Sign In
Blogs from Dhaka, Bangladesh, Asia - page 9
Advertisement
June 14th 2008
Kairul claims he is 18, but it is highly unlikely that he is over 15. His waist is not much wider than the bicycle seat that he hovers over, and his legs are barely long enough for him to reach the pedals while seated. He spends most of his work day peddling standing up. His pre-pubescent looks aside, Kairul’s boyish curiosity and fascination with the world also give away his age. As he peddles down the streets of Dhaka, avoiding gaping potholes and confidently pulling u-turns in the middle of oncoming traffic, I often catch him letting his eyes wander around and up. Airplanes capture his attention fairly consistently, and he is fond of pointing out architectural curiosities. “Khub shundar,” he announced one evening as we curved around a traffic circle featuring a modern silver sculpture ... read more
June 13th 2008
Tomorrow marks two weeks from my arrival in Bangladesh. Everything has happened so quickly, and already I feel that I’ve come a long way from my first days in the country, when I was positive that my body would never adjust to the heat and that I would never figure out how to say “dhonobad” (thank you) properly. I landed in Dhaka at 6 am on a Saturday and was met at the airport by Elizabeth—the girl whose position I am taking—and a wall of hot sticky air. We hit the ground running, and after a full day in Dhaka we loaded a launch boat on Saturday night, headed down river to the field site where our research is done. In Barisal, a rural district crisscrossed by waterways, we conducted site visits and checked in on ... read more
June 12th 2008
I finally left Dhaka. I suppose it was about time since there is an entire country and continent that is left to see outside this metropolis. I planned to spend two nights in Matlab, though I ended up shortening it to one night for various reasons. The trip started early at 7:00AM when a car came to my apartment to pick me up. From that I switched to a van, which jostled and honked its way out of Dhaka’s morning commute. After about an hour and a half, we stopped in this little town. A few boys around nine years old rushed to the van to carry the passengers’ belongings but I insisted on carrying my own. This country has been a confusing twist of needing to be very independent and yet let others do menial ... read more
June 10th 2008
Hi all, I swapped onto this flight. Its not a very popular one and after doing it I cant really see why- yes it is busy and hard as most travelling dont speak English but all the passengers are lovely x I was unsure as what there was to see/do in Dhaka as most crew tell you that its the best places to buy copied dvds but I was looking for a bit more than that!!!! I had heard of an orphanage you could visit and had come armed with crayons, pencils and drawing books hoping that some of the crew would join me. I enquired at the reception, who organised me a taxi and also got 3 other crew to join me!!!!! The journey was amazing to see- the roads were muddy dirt tracks with ... read more
June 8th 2008
Friday I found myself going past car-packed white mosques to a centuries-old quiet church. Located in the heart of Old Dhaka, the Armenian church is a remnant from a forgotten past when the Armenians (bizarrely enough) become powerful landowners in Bangladesh. Being the oldest of Christian societies, the Armenians brought their religion with them over the Asian continent and built this church centuries ago. It stands as one of the few churches left in Dhaka among thousands of mosques. It’s not easy to find if you come to Dhaka. Old Dhaka is low-lying along the windy and wide Buriganga River. What one’s initial visual (and visceral) image of Dhaka is Old Dhaka. It’s third world, overpopulated city life at its purest. The streets are narrow, winding, unmarked, and unpaved. There is nothing but people, animals, ... read more
Advertisement
June 6th 2008
Mollie's birthday, yet another Scavenger Hunt. Anyone would think we would be sick of these by now, but it's such a fun way to interact with the locals. They love seeing us do stuff that to them is just their everyday lives, but to us is crazy. The winners of this hunt was determined by everyone voting on the best picture for each task. It was our first loss. We are now 2 for 3. ... read more
June 5th 2008
The world changes when you’ve got a man around. Our third flatmate, Luke, began work at ICDDR,B in the clinical division working on a cholera surveillance project. So yesterday I began to commute with someone else, which was a welcome relief after a disastrous trip home on Tuesday. I’ll drop my feminism a bit and admit that I never feel vulnerable when I am with a man here. Even when we have an adventure like figuring out the ridiculous bus system. But on Tuesday, I picked up a rickshaw after work whose driver told me he could take me to Gulshan. Great, I thought, and hopped on. He took me through alleys and small streets, which in heavy traffic is the way rickshaws avoid the congested main roads. These alleys and small streets are still ... read more
June 3rd 2008
Yesterday was fairly uneventful, which can be good and bad. Uneventful leads to not being overexerted and homesick but it can also lead to overthinking and homesick. Not that I feel homesick necessarily. In the morning I did the first level of a work-out video I bought in the States and it was actually really great and kicked my butt a bit. The first work-out video I’ve taken a liking to, I think. Then a car from ICDDRB, my work, came to pick me up. ICDDR,B stands for the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, but it’s locally known as the Cholera Hospital. It was started a view decades ago as a cholera hospital, which treated the large amount of cholera patients Bangladesh saw (and continues to see) throughout the land. They instituted a ... read more
June 1st 2008
I am so bored. I can’t believe my internet just crapped out on me. I’m tempted to pull out my book and just read or watch old episodes of The Office I have on my computer but then it won’t look like I’m working. I don’t think anyone cares or is really paying attention but it’s my first day—I should look like I’m working even if I have nothing to do. The man I am working with, Kuntal, has his own work to do so I was put here indefinitely, at Dr. Karim’s desk next to the office printer. It’s been a ridiculously uneventful day. I woke up around 6:30, checked my email, worked out for a bit, showered, had breakfast, then went to work. Kuntal drove me today (and when I say Kuntal, I ... read more
June 1st 2008
I’m in such a good mood. Work kind of sucked, as observed by my ramblings above, as well as freaking myself out about the H5N1 virus having its first human victim in Bangladesh. This place is fantastic and like nowhere else in the whole world, I think. I’ve been very nervous to do much on my own because the upper class is driven absolutely everywhere. I was somehow afraid I’d step on the street and be swept up by a killer. Or at least have my bag stolen and harassed. But anyway, so my driver took me to have my photo taken (for my work ID card) at a studio but I had to wait an hour and a half for it to be developed so I told him to bring me home. After I ... read more
