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.

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

31^st-1st in Dhaka 4/2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

31^st-2nd in Dhaka 4/3

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

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

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

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

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

31^st-3rd in Dhaka 4/4

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

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

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

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

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

31^st-4th in Dhaka 4/5

Today is 7 months!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

31^st-5th in Dhaka 4/6

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

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

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

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

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

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

31^st-6th in Dhaka 4/7

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

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

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

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

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

31^st-7th in Dhaka 4/8

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

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

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

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

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

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

Week 30: I still believe that tigers live in the Sundarbans

30^th-1st in the Sundarbans 3/26

Our first day in the Sundarbans was spent mostly on the river. The boat left from the north side and spent most of the day going through the rivers which are over 30% of the land area in the Sundarbans. The Sundarbans are the largest mangrove forest in the world, stretching for around 4000 square miles in southwestern Bangladesh and India. They are a UNESCO World Heritage site. They are home to lots of wildlife including the Royal Bengal tiger as well as deer, monkeys, crocodiles, and boars. From the boat, all we could see was dense forest on both sides of the river, and wide rivers behind and in front of us. (pics: our boat at the end of a small river in the Sundarbans, sunrise from our boat over the Sundarbans, Sundarbans riverside, our boat flying the Bangladeshi flag as we pass through a narrow river)

Before we set out, we took a quick morning river tour on the little wooden boat through one of the small creeks. It was our first time close to the forest. We were asked to be quiet, but I think many of the younger guys were pretty excited and were chatty the whole time. That upset some of the older foreigners on the trip. Saw some fishermen though, they weren't scared by any noise. (pics: Dad/Mom and other travelers on the small boat, fishermen pulling in a catch)

The day was spent mostly reading, card playing with some of the guys on the trip, eating our meals at the prescribed times, and watching the riverside through binoculars.
One of the highlights included watching eagles flying behind our boat and catching fish in our boat’s wake. Also seeing a river dolphin following us for a few minutes. (pics: everyone has their own eagle to take pictures of, eagles flying behind our boat)

Lastly, the biggest event was when the small wooden boat sunk. It gets trailed behind our big ship as we move, and at one point, something caused it to fill with water. All the floorboards scattered, oil and gas spilled, and then the whole thing was under water. Took about an hour for the crew to bring the big boat near shore, untie the small boat and get it to shallow water, bail it out, and bring it back to the big boat. From there, as we were moving through the river, the small boat’s caretaker spent a few hours repairing the flooded engine and piecing back together the floor boards the best he could from what remained and scrap wood on our boat. (pics: our small boat sunk with floor boards floating way, boat staff pulling boat to shore, bailing the boat, boat caretaker fixing the flooded engine as we sail)

People were impressed at his recovery job and the boat worked the rest of the trip, although he was continually bailing water as it was leaking heavily from then on.

In the afternoon we reached our destination at the southern end of the Sundarbans. We took the little (fixed) boat to land in two groups, as it could no longer hold all of us. We took a forest walk where we saw deer, wild boar, monkeys, and tiger paw prints! Incredible to be in the same habitat as a tiger. I’ll admit I was a bit wary. The jungle had a wet floor, really muddy, and little crabs were running about in every which way. (pics: Dad/Mom/myself posing in the Sundarbans forest, tiger paw print!, wild boar, all the golden outlines on the fallen trees are monkeys, deer amongst the trees, forest floor crab near its home, sunset on the Sundarbans sea coast)

Also here there were many structures in which you could tell Cyclone Sidr had damaged them, making them unlivable. Many trees were knocked down and uprooted.
In fact, Dad kept pointing out to me how you can tell where the eye of the cyclone went, as trees were bent in a certain direction depending on which side of the cyclone hit the area. (pic: building at forest station destroyed by Cyclone Sidr)

This evening on the boat we played a Bangladeshi version of Bingo. Fairly simple. I won one round. When you win, you don’t say “bingo!” you say “yes!”

We were all exhausted form the heat and hiking. The boat was very nice. Plenty of bathrooms and the beds were comfortable. Food was delicious, and the staff couldn’t be better. All amazed still by the guy who repaired an engine while still being towed behind the bigger boat.

30^th-2nd in the Sundarbans 3/27

We started the next morning with another short river exploration trip. They split us up into two groups, a quiet one and a noisy one based on yesterday morning’s events. Saw a snake hanging in the trees. (pic: snake hanging in the branches of a tree)

The highlight of the morning was our hike to the beach. It was about 45 minutes of hiking, and it was very hot. Thus when we reached the beach, we all rejoiced by jumping in the ocean. Played some soccer on the beach, and then hiked back. Found another tiger paw print. There was an observation tower to look out over the landscape. Saw brilliantly colored birds which nested in the ground. Dad got great pictures of them.
The dock where we had started our hike was completely destroyed and knocked down from the cyclone. We had to navigate it carefully. (pics: hiking through the Sundarbans grassland, where the Sundarbans meet the sea, homes of colorful birds, Sundarbans grassland as seen from observation tower)

The boat, after lunch, set out to our next destination, a bit east. We had to go back inland through the rivers as we were already very close to the Bay of Bengal, and we couldn’t take the boat there.

At the next stop we took the small boat to land again. Had to cross a rickety dock that was obviously destroyed during the cyclone. Wooden planks were placed sparingly to allow people to still cross. Was difficult for some people. In this area we docked, saw lots of deer, and lots of sunk boats too…or remnants of them. I’m quite certain the guy who was still repairing our small boat took some planks to make his boat more complete. (pics: deer on the riverside, sunken boat and broken floorboards from Cyclone Sidr)

We hiked through really dense jungle, which was on the verge of frustrating as you couldn’t move very fast. Would never want to hike miles like that. Saw a wild boar which had been turned into the forest ranger’s pet. The owner was hand-feeding it potatoes. Sun was setting as we left, and it really made the colors of the Sundarbans come out nicely. Saw tied up pieces of some fibers. Wasn’t sure what they were. They were scattered all over the forest floor. Then later we came upon piles of clothes and what seemed to be old walls of people’s homes. I realized then that the tied up fibers used to be people’s roofs before Sidr hit. Nothing was left. (pics: hiking slowly through the dense trees, armed guard and a Sundarbans sunset, Maruf feeding the wild pet boar, Maruf's mother walking the broken floorboards to the boat, pieces of roofing that were scattered all over the forest floor, remnants of homes and belongings from Cyclone Sidr)

This night on the boat they showed us a TV segment which talked about the tigers of the Sundarbans. At least now we can say we “saw” tigers while in the Sundarbans.

30^th-3rd in the Sundarbans 3/28

Today started with a trip to a nearby island. We were told the island is quite young, being recently formed in the last decade. So far there are only small grasses on it, but it was told to us that in the next two decades larger grasses will come, followed by small bushes, trees, then lastly mangrove trees. Would be really neat to come see it year after year.
Plenty of wildlife though. Saw turtle, deer, and boar foot prints. Also saw tons of crabs. We were there for a long while, meandering along the ocean, and enjoying our last time on land in the Sundarbans. (pics: exploring the new island, Mom/Dad posing next to our last name which I wrote in Bengali in the sand)

The boat ride back to Khulna took all day. In the meantime I read more about Nepal and played cards with guys on the boat. The Nepal guide book has so much more information than the one I have for Bangladesh. Not sure what I like better. I still think the Bangladesh guide book is awesome and perfect for what I use it for. And even though it is only updated every few years, it still is doing a great job, and I have no complaints.

After dinner, we finally arrived in Khulna. This was after passing through the north part of the Sundarbans where we saw tons of fishermen in the river, and Mongla, where we could see the Bangladesh Navy and Coast Guard docked in the river. After passing under Khan Jahan Ali Bridge in Khulna, we docked. The small boat took us one more time, this time to shore, where people staying in Khulna went their own ways. My parents and I took rickshaws through the dark city to the Royal International Hotel, where we would spend the next two nights. A bit of drama over the room, at first seemed they wouldn’t have space despite making the reservation a month ago, but all turned out okay. (pic: fishermen lined up with their nets outside of Mongla)

People definitely couldn’t help kidding that there really aren’t tigers in the Sundarbans. That it’s all a HOAX. Its fun to imagine the guides walking ahead of us in the morning and making little paw prints in the sand to show us later in the day, scratching trees up to say its claw marks. I’ve heard stories now that the guard’s guns aren’t even loaded, and that their guides just seemed fake excited when seeing the tiger prints. The armed guards who were with us said they’d only seen two tigers in seven years! That’s a perfect figure to quote because it makes the listener think, oh they’re here, but no one sees them unless you’re really really lucky. And no one is that lucky.
But don’t worry tigers. If you’re reading this, I still have faith in your existence!

30^th-4th in Bagerhat and Khulna 3/29

After breakfast at the hotel, complimentary but slightly cold and with papaya juice (which I don’t like), we headed out to Bagerhat. We rented a car and driver for the day like we did in Dhaka. I didn’t like this driver as much. He was a bit colder than the one we had in Dhaka, and didn’t trust him as much.

Bagerhat was a lot of fun. I’d been looking forward to it for awhile. It was one of the things I heavily highlighted when first browsing my Bangladesh guide book. It has the most ancient mosques than any city apart from Dhaka. And they’re all really close and each in an interesting locale. The most famous of them is the Shait Gumbad Mosque, meaning 60 domed mosque…however it has 77 domes. I guess the other name (Shatottor Gumbad Mosque) just didn’t sound as good…

Anyway, the mosque, which had a museum worth about two minutes of one’s time, was incredible. Islamic architecture was always my favorite in my architecture classes, and it was great to see a mosque of this style, colonnaded, which I’d never seen before. Only in pictures had I marveled at such mosques such as the Mezquita in Cordoba, Spain.
Mom wasn’t able to roam around the mosque, but Dad and I were. We took turns, one of us staying with her. She was lucky to enter though, women rarely get to. I loved how the mosque’s columns look like a forest of scattered trees in one direction and line up perfectly in another. Took lots of photos, and of course of the exterior too, to see the 77 domes. The mosque still functions too, so great that old structures aren’t there to be marveled at but are still working pieces of the community. (pics: Shait Gumbad Mosque in Bagerhat, interior's columns not in line, interior's columns in line, Dad/Mom next to Shait Gumbad Mosque)

The next two mosques were back amongst a village. Getting there we were shouted to by many children, some coming back from school. They all had something to say. These two mosques were single domed. The last of them was in the middle of a field, and had cows and goats and ducks sitting in front. Had to go deep through a village to get to it.

At each mosque today, we were given a tour by a different person. From men who obviously work at the mosque and are there to give tours (and pray) at Shait Gumbad, to a crowd of little kids parading us around, to an old man who blessed us, to people who specialize (for a cost) in bringing pilgrims around. Each “tour” was unique, each guide special, and it definitely made each mosque more memorable. The day would not have been as fun if we didn’t have people at each mosque.

Got real sweaty. It was really hot all day. The mosques were cooler inside though. Many were refurbished a bit. This is good since their expansive domes could tragically fall at any moment I felt. One was the largest dome in Bangladesh at 11 meters. We saw eight mosques in all.

At the Mazhar Shah Jahan Ali, we had to wait until prayer time was over. Meanwhile we were surrounded by about 20 people, some who asked us questions. I was even quizzed on my Bengali knowledge by an old woman. (pics: the village we had to walk through to get to Chunakhola Mosque, our guides at Chunakhola Mosque with the mosque behind, cows and ducks in front of the mosque, Dad/eager guide who blessed us/Mom inside Noy Gumbad Mosque, Mazhar Shah Jahan Ali, the largest dome in Bangladesh at Ronvijoypur Mosque)

In the evening we went to Nafisa’s family’s home in the suburbs of Khulna. This is who I stayed with for a few days during Eid-ul-Adha. It was nice to see them again, even though Nafisa couldn’t make it. Dinner was served by Nafisa’s aunt, while her uncle and cousins watched. Her one cousin Didi was busy studying for exams, but her sister Tisha came out and talked with us. I was busy translating for my parents and Nafisa’s aunt and cousins because before her uncle came home it was only family members who speak limited English.
It was near storming by the time we left. (pics: Dad/Tisha/Mom/Tisha's dad, myself/Tisha laughing)

30^th-5th in Dhaka 3/30

Took the bus back to Dhaka today. It was an hour and a half late. Luckily they called me in the morning, so we knew to show up late, but it still was only time for us to sit around the hotel. I tried going to the bus stand to see what was up. It’s the ferry crossing again.
The bus was comfortable, which is good because we were on it for nine hours. The ferry crossing wasn’t too bad, only about an hour and a half wait. But getting into Dhaka was a long process. The bus couldn’t go to Gabtoli station, but had to come through Ashulia, which adds a lot of time.

We were supposed to meet Megan, Farhan, and Ayon for dinner tonight. It was getting really late now. Luckily the three of them were still willing to come out. I had been making phone calls to them all afternoon trying to arrange the times. Keep them updated at our location. We were supposed to be in to Dhaka about 2 hours earlier, so it was a bit of a pain.
We ended up meeting at the Mohakhali Dominou’s. Pizza is tasty and easy. All could enjoy. It was late, and everyone was definitely exhausted. The large amount of traffic didn’t help either. We didn’t have time to go to the hotel and check in either, the roads were just bad. I was glad my parents got to meet more of my friends. We only met for an hour at most, but we talked as much as we could. At least my parents and friends got to share a story or two.

30^th-6th in Dhaka 3/31

Today is my parents’ last day in Bangladesh. In the morning when I went to the hotel they were doing some gift shopping at some of the shops in the hotel. After that, we headed to Baridhara so they could meet my former teachers and classmates, and tour my small classroom.

We were supposed to be back by noon for the boua to come and cook lunch for us. We were late. Traffic was horrendous. They really got a good dose of it today. Also got a good dose of Bangladeshi heat, as it topped out over 100 degrees today. And our car’s A/C wasn’t working very well, so it wasn’t pleasant driving either.
We were clearly too late for the boua, so we conceded just to leave, and then eat some lunch later at the hotel.

In the street in front of my house though we paused to ask a rickshaw wallah if my dad could try pedaling his rickshaw. The driver obliged and Dad took it on a quick spin back and forth on my street. I then took up the opportunity as well and did the same. Dad and I agreed that it wasn’t too hard pedaling, but the steering was tougher than we thought. Of course both of us pedaled it empty, I’m sure three full grown adults in it makes it much tougher. (pics: Dad pedalling a rickshaw, myself getting up on the rickshaw (it's as awkward as it looks) as the rickshaw wallah watches, myself pedalling the rickshaw, Dad/rickshaw wallah posing)

We picked up Dad’s tailored shirts from the tailor. Luckily his were done, because mine wasn’t. Dad tried them on later at the hotel and they looked real good.
Had to note one thing I saw in both the Khulna and Dhaka hotels that my parents stayed at which I had not noticed in other hotels before here. Up on the ceiling was a little arrow pointing west to Mecca for prayer. Perhaps because these were nicer hotels they had neat add-ons like this, because the other hotels I’ve stayed at weren’t as nice. (pic: that way is west to Mecca)

After getting a small lunch at the hotel, and checking out we headed to Naira’ house. She had invited us over to have tea with her parents.
A good afternoon there, conversation was flowing very easily. Good to introduce them to Naira’s parents, especially since I had performed at their other daughter’s wedding. We were there for about three hours. Had snacks and tea.

Took them to the airport. I was going to really miss having them here in Bangladesh. It was a bit surreal the whole time. Being so far from home, having them here was incredible. I was sad to see them go. We hugged and said good-bye at the airport curb, non-passengers can’t enter the airport. Watched them get into the line for security checks and then took the rental car home.

At around 10:15PM (note the time) my landlord's daughter and her two kids knocked on my door. First I had to put some clothes on, then I opened the door, and she walked on in. Her goal tonight was to assess my furniture situation, and get "dibs" on anything she desired for when I move out SIX months from now. She seemed a bit upset that she couldn't take my TV, bed, or dresser as those already have plans.
Her son meanwhile, about age three, played with everything in my room. This included my reading light (snapped it in half), my Pringles container (ate about ten chips), and my alarm clock (it beeps if you touch it the right way, he found the way and made it beep to his enjoyment.) She made half-effort attempts to tell him to stop which he ignored. He's lucky he's cute and talks to me everyday as I leave the house (and by talk, he mumbles some Bengali, and I try to predict what he'd be asking, then mumble an answer back until he smiles.)
Anyway, she stayed for about five minutes. It seems like I am complaining but I was really happy to have them stop in. She's real nice and her kids are always friendly. Lastly, I’ll take any chance to make them happy with their “second floor foreign bachelor" a little more.

30^th-7th in Dhaka 4/1

My first day without my parents here wasn’t too great.

Tried to manage getting the Nepal tickets cleared away today. No success. The bank wouldn’t give me an encashment certificate, even though I’m a member. They said they can’t do it from my debit card. The whole situation is annoying since I know plenty of people who have bought tickets without using an encashment. First I was told by the travel agent that since I can’t get an encashment, I can just submit my withdrawal slips. So after going across town with all that cash and the withdrawal slips, I get there and he has changed his mind. There’s no way I can get this encashment slip, he heard form the bank himself. But nothing’s changing.
At the same time I had a sudden realization that Travis might be coming to the subcontinent while I’m in Nepal, and I may have to change the tickets anyway. So now my head was spinning every which way. Wasn’t sure what to do. Didn’t want to screw anything up. Good thing it was impossible for me to buy the ticket. I might’ve made a mistake.

Didn’t make it better that at lunch they brought me the wrong food.