited for this last weekend of baseball. Such a heated race in the NL. 7 teams, 4 spots. It’s gonna be good! Of course, I’m only rooting for the Mets.

4^th-4^th in Dhaka 9/29

New fruit I like. It’s called a pomelo. It’s somewhere between a grapefruit and an orange in taste. But it’s enormous. Huge pulpy pieces inside that are pink, but kinda sweet, a bit sour.
My cook served it to me one day, and now I’m hooked.
It’s twice the size of a grapefruit, with a thick green skin. It seems to hold up well in the fridge when peeled. It is way too much to eat at one sitting by yourself, so that’s a good thing.

Audible signals are used very much in handling vehicles here. For example, when crossing an intersection, since you aren’t going to stop, you honk, to let others know you are coming. If you are a rickshaw or a bike, you ring your bell.
Tapping is frequently used to warn someone when to stop. When backing your car up, the attendant working the parking lot will tap the trunk of your car, and as you get closer to something behind you, he taps more frequently. A final louder tap signals you to stop.
On the buses, the doorman taps the side of the bus once hard to tell the driver to stop/wait for a passenger. Twice means “go.” Don’t know if you tap the bus yourself if they’ll make a stop for you, still working this one out.

Today went exploring with Megan. Decided to take a bus to Motijheel, as far as we could go. But ended up getting off at the Hockey stadium, because a match was happening. Watched for a second. Went past DCC, and then headed south into Old Dhaka. Explored the streets for a long time. Making random turns, not really knowing where we were going, enjoying the stares. Passed many shoe makers in this part of Old Dhaka. Lots of cloth sellers and iftar food. Many times she says, “Oh, I’ve been here before.”

Then we come upon a bridge like structure. I see it heads south somewhere, and we decide to follow it upon my persistence that it’ll head to the river. That I think it may be the China Bangladesh Friendship Bridge (one of 2 bridges across Buriganga River…well it was the other one hah.) We finally found the river. She had never seen it. Of course, my first time.
We peek through the wall next to the river, and see all the boatmen, with their canoe-like boats. One comes up to ask us if we want to take a ride. We decide to go ahead. However, after this one gets in a fight with another over who gets to take us on a ride, and a large crowd gathers, we leave, avoiding what is transpiring.
We walk 200 yards or so down the river to another break in the wall. Instantly a boatman in his boat asks us if we want a ride. No other boatmen are hassling, so we feel safe enough to go this time. We tell him we want to just go around for 20 minutes for 50Tk. We got in, and he rowed us up river slowly against a good current. Everyone on north riverbank stares at us while bathing. River is about 500m across. We see all the boats, all shapes and sizes. Ours is the smallest type. The boats floor can easily be taken apart. We have a mat to sit on while he rows. We hear the Azan from the river for the 4:30 prayer. That was neat. He turns around, we float back. We tell him to land where we started. He rows us in past big ships the whole way. We pay 100Tk for the trip. We don’t know a good price anyway. 100Tk is twice as expensive apparently (after consulting my teacher), but this guy was a much safer choice than those fighting over us.

Next, we passed by the Ahsan Manzil, a pink mansion along the river. It’s been refurbished and is now a nice museum. Megan and I were just looking at it through the fence. Then some guys came up behind us and started talking to us in Bengali. We conversed back. Asked them what the building was. They asked the typical questions: how we know Bengali, where we are from, why we’re here, how long we’re here, and are you two married? By this point, a crowd of 20 have gathered around us. After the conversation, the one who was doing most of the talking told all the others to disperse. There’s always one guy who seems to want to watch out for you. For example, sometimes, when kids are chasing you begging, a random person will shoo them away.

We then meandered back through Old Dhaka. Passed through the Hindu part of Old Dhaka. Saw some temples but didn’t walk in. Walked all the way back to Motijheel. There we got some quick dinner/snack and water around iftar time. We then caught a bus back to Gulshan area. Had dinner at Café Mango, a western style coffee shop and restaurant.

Overall, one of the better days I’ve had here so far.

4^th-5^th in Dhaka 9/30

The Pack lost again in football. sigh. But tons of big names lost. Very exciting weekend.

Went to post office with Farah and Erin. Erin was mailing a letter she wrote to her husband in Bengali (he’s Bangladeshi.)

4^th-6^th in Dhaka 10/1

Saw a television shop which was playing cartoons on their TVs. In front of the store window sat about 4 young boys watching. The store owner was yelling at them from inside the window to leave.

Texting the US costs me $0.02. Apparently my phone cares only if I call internationally, not text. Pretty neat.

Apparently an NCSU doctoral student contacted Dr. Haque. He is from the architecture department, but still interested in GIS. Dr. Haque thought I’d set up the contact, but I told him I had no clue. Another NCSU student involved with Bangladesh! Who would’ve known our campus has such a connection here.

Today went on a class trip. We visited Bangla Academy, a place which started in the 1950s. There goal was to promote Bengali as a language, as Urdu was being forced upon them by the West Pakistani government. Today it still functions to produce texts in Bengali and about Bangladesh. Around their building are some monuments to the national poet and the language movement heroes. Pictures of the beginners Bengali class' teachers, Nadia and Farah.
Next was Shahid Minar, my second visit there. Real short, enough to take pictures. (me there below)

Next was Dhakeshwari, the main Hindu temple in Dhaka, built in the 12^th century. Rumors say that the city earned its name from this temple. It was my first time in a Hindu temple to my knowledge. Walked around shoeless, looked at the shrines, and pond nearby. (Pictures below, thought it was neat how it was surrounded by apartment buildings, not there when built 900 years ago. Last picture is a workshop making Hindu statues)

Last stop was Lalbagh Fort. It’s huge, but doesn’t look it from the outside. Tons of green areas. They were shooting a movie while we there, ha, of course…my 3^rd film shoot I’ve seen. Famous Bangladeshi actress apparently, all the guys were trying to snatch a look. It was built in 1677, but at that time the river passed right next to it. Now the river has shifted to over a kilometer away. It’s pinkish-orange and all in Mughal style architecture. From the walls of the fort you can see the life of Old Dhaka below (last of 5 pictures.) Pretty neat visit.

Four young boys were incessant on following us everywhere we went at Dhakeshwari and kept asking us to take their picture. Talked a decent bit of Bengali with them too. (they are in one picture.)

We had yogurt lassies afterward at a small shop. Got brain freeze.

And my world was turned upside down today!
Radiohead’s album is coming out in 10 days! They are notorious for delaying, stalling, and taking breaks. It feels like they’re never getting anything accomplished as a band. 5 years since the last album. And all the hints of a release date seemed to point to next March. But today, they announce, nope 10 days! No band announces music release just 10 days before. That’s why I love them. The things they do are just as amazing as the music, artwork and all. The album looks great, and I can’t wait to hear it. Digital release in 10 days (online buying.) Here’s the most original part of it: fans making the purchase get to name the price, you can even it buy it for free. Radiohead knows their fans are dedicated enough, and will pay what they feel its worth to them (you can tell, thanks to several hundred dollar concert tickets.) Then in Dec the hard copy comes out…also original kind of release too with a large package of things if you desire to buy it, that’s at a set price of $81. They are doing all of this without a label, and it has many record companies worried. If the best band in the world can run a massive online distribution themselves then what’s to stop smaller bands?
I had to write "Radiohead new album in just 10 days" on a piece of paper to get it out of my system/comprehend it/accept it/handle it.

Pizza for dinner. And it was good.

4^th-7^th in Dhaka 10/2

Class was good today. My listening skills are improving says Shakil. I also feel I’m retaining more words quicker. Conversations were good today. It’s the conversing that I feel raises my confidence. But listening helps too.

After went to Dr. Haque’s office. Met with the NCSU PhD student who is doing his field work here in Dhaka (his hometown.) Cool to meet him. Refreshing to hear someone talk about familiar things. For example, I asked where he lives, and he said off of Avent Ferry. It’s nice to hear those words out of someone’s mouth.
Dr. Haque and I then went through my GPS tracking. Saw all the places I went show up on GIS. I got the unit back for a little longer now, but don’t know where I’ll be headed that I can add onto. We’ll see. And below are pictures from his office window, 19th floor, pretty lucky. It faces north to the Banani/Gulshan/Baridhara residential zones. Most of the city is to the south.

Went to Banani to get my package from the American Center. Mom sent one.

Stopped by the Dominous Pizza. But only got a shwarma. Pizza looked good too though.

Started a Bengali journal today. Its just random things written in Bengali.

There are frequent power outages. Enough that finding an apartment with a backup generator is very important. I’ve been in the marketplace when power has gone out, and we’re all standing in the dark. Generators kick in pretty quickly, and electricity returns usually within less than 5 minutes.