Blogger Dougo Having collected Bec’s brother Owen from the airport last night, our posse had grown to five. A word of warning to anyone reading this blog: DO NOT FLY TO BANGLADESH WITH GMG AIRLINES if you want to arrive on time. We had heard stories from existing staff that GMG never depart and arrive on time, but until now we didn’t really appreciate them. Owen was due to arrive from Bangkok at 6pm. He walked out of Zia International Airport, Dhaka, at 2am. Delay after delay after delay. Totally dead to the world we all got home at 2:30am. Today was Eid ul-Fitr, the day of sacrifice. For those of you who haven’t read the last blog entry I will once again (via copy and paste) tell you a little about what this day ... read more

Blogger Dougo Well it finally arrived. Christmas break, end of second term, the winter holidays. It is always a busy time of the year for anyone, but for international teachers this is particularly busy. It is a weird mix of total exhaustion having got through the first five months of a new school, report writing and getting to know everyone, and elation at knowing there is light at the end of the tunnel. Social commitments aplenty is the theme in the weeks leading up to any holiday break. Everyone is going somewhere (more often than not) and you are asked so many times that you sometimes feel as if they are having you on. ISD has such an abundance of differing nationalities heading home for Christmas. Cananda, US, England, Wales, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, France, ... read more

Blogger Dougo We have just returned from a trip to the Sundarbans National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site of mangrove forest, jungle, tidal rivers and grasslands. It was with great anticipation that we left Dhaka at around 9:30pm on Thursday, with our tour company, The Guide Tours. After viewing a pride of 20 odd lions in Africa, I was so hoping to get a glimpse on the reclusive Bengal tiger on this trip. On a 20 seater bus with Bec and I were a bunch of other teachers from ISD including our French teacher Francois' mum. Having heard horror stories about the travel time from Dhaka to the boat, we were having bets about what time we would actually arrive at the river. I volunteered 8:30am (11 hours). Fortunately for us, at around 6am ... read more

Blogger Bec I apologise for the lack of photos which would no doubt give a much better idea of what I have just seen than my words but as it was my first visit, I didn't know the cultural norms and felt it would be insensitive to photograph until I understood the area better. In order to best understand how I can be of best use to the less fortunate in Dhaka, I needed to see first hand what the situation was like for the poorest of the poor. I have it in my head that I want o set up a fairly major literacy project but my more knowledgeable and experienced friend very politely pointed out whilst my idea is good, the need has to be there. Need? Of course there’s a bloody need! ... read more

Blogger Bec Good news here in Dhaka, our government imposed curfew has been lifted during daylight hours. The trade off is that during these times, the internet and telephone lines are disconnected. (yet, we are still using the net now and it's 9:10 in the morning.) Yesterday was a bit hairy. We got up at the usual 5:45am ready to catch our 6:40am bus from the front of the apartment block. We waited and waited but still no school van turned up. Anxiously looking between my watch and my not-working mobile phone, Paula's voice ringing in my head - "nothing stops the school being open, we haven't closed the school in the history of ISD". What if we were the only 2 teachers that didn't grab a rickshaw and fight tooth and nail to get ... read more