Inspired...Humbled...and Diggin' Old Dhaka

After watching a documentary on Tibet last night and staying up past 11pm, I woke up this morning at nearly 8am which is the latest I have ever since arriving 8 days ago. After breakfast, Rick himself drove us out to the Buddhist monastery and orphanage that he tends to in Dhaka town. It's Friday and the holy day of the week so fortunately, traffic was 500 times better than on nearly every other day of the week. Still, Rick's driving was superb and I am continuously baffled at how drivers and bikers calculate mere centimeters and millimeters of scraping past each other while on the road. The orphanage was about 15 minutes drive away in this light traffic today.

On arrival, I immediately knew how much Rick's generous spirit and presence has played on the people and place. We were welcomed with warm smiles and lovely tea and Bengali snacks by the monastery leader. This is the biggest monastery in Dhaka that Rick found when he first arrived in the city four years ago and there is a large body of water in the center of the complex where people play and can bathe. There are steps going down and this has been seen quite a bit in the city. There are 600 boys boarding at the school and Rick first offered English tutoring at the school. Along with networking kind donations from friends, the monastery was able to fund a $10,000 water well to supply clean water to the school, monastery and community now! Rick's school also has regular service projects such as tutoring at the school now too.

The monastery recently built a 38 meter tall gold Buddha statue in the complex and Rick was presented a miniature sized gold statue to take home - another example of their love and appreciation of Rick! The prime minister came for its grand opening and blessing of the statue which was definitely a big deal! We toured the complex with the principal of the school and Rick hung a Tibetan prayer flag he had brought in one of the temple areas of worship. We saw some of the boys playing cricket on their field just outside their boarding complex. 600 students and 43 teachers, 10 computers and no dining room. They were meant to build a new dining room and library and government gave money to do so but stopped suddenly and that meant only the ground was broken. There is no stable financial support for the school and that's the most challenging situation the leaders face--having to rely on donations. If only........

After the visit, we headed back to the main area near home to meet Rick's friend Shobuj. He was kind enough to take some time out of his day (after the new year's celebration last night) to show us around Old Dhaka and some specific places Rick thought we would enjoy visiting. So we headed to Old Dhaka in my first CNG (natural gas) green caged vehicle. We got into Old Dhaka in good time (the same way to Sonargoan the other day took nearly 3 times longer in bumper to bumper traffic!). Then got on a rickshaw and headed to "The Pink Palace" - the former residence of Bengali royalty now turned into a museum. It opened at 3pm so we headed to the river side and walked on one of the boats that take people to various places in Bangladesh.

The water way was busy with small wooden boats and big boats (for travel), as well as industrial boats for carrying cargo. We had time to kill so we took a small boat across the river over to the other side to have lunch and so Shobuj could also pray at the mosque. The river is not clean and so is hard to see kids swimming in it! We will come back to this river tomorrow on our full day river cruise we have booked!

Heading to the Pink Palace, the building/museum is old but still well visited by many locals (especially since it was Friday!). We walked over to "Hindu street" after this and this is a very narrow street in Old Dhaka where traditional temples and Hindu ceremonies are still held on a daily and weekly basis.

On the way back home, we stopped at one of Shobuj's uncles fabric stores and then got in a local bus to stop and visit his home. Again, the people here are so happy to welcome you into their homes and his sister cooked us some noodles during our visit with a cold drink. Their house is very sweet indeed and has a little concrete space where all the neighborhood kids come to play at.

We are definitely exhausted from another big day of adventure in Dhaka tonight.....ready for another tomorrow!

Happy Bengali New Year!

I woke this morning and wondered "Do the children of Bangladesh wake up screaming this celebration in their households?" Alison and I had no idea what today was going to be like but we were both super excited. Two of Rick's Bengali friends through his meditation group were going to be coming with us downtown to the park and Dhaka university area where the biggest buzz of festivities were going to be happening. Traditionally, this holiday was when all the people had to come into the main city of Dhaka to pay their taxes. This of course meant a huge population and so it became one big PARTY!!!!

After breakfast, we squeezed into the car and had the most smooth drive anybody could ever imagine getting downtown. When our car was at a stand still from traffic and the numbers of people walking into the main area, we all got out of the car and began walking too. Our new Bengali friends used our "tourist" status to get to the front of the line that gained you entrance to the main area. Soon, we were engulfed in a sea of red and white sarees dressed by girls and women of all ages. On the park side (similar to that of Central Park in NYC) families were gathered in picnic style, kids playing, concert stages set up. People were selling everything you could imagine from jewelry, toys, crafts, pin wheels, shoes, drinks, musical instruments, flowers and more.

There was even a SWAT team just for the celebrations (same name used as the USA's force as well!). We walked to where the traditional song and dance performed by women were and also their native tree where everybody takes a photo at. Rick had told us before we left that we were going to be just as amusing to the local people as the festivities were to us. Of course there was lots of staring as we walked through the streets and park (thankfully guided by our Bengali friends too), but at the tree, we really felt how much the people wanted to simply take photos with us! It was hilarious and to be honest, quite flattering to be wanted to be photographed with so many people. Alison (being a Caucasian female) was the superstar since I was already Asian looking...hahaha!

Anyway, we headed down to the University side of the celebrations and definitely saw a change in the crowd being younger. Many of the university students were in happy spirits. The art students made giant floats of art displaying their work. Here, we also chose to paint our faces with the flag and Bengali script wishing everybody a Happy New Year. After walking pretty much for two hours straight (apart from stopping for photos), we called our driver and headed home happy and exhausted. We were so lucky as it was overcast all morning with a nice gentle breeze felt throughout the day too!

We headed to The American Club for lunch with our friends and returned home at around 2pm ready for some rest. At around 4:30pm, Alison and I decided to head to the local supermarket to buy things for a gift basket that we were going to bring Milan and his family to the village on Sunday. We will be visiting Rick's monastery tomorrow morning and then headed to Old Dhaka with his other Bengali friend to see some more sights - it should be another busy and fun filled day.

I've been in Bangladesh one week now but feel like I've been here so much longer knowing the neighborhood and routine of life:) For now, the winds and rain have finally opened up to come greet us and maybe cool things down a little. The lightning is spectacular outside of Rick's living room window. Here in Bangladesh, the true meaning of "When it Rains...it Pours" comes alive.....

A Bengali New Year's Resolution Anyone...?!

Hi Everyone!

I know I know…I am 3 days behind…Yikes! So much going on each day especially since my friend arrived on Monday afternoon. So, if you have the time.- go fetch yourself a cup of coffee or tea and I hope you enjoy reading about the last 3 days of my adventures in Bangladesh. I am continually on the edge of my seat (literally!) with what surprises and shocks me in the bustling city and country.

Monday April 11, 2011

Big Kids – Small Cage

I woke up motivated to go for a walk/run at the local park again this morning thinking 2 days of exercise in a row will be good for me! Last night, we got spits of rain as the sky featured a wonderful lightning show. It looked like it was going to open up and pour down but the little spits of rain is all we got. If anything, some huge winds came around and the evening was very pleasantly cool!

I was able to again go with Milan to the local produce market to pick up our needs for the day. Today he showed me a traditional Bengali that is used by people sitting down and the knife is put in between their feet and the vegetables and fruits are chopped this way…very smart!

After returning I got ready to go to visit the American International School of Dhaka with Rick. He is slowly getting back to teaching all his classes and was going in to check in with some students. The school is indeed big and is surrounded by high walls. Rick tells me that there is a field for a helicopter to land if needing to evacuate people and the high walls also allow for snipers if necessary – Woah! There is only one entry and exit gate for security purposes. There is many kids whom are children of ambassadors at the school where protection is very important.

The lower school and high school are separated which Rick thinks is a good thing. His biology classroom and science wing building is very nice and big with new laboratory equipment. He took me on a little tour around – roof top tennis courts and a brand new gym with about 12 spinning bikes too. We got to have lunch in the dining room which was delicious. I went for the naan bread, beef curry, mixed fruit and vegetable salad. It was fun to meet other teachers in the lunchroom and I think it was the most American conversations I had heard and participated in for a while. The diversity of the school is so appealing to me. I flicked through a past school year book and there are kids that have incredible mixes in them such as Swedish and Chilean. There is quite a large Korean community of kids that stay here for all 13 years of schooling. Rick tells me this is common as the Korean businessmen in the garment industry stay a long time running and managing their businesses.

My title of today’s blog “Big Kids Small Cages” comes from the delight I get when I see the children go to school in these small caged bicycle rickshaws. The girls school in the morning and boys in the afternoon and their smiling faces are so great to see whenever I see them. I got to take a bunch of photos of them on the way home from school today.

Before picking my friend Alison up from the airport we headed to a new district right next to the airport that has obviously looked like its been strategically planned better than other areas (less trash, bigger roads). Anyway, we headed to the four storey garment store named “Aarong” – it’s the biggest NGO garment and goods store in Bangladesh. I was in salwar kameez heaven and its like the “Macy’s” of fashion for the country. There are billboards advertising them and this store is their biggest and newest one just opened last month. The prices reflect their popularity too of course but you certainly get what you paid for!

We headed to the airport to get Alison and she arrived without any hassles. Its about $3 per person to get a “visitor pass”. I was so excited to see her and show her around like a “local” over the next week! She loved Rick’s apartment of course and then I took her up to the roof top to watch the grey clouds slowly make their way in….Still no rain though! We learned that we will be on the same flight heading back to Malaysia in a week’s time which is perfect! Tonight we also met one of Rick’s Bengali friends who owns two fabric stores in the Gulshan circle. They met when Rick purchased fabrics there and he was eager to practice his English. He kindly offered to take us to the “Old Dhaka” area on Friday too. I had already done a walking tour on my first day there but did not cover much at all so I am excited about that.

After dinner, we all got to sit down and watch an episode of “The Amazing Race” when they were in Dhaka a year ago. Rick had the episode on his laptop for us to watch and it was soooo cool to see the sights on the screen. One of the girls pronounced the city “Dahaka” and we all laughed at that. They did have to do some very cool things such as assembling a rickshaw by hand and moving bricks on their heads in a construction site. I know FOR SURE that without the help I have had getting around this place with Milan’s translating and all of Rick’s help and assets, traveling through this city and country would be VERY difficult!

Tuesday April 12, 2011

Just Another Day in Dhaka

I was excited to wake up and take my friend Alison for a walk to “The American Club” and then around the park/lake that I have been doing my morning walks and runs on. The park track takes me about 10 minutes to walk around so its definitely more than a standard 400 meter track. The morning was very pleasant and one of the coolest since I’ve been here. We headed home for breakfast and then out to the market with Milan. We got to the dry and wet market today and it was funny hearing all the men ask “Madam Meat?” to us at the wet market. Milan headed home after grocery shopping and we stayed in the circle to explore the grocery stores, markets, fabric and antique stores that I have come to know well. We even found a DVD shop that sold pirated movies for $1. We decided to buy a Bangladesh inspired film named “Brick Lane” but even with the storekeeper’s money back guarantee, we were disappointed to find out later that evening that the DVD would skip continuously on my computer when watching.

Home for lunch (in a rickshaw of course for Alison’s first experience!) and a bit of a rest from the busy morning. Then our afternoon experience was something that no guided tour could ever buy. We were so fortunate to be able to visit Milan’s place on the other side of the river. Like I had written earlier, he lives in Dhaka working for Rick from Sunday to Thursday and takes the 4 hour bus ride home on Thursday afternoon to see his family. His place is about 25 minutes walk away and 10 minutes on bike…as you could imagine it’s very simple….a room inside a complex of about 5 other rooms and a washroom included. His pride and joy is his cable accessed tv (that Rick generously helped him to purchase!) and after an offered drink and cookies, we turned the tv on to watch some “America’s Funniest Videos”. I got my answer then and there what he did after work each day (3pm). He says he enjoys watching the news and keeping up to date with that from BBC and CNN. He also loves watching the football/soccer. Cable is about $4 a month is over 100 channels! The power went out while we were there and we got to experience just how warm it can get in the hotter months without electricity in the area that he lives in. Rick’s more modernized building area gets blackouts too of course, but with the luxury of a back up generator and the blackouts are definitely not as much as Milan’s area which occur one hour on and one hour off in the warmer climates.

Milan’s friend came to visit us at his place during the afternoon and she is the housekeeper for a family with the American embassy. They have been friends for a long time and she also invited us to her place to visit. An offered drink and conversation with her eldest son completed the afternoon. It’s so funny that both Milan and Misty were so excited to welcome us both into their homes. On Sunday, we will drive out to Milan’s village four hours away to visit his home and family too…he will then travel by car with us back to Dhaka….I am so excited to meet his son, daughter, wife, and mother that we have been talking so much about, but also to shop for gifts for them!

Heading home, both of us exhausted from a pretty full day. Dinner was amazing once again cooked by Milan earlier in the day --- rice, vegetables, curry chicken and a shrimp, spinach and coconut curry was the highlight for me. I think I need to learn such Bengali cooking methods next week from Milan!

Wednesday April 13, 2011

Day Trip Around Dhaka

We rose to a delicious breakfast and headed out to the main circle where he helped us secure a taxi driver for the whole day to the old capital of Sonogoarn. In our Lonely Planet, it said that it was a well worth day trip outside the city and about an hour’s drive away from Dhaka city. The book however, failed to mention that it takes about an hour and a half of crazy, bumper to bumper, smelly, dusty, hazardous and hot driving to firstly drive out of the city itself! We knew what we were in for though and finally reached the old city at about 11:30am after leaving Dhaka around 9:00am. We visited two folk and art museums and then walked to a close by street that previously featured absolute mansions owned by wealthy Hindus. These owners escaped the land when the Moghuls reigned and hence, left their mansions to squatters who have since let the buildings deteriorate.

On return back to the city, I only felt like I was going to be a victim of a car accident twice.

The first, when our little yellow taxi was completely surrounded by giant buses trying to win the battle of getting to their destinations first (I had pictured us being crushed in between!) and second, a very very VERY close collision with a rickshaw turning the corner with about 5 giant barrels (the ones that look like they would have oil in them) in his cargo. We actually did scrape another car but nobody got out and I think we were the lucky ones since the scrape was with a much nicer and newer SUV.

We stopped at a little shopping mall close to our house that I had been to since we had some time before the agreed to time our driver was going to drop us home. With our minimal English communication, we agreed that he would go and get gas and then come back to get us. Lucky that we had Rick’s cell phone to call him on since he was over an hour late to pick us up because the line for gas apparently was very long (I believe him!). We both got home absolutely exhausted from our day’s adventure, but very content on experiencing another piece of Bangladesh.

Now we enthusiastically tomorrow’s Bengali New Year festivities down in the main square. Seas of white and red saree and salwar kameez dressed women with food, arts, crafts, floats and more…..I guess I have tonight to think of what my Bengali New Year’s resolution should be….

Surviving the streets of Dhaka...

Take a deeeeeeeeep breathe....

Last night the power went out in the middle of the night and I awoke in a sweat and actually didn't get back to sleep until the early hours of the morning. Still, I woke early and planned to go for a walk/run at the local park that we passed walking to the American Club.

Now I know I am fully immersed in this culture when I felt completely naked wearing a pair of normal length running shorts and tee-shirt to the park. Since Malaysia and Bangladesh are heavily Muslim countries, it is the norm to cover up your skin. Hence, I have been wearing long pants and a shawl over my tank top each day. I saw a woman (foreigner) wearing a pair of shorts walking the other day and knew I would be way too hot in long pants during the exercise.

This morning I also got to meet Rick's housekeeper/cook today named Milan. He is absolutely adorable and I have learned was bedside with Rick in the hospital during his operation last week. He lives 4 hours bus ride away in the village with his mother, wife and 2 children.

So anyway, I headed out...and YES, they say that traveling as a single female here is not recommended. The "harassment" that goes on is like a cat call....literally "meowing" at you. To be honest, I didn't hear too much of that...mainly just staring because you are so foreign...again literally! Plus, I had my head phones on. The morning was not as cool as the days before, muggy and I think some rain is headed our way over the next few days.

I enjoyed the run around and also enjoyed watching the ladies in their sarees getting their morning workout in. Also, its a big social morning hour with groups of men and women meeting up and sharing their breakfasts(?) and pastries (which I got to buy some later on in the day).

On return, I got to shower and have breakfast all laid out for me on the table by Milan...feeling absolutely spoiled and called "Madame"! I then got the opportunity to walk to the main part of the area to go grocery shopping with him at the local market. Now I've seen some incredible produce over my time and I am quite picky about it too but WOWWWWWWW! I am convinced Dhaka has some of the very very finest. Vibrant colors of vegetables and fruits are displayed and hung so elaborately in the stalls. Also, since there are no plastic bags, their creativity in making bags for the customer is so cool! We then got to the local bakery and purchased 250 grams of what I think may be pure sugar in a donut looking dessert pastry. Actually, it tastes like baklava (Greek dessert) without the pastry. Perfect tiny piece to have with some plain hot tea.

Rick returned to work and taught one class for the very first time today after being out for 5 weeks. He got home around 12 noon and Milan had lunch all ready for us. The next part of my afternoon was an experience that is again hard to explain---like many of the things here in Bangladesh.

Milan helped me get a taxi on the main street to the National Museum. The taxi driver would wait for me at the museum and drive me back home. The museum is right by the main Dhaka University and local "hub" of EVERYTHING and EVERYONE! Soooo, you could imagine that traffic to get there was going to be about 30 minutes to 1 hour. The taxi ride itself was an experience of course with near misses on the road and a small collision with a rickshaw driver that led to some death stares between the two drivers and verbal exchange. People are just everyyyywhere! Selling things, begging for things, staring at things, buying things, catching a bus, and more....And it's dusty, hot and muggy. I ended up wrapping my shawl around my nose too. The little "tuk tuks" of Bangladesh are green caged vehicles that are actually run on natural gas. I can't imagine if they weren't!

Anyway, after a couple of u turns, we made it to the museum which itself was old and dusty. Many local families visiting and I guess this is the norm since tourism as I have mentioned in earlier blogs is NOT a big industry at all here. There were 3 levels and each room conveniently labeled with its contents (such as musical instruments, boats etc.) beginning with room number 1. Their room of Buddha statues was immaculate and I learned from Rick that Buddhism was actually prevalent in the country before the Moghul times. Also, the boat room with little miniature and one giant display was impressive. Lastly, I learned much about the Liberation for the country's independence in 1971 at their last exhibit. Much bloodshed occurred for this to happen and the country honorably remembers its struggle for this independence.

Now a number of people came up to ask me where I was from in the museum, young and old people, and unfortunately with the "front" that you have to put on, I feel like my true personality is not expressed to them when I answer. I guess that is something that comes with any new meeting in a land where women are minimally seen around.

The ride back home was a lot shorter at 30 minutes than the ride there (but just as hot, muggy and dusty!). I tapped out for the day and got in for a good scrub in the shower and downed at least 3 bottles of water!

My friend arrives to join me on my Bangladesh adventure tomorrow and I am excited to share the experiences of this country with her...and maybe also know that people are staring at both of us and not just me! :)

I love my Salwar Kameez!

Day 2 in Dhaka!

Every corner I turn is an adventure here in Dhaka.....

We woke early this morning to "beat the heat" and walked over to "The American Club" about 10 minutes away. You have to be a US passport holder to become a member of this club and pay a yearly fee to use their rather nice facilities that include a pool, work out room, tennis courts, playground and dining. Rick is a member and I got to go as his guest. I have learned there is an "Australian Club" so I want to try and find out if I can get into that for the week I am here:)

On our very pleasant morning walk, I learned that Dhaka people are NOT the morning kind like the other Asians I have experienced. They stay up late and wake up late. On the walk to the club we walked through a man made track and it was great to see both women and men walking/exercising on the "track".

It was nice to get to the club and work up a bit of a sweat in the gym before sitting down to a nice breakfast....of course I ordered something "American"--iced coffee and a breakfast burrito..haha! Its been a while since I've had salsa and cheese! We headed back home and I was fortunate to join Rick's weekly meditation group. Along with feeling so centered and enlightened after our kindness meditation, I met some new friends too.

After a lounge around, we headed into the main suburb center (on a rickshaw of course!) to check out some more sari shops and antique stores. I know I know...I got a new sari set yesterday but now I'm looking for one that is red and white....the New Year colors...nothing really stood out to me today but I got a few more days to try (The Bengali New Year celebration is April 14!). Maybe I should just buy a print and get something tailor made...that's about $3 to do here! We also stopped at a complex that specialized in cheap pearls and "antiques". Rick says these antiques have literally come off old shipwrecks out in the ocean....there was some pretty interesting stuff there that's for sure.

We also had to get some thing from the pharmacy....here, practically anything can be purchased over the counter...WITHOUT A PRESCRIPTION!!! pretty unbelievable!

Bangladesh play Australia in the cricket today (here in Dhaka!) but tickets are apparently so hard to get by...I'll check scores online:)

A few interesting things I've noted and learnedso far on my second day in Bangladesh:

- There is a LOT of construction going on here in Dhaka...absolutely fascinating to watch the guys at work...they tear down and build absolutely everything BY HAND! imagine full 4 storey buildings being torn down by man power!!!!

- The government has outlawed plastic bags in the country....woo hoo! so there are some beautiful brown paper packaging bags given at stores and grocery stores!

- There isn't really BLUE sky in Dhaka...just a haze/grey...the captain on my plane gave me a "haze index" on arrival

- Every day in Rick's building the power goes out for an hour or two...that's because the city can't handle all the electricity being used..especially in the heat of the summer when air conditioners are being used constantly!

Hope you like the pics...!

Last Day in South East Asia!!!

Before turning in for the night, I witnessed one of the most live religious ceremonies of my life. It was held in a Chinese temple around the corner from the hostel with the TAO religion. OK, so in the gathering, 2 men in the religious group were randomly chosen by the "spirits" and put into a trance. One then physically put a metal rod through his chin and the other one physically cut his tongue and then proceeded to lick certain posters that were placed around the room. A procession was held before that around Chinatown where men hosited a temple to the Gods. I don't know exactly what the ceremony was for..I think it was one of the God's birthday but anyway, the cutting of the tongue was very painful to watch for me and I left after that....what an experience!

I was lucky and got a ride back to KL in a car from the owner of the hostel who had to go there to check on his house that he rents in the city. That saved me from slogging away on the buses:) and public transportation system which I appreciated. After getting back to the hostel, I headed out on a public bus to the shopping district of the city. I accidentally missed my stop so got the scenic route of the city stopping at local suburbs to pick up people wanting to go into the city. The mall was a really good one I have to say and it was perfect to wander around in as big rain spell came down on the city for an hour. I met up with my friend from KL at her work place in town to go to dinner together. We went to a local favorite restaurant of hers that featured traditional Malay, Western and Chinese foods. I was spoiled with having her treat me to dinner and provide such a wonderful experience of KL for me!

I reallllly loved Malaysia! Like I said, I don't know if its because of the wonderful fusion of cultures, people or food. Perhaps, its knowing that I can speak Chinese Hakka to people in the country, or maybe because I was fortunate to get a true 'local experience' with my friends from KL. She said I haven't really experience Malaysia unless I have been to the East (Sabah and Sarawak)...So, with that said, MALAYSIA---I'LL BE BACK!

Wow! So I've made it to my very last day in South East Asia....4 countries in 42 days...and I still feel like I just dipped my toes in these wonderful lands. Every country is so unique and special and I've reflected a lot on different parts of my trip. I have come up with words for some of the (major) cities that I believe describe it. Here are a few of them...

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam - Edgey

Phnom Penh, Cambodia - Rugged

Bangkok, Thailand - Electrifying

Kuala Lumpur - Flair

I found Chiang Mai in Thailand very liveable and loved the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia too. I can't say I have a favorite only that this part of the world has so much CULTURE! So its been a thrill for an ex-geography teacher...the temples, religions, mosques, people, price of food hahaha....I hope my writings have all lured you into wanting to come to this part of the world....Bangladesh bound tomorrow! I think it will be my biggest culture shock that's for sure but I'm excited to celebrate the Bengali New Year and stay with long time HPA friend!

P.S. Thank you for all the fun comments about my new hair digs...we'll see how well I can maintain it all for you when I get back to the Big Island :)