Blogs from Bangladesh, Asia - page 16

I really wanted a homestay experience in order to make the most of this trip, so I went to tripadvisor.com and posted a comment asking if anyone knew of how I could get in touch with a family. A man emailed me back telling me I could stay with his sister. I readily agreed but was nevertheless suspicious of this kind of offer. However, once I arrived in Dhaka and met up with the family, my doubts vanished about their authenticity. I am now staying in a little apartment on a street that ceases to exist on google maps. The father works in a knitting factory and speaks some English. He has a kind face and has lived in Bangladesh all his life. However, rarely do I have the opportunity to speak with him, for he ... read more

Parendi and I typically travel in middle class style to Barisal--we take an overnight launch from Dhaka's main port (Sadar Ghat), sleeping in a hired double cabin that usually comes with AC, sometimes has functional fans, and always has curtains to shut out the peering passengers and curious boys who work on the boat. The older of the boats have suspiciously stained sheets and families of cockroaches, but we've figured out which of the boats are the cleanest and have the least smelly bathrooms. We can't complain. It's safer and more comfortable than traveling on the roads, and its certainly better than traveling the way most do: on the bottom floor of the launch boats, stretched out on blankets, fighting off bugs and the night chill. But this week we upgraded. Instead of our usual overnight ... read more

The beginning of my trip to Bangladesh went smoothly. I first flew from Boston to London, where I sat next to a medical supplies salesman who elaborated about his adventures getting sick in India and dodging the aggressive traffic. Even so, his stories only increased my excitement and I read through the entire Lonely Planet book (a convenient 150 pages). The second leg of my journey caused some anxiety. Once the plane landed, I had 75 minutes to make my connecting flight to Delhi; however, by the time I used the bathroom, walked across the terminal and re-entered security, I had only 52 minutes left. When the clerk swiped my passport, she regretfully told me I was too late and that due to my failure to show up one hour before my flight, the portal ... read more

It’s been more than two weeks since the Bengali New Year on April 14th, making it not nearly as new or exciting as it would have been if I had managed to post something about it in a more timely manner. In the spirit of celebration, however, let’s just pretend. Put on something red and white (and throw in some yellow, if you’re more courageous), and imagine that you’re ringing in the new year with outdoor cultural programs, family visits, and lots of eating—all on a festival appropriate 100 degree day. We started our morning in an upper-middle class manner with our boss from Save the Children, Shahana Apa (because of her age and professional seniority to us she is always addressed publicly with “Apa,” which means older sister). After Shahana helped me re-tie my sari ... read more

It is a broad assortment of things that we do out here in the name of development. Everything from a project to promote the production of dried fish to a classic microcredit program falls under the guise of international development, and the direct recipients of aid could be anyone from local government bodies to unborn babies. Pretty much anything that falls in that very inclusive net of criteria is happening here in Bangladesh, which has for decades been a testing ground for development research and practice.** What Parendi and I do (see blog from October or November 2008) is just a slice of the development picture. For newcomers on the development seen like us, one of the most valuable things about our year here has been the chance to observe and interact with development projects (and ... read more