Week 36: BUET Virtutal Tour and first time at the American School

36^th-1st in Dhaka 5/7

Moweena hasn’t come in a few days, likely sick. So this morning I had to do a lot of dishes and a load of laundry to catch up on from the last time she came. I like washing clothes manually, I get to play and splash.

I made grilled cheese this morning for breakfast. I finally bought some butter, and using pohnir cheese, I treated myself to grilled cheese sandwiches! I rarely cook in my kitchen beyond reheating food Moweena makes.

Found out The Office is back on the air, so watched an episode today. Can’t believe how much I’d missed the show. I’ve been watching How I Met Your Mother as well, and am up to speed on that sitcom. Always nice to have these online so I can watch a bit of TV; I don’t watch Bangladeshi TV because I don’t have a connection.

It rained this afternoon. I could feel it in the air that it was going to. When it did, I turned my music off and just listened, it sounded so nice. And with the rain came refreshingly cool air. My room dropped several degrees, and the whole city just seemed much more pleasant.

I’m glad cockroaches are always scurrying about...because I have faith that when they scurry into a pile of things of mine, they'll scurry out sooner or later

Some guy called me tonight 20 times. I picked up on try three, just to see who it was, and I didn’t recognize the voice at all. So I hung up, he then called me 17 times more! People are persistent about reaching other here. Although this is a record, having about ten miss calls over the period of a few minutes from a strange number is not rare.

Speaking of miss calling, there’s a bit of a culture of miss calling that arises because of the prepaid phone calling. Miss calling is free, and thus why it is such a popular way to communicate, especially when low on credit. In fact, the culture has developed so that a certain number of miss calls means different things. I’m sure this is not standardized between friend circles, but I’ve heard it from different people, so its decently established. One miss call simply means “I’m thinking about you.” Two miss calls me “Call me.” Three miss calls means “Call me, I’m low on credit!”
Please distinguish between a miss call, and a call which was actually missed. A miss call occurs when the caller lets the phone ring once and then hangs up. A missed call would be a call someone wanted to actually make, and I just missed it. You can’t distinguish if you’re not at your phone, but as long as your phone is on your person, you’ll know the difference.
It is impolite is to answer a call too early at any time, just in case the person was trying to miss call you. A received call charges the caller, when they didn’t intend to pay for anything.

36^th-2nd in Dhaka 5/8

I rode five buses today. Some were crowded, some were very crowded, some only mildly. I almost dozed off on the fourth, found today’s bus riding to be very exhausting for some reason. End of a great data collection week though, collected 18 buses this week! This is by far a new record, most before this was more around 12 or 13. I just focused hard this week and put all my efforts forward to getting data.

After the first bus I went by the Jet Airways ticket office with all intentions to buy my tickets for Kathmandu-Delhi and Delhi-Dhaka. I had passport copies of Travis and I, a credit card, my flights picked. But things, as usual, didn’t go as planned. First thing when I walk in, the woman who told me two weeks ago to wait to book in case better seats came up, said in English that the plane was full, no seats left. I was appalled, speechless. Well, things were more likely were lost in translation, what she meant is that no seats were left in lower price bracket. Well she tells me there are seats at higher fares, fine, we knew those before. So I asked to book them. She then tells me for the first time that in order to buy plane tickets to India you need Indian visas. Why she didn’t tell me that two weeks ago when I asked what I’ll need for purchasing is beyond me. If I had known I would’ve jumped on getting my visa quicker, and pushed Travis to do the same.

I get my Indian visa on Monday, Travis gets his soon. As soon as I have them both in hand, I’ll be back there as quick as I can to book and pay. Don’t’ want to lose these seats.

In the evening, I met up with Aaron, Megan, and some other friends at a Greek restaurant in Gulshan before heading over to the American International School (or wiki) for the musical Little Shop of Horrors. The American International School system is a worldwide system of schools which cater to expatriate students, embassy children, and even locals who can afford the really high tuition. The place is a bit of America in whatever country it is in. Dhaka’s AIS is supposedly the best in South Asia, and many embassy officials choose assignments in Dhaka because their kids get to attend such a good school. The school really is an American oasis in the midst of the Bangladesh. The school looks like you’ve walked into any modern American school. However, outside it is guarded by armed guards and has big gates you have to go through. It is forbidden to just “drive past” the school. Giant walls prevent you from even seeing inside. Inside though, it is decorated and designed in the fashion that any school in the US would be. It is several storied but has tall atriums that make the school feel very open. They have all grades form pre-school to high school. They have proms and middle school dances. The kids are set to have every experience that any kid in the US would have. Their playing fields are of the best turf, and well maintained. Expatriates are allowed to use the field for sports after school is out. In fact the school becomes a center point for the American community, hosting sporting and art events. Today, an adult drama group was putting on the play.

The whole experience for me was a bit overwhelming. To see so many Americans in one spot in the first time in a long time was mind blowing. Little kids running every which way, parents trying to tell them to behave, an intermission with brownies, cookies, and cake! Just like I would’ve seen at any school in the US. I feel like for 2 hours I was warped back to the US. I guess that’s what the kids and their parents get to feel everyday.

The play itself was great. Very entertaining, and it was the first time I am consciously seeing the show, after seeing it many times as a kid but only remembering Rick Moranis and a big plant. So I was observant to the plot like it was my first time.

36^th-3rd in Dhaka 5/9

Today I planed to get a lot work done, but I got none done. Instead I ended up turning a simple pick up of shirts from the tailor into a several hour shopping spree. I went to New Market and walked the aisles, stores, and street side vendors. I wasn’t holding back, figuring I’d be saving a lot just buying here than in the US. In the end I bought Tk6000 worth of clothing which purchased me: 7 pairs of jeans, 3 collared shirts, 2 pairs of shoes, and 10 t-shirts. Bargaining was essential. Trying on the jeans when I got home found that four of them need to be exchanged/altered.

I looked into opportunities today at the Brookings Institute and other related Washington planning think tanks. Hopefully one of those could come through with an offer, but I doubt it. The job search is plaguing, and no fun at all. Especially from over here when uploading resumes and cover letters takes several minutes. I’ve really had to master multi-tasking here, jumping from webpage to webpage as things load.

36^th-4th in Dhaka 5/10

I’ve recently been thinking about how much I’m going to miss Bangladesh when I’m gone. Reading about India and my travels after make me think how comfortable I feel in Bangladesh, and how traveling elsewhere intimidates me a bit. I read about things in other country and judge them based on how Bangladesh does it. Although you would think the disorder and low standards of cleanliness and comfort would make me desire to be elsewhere, I am comfortable with it all and thus perceive it as better than what any other country could offer.

This especially happens when I read about Kolkata. It’s because I’m reading about a place so similar and close by, but still a strange land to me. I’ll likely spend more time there than other places in India just because I can read the signs and speak the language.

There are two things I like to share during chit-chat with strangers here which helps to create a bond. First, when they ask me what state in the US I am from and I tell them New Jersey, I get to share with them how it is the most densely populated state in the US, just like Bangladesh is the densest in the world. I tell them I know what it’s like! Second, I like to share an analogy which I’ve realized here. When talking about Bengali and English, I tell them that American English is to British English as Bangladeshi Bengali is to Kolkatan Bengali. The latters both think the formers are crude and destroyed versions of the language they treasure. This always brings a smile to their face, as we both get to revel in the fact that our native languages may not follow every proper rule of the formal ways, but we love them anway.

Today Megan and I met up. She just got back from Nepal pretty much, and leaves this week. So it was a bit of a goodbye lunch, even though I’ll see her again this week. We had delicious pizza at DPavement. Talked about her past trips and where I’m going.

36^th-5th in Dhaka 5/11

Data processing, data processing, my life is full of it. But it’s very important and I need to get it done. Did so many buses today, before lunch. Headed to BUET for a few hours and put all those processed buses into the database. I took pictures of what it looks like when I’m processing on my computer. I know it’s not interesting, but if Saket gets to post pictures of his circuit boards, I get to post pictures of my nerdy stuff. (pic: my desktop while I'm data processing. Clockwise from top: voice recording of the bus stop's events playing, online stopwatch I used to mark each board and alight, and my spreadsheet of each bus stop and the times of each board and alight)

My bus broke down on the way home tonight from BUET (wasn’t researching, just going home.) This is not a rare event. I’ve been on about 5 buses now that have broken down in these few months, granted I ride a lot.

BUET VIRTUAL TOUR: I have taken enough pictures of BUET over the past months where I think I can make a decent virtual tour. I didn’t plan on doing this beforehand, so all the pictures are ones I happen to have taken. So apologies if you keeping having to “turn around” in the tour. But I’ve drawn the route on the Google Map in the sidebar, so you can follow it a bit there, and the bolded photo numbers correspond to markers on the map (look for purple cameras, an click on them for Photo numbers)

We start on the street outside of BUET, at the northwest edge of the campus, near Polashi Mor (1). Kataban Road splits the campus into the academic and residential halves. The wall on our left is the campus wall of the northern academic side, and we’ll follow it until we reach the campus’ main gate. The white wall on the opposite side of the road is the residential part of campus. Rickshaws are always going down this street, but without many cars, and thus a good place to have a rickshaw repair station as seen in the picture (2). As we near the main gate, we see the overbridge of BUET which goes over the main intersection in front of the gate (3) (read more on that later.)

We come to the main gate and see the seven story civil engineering building rising above the trees. Just outside the gate is the Shahid Minar of BUET (4). Students enjoy hanging out on the steps of the Shahid Minar. A quick turn left and we see the gate and the campus ahead of us (adorned here during the Civil Festival.) (5)

As we walk through the gate, we can look to our right and see the road that goes between the Civil and Mechanical/Electrical buildings, anchored at the end by the Registrar Building. (6)

Walk a little farther in, and look behind you, you’ll see the gate. (7) When facing this way, the civil building is on your left, and the auditorium is on your right.

Turning to the auditorium, we walk inside the main student gathering area (during a quieter part of the year) and see the auditorium to our left, and the canteen straight ahead of us. (8) A little bit more lively when festivals are happening. (9) Here students gather to talk and play cricket, but I rarely see people doing work or eating. All eating and work doing is saved for indoors, such as inside the canteen (taken when I had Iftar in BUET’s canteen.) (10)

Walk out of the canteen, and back through the gathering area, look to your left towards the north wall of the campus, and you see the brick Accident Research Center, the newest building at BUET, and the garage, where university buses wait to bring students home at 1pm and 5pm. (11)

We sneak behind the Civil Building’s backside, passing through the Civil teachers’ parking lot (12), and go into the Civil Building. Upon entering, we see the stairs right in front of us, giant columns where people post fliers for events, and the elevators to our right. (13)

We take the elevator to the top floor using the “Teachers Only” elevator (students elevator stops below the top floor, and we would have to walk a flight of stairs after.) We go to one of the buildings gaping windows and look north. In front of us is the entirety of Dhaka University, and past that, Shahbag. (14) If you look straight down, you’ll see a beautiful gardened area with “BUET” spelled out in some shrubbery. (15)

Walk across the building to the south side, and look out the window and we see the Mechanical/Electrical Building with Old Dhaka behind it. (16) If you crane your head out the window, and look to your right, to the west, you’ll see the new Electrical Engineering Building under construction, (17) soon to be the biggest building on campus.

Walking back to the elevators, you can look down through the stairwell. (18) The Civil Building usually stays quite cool, and I believe it is because of the air movement in the fairly open feeling building. We walk out the back of the Civil Building, and take a right. We are passing in front of the Old Engineering Building (don’t know the real name, but that’s what I know it to be, one of the original buildings of BUET which now is used for Chemistry, Physics, and some labs.) As we go down the road, we look behind us and see the old engineering building on our right. (19)

We walk through the east gate of the campus only enough to see the BUET playing fields. (20) This is where full cricket and soccer matches are held.

We walk back in the gate, and make a left, heading south. We pass in front of the Registrar Building. In front of it, we look behind us and see the red brick Registrar Building on our right, and the squat Exhibition Building on our left. (21) Turning a few degrees counterclockwise, we see the Civil Building again, surrounded by huge trees and many shrubs. (22)

We start to walk between the Civil and Mechanical Buildings, and look behind us to catch another look at the Registrar Building. (23)

We walk down the road, make a left through the main gate, and cross the intersection below an overbridge which no one uses. We head a little bit into the residential area before turning around to look at the intersection. (24) The big truck carrying pious men is a common site. The overbridge with no use is a testament to bad engineering and planning. The overbridge spans too short of a distance and the road is not nearly busy enough to warrant use of the bridge.

We head into the residential area on our left, and catch a view of one of the seven residential halls. Five are for Muslim men, one is for Hindu men, and one is for all women of all religions. The one pictured is for Muslim men. (25)

Near the end of our tour we reach the gymnasium, and look inside to see a basketball court and a few weight stations scattered around the perimeter. (26 and 27)

Lastly, we walk back out of the residential area back to Polashi Mor, and then head west on Azimpur Road. On the north side of this road, if we look to our left, we see the brand new Electrical Engineering Building. (28)

36^th-6th in Dhaka 5/12

Had to go pick up my Indian visa today. Moweena came late today, and since I had to wait until she left to leave myself, I showed up at the visa office 20 minutes later than I wanted to, but still on time. Luckily there was no hassle, after a bit of waiting, I got to walk in the office and just get my passport and go.

Then did four buses. Some weren’t as crowded as I would like, but two were good, and I was happy with it.

Farhanaz called me while I was at home late this evening. She asked me to come over for dinner with her family. Tonight was her last night staying with her family before she moves back to her in-laws across town with her now two-month old baby. She also wanted to give me my birthday present late; she bought me a Bangladeshi t-shirt.

36^th-7th in Dhaka 5/13

Finally got one plane ticket this morning, for Delhi to Dhaka. Still waiting on Travis’ visa to finish that up and buy our tickets from Kathmandu to Delhi.

Some photos from this blog that I took in the Sundarbans got used on this website, Living On Earth, on their weekly radio program! I also put the link on the sidebar.

Bus riding today was succesful, a midday storm caused some interesting dynamics. I will have to get used to that as I start doing local buses next week. Also since I sit by the window and have to keep sticking my head out, I get wet. But it is refreshing.

The rains are definitely coming. It is a great feeling of anticipation. Also lychees hit the streets this week. Learned how to eat them, very peculiar. They will be very popular starting in June as prices drop. Mangoes have been out for about a month now, but their two-month peak is fast approaching. And I'm already eating about one and a day!

Week 31: Despite their creativity, BUET Civil students wouldn't have been able to design a prettier Parliament

31^st-1st in Dhaka 4/2

Today was the Civil Festival at BUET. Each faculty has a festival like this, full of music, entertainment, lectures, and panels. Last month I noticed signs for the Mechanical Festival. I’m sure there’s an Electrical Festival and an Architectural Festival as well. But as I’m a civil engineering student, the Civil Festival is the one I care about! After experiencing it all, I have to say I wish my university back in the US did this. It’s a great way for a department’s students to interact. Of course in the US there are a lot more clubs and events on campus, so the success of an event like this probably wouldn’t be on such a large scale.
Arrived at BUET and headed to the auditorium where the festivities would take place over the next two days. Around midday today the event was to have a rally, a kickoff event. There was a small 4 piece band dressed in old guard wear with a horse and cart, and they paraded around the campus with students following behind cheering. Couldn’t imagine something like that for an event like this at NCSU. (pics: BUET auditorium and cafeteria on a typical day, Civil Festival banner and the kickoff event band and horse cart)

Met some of Arjun’s friends, and picked up my t-shirt for the event. It was free! Wish I could get a shirt that just said BUET, but that kind of school apparel like we have the US doesn’t exist at all here (it was at least available, although not worn by the South African students, at the University of Cape Town.) Some of his friends were telling me all about their research projects, as they were all transportation students. I offered any help I could. (pics: myself/Arjun flanked by his friends)

I went up to the computer lab in the meantime until the evening when the rest of the activities were. Worked very quickly on my data processing.

The BUET auditorium is impressive, with balcony seating. The seating arrangement was enforced: civil engineering students ONLY in the orchestra seating section and the balcony was for all other faculties (mechanical, electrical, architecture, etc.)
This created quite a dichotomous atmosphere. As I’ve mentioned before, the Bangladeshi way of booing is a chant of “Boo-Wah”, and it’s very piercing and quite catchy for anyone jumping on the booing bandwagon. Well the balcony, being non-civil engineers and looking for anyway to jest their rival engineers were quite liberal with their Boo-Wahs. When the sound cut out, Boo-Wah. When something wasn’t funny enough, Boo-Wah. When the dancing was a bit off, Boo-Wah. When the air was feeling stuffy, Boo-Wah. When the clock struck a new hour, Boo-Wah. When it just felt good to say it, Boo-Wah.
In response, the civil engineers seated below would all stand up, turn back, and start yelling at the groups up in the balcony section. Or they’d start chanting louder for their fellow students on stage by cheering “Hey-Hey” in the same pattern as the “Boo-Wah.”
The rowdy atmosphere made the whole evening a blast, never lulling. The whole 3 hour performance was full of cheers, screams, rants, and raves. Although it could be considered rude, all the boos from the balcony, I think it only adds to the performance, as the students below were die hard supporters of their classmates in their faculty.

The sponsor of the tonight’s event was Seven Rings Cement. An appropriate choice for the Civil Festival. I thought that was slightly amusing. Towards the end of the evening there was a short PowerPoint slideshow presentation from Seven Rings Cement about what they do here in Bangladesh. Despite it being a bit dry, all the students paid respective attention.

There was also a speech from a professor who was teaching his last year at BUET, and is a real favorite of the civil students. They were adoring and attentive during his talk. He broke down into tears when talking about it being his last year.

The performance and evening was great in itself, one of the best I’d seen in Bangladesh for an evening of performances. I understood a lot of the sketches and songs. And a lot of the acts had me laughing harder than I have in a long time.

The show opened with two guys wailing on guitars in a dramatic fashion, and as they parted, several guy dancers came out and did a rock dance bit. It had the audience cheering mad.

Next up was a “fashion show” civil engineering style. Wearing their most fashionable clothes the students came down the catwalk carrying civil engineering related things.
One group of three students, two guys and a girl, came up carrying soil sifting pans. They waved them like tambourines, then put them one on top of each other like you would for actually sifting soil, and they shook them. They all then looked inside at the “dirt” which had fallen through the sieves, and the guy holding the bottom pan gave a fist pump because he “got” all the soil.
Another group came out carrying rulers and drafting T-squares and took them out like swords. Another group came out with two girls carrying out cinder blocks and then two more guys with sledgehammers. They then proceeded to pose and model them and pretend to smash the cinder blocks. Another group showed up carrying rebar, and stood mid-stage twirling around the poles. The last group I can recall was a transportation one. Two guys came out wearing bright orange vests. Then two girls with rolling electronic measuring devices. Then two more guys came out from side stage as pedestrians, one was one-legged and the other was on a scooter. It was hilarious. I was buckled over in laughter. The guys in the vests then had the pedestrians cross as they timed them!
This is definitely in the top 5 funniest things I’ve seen performed. A “hey hey” to the students. So creative and well pulled off, complete with a catchy techno soundtrack. (pics: Civil fashion show: models with sieves, models with rulers and T-squares, models with rebar, models with safety vests and electronic measuring devices and pedestrians)

The rest of the night was musical performances, skits, and dances, all were great. Some had me laughing hard. My research assistant Shegufta performed a song. (pics: Shegufta singing, Civil students performing a hip-hop act sporting US college basketball team jerseys)

Ben bought his plane ticket to come to Dhaka! He’s confirmed to come May 30!

31^st-2nd in Dhaka 4/3

On bus to BUET several other riders wanted to ask me questions, including which country I liked better: US or Bangladesh. I asked them sincerely if they liked their home village better than Dhaka, and they all said yes. Using that as a reference, I told them I liked the US more, as that is my home country. Explained that of course I love Bangladesh, a very beautiful and welcoming place, but I’m not going to say I like it more than my home. They agreed that this was acceptable.

Went to BUET midday. This morning for the Civil Festival there was a series of presentations, 3 hours long. I came near the end and caught the last presentation about Sidr disaster relief. The guy said BUET and the government made colorful short books for people in the affected areas on how to build homes that stand up to cyclone winds. Very little text, and mostly pictures, for people who likely have a low literacy rate (41% in Bangladesh.) It showed simple things like cross bracing and roof pitching in pictorial form so a person can understand and build. Creative and context sensitive!

Two short films produced by students in the Civil Engineering faculty. Before each short film there was a 2 minute clip about Holcim Cement. Again, an appropriate sponsor!
The two films were decent. I had a hard time understanding the second, as the scratchiness of the track made the Bengali really hard for me. Both were funny at points, and strangely both ended on down notes. They also both were about students of the university dealing with education, girls, and friends.

After this, the final event was a panel discussion between students, professors, and people in industry. Arjun said the topics covered are the same year after year so he wasn’t going. And since it was going to be career advice mostly in Bengali, I decided to skip too.

Wind started picking up later, just as I was heading out to pick up my suit and shirt from the tailor. Got my clothing, and it all fit nicely. Paid and took a rickshaw back to meet up with Diya at Rifles Square. It started raining on the rickshaw ride, and luckily I had the clothing in a waterproof bag they gave me and I used that to cover me in the rickshaw.
At rifles square Diya and I just walked around, I bought two Bangladeshi DVDs, Nirontor and Matir Moyna, that I’d been meaning to watch. Had some fuchka at Dhaba in the mall.

31^st-3rd in Dhaka 4/4

Got an itinerary from STA for my flight home, and sent it off to Fulbright for approval.

Met up with the newest, and last Fulbright to come to Bangladesh. Her name is Kasey and she’s been living in India for 2 years and will now do her Fulbright here in Bangladesh. I met her and another of her friends at Café Mango and we talked for a long while. To my calculations she makes the 8^th Fulbright to Bangladesh this year. She wanted to know about all of them, how often we meet, where we all live, etc.

After meeting for coffee, she and her friend wanted to explore Old Dhaka. We took a rickshaws down to Chawk Bazaar, which is actually quite a ways when riding 3 people in a rickshaw. This actually was probably my record for longest distance traveled with 3 people in a rickshaw! My legs were so cramped by the end.
We just meandered through Old Dhaka with no direction in mind. Somehow we ended up by the river, which always just seems to happen. And we jumped in a boat to do a little cruise upriver. Went farther upstream than I’ve gone before.

They then left by rickshaw, Kasey had to get back for a dinner. I stood around for a bit, ended up having some tea with a store owner who wanted to talk with me. Then I decided to take a new way home by jumping onto a tempo and seeing how far it would go. Took it all the way to Nawabganj on the west side of Dhaka as it followed the river embankment.

From there I thought I’d try and find Mamun’s, Mohan’s brother-in-law, college where he is studying leather technology. I knew it had to be in the area because I knew what part of town I was in. Walked for about 20 minutes in the direction I thought it might be, and while asking 2 guys on the way if I was right, ended up there. Gave Mamun a call and actually woke him up from a nap. When he met me he said he was actually getting ready for an exam tomorrow. I told him I was sorry for surprising him like this, and he said it was okay. Still, our hanging out time was only twenty minutes. After showing me his dorm room he said he had to go study, and told me to hang out with his roommate, Poddo. Although it seemed a bit odd to tell me to hang out with someone I didn’t know, we did hang out for two hours, even going to Dhanmondi to walk the streets for a bit.

31^st-4th in Dhaka 4/5

Today is 7 months!

And today I got to see Jatiyo Sangshad Bhaban, the National Parliament building. The building has been closed since last January when the caretaker government took control, and deposed leaders were jailed. The building was designed by the famous architect Louis Kahn. It was commissioned by the West Pakistani government in 1961, and our tour guide called it “the only good thing West Pakistan ever did for us [Bangladeshis]”

The building really is spectacular from close up and, from what I’ve only seen previously, from far away. It looks to be only two floors from a distance, due to the way the building is structured and “windows” built, but it’s actually ten stories tall.

The gates to get in are well guarded, as they likely usually are, but now it’s to keep almost everyone out. An ex-pat woman here helped arrange the tour, and through a local tour company, we (ten foreigners) were able to get permission to enter and tour the building. Well she and three others backed out at the last second, so it was a much smaller group who went. My friend Ben went too.
We had to wait outside the gate on the driveway for some time as our permission was verified. From there we got to pull up to the building’s entry tunnel, and enter the building at the ground floor. I had always imagined the building completely empty these days, but there were still plenty of cleaning woman, men repairing, guards, and army officers. We were accompanied on our tour by the main security officer of the building and two guards.

Parts of the building were off limits on the day we went. For example the large library on the ground floor was closed. We were forbidden from taking photos inside the building, which was understandable, but also sad since it’s such a gorgeous building.

The tour was very lax. They would take us to a part of the building, and we’d meander around looking at things on our own free will. If we wanted to know something, we had to ask. The best was when we were brought into the main assembly. It felt like a playground the way we were able to explore it freely, everyone going their own ways.
The assembly was incredible. It’s eight stories up to an umbrella looking roof made out of concrete. Neat to see the seats that Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina sit in when they were actually in power. Got to go into the back chambers where decisions are actually made.

The whole place seemed to be covered in a bit of dust due to the lack of use. Interesting to see a big pile of rubble in the corner of a part of the buildings. It seems a lot of the marble along the walls has fallen off over time. Ben spent the entire visit pondering why this would happen.

They took us into the mosque, which is still in use for some workers, on the south side of the building. Rare to be able to enter a mosque, and this one is a unique since it is for only the members of parliament. They also took us into the cafeteria.

Got to walk around the outside of the building , see the moat surrounding the building up close. Walk up the steps at the front of the building (there are 46…if there were 47 I’d say it was intentional as that was they year Pakistan gained independence, and this project was funded by Pakistan. Ben and I counted twice just to make sure.) (I'm an engineer so I take lots of building pics: our tour group walking around the outside of Jatiyo Sangshad, cafeteria's balcony and a good representation of what the interior of the building looks similar to, the building is surrounded by water which comes right to the building, using security officer who escorted us to show the scale of the building, back side of Jatiyo Sangshad where the President and Prime Minister are supposed to enter, looking into the interior, Ben/myself in front of Jatiyo Sangshad, using Ben to show the scale of the building just before we ran twice up and down the steps Rocky-style counting them.)

After Ben and I went back to his and Jen’s home and picked her up. Ben and I discussed how some of our cane furniture has termites, and little piles of dust are always seen around it.

Went to lunch at a place that had Mexican food. It was expensive, and wasn’t that great. Lots of cheese was nice, but wish the Mexican food was better. Will definitely enjoy Mexican food upon coming back to the US.

Later we browsed the store downstairs which had lots of books to browse. Always sad to see USA travel books that are inches thick but only have four pages on New Jersey, mostly talking about Atlantic City and Cape May.

Got some coffee at Coffee World and talked for awhile. Then Ragini showed up. She was a friend of a friend of a friend and we got connected on facebook before she came to Bangladesh through one of those friends. She’s currently having problems arranging her housing as she just arrived. Jen and Ben left after chatting for awhile, then Ragini and I sat for about an hour more and talked. Then dropped her back off at her nearby current home with a family.

31^st-5th in Dhaka 4/6

Took the Dibanishi route and collected data on the way to Banani. Picked up mail at American Center. Got a package from parents, a postcard from Ben, and my Krispy Kreme Challenge 2008 t-shirt!

Dropped by Nafisa’s Aunt Sylvi’s home in Baridhara where I’ve been meaning to swing by to for months just to say hello and to see Ishfaq and Ishraq. She fed me some snacks while I was there and showed me the photos from Nafisa’s engagement last week. Ishfaq woke up later, he’s been sick. Wasn’t very talkative. She told me how they are in the end of getting their visas to the US.

Took the Winner bus back home. A few good stories on the bus tonight, besides the fact that the bus got really crowded halfway through and people were unable to board at the stops.

1. At some point we were sitting in traffic and all of a sudden there was a woman laying in my lap. It seemed like she’d collapsed onto me. Fainted. Her eyes were blank staring up at the ceiling of the bus. I had no clue what to do. The guy next to me, whose lap she also had fallen onto (I had the head and shoulders, he had the torso) wasn’t saying anything either. And everyone on the bus around us wasn’t saying or doing anything. It felt like ten seconds in which it was silent. Maybe people were shocked, maybe this was normal. What was I to do? I tried lifting her a bit but I couldn’t, she was lying on me too oddly. Finally the guy next to me was yelling at her to get up. Could she on her own effort? Then someone picked her up, yelling ensued, and they sat her down in someone else’s seat. Maybe she passed out from the heat, maybe hunger. She looked like she works real hard, probably in a garment factory, and looked like she hadn’t eaten all day. I was really nervous, scared. What if she was dying on my lap? I was so tense for about two minutes. Didn’t know what to do or say. Everyone was acting like nothing had just happened. It was so strange. So silent. No one seemed to think it was out of the ordinary, or it was so bizarre we were all just stunned.
2. Saw a snowman. It was plastic, and large, and was being carried down the street on some man’s head. Saw it just after the woman fell on me. We were going so slow it passed us. We then passed it as traffic broke, and we drove about a quarter of a mile. But then we got stuck again. And it passed us again. Then traffic moved another quarter of a mile, and then it passed us again. It was funny. Surely no one has ever built a snowman in Bangladesh, yet here is this man carrying it down the street, on his head, so that it’s popping six feet out above the rest of the crowd. Where is he taking it? What will it do?
3. Some guy got off the bus while it was moving, nothing and unusual and you just have to jog until you slow down. Well the bus was going a bit too fast for him, and the guy was going so fast he couldn’t control his direction and ran smack into an oncoming rickshaw. He apologized profusely as he held his stomach.

Tried going to get some fish and cereal but the nice supermarket was closed. Oh well. Came home, ate dinner, and wanted to shower but water in the building was gone. I waited until 12:30 to shower when the water came back on.

Also started working on my Fulbright midterm report. It’s not too lengthy, but does require a bit of thought and evaluation of my time here. I read the requirement for each question as 1500 words maximum. So I started writing away in Microsoft Word to copy it in later. Then I copied it in. Tried to save but got an error message. Maximum 1500 CHARACTERS! Dang. Had to go back and delete about 75% of what I wrote. But at least I didn’t write up every question first! I would’ve spent a lot of time deleting.

31^st-6th in Dhaka 4/7

Moweena came really early today, at 6:20. At first I didn’t realize it was that early. I read in bed and tried to nap, then checked to see what time it was. It was only a little past 7:00, meaning she’d been there for at least 40 minutes judging at where she was in the cooking. I was a bit perplexed why she would come so early.

Spent morning working on my Fulbright midterm report, and processing some bus data.

Today I did 4 routes. I took Falgun up to Uttara, then Shakti down to Postogola. Ate lunch in Postogola, and then took the same buses back in reverse to where I started in Azimpur. Was almost continuous in my bus riding, took very little breaks, and despite the five hours of sleep I got last night, didn’t feel tired at all.

Fulbright hadn’t liked my initial flight plan home, not enough US carrier flights. Finally might have a flight ready to be booked. STA sent me an itinerary which looks good, and follows the Fly America rules, but is the wrong dates. I also found a Delta flight which is cheaper. If when he changes the dates, the flight is cheaper, I’ll go through STA, otherwise I’ll book Delta. Nice to know I’m close.

Watched Knocked Up today. First half in the morning, second half at night. Was thinking about it all day, wanting to know what would happen. Really liked it.

31^st-7th in Dhaka 4/8

Moweena again came really early today at 6:30. I brought it up and asked her to not come until 7:00. Told her I can’t sleep once she arrives, and I don’t need her that early anyway. But for once I ended up actually falling back asleep after she left, was definitely some well needed rest.

Went by Farhan’s for lunch and there we discussed Fantasy Kingdom this weekend, our birthday next week, and the trip we want to go on. I think we might go to Rangamati instead of St. Martin’s because his parents won’t let him go. That provides its own difficulties as foreigners need to get special permission to enter that district.

At BUET, did lots of data processing with the time I had left in the day. Didn’t get as much done as I’d like. It really is a hard process to get through!
Wondering how much of my project I’m going to finish. Thinking more and more that I’ll only be slightly close to finishing the analysis of the data. Might not happen until I’m back in the USA. A bit disconcerted. It takes so much time to process the data, and of course collecting.

Emily got her visa for Bangladesh back. It's good until 2013!! Five years and she's only staying less than a week! It's funny because another girl I know coming her for 3 months got a visa which expired before she was supposed to leave the country!

I bought fish for the first time on the street today from a guy with a big bowl of fish.

Summer fruits are on their way. I’m seeing lots of new things at the fruit stands, and it makes me happy. Watermelon has been out for about three weeks now, I’ve only bought one though. jackfruit, the national fruit of Bangladesh is starting to grow on trees all over, and some ripe ones are now out on the stands. They are the largest tree grown fruit in the world. And lastly, the first mangoes have just started to come to fruit stands!