Week 33: Returning from Srimangal only to find no running water

33^rd-1st in Srimangal 4/16

We got a bus to visit Lowacherra Forest Reserve, is just outside of Srimangal, amongst the many tea gardens. The area is quite hilly, and covered in dense jungle. I imagine making it through the forest without a path would be very slow going. Luckily we have paths though. Getting off the bus at the park’s main entrance, we hiked to where the many (unmarked) trailheads were. At this point, the Bangladesh Railway passes through the forest. And just our luck, a train came by just as we arrived, and so we got to see the densely packed train plow through he jungle. (pics: Bangladesh Railway train engine traveling through Lowacherra Forest, people hanging off the front of the train engine)

We started on a trail that we thought should take three hours. We probably made a wrong turn here and there, and ended up at a farm. Backtracked and then proceeded through the forest for two and a half hours. The biggest highlight was seeing a troupe of monkeys in the tree tops, likely gibbons. They made a huge racket, and we stopped to listen and watch for ten minutes. (video: Gibbons making noise in Lowacherra Forest)

Farhan was definitely tough today. This was a long hike, and as a first time hiker he handled it well. Although he did get a blister. We really liked roaming the jungle. Saw that the protected forest is still very much in use, as people use it for daily activities. Had lots of fun on the trail: played with bamboo, saw lots of butterflies, the monkeys, lots of little lizards, and a construction crew pumping water. (pics: people walking bamboo through the jungle, Farhan with the jungle's growth dwarfing him, myeslf in Lowacherra Forest, Farhan playing javelin with the bamboo)

We emerged out of the forest on the edge of a village. Wasn’t sure if we made a wrong turn or not, but we just walked to the main road through the village, about 3km. Farhan asked every villager we saw if we were still going the right way. At one point we had to cross a bamboo bridge, and Farhan was hesitating feeling uncomfortable. Then a young boy popped out of his home, sprinted daintily across the bridge, grabbed Farhan by the hand, and led him bravely across. Finally got back to the main road, Farhan felt exhausted. (pics: village area we emerged out to from the jungle, Farhan being assisted across the bamboo bridge by a young boy)

Went back by bus which we caught where we emerged from on the road just by signaling to first local bus which passed.

In the afternoon, we headed out to a tea shack on the outskirts of town which is famous for its layered tea. The tea has anywhere from two to five layers, depending on how much you want to spend. We bought the five layer one at a cost of Tk 50. The five layers from top to bottom are coffee (okay, not tea, but still good), milk tea, green tea, white tea, and lemon tea. They stay separated, but not if you stir it up. We drank carefully. It was fun, as the flavors changed as you drank. The inventor of the drink has his picture all over the tea shack. (pic and video: five layer tea in Srimangal, Farhan explaining the layered tea and my bad joke that follows)

We then roamed through some of the tea gardens near the tea shack on Finlay’s tea estate. Took some pictures in the gardens, including some that Farhan had wanted to take all trip: our heads popping out of the tea gardens and our hands popping out. Sun was setting, and people were roaming the gardens with us. Couldn’t find a rickshaw back after, so we walked all the way back into town, about 1.5 km until we could find one. Told jokes along the way. I thought of my first Bengali joke, which I think doesn’t sound funny in English, but only when I tell it in Bengali. Farhan and I cracked up. (pics: myself popping out of the tea garden, Farhan's arm popping out of the tea garden, myself/Farhan in one of the irrigation ditches of the tea garden, tea garden in Srimangal)

33^rd-2nd in Srimangal 4/17

Today we headed out to Madhabkunda waterfall. This is just northwest of Srimangal, a very short trip, a definite must see my friends said. Well, this trip was nothing but short. We left around 10 am and didn’t arrive at the waterfall until 2:30pm. I was very frustrated. At one point we were considering just calling it a day, going back to ensure we caught our bus home. However, Farhan finally said lets go see the waterfall no matter if we miss our bus home or not. We had to take a bus, a tempo, another bus, and then a CNG to reach the waterfall from Srimangal.

We finally arrived at the waterfall, and only had a short time to see it, as we were paying our CNG only to wait an hour, and the walk from the gate to the falls was 15 minutes. When we finally saw it, after all our troubles finding this place, it was like finding buried treasure.

I wanted to go in and play in the water, but soon after arriving, the most amazing thing happened. The waterfall, just a small flow when we first arrived, started making rumbling noises, and all of a sudden the volume of water flowing over the edge started to increase. The water was rushing faster than before, some sticks were pouring over the side. People playing in the water ran out as big waves started forming. Those standing next to the falls retreated to farther distances. The water kept increasing and increasing (see compiled photo below.) Must’ve been twice the original flow. Water turned a bit brown. A second flow started just to the right of the original falls. Then later a third lighter flow seemed to fill up the middle. I’m guessing a blockage upstream must’ve finally burst and all the waters came flowing out. (pics: myself with the jungle growth up above me, Farhan in front of Madhabkunda Waterfall, the setting of the Madhabkunda Waterfall,compiled photo of waterfall growth (click to enlarge))

It was very impressive and moving. Incredible because we never would’ve seen this if we’d arrived the few hours earlier like we wanted. Felt very luck to experience it. I waded into the waves for a little bit, just up to my knees. We had to leave after a short time we had to get back and try to get new tickets for a new bus home.

The ride home was less than half the time. We somehow got on a city to city bus that made only a few stops, instead of purely local bus which stops every few minutes. It definitely helped in decreasing travel time. Next time I make trips like this, I will definitely ensure a bus I get on is not a local bus, but a city to city bus. We went through Moulvi Bazar and then back down to Srimangal. Incredibly quick. Rushed to the bus station upon getting back, where we were able to get new tickets and catch a new bus. Only 2 hours later than we were supposed to leave.

33^rd-3rd in Dhaka 4/18

Landlord knocked on my door this morning to let me know they will be doing maintenance on the water pump and water tank today, so I should not expect water until the afternoon. Advised taking my shower now and filing a bucket of water for the rest of the day. I didn’t mind too much as I’d be out all day.

April is the hottest month on average in Bangladesh. The heat is incredible, and the high humidity doesn’t help. Days are now averaging in the low 100s, and heat indexes are reaching 120+. For this the reason I’m always sweaty. The heat will be less next month as some rains come, and then the heat will break more in June when the monsoon rains arrive and cool things off.

This morning I met up with Megan and Shakil to go on a hike. We’d been planning this for awhile, to go up to either Madhupur National Forest or Bhalwal National Park. Madhupur is farther but has better hiking. We ended up going to Bhalwal on Shakil’s request. It is only an hour or so away, the closest National Park to Dhaka. At the bus stop to leave, I told them the joke I'd written in Bengali, Shakil laughed, Megan rolled her eyes.

We hopped off the bus at the park’s entrance, and paid our entry fees. Close to the entrance of the park are brick paths, a big pond, an observation tower, food store, a mosque, and some pavilions. At these pavilions a bunch of programs were happening, with singers voices being pumped out through bad speakers. But we started meandering randomly into the park to explore, and soon all these visitor aimed things disappeared and we were left with just us and the forest, although we could still faintly hear the singers. But we ended up using these loud sounds to find our way back out of the forest later, as their were no markings for any trails.

We saw some wildlife in the forest. Large lizards were the coolest thing, likely a Bengal or clouded monitor. They were about 3 feet long and really thick. Most ran away quick from us, but one only slowly walked away, so we got to snap pictures of it. It looked small, so we thought it was young, rather than injured. We also saw cows roaming in the woods but they weren’t wild, as their owners would come behind them. Interesting to see cows roaming the woods though. The woods themselves reminded me of the Pine Barrens in New Jersey, except without pine trees. The soil, land structure, and fields, however, all looked very familiar. (pics: myself/Megan in Bhalwal National Park, cows roaming in Bhalwal National Park, monitor scampering across a field, monitor in the woods)

After roaming the woods for two hours, we emerged and took a look up at the top of one of the observation towers. It was only after this that we saw a sign warning people not to enter the woods for safety reasons. This is supposed to be because of dangerous characters roaming the woods.(pics: Shakil and Bhalwal National Forest behind him as seen from the top of the observation tower, sign warning people not to enter the forest which we saw after we came out of the forest)

Megan and I were quite pleasantly surprised at the quality of hiking we got in. I thought it’d be all paved paths, but we really got to go exploring into the woods.

In the evening I went to a birthday party at Mohan’s house. Today is his birthday, which was weird since I never knew our birthdays were so close, despite being roommates for two months. He invited me to come over. All his friends from Cadet College were there, including guys I know well: Shibly, Saifullah, and Bapi and whole bunch of others I’ve seen many times. Plus their wives and children.

We had cake and watermelon first (desert first!) The guys sat and talked in one room, while all the wives sat and talked in the other. No mixing happened all night. Mohan’s wife cooked all the food along with her helper. The two young girls, Sadia and Sara, who I met in Bandarban, were running from room to room laughing and playing with a blow up ball. They liked to take pictures with my camera, and I blew up that ball for them at least three times. After dinner Sadia, Saifullah’s daughter, was telling me how she likes ghosts and wanted to know if I knew any. When she left with her parents, she ran over to me and gave me a kiss.

I never really interact with kids in the US much, and in fact I’d have to say I’ve interacted with Sadia more than any kid ever. Also, I think I’ve held more babies and talked to more children of friends here in Bangladesh than I ever have in the US. I think it’s because none of my friends in the US have kids, and that many friends I have here are older and have children. Odd that my first time interacting with children, I’m the one with the smaller vocabulary, and I’m having to do it in Bengali. (pics: Mohan (far left) and Saifullah (far right) with their Cadet College friends at Mohan's birthday party, Sadia/Sara before they grabbed my camera and took their own pictures of the party, Mohan with his son Rehan)

Came home. Still no water. A bit upset. Wanted to shower, I was so gross. Need to save my remaining water in the bucket for washing hands and flushing the toilet. I now understand why it’s so frustrating to lose water when a hurricane hits. It’s so hot too, I was sweating and really would’ve liked a way to cool off. It’s very depressing to open a tap and see nothing come out.

33^rd-4th in Dhaka 4/19

Water still off. Sitting at home and working on blog and journal. Don’t’ feel like leaving house, getting sweaty, and not being able to shower.

Some news items I’ve been wanting to mention:

First is the food crisis. You may have read about it on the internet or perhaps in US papers, but the problems over food are very serious. Rice has exploded in cost, and people are having to stop buying certain food items just to afford the staple food of rice. The leaders of Bangladesh have asked that people start using potatoes instead of rice in their diets, as there is an oversupply of potatoes right now. People complained saying that those leaders should start doing the same if they expect the public to do it. Well at a recent meeting about the food crisis, the leaders served only potato dishes. There's also hard held feelings about giving up rice, because of a similar decree by the West Pakistanis when they were in charge. This article explains that, and the potato menu, very well.
The lines for rice are a long at subsidized food centers, much longer than they used to be. People wait for hours to get rice at a fair price they can afford. Most of the people spend the majority of their income on food.
Going to give Moweena a raise to match the rising prices. (pics: rice distribution that has been set up in Azimpur near BUET, rice distribution with long lines on Bishwa Road in Middle Badda)

There’s also a new train from Dhaka to Kolkata. It’s a big deal. Hasn’t been train service in over four decades since it was shut down by the governments when Pakistan was fighting India. But the first trains ran last week between the two cities. And there was much rejoicing on both end stations. Big send offs. But there were also problems. Some leaders in India don’t like it, saying that it’s only going to bring problems, bringing Bangladeshis to India. They don’t like the idea. There were even small bombs placed on the tracks on the Indian side. Hope things settle and it really becomes a good thing for both countries.

Also, on that same line of thought, looks like with this project, and another between Iran and Pakistan, a train line could stretch all the way to London.

Lastly is the push to have Cox’s Bazar and the Sundarbans on the new list of the Seven Natural World Wonders. The push is fueled by the nationalism of the Bangladeshi people, and promoted by the government. They have set up internet voting stations so people can vote for those two sites to be on the list. Likely due to their efforts, Cox’s Bazar tops the worldwide list, and the Sundarbans are just outside. If these two places make the final cut, it was the spirit of the Bangladeshi that got them there. I’ve been asked by people if I’ve voted yet…of course! (pic: sign outside the Bangladesh Trade Fair in January urging people to vote for Cox's Bazar and Sundarbans for the Seven Natural World Wonders)

After meeting with Diya this afternoon for a bit, I came back home and the water was on, and I took a much desired shower.
Soon after the water stopped again. Just in time I filled up a half bucket of water for hand washing and toilet flushing. I went to bed without another shower, so was sweaty and gross getting into bed.

Finished reviewing Stanford University tonight, and then did the comparison review of NC State. With that, my grad school initial review is complete. I finally have an idea of what I’m looking for in schools, and what schools satisfy that. Right now I’m looking at three tiers of schools from the initial review. First tier, ones I’ll definitely apply to are: Texas, MIT, Berkeley, and Georgia Tech. Second tier, ones I might apply to are: UIUC, Northwestern, and Purdue. Bottom tier, ones I won’t apply to because of a lack of transportation program or not a strong one: Stanford, Michigan, Cornell.

33^rd-5th in Dhaka 4/20

Water still off today. We got it back for a few hours, just enough to fill up two buckets of water, take a shower, and wash some much needed clothes. Then it went off again. It seems they just can’t find a way to fix our water pump. It’s kind of gross. I always feel a little down when I turn the handle and nothing comes out.

Today I spent most of the day at home just processing through data. I found an online stopwatch with a lap timer and decided to try using that for the processing. It cuts a little bit of time from my old method, and I’m going to try it for awhile to see if I like the results. It helps me to produce the same data in less time.

Tried buying a domain name of donaldkatz.com today but couldn’t get the order to process. Talked to Saket a lot today too about resumes, jobs, college. It was lots of good conversing, and his knowledge on all of it is extremely helpful. I also spent some time looking into Virginia Tech’s civil program to see if I went there, could I also be part of the Metropolitan Institute. Keeping some broad options open, things I may not have considered originally.

33^rd-6th in Dhaka 4/21

Another day without water. There was a bit of a dribble at 6am when I woke up to use the toilet, and I filled up two buckets then, and it was off soon after. If I hadn’t done that, I’m not sure how I would’ve lasted the rest of the day.

After my 5pm lunch, I went out to the buses. Rode two this evening, both short routes. Got to see a new bus fight!

Bus conductors usually take their liberties at showing their dominance of being on a bus to nearby rickshaws. They yell at them, tell them to move, and sometimes hit their rickshaws with their hands/feet. Usually the rickshaw is in the way or riding too close. But tonight our conductor flipped the hood of a nearby rickshaw while we were crawling through traffic, while the rickshaw wallah was just sitting on the side of the road at a tea stand, minding his own business. Well the rickshaw wallah was insulted (as he should be) and decided to take out his anger in the best way possible. He ran after our slow moving bus, started beating on our bus conductor who is standing at the door. He manages to pull him off the bus, and onto the ground. This fight was intense. They were on the ground, rolling, kicking, flipping, it looked like a cartoon fight when the fight turns into a big rolling ball of dust. About five people spilled off the bus once they realized the bus conductor was missing, and chased after the fight to break it up. Meanwhile other passengers told the bus driver to stop. The fight got broken up, with some cursing and yelling at each other. Then the conductor came prancing over to the bus grinning, laughing to himself, while the rickshaw wallah stood alone on the curb angry. The passengers on the bus were laughing. To top it all off, the conductor, as the bus was moving again, seeing his sweaty torn shirt, rips it off in a glorious fashion and tosses it to the street side. (pic: how a conductor does his work hanging out the door...and hits rickshaws)

Looked into the cost of buying a license plate. I’d found a license plate on the side of the road in South Africa, and took it home with me. I feel like I won’t have the same luck here, so I’ve seen shops selling them and went to check it out. Like most things, about six shops all in a row sell license plates. It didn’t seem like there was any regulation on them. They’d just be hanging on the wall and you could just walk up and buy one. I asked the guy at the store how much they cost, and he said Tk400. After a few minutes, he cut the price to Tk350. I wanted to know how the numbers are assigned, and I think he told me I could put whatever I wanted on it. Not sure if he was just playing me or if that’s how license plates really work here. I am going to buy one though.
I’m really confused about this system. How are the numbers assigned, is each plate different from the next? How does this system ensure that each plate is distinctive? Is each store assigned a list of numbers it can give out. If so, why can the guy give me anything he wants?
About license plates, each lists the district in which the car is registered, followed by six numbers below. They are white letters on black writing. Cars get them on metal or plastic, and attached to the car. Buses and CNGs paint their license plate information onto the vehicle itself (that way when they go bashing into each other, it doesn’t fly off!) (pics: standard Bangladeshi license plate, fancy Bangladeshi plate, painted license plate on a tempo, painted license plate on a local bus)

Also found out today that my college senior project is getting considered for implementation. My group and I designed a bus bypass shoulder system for I-40 in Raleigh for TTA, and now it looks like TTA might be pushing it forward. They have lots of meetings with experts and NCDOT ahead, but it could happen. They also might consult us for some explanations!

33^rd-7th in Dhaka 4/22

This morning I finally completed the purchase of donaldkatz.com and hopefully within the next week I’ll have a page up, with Saket’s help of course. He offered to help me host it. It won’t be anything complex, just a place to post some information about me for when someone googles my name. I’ll link this blog obviously.

Today was a close call for all my research resources while riding four buses. I almost ran out of five things all at once: paper, voice recorder memory, voice recorder battery, cash for bus tickets, and lead for my mechanical pencil. How did all 5 things come to a near end on one day!?!

Checked into ticket prices today for the flight from Kathmandu to Delhi that Travis and I are taking in July. Emily already has a flight so I’m trying to get tickets on there, but it might be a bit expensive. Will perhaps look for another flight at a similar time but at lesser price.

I know understand the water situation. After talking to the store owner in front of my house, I asked if everyone was having problems (Megan had mentioned it) and he said many people are having water shut offs to preserve water. Well he offered to let me get some water from his store’s tap so I brought down my bucket to fill it up. As I was walking back, my landlord saw me, and he looked upset that I had gone behind his back about water, asking why I didn’t say anything. I said I didn’t know to, figured we all were in the same situation. He told me, and his wife came later to reiterate, the following:
Our house had problems for awhile, because of the pump. But after two and a half days, the pump was fixed, and the reason I wasn’t seeing water was because they were only pumping at certain times. No one told me about these times until now though. They are pumping at 9am, noon, and 9pm. The water lasts for about a half hour before it’s drained. So fill up buckets quickly and shower quick. This has been going on for two days and I had no clue. It explains thought why sometimes I had mystery water coming out of one tap when I opened it.
Since I stay out working all day until 10 pm, I never got any water because I missed all the water times. I'd come home and it'd be all gone. Well now I know the water times are 9am and noon and 9pm so I’ll make sure I’m home for two of those to get what I need to do done. Plus if I ever need it, my landlord told me he has a barrel of water in his flat for emergencies.

Week 32: Pohela Boishakh is my birthday (was it fated for me to come to Bangladesh?)

32^nd-1st in Dhaka 4/9

Bought my plane ticket home today. On October 17, I will return to New Jersey. I’m flying Delta from Bangkok (where I’ll be finishing up my travels) through Seoul, Atlanta, and finally to Newark. Was nice to get this done and out of the way.

Farhan called me to say that Rangamati is a “no” with his parents. So we are switching to Srimangal, and hopefully they’ll agree because there are no issues with that place. I then emailed a tour company about a trip to Rangamati for when Ben is here.

Got four buses this morning processed at my home. I did it all in three hours. Was very proud of myself, really focused hard and got them all processed. They were all long routes too!

Went to BUET to get some databasing done. Had ten buses to input into the database. Did it all as quick as I could, wanted to get that all done. Didn’t delay too much, but did need a few mental breaks because it is draining to sit there doing only data entry. Got a few emails from friends, so that helped to break the doldrums.

After the data entry, I took a bus to Motijheel, only so I could take a bus home. Figured I had enough time for one bus route, and night bus routes give some of the best crowded bus data because the bus is almost always crowded.

32^nd-2nd in Dhaka 4/10

So last night at the lab, I was unable to “Safely Remove Hardware” for my flash drive, and after five tries, trying different things, I finally just had to pull it out. Well today when I went to take yesterday’s work off of it, all the data was corrupted. Over four hours of work wasted. Needless to say, I’m really frustrated, angry, and shaken up. It’s not like I was careless, I was doing what I could to make sure I did things right. I should’ve emailed myself the files, or left them on the desktop. I delete them from the desktop so that no one looks at my work. I’ve definitely seen students doing that at BUET. Guys sit down at a computer, browse through everyone’s work on the desktop, open up files, explore what people are doing. Then just leave. They only come to snoop and see what others are up to. I didn’t want to ever be a victim of that, so I always delete my work from the computer’s desktop and empty the recycle bin.

Anyway, I’ve rationalized that it could be worse. Could’ve lost all my data. Could’ve lost the spreadsheet data (which is annoying to input) but it was only the database data. Will go back one day and plow through it as quickly as I did yesterday.

In a “proving” to myself, I went to collect as much bus data as possible, and I was rewarded well! All the buses I rode today were crowded , very crowded, and it was a great day. I took Midway for the first time, and took it all the way to the end, neat to see a new part of town.

32^nd-3rd in Dhaka 4/11

Headed to Fantasy Kingdom today with Ragini, Farhan, and Nipu (Nipu’s friend Ashfaq came later.) Fantasy Kingdom is Bangladesh’s only big amusement park, with rides you might find in an international amusement park. (pics: Fantasy Kingdom's main entrance and ticket counter, Farhan/myself/Nipu/Ashfaq/Ragini in Fantasy Kingdom)

Water Kingdom and Fantasy Kingdom were empty. Ghost town empty. Water Kingdom seemed to only have two areas/rides open when we first walked in. I almost worried that I’d wasted my money. We changed into our swimming outfits (not exactly swimsuits, you have to remain covered in Bangladesh,) and joined the entire crowd at the wave pool. Maybe 100 young people there. We had only just waded in when dance music started blasting from a nearby pavilion and water started spraying from its roof. The whole wave pool quickly emptied out and ran to dance in the pavilion. Then the wave pool turned off. 2 dance songs later, the music stopped, the pavilion’s water spray, and the lazy rivers water jets started spraying. Everyone jumped in the lazy river and took a dip. By the time that was turned off, the water slides had been turned on, and everyone ran over there to use the water slides. There were five or so, and they only had two running at a time. Then the slides were turned off and the wave pool turned back on.
It occurred to us that in order to save water/electricity/staff costs, the park alternates which rides run at any given time. This allows them to focus all their time and energy and money on certain things. The crowd doesn’t mind. It means every place always is alive and energetic when you’re using it. and though your time was dictated by the park, it didn’t seem controlling, and it created an excitement for the next activity. (pics: the play pool at Water Kingdom, Ashfaq/Ragini/Nipu/Farhan dancing to the tunes being played in the wave pool of Water Kingdom)

The water slides didn’t have a line or a system of who gets to go next. You had to wait below the end of the water slide, and then yank a tube from the person who came down the slide. Lots of yelling and grabbing and pulling. Once you grabbed a tube, you ran up the rusty iron steps to the top of the slide, then slid down. Coming to the bottom meant you were confronted by six to ten guys all grabbing for the tube you sat on.

One of my favorite slides was the short one which didn’t have tubes. You just jumped down this really wide slide, into a pool below. People were going down this without a care in the world. No waiting until the bottom cleared out, just crash into them. People going sideways, forwards, upside down, giant groups all at once. This was the scariest slide just because it hurt so bad when people crashed into you, or you hit the slide the wrong way. I went down sideways and hit a bump wrong and got a bruise. Ragini said these are also popular in India. It’s such a simple ride, but allows so much freedom, and seemed to be the favorite of all the park goers. (pics: the simple slide ride which allowed people to do as they please going down including sideways and in big groups)

Of the people at the park, about 80% were teenagers and young adults. Also around 80% men.

Lunch was some grilled chicken and naan. Delicious! Ate it by the side of the pool. I was really wondering what amusement park food would be in Bangladesh.

Fantasy Kingdom’s rides were intense. They weren’t super tall, super fast, super fancy, or super at all. But what they lacked in those areas, they made up in extremeness! The bumper cars bumped harder than any bumper cars I’ve every bumped before. The spinning rides spun faster and with more jolting than any spinning ride I’ve ever spun on before. The only thing which didn’t do this was the roller coaster. It was fairly smooth, and too short. I felt so banged up after riding the rides. Probably came home with whiplash. (pics: Fantasy Kingdom and roller coaster in background, Farhan/Nipu on roller coaster at Fantasy Kingdom, Ashfaq/Nipu/Ragini/Farhan looking a bit queasy after the intense rides, Ragini/Nipu on the spinning swings)

Fantasy Kingdom was fun, but I have to give it to Water Kingdom for more long lasting entertainment. Each ride at Fantasy Kingdom has a price, but you can get all rides once pass. The rides were generally good. I didn’t feel unsafe on any of the rides. If I go back though, I’m skipping Fantasy Kingdom and only going to Water Kingdom.

Fantasy Kingdom rides were closed all morning. It was as if they expected you to go to Water Kingdom all day. Later in the day Fantasy Kingdom rides started running more frequently. And even then it was very quiet in the park. You walked up and rode any ride you wanted. Sometimes you waited for the ride to run, so they could get more people on it (just like bus riding!!) The log flume didn’t even have water running in it until people decided to ride it. They run the rides (save energy) only when people come to ride it. And just like water kingdom, there seemed to be a flow of people from ride to ride.

I didn’t put my pants on for the ride home. Just wore my bathing suit. And twice, people asked me why I wasn’t wearing my pants, and just carrying them. Funny that they felt it was necessary to ask me that.

32^nd-4th in Dhaka 4/12

Watched, Nirontor, one of the better Bangladeshi films that won awards. I enjoyed it, and it had some powerful messages. A fictional film about prostitution in Bangladesh, and one women’s experience with it trying to support her family.

Heat index hit 110 today. Ugh. Bus to and from BUET was near unbearable, sweating so bad. One guy was wiping the sweat from his brow and flicking it out the window but some was getting on me as well.

Went to BUET and redid all the data I lost last week. Glad to be back where I was supposed to be! Did it a lot faster than last time as well.

Sore from the rides yesterday. Maybe have whiplash?

Finished reviewing Georgia Tech, that’s 8 down, 3 to go! It’s been awhile since I’ve done any grad school reviewing as I was focusing on my work and my parents coming.
And also finished Univ. of Michigan. This wasn’t a challenge because they didn’t even have a transportation program! So it was quick and easy! I had it on the list because of its reputation as a great civil engineering school, but again, this is initial review, so I’m learning a lot in just this first round.

Tonight walking out of BUET I saw the typical cow sitting on the sidewalk. But tonight, circling the cow was a little kitten! It was so cute. The cow paid it no attention. But the kitten was meowing its little meows over and over. I stopped to watch the little animal, literally a hundred times smaller than the giant cow, bother the big one. The big one didn’t seem to care. Then the kitten went over to a rickshaw wallah sitting on the side of the curb resting, and that def annoyed the rickshaw wallah. He tried yelling at it to make it go away, then finally had to give it a tiny shove. Kitten wouldn’t stop, so he got up and drove his rickshaw off. Kitten went back to the cow. So so so cute! (pic: the location where animals get tied up outside of BUET...this is where I saw the kitten and cow)

32^nd-5th in Dhaka 4/13

Finished up the Fulbright Mid-term report. My favorite questions was where they asked me to fill out my monthly expenses for "Transportation to/from study/research location"
Ummmmmm the transportation is my research location! Where does going to/from stop and doing my research begin! I had to make a special note on that.
Overall the report wasn’t too hard, I filled it out little by little. Most bizarre question was that they asked me how much my medical expense were before I left. That was 9 months ago! No clue. Couldn’t remember.

Did three buses today, and was in the middle of doing my fourth when we got caught in a massive jam. Barely moved at all for such a long time. I ended up just scraping this last route. Wasn’t worth sitting there anymore, especially since most of the passengers already had got off: over 25 people had left early due to the traffic. Was so hot and sweaty on the buses today. Two of the buses were literally the most crowded buses I’ve ridden since I've started. Very intense researching. Exhausting even.

Farhan and I met for lunch. Talked about our plans for our Srimangal trip this week. Then bought our bus tickets at the bus station.

Went to a watermelon seller tonight, and ate slice after slice after slice. He started at me while I did. So tasty and refreshing after sweating all day on the bus.

Electric and water were off at home when I came back. Not refreshing. Ate by flashlight in the heat. Finally got power back later, and the water pump turned on, and I could shower to feel better.

32^nd-6th in Dhaka 4/14

Got 4 missed calls after midnight struck, and 11 texts! 6 more texts and numerous phone calls would come throughout the day. In total 51 facebook wall posts, 2 facebook messages, 10 phone calls during the day (two from the US: my parents and Chris,) and 6 emails. Interesting to see the methods people choose to wish a “Happy Birthday!” I did not keep track, however, of how many people wished me in person.

A note on birthdays in Bangladesh. I got a phone call from Farhan last night how Ayon, Saquib, and Opu want a treat for our birthday. I was a bit confused, and asked him, “Why would I give them a treat for my birthday, don’t they give us things?” Nope! In Bangladesh, whoever’s birthday it is treats others on their birthday. This makes sense, I remember Tamzid paying for the dinner we had with him on his birthday. This is opposite of what the culture is in the US, where if I were to go out tot dinner with lots of friends on my birthday, I would not be expected to contribute anything in terms of money to the meal.

Probably the best birthday gift I got was that Samantha Huq, the girl who I became friends with when she sought my assistance on her Fulbright application essays, found out that she got the Fulbright! This was what I found out as I woke up. This started the day off right. I was so happy for her! Also excited because she’ll be coming and hopefully our times will overlap just a bit so we can meet.

Today is also Pohela Boishakh, the Bangladeshi New Year. Boishakh is the first month of the Bangladeshi year, and it starts the summer season in Bangladesh, Grishsho, lasting for two months from mid-April to mid-June before the monsoon season starts. Don’t think, however, I woke up this morning and was surprised to see the festival all over town. I’ve known my birthday was the Bangladeshi New Year since the beginning of senior year at NC State when I first started applying for the Fulbright. At that time, my teacher Farhanaz and I realized we had the same birthday…and she told me what that means in Bangladesh…New Years Day! Heard so much about this holiday for a long time.

The colors of Boishakh are highly stressed in songs, text messages, clothing, and chatter. It’s apparently a very important part of the holiday. Everyone is supposed to wear red and white. I had neither, so I wore yellow.

Started the morning at Ramna Park. This is the place that everyone told me I had to go on Pohela Boishakh. Every time people asked me what I’d do for my birthday/Pohela Boishakh, I’d always say I wanted to see the boat races which happen in the villages, but that never panned out. I would tell people this though, and they’d think it was ridiculous, and say I should go to Ramna instead.
Ramna Park was crazy, like Times Square in New York on New Year’s Day (very likely has the same number of attendees.) My friend Ragini came with me to meet up with Farhan, and we had planned to meet at 7:30am. Even at that early in the morning the streets were closed down, packed curb to curb with people walking, and lots of things were happening. People selling many things including many face painters. Our bus couldn’t proceed through obviously, and since we hadn’t expected this, we were 15 minutes late to meeting Farhan and his family. (pics: streets crowded for over a half kilometer approaching Ramna Park, men waiting to paint the faces of Pohela Boishakh celebrators, Ramna Park jammed with people, Farhan/myself: the two birthday boys on Pohela Boishakh in Ramna Park)

Ramna Park is famous for Pohela Boishakh because people go there to see programs of poems and singing. One performance everyone talked about is done every year under a big tree, and I only caught one glimpse of them while I was there, so many people surrounding the area! The park was jammed. Security was tight to get in. (pics: the main performance everyone talks about under a big tree at Ramna Park, thick crowds covered every inch of Ramna Park)

We spent our time at Farhan’s father’s program. His walking club organized it, and provided breakfast of chicken briyani and fish. Saw performances organized by the club, including some singers the crowd went wild for, getting up dancing and clapping. They had fenced off the area for only those who had tickets to get in, but at some point, the crowd surrounding the fence decided to jump it, and soon the place was filled. The organizers could do nothing, and just asked everyone to please sit and stay composed during the program, as it was supposed to be private. I thought they brought a lot of energy to the atmosphere though. (pics: crowd cheering, surrounding the fences, and hanging from trees to catch the poems and songs of Pohela Boishakh; performers on stage including young girls wearing the red and white of Pohela Boishakh)

After watching the program for a bit, we headed over to Dhaka University, which is really close, but took a lot of time (crowd pushing and browsing shopping stalls) to get there. Ragini bought some flowers for her family she stays with. I bought some mango milk (similar to strawberry milk,) been looking for it for awhile. Both of us bought some Bengali wooden letters, for our names. She remarked how she never saw Hindi letters like this in India. Farhan bought some snacks. We met up with Saquib and his girlfriend. Didn’t stay long, we were all so hot. Sweating like crazy. The parade at Dhaka University had occurred earlier and some of the horse drawn floats still lined the streets amongst the crowd. (pics: wooden cutouts of Bengali letters, drinking mango milk near Dhaka University on Pohela Boishakh)

Went to Rifles Square, with Farhan, Saquib and Saquib’s girlfriend. Sat and talked, they ate. Ragini went home before that, meeting up with the family she’s with. I then headed home, grabbed Farhanaz’s gift, and went to her house for lunch. Diya had her friends over, and I spent most of my time with them. They served amongst many things pantha bhat for lunch. This is dinner rice soaked in water. We added green chilies, onion, and some mustard oil to it, and then ate it all up. You eat it with hilsa fish. Customary food for Pohela Boishakh. Gave Farhanaz her birthday gifts. And got to meet her new daughter as well. (pics: myself/Farhan/Saquib on Pohela Boishakh, myself/Farhanaz on our birthday with the gift I got her (blocks with Bengali letters...proper for my former teacher), myself/Diya on Pohela Boishakh, myself holding Farhanz's new daughter)

Went home, changed from my panjabi into a fotua. So hot and sweaty. Headed out to Banani to meet up with Farhan, Ayon, and Opu for dinner. Farhan and I were treating for our birthday. Lots of pizza. Gave Farhan his gift.

Ended the birthday/New Years Day going over to Mohakhali DOHS to Shahrina’s place where I met up with Tashfique, Shariful, Mahenaz, and Shahrina. They all left after a bit, and I only stayed an hour, which was okay, I was getting tired.

No water when I came home. Had to shower with the half bucket of water I filled this morning. Really wanted a real shower. I was so gross from the day.

32^nd-7th in Srimangal 4/15

No water when I woke up either. Now I was a bit upset since I wanted a real shower before heading out to Srimangal today. No such luck it seemed. However just a half hour before I had to leave, the water turned back on. I quickly washed some dishes, showered, shaved, and headed out to the bus. Lots of traffic this morning, and it was a good thing I had planned to arrive a half hour early, because I ended up arriving just on time as traffic made the trip last twice as long.

Farhan was already at the bus station. Our bus left only a little bit late, but the trip was shorter than we thought, only 3.5 hours. No problems on the way. We listened to a Bengali rock CD mix I made. He really liked it. I bought a headphone splitter so we could listen to the same music at the same time.

Farhan and his father had found a government rest house we could stay in while there. It was pretty decent, and was free (well it later turned out we had to pay Tk 25 per day, which is a lot less than a hotel.) We arrived and greeted the contact Farhan had made with a man in the government office. After settling, we took a rickshaw out to the nearest tea estate.

Srimangal is know for its tea estates. The area is mildly hilly, and tea gardens cover the entire landscape. Much of the tea which is grown here is exported, and it’s said only the best teas reach foreign soil, leaving the scraps for Bangladesh. However, since Bangladeshis add 2 sugars and 2 milks to each small cup of tea, having the best tea leaves wouldn’t really be a difference maker. The area is gorgeously green, and relatively quiet.

At the closest tea estate to Srimangal, which is the Bangladesh Tea Research Institute, we got off our rickshaw and just started roaming the grounds. No exact purpose. Just to explore. As a first time hiker, Farhan had some doubts about some things we did, but I did my best to assure him all would be okay. We walked up and down a riverbank between the tea gardens and found our way back to the main road. (pics: area of town near our rest house, myself amongst the tea gardens, Farhan trekking through the tea gardens, tea gardens of Bangladesh Tea Research Institute)

The best part of the night was seeing fox holes all over the tea garden, then seeing foxes cross the river just after we crossed it! The two foxes were just shadows in the twilight, but we could identify them.

After dinner at the same place we had lunch, we headed to bed. Town is fairly small, but still very busy at its center. We could walk around easily, or just take a rickshaw.