Week 37: Saving money not buying toothbrushes, keep it for the litchis (saying goodbye to some US returnees)

37^th-1st in Dhaka 5/14

Met up with more people today than I’ve met up with in weeks. I didn’t work much at home, only getting some data processing done. Spent majority of the morning posting the blog which included a virtual tour of BUET.

For lunch, I met Nafisa, who leaves in less than a week, at American Burger. As her Fulbright is ending, we had plenty to talk about: our projects, reports, Fulbright itself, leaving, and of course her engagement and wedding. It seems like she’ll be coming back next year to work for a bit after her marriage to her husband. However, she is looking forward to seeing her family at home in a week. We also talked a lot about our graduate school planning. We’re both at the same point in our processes, and we shared stories of letters we’ve sent and advice we’ve received.

In the evening, I headed to Gulshan, where Naira and I had planned to meet at Time Out. We ordered a certain mango drink which is only available now, during the peak mango season. As well, I decided to order a dosa for a small snack before dinner. I had no clue how big it would be though; dosas are huge as I’d find out. Though it’s very thin and you eat a lot to fill you up. It was delicious, found a new Indian food favorite.

After this, I met up at Arirang for Megan’s goodbye dinner. She leaves tomorrow. Well we thought she did, she told us tonight that she changed her flight to Saturday, so she has a bit more time left. Korean food was good, and we ordered a few dishes for the eleven of us there. I was the first to arrive by about fifteen minutes. We were there pretty late, late enough that when Karen and I headed back to Dhanmondi, I began worrying even the local buses had stopped. But alas, one finally came, and despite it making many stops (being very local) on the way home, we made it back, and my faith in buses was upheld. (pics: L to R Erin, Ben, Jen, Rebecca, Farrah, Ifte, Leigh, Megan, myself, Aaron, Karen at Megan's goodbye dinner)

37^th-2nd in Dhaka 5/15

Today’s goal, as I received Travis’ visa last night, was to finish the purchase of plane tickets. Almost didn't happen. When I first walked in three weeks ago, and again one week ago, I asked if it'd be okay to purchase a ticket for him, and they said yes. Well even today, when I walked with everything we needed, they still said yes.

But alas, they found a problem. They were concerned since I didn’t have a copy for his ticket out of Delhi that he might try to illegally stay in the country. They wanted a copy of his ticket. After deciding this was moot, they said he needed to be present to buy the ticket. Sometimes it feels like they are trying to encourage me not to travel.
Well I sit there steaming. The agent sits there looking blankly at the papers I'd given her, and the computer. She then goes next door, comes back, asks for my credit card, and starts processing the whole transaction.
I never got an explanation of why things all of a sudden were "okay" but I just sat there with an unchanged expression, hoping that being angry was fueling the process. Well another hiccup was on its way. They were out of the credit charging papers, and thus couldn't charge my credit card. They tell me they can't do the purchase today because they don't have the papers. Frustrated, I ask if their other office (across town) has them. They make a call, and find they do, and they tell the office I'm coming over. So I take the bus two hours across town (granted, this is a very short distance, but traffic is horrible, I go about one mile in 45 minutes at one point) to the other office. I finally am able to purchase tickets because they have a credit card form. Purchased! The total time invested in buying tickets is now around eight hours!

To give a good example of what I’ve mentioned before as all things gathering a crowd, today our bus watched a concrete mixing machine. We were sitting in traffic, and to our left, at a building under construction, a concrete mixer started up. Instantly, everyone’s head spun to watch the interesting sight! And it wasn’t just a “oh what was that” kind of watch. It was a “this is the most interesting thing I might see all day” kind of watch. Some people, who were on the far side of the bus, even stood up to get a good view! In total of the 34 people on the bus, 18 of us (including me) watched the concrete mixer do its thing for the few minutes we were sitting there in traffic, and three people had at least stood up at some point for the better view of the concrete mixer.

After riding three buses, I went to Bashundara City. Opu had invited all of us out for a birthday treating. His birthday was two days ago, so he was going to treat us to food at the food court. Nipu, Ayon, Farhan, and Saquib were there along with me. We got some shawarmas and Sprites, and later some watermelon juice. Hung out there for about an hour and a half. Saquib told us about his new part-time job at an advertising/design firm. He was all dressed up and even had to take a call while we there. (pics: Ayon/Farhan at Bashundara City for Opu's birthday treat, Saquib/Opu at Bashundara City)

Right after met Diya in Dhanmondi for 40 minutes for some roadside tea. We talked for awhile. I mostly complained about not working as fast as I’d like, and she complained about her A-level exams. Rode one more bus after, and I was really worried that because it was getting late, it wouldn’t get crowded….wrong! It was gloriously crowded, and it made me happy to end the work week like that.

37^th-3rd in Dhaka 5/16

This morning, Moweena cut herself while cooking. I didn’t know it until I saw her putting some of my toothpaste on her finger. I had no clue what was going on, so I asked, and she said she cut herself, and this would cover the wound…

Mohan came over at some point, he picked up the rest of his stuff, and stayed to chat for a bit. Later, he called me saying I should come over for dinner tonight as his mother is in town, and she would like to meet me.

I headed out to visit a slew of people. I visited Megan in Baridhara to say goodbye before she leaves tomorrow, Tamzid in Uttara, and got a snack with Ragini after in Dhanmondi.

Later I went to dinner at Mohan’s. Got to meet his mother, she was very sweet. The television was on so conversation wasn’t flowing as we kept getting distracted, but we did talk about her job as a teacher, her students, and her daughter who just got married. She asked me some questions too, but nothing out of the ordinary. Dinner was simple: eggs, rice, spinach, and potato and mutton dish. They said the mutton was actually goat head, and it is my first time eating that, at least to my knowledge. His mother served us and watched us eat.
After Mohan and I watched TV for a bit. First time watching Bangladeshi TV in a long time. I was understanding more than I have since I last watched, even the comedies. Humor can sometimes be lost with me because it can be a silly topic, and I always doubt that the ridiculous things I’m hearing are really the right thing, or just a misinterpretation. Tonight’s example was that the main character was being told by his boss to go get to the streets and get into fights to see how beat up he could get…that is why after I asked Mohan for verification on this.

37^th-4th in Dhaka 5/17

A morning of processing, and an afternoon of databasing. A very typical Saturday for these past few weeks. I spend the morning at home processing as much data as I can, until I have to go to BUET to database them all. Usually getting lunch someplace fun.

In between lunch and getting to BUET I dropped by New Market. Had to return, for the second time, some of the jeans I had bought. Again two pairs were too tight. Exchanging is a bit tough, they don’t seem to believe me when I say they don’t fit.
As I’m nearing the end of my ticket buses, its time I finally get to compile a fun piece of data I’ve been collecting: people selling things on the bus. Now the list is quite long for the types of items you can buy, but let me touch on a few things before I give you the numbers. All of this information will ultimately be in the report I write from her as bus sellers and beggars affect a passenger’s comfort level for riding buses.

First, I’ve defined bus hawkers to be people who actually come onto the bus to sell their goods. This does not mean they also don’t sell things in the street, and in fact, they likely spend more time selling things on the street walking between buses. However, they were counted as a bus hawker when they boarded the bus to get sales inside. (pics: bus hawkers selling water between buses, bus hawker selling a newspaper on the bus)

The most popular items such as water, cucumbers, popcorn, ice cream, and newspapers are almost constantly seen walking between buses, and are just some of the many sellers who come inside the bus. Many items, such as toothbrushes, dictionaries, razor blades, or face wipes are only vended on the bus, and are usually preceded by a speech before being sold. The seller will stand at the front of the bus, try to scream above the engine’s noise, and give a small bit trying to talk up their product. This speech generally has a common pattern with a description how life is bad without the product, demonstration of the product and how it’ll improve life, saying how expensive the item would be if you bought it in the market as opposed to from the seller, and then talk about how great a deal they are getting. (pics: cucumber bus hawker, water bus hawker)

The other people I kept track of are bus beggars. There are different categories of beggars, the most common being a beggar with some form of physical problem such as blindness, missing appendages, burn scars, and distorted figures. They come onto the bus and make an effort to show their problem to bus riders. For example, if your arm is twisted in the wrong direction, you would roll up your sleeve and then put that arm in people’s faces. Or if you don’t have an arm, you would walk up and down the aisle of the bus stating simply repeating “I don’t have an arm.”

The other kinds of beggars include beggars with credentials. These beggars all are healthy, but have proof for what they are begging for. Perhaps it is a handwritten story of a family member with a problem along with a photograph or simply just a hospital bill. Other beggars come onto the bus and sing a song, usually praising Allah. These tend to be old men.
Although most beggars are men, there is one type of beggar which is predominantly female. This beggar type has a typed letter which they hand out to each person describing what they are begging for. They don’t say a word, just hand out the letters walking up the aisle, and then walk back down the aisle collecting the slips back and any money that’s been donated. Sometimes they provide a piece of sucking candy as an incentive to donate. It is polite not to throw away their piece of paper, and simply hand it back to them.

Bus hawkers and beggars are only permitted to come onto the bus if the conductors let them. Conductors certainly use their discretion. Some let no one on, some let all on, some only allow sellers and no beggars, and some allow no sellers and only beggars. However many scamper on unnoticed by waiting in the line of boarders, taking a seat, and then when the bus starts moving, standing up and trying to sell their item or beg. This is mostly for the smaller items that can be concealed in a bag or beggars who don’t have a physical problem. Conductors usually don’t try to pull them off the bus once they are on and starting to sell, sing, or beg.

So on to the numbers. Not all hawkers are represented here as I only kept track of those who came on the bus while I was collecting data. So those who were selling Bengali-Arabic dictionaries, cell phone screen covers, carrots, or peanuts somehow did not come on in my many rides and did not get recorded. Other items, such as cough drops, only got sold twice while riding, although I feel that they are sold a lot more often than that. Otherwise, I think the list is pretty comprehensive for the period I was recording. The first column is the name of the item, second the cost, and third how many times it was observed. I assumed a donation of Tk2 to each beggar, as this is the smallest bill and easy to give away. But I commonly see donations of Tk5 and Tk10. In total, if I had donated Tk2 to each beggar, and bought from each seller who came on the bus (data was collected over 70 bus rides), I would’ve spent Tk1195 total, about Tk17 per bus ride!

Item	Price (Tk)	Occurrences
Water	10	18
Popcorn	10	28
Beggar w/ credentials	2	5
Beggar w/ injury	2	25
Toothpaste	10	1
Cucumber	2	2
Beggar (just begging)	2	4
Folding toothbrush	10	1
Newspaper	2	21
Shaving razors	10	1
Ice cream	10	12
Book about plants	20	1
Dates	2	2
Dontation letters slip	2	2
Cough drops	2	2
Hand towels	10	2
Breathing masks	10	1
Face wipes (4)	10	1
Pen	5	1
Chocolates/Mints	2	5
Beggar w/ song	2	2
Pens w/ lights	10	2
Tiger Energy Drink	20	1
Music CD	50	1
Sweat rags	10	3
Toothbrush w/ changeable heads	20	1
Toothbrush	10	3
Flowers	10	1
Bengali-English dictionary	10	1
Push pencils	10	1
DVDs about Koran	60	3

37^th-5th in Dhaka 5/18

Tried to leave the house early, but Moweena was late and worked a lot this morning, so my goal of getting to the Nepal embassy to get a visa didn’t work out. I was a half hour late, although had not known what the office hours were. But now I know what time to be there, the one hour span of 9:30-10:30. I’ll try again on Wednesday.

Today I started the local bus portion of my research. I’ve realized it’s a good thing I waited to do these after the ticket buses. The ticket buses, a more controlled environment, gave me practice for the odd things that happen more regularly on local buses. It helped me build a process for doing the data collection quickly, as well as confidence. Today, I was ready for the local bus data collection, and I think this first one went well. Local buses are ALWAYS crowded, and thus my second half of the data collection will have a huge feeling of satisfaction attached to it.
One interesting thing to note about the difference in buses, is that the passenger types are a bit different. Those on local buses, seem to be a lot more interested in what I’m doing. In just this first ride I got asked three times what I was doing! It took about a month of ticket bus riding until I got asked even once.

On the last 3 buses, it was nothing special. I had one Trans Silva bus and two Midway bus routes to complete to say I was officially done with the ticket buses. The best part of these routes is that ticket sellers on these routes know me, and always tell me to sit and chat. The Midway guy actually bought me some petha and gave me a sweet while I sat there.

37^th-6th in Dhaka 5/19

Discovered that the Pizza Hut lunch special, which says is for two people, and won’t be served to any other party size, can be served to one person, and is just perfect for a hungry guy like me. If they weren’t going to serve me it, I had already prepared what I would say in my defense. Assuming that whoever was serving me would not have been the one to write the rule, only enforcing it, I would showing them how that rule only makes sense for parties of 3 or more, and with parties of one you are losing no money. But didn’t have to happen. Everything was fine, and tasty.

A ferret lives downstairs in our garage.

Today was a holiday, so no working today. It is Buddha Purima, one of the holiest day for Buddhists. The day commemorates the day the Buddha was born, his enlightenment, and attainment of nirvana. All of these happened on the same day (note, happened on his birthday.) Read the following article to see what is happening in Bangladesh for Buddha Purnima.

37^th-7th in Dhaka 5/20

I was unfamiliar with litchis before coming here. I only knew of this fruit because I’ve had litchi juice before, but never seen the fruit itself. Here in Dhaka, it is sold in bunches of 50 or 100. They still have the stems and leaves attached. In fact the sellers leave the litchis in big bags of the leaves.
The outer prickly peel is easy to remove. You crack the shell and it comes off in big chunks. The inner white fruit is what you eat. Pop the whole thing in your mouth and work the fruit off of the big seed at the center with your tongue and teeth. Then spit the seed out, its pretty big, and impossible to miss. Litchis tastes a bit like a green grape, with almost the same consistency of a peeled grape. (pics: litchis bought from the street, litchi's shell, litchi's fruit inside after removing peel, litchi's seed after sucking the fruit off of it)

Today I met up with Jayita to hang out for a bit. Haven’t seen her in several months… that’s what happens when two people really start working. We took a rickshaw from Shahbag to BUET and just chilled on campus talking. She told me about a new store she, her sister, and another partner are planning on opening in Banani selling exclusively Bengali gifts, especially cards. I was pretty amazed at such an endeavor. Said the store should be open by June. We also talked about her recent engagement, the weddings which will happen in the next yearz: hers, Annita’s, and Altaf’s. Found out that Anwar and Sanjana will be coming in for two weeks, although Ben will be here at the same time. Perhaps we’ll get to meet. After this we headed to Baily road and got some lunch at Helvetia.

From there, I went to ride the local buses. However I took a side stop at Gulistan in search of a Bangladeshi flag patch. I figured if I could find a place selling scouting materials, I could find it, as they wear that patch on their uniform. No such luck. After about an hour of searching, being misinterpreted for saying “skating” and being directing to a sports store, I gave up.

The first local bus I rode didn’t get crowded at all, and I got frustrated. Local buses, notorious for crowded conditions should always be crowded! Well I realized mid-way through the route that this bus was providing service which was advertised as “sitting”…which means they don’t aim to crowd the bus, just to get enough people to turn a profit and finish the route quickly. If crowding happens, so be it.
Well I took it to the end since I knew where it stopped, in north Mirpur, several local buses started. The next two routes turned out well. I rode the #9 bus to Azimpur and back and had some crowded conditions. I am learning a lot more about local buses and how they work in just these first few days of researching them. So different form ticket buses and it’ll be fun to compare them.

Was exhausted when I came home. A long day out, and didn’t sleep well last night. Tomorrow I have to get up early to go get my Nepal visa.

I can’t complete this week’s post without including this music video I found. It is of Tishma, a popular teen singer for the past few years. But this purposely unserious video is hilarious to watch. It also gives a good video of some Dhaka street scenes and interactions which are pretty true to form. The best is at 2:25 with the man interacting with a CNG driver who doesn’t want to go anywhere. She then sings about how they never want to go anywhere, and if they do, the meter is always “broken.” I complained about that long ago in my blog, before I stopped riding CNGs (for the reasons mentioned in the song.)

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

35^th-1st in Dhaka 4/30

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

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

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

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

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

35^th-2nd in Dhaka 5/1

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

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

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

35^th-3rd in Dhaka 5/2

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

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

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

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

35^th-4th in Dhaka 5/3

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

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

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

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

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

35^th-5th in Dhaka 5/4

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

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

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

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

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

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

35^th-6th in Dhaka 5/5

Today marks 8 months in Bangladesh.

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

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

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

35^th-7th in Dhaka 5/6

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

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

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