Saturday, August 30, 2008

Trading the Buck

Apparently a "buck" refers to the currency of your current country. In America, that's a dollar. But here, we're talking taka. Since 1 USD is equivalent to about 66 taka, this is an important distinction. And a rare piece of English slang defined by non-native speakers!

Some taka:


Talking to some Nepalese girls today about Kathmandu (where we're hoping to go for break), LB asked if it was necessary to tip in restaurants and, if so, how much. "Oh, about 15 bucks, maybe 50 bucks at a nice place." My initial response was *gasp! I don't think I can afford this vacation! But she meant 15 or 50 Nepali rupees (they have an exchange rate similar to taka).

Important to note, in case you ever find yourself gambling in another country. Considering how far the dollar goes in most of the world, you shouldn't have to worry too much. Unless you find yourself in Europe. Or even Canada, now. Oh, the dollar.

Technically, I'm told, the Qur'an does not permit gambling. But there are ways around this, I learned in Doha. I went to a horse race there. You don't actually put money on a horse. You just drop a slip of paper with your name on it into the box of the horse you thought might win. After the race, a name was drawn out of the box of the winning horse. If your name was chosen, you might win a car! Not gambling, nope, not at all...

My dad thinks bringing casinos to Cleveland is a good way to revitalize the area. I'm adamantly opposed. The last thing that city needs is people gambling away their savings. But perhaps we could reach a compromise. Say they set the stakes in taka?

Sunday, August 24, 2008

The Rat Plague

Bamboo plants only flower (producing seeds) every 50+ years (some as long as 120!). Explains why bamboo isn't a common houseplant. Seeds are rare and expensive-- a delicacy, you might say . . . especially if you're a rat! This year was the special year for bamboo plants in the Chittagong Hill Tracts area of Bangladesh. They released their huge seeds, which the rats devour. The seeds are especially dense in calories, and very high in protein. Just what rats need to live longer, healthier, and more reproductively-productive lives! The rat population exploded, and it's a major problem for the people of the area. Rats eat all their food as fast as they can grow it, and have gobbled up any emergency food stores.

Food aid there is tricky. The BBC had a great article on it. I've already mentioned the discrimination and rumored silent genocide against the indigenous people of the Hill Tracts. Recently an aid worker was killed by a Bengali man. He was upset because there were more indigenous people than Bengalis on the list for food handouts. But the indigenous tribes make up the majority of the population in the area, and they also represent the lowest socioeconomic classes, so of course they dominate the list!

Food is politics. And even the rats don't share.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Quaked!

I experienced my first [minor] earthquake ever here in Chittagong last night. I'm fine, just a little shook up! Hehe, pardon the pun.

The best part was that, as the room started swaying back and forth, and our chairs started sliding, we all jumped up and yelled, thinking, "Cockroach!"

Really, though, I feel that just as soon as I am starting to settle in and feel comfortable here, something happens to make me feel uneasy again. Then again, its only been a month...

Friday, August 22, 2008

Update: Moving, Roaches

The two new teachers and I finally moved into the school building! We were relieved to finally unpack our suitcases and stretch out on our own beds. Our rooms are really nice, and so is our view of Chittagong:


However, our rooms were also infested with cockroaches. We spent our first afternoon/evening running around with cans of bug spray, killing at least a dozen of the little (big?) suckers.

A Victim


Finally, we went to bed, exhausted. We didn't have mosquito nets yet. The school buys them for us but had yet to purchase them. All three of us (at the time) were on anti-malarial drugs, so we didn't think much of it. I fell asleep exhausted, only to wake up with something, something crawling up my arm onto my shoulder. COCKROACH! And a big one too, a few inches long. I flung it across the room. My roommate was also awakened that night, by a cockroach on her face.

We got mosquito nets. Needless to say, I now call them critter nets.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Postcards!

I found some excellent postcards today. If you'd like one, I want to send you one!
Email me with your address.

Completely unrelated, here's me, another new teacher, and a student, dressed up for an event we had last week! :

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Raising Rice

I went traipsing through rice paddies this weekend!



And of course rice makes me think of...

Check out The Economist's online debate on rising food prices, it’s really interesting. And since I’m too timid (slash unqualified, I feel) to post comments on their website, you all can read my thoughts here. :P

Really, rising food prices could be good. It may increase investment in agricultural technology, spurring innovations that will enable us to feed the rapidly growing world population. It may pressure governments to revamp corrupt and counter-productive agricultural and trade policies. But how viable is either of these scenarios? While I’m optimistic that money invested will bring about innovative ways to increase food production, increasing the supply and bringing prices down, it’s going to take a long time. And as for policy, look at the failed G8 negotiations a few weeks ago, or the success of yet another corrupt Farm Bill in the U.S. Both show how gloomy the prospects are for change.

Yes, the price increases are caused by dietary improvements, but not to those most lacking. The poor are hit twice as hard: not only are they left further behind by a rising middle class, but it is now even more difficult to maintain their already-low standard of living. That’s what food aid NGOs were created for, right? But with the prices of food increased, this means the same amount of aid buys less food and reaches fewer people.

The spike in food prices has disastrous effects on the most vulnerable-- women and children of developing nations. Malnutrition during pregnancy and childhood has terrible long-term effects. Malnourished mothers-to-be have a high mortality rate. And in places with high fertility rates, most mothers are mothers-to-be, and are the primary caretakers for many children. Additionally, malnourished mothers typically have malnourished, underweight babies. Physically, one never fully recovers from starving as a child. Malnourished children suffer a slowed rate of mental development, often never catching up to their peers. It’s hard to learn when you’re hungry, and these children will miss a lot of school because they are sick. So we are, essentially, setting these children up for failure, and for an even lower standard of living than their parents, even if food prices someday come back down.

There is definitely a possible upside, long-term, for humanity in this food crisis. But the short-term effects are certain, and significant. If immediate action isn’t taken to lessen the blow, there will also be long-term negative effects from this price spike. There’s no telling how extensive those will be, but, at the rate things are moving now, I think they will negate any positive developments.

We are digging a ditch of "human resource" debt for future generations. Eerily, in this way it's like the credit crisis, and global climate change. The longer we wait for policy change, the more future generations will suffer.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Classroom Visitor!

Taught my first class today! I took over for a teacher who was feeling ill.

All went well for the first half of class. I had the students working quietly on a worksheet. It was sweltering hot in the classroom, so I turned on the air conditioner. Yay, it works! With the first gust of cool air...out comes a HUGE (4 inches long, maybe?) cockroach, landing on a student's back. She doesn't notice, so I run over, to try and get rid of it before anyone notices (no idea how I thought I might do this). She feels it crawling down her back, and lets out a scream. Suddenly the entire class is up, screaming, yelling running around the (small) room. The cockroach runs one way; they run the other. And I'm chasing the cockroach with a wastebasket. It was total chaos for about a minute.


Welcome, Miss Cindy, to teaching in Bangladesh!



This guy hangs out in my room, and greets me every morning when I turn on the bathroom light.

Maybe I should be, but I'm just not a squisher!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Standing Room Only

Imagine half of the United States' population were to move to Florida. That's Bangladesh.

Now pretend you're living in an urban area in this overly populated, hypothetical Florida. That's Chittagong.

Its hard to describe the action around here. Everywhere you look, there are people working, walking, eating, praying...staring at me. Oh, and by people, I mean MEN.



The streets are full. So full that sometimes traffic comes to a complete standstill. Rather, large things (trucks, cars, buses) have to stop. The majority of the traffic is rickshaws and auto-rickshaws. They weave about, honking their horns. Smaller still, don't forget the dogs, goats, cows, and chickens!



Rickshaws are hard to describe. They're like the mermaid of transportation-- half bike, half carriage. As a kid, I'm pretty sure I attempted something akin to a rickshaw with my bike, a wagon and a jump rope.



Three of us riding in a rickshaw. I look terrified because, well, I was! We piled the three of us on one rickshaw, and took this photo while riding down a hill.

I read somewhere that one-fifth of the males in Bangladesh work as rickshaw-wallahs (drivers). That fact is not so hard to believe....



Auto-rickshaws (or CNG's as we call them; they run on Compressed Natural Gas) are the fuel-powered versions. You feel less likely to fall off one of these, but they go much faster! Its like the real-life version of bumper cars.




Bangladesh is notorious for its high population density...and 3.9 fertility rate. Yikes! Since the famines of the 1970's, though, the rates of hunger have gone down drastically while the population has more than doubled (according to Dr. M. Yunnus's Banker to the Poor). Three cheers for effective food and agg policy! Now if only we could cut down on those natural disasters that strike Bangladesh every three years, erasing progress by destroying crops and leaving people homeless and hungry. Two steps forward, one step back.

Which brings me to another point. It's supposed to be "monsoon" season now, but it has only rained hard a couple times in the three weeks since I arrived. This isn't good for crops. On the upside, maybe global "climate change" will bring cyclones and tsunamis to Long Island, and leave Bangladesh and its rice paddies alone!

Video of Today

This might make (most of) you smile :)

One of the other volunteers did a dance with her students based on this guy's video. The song in the background, "Praan" is sung in Bengali (Bangla), and is based off the poem "Stream of Life" by Tagore. A rough translation of the lyrics follows.






Bhulbona ar shohojete
Shei praan e mon uthbe mete
Mrittu majhe dhaka ache
je ontohin praan

Bojre tomar baje bashi
She ki shohoj gaan
Shei shurete jagbo ami
(Repeat 3X)

Shei jhor jeno shoi anonde
Chittobinar taare
Shotto-shundu dosh digonto
Nachao je jhonkare!

Bojre tomar baje bashi
She ki shohoj gaan
Shei shurete jagbo ami
(Repeat 3X)

The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day
runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.

It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth
in numberless blades of grass
and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.

It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth
and of death, in ebb and in flow.

I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life.
And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.



I have an idea for my own photo project...not as cool as this kid's, but I'll let you know if I actually do it.

Friday, August 8, 2008

If Variety is the Spice...

Maybe thats why Western fast food is so bland and looks all the same?


I admit I'm getting a bit tired of curries (what you might think are green beans....nope, those are super spicy peppers), but I'm in no rush to try any of the meals from this Malaysian fast food joint, "Sugar Bun". If you can't read the menu captions, they say (from left to right) Western Meal 7, Western Meal 6, Western Meal 5, etc. Mmmmm!

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Quote of the Day

My mom's question about Bangladesh:

"Are any of my houseplants considered 'weeds' out there?"

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Oh, Cheese

I got sick for the first time in Bangladesh-- the day after eating Pizza Hut. The "cheese" was a little funky. Maybe that's what did it. Or it might be side effects from the malaria pills. Otherwise, my body seems to be adjusting pretty well. I heard horror stories of other volunteers falling ill for weeks. We're told that, in all likelihood, it will happen to us too. Knock on wood; I'm fine thus far. I've had several new experiences-- heart burn from ultra-spicy food; getting carsick from the erratic driving on twisty, bumpy roads; and who knew bug bites came in so many shapes and sizes?! But nothing major, not yet!


The three new teachers! In our first salwar kameez.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Tea Party!

Tea (production and consumption) is huge in Bangladesh. A few days ago, we were invited to the 'tea auction', which consists of about 100 men bidding in an old, stuffy room. The tea is auctioned off to distributors. The auctioneers are middlemen; they bought the tea from producers in Bangladesh.


To give you an idea of the amount of tea we're dealing with here-- every time the auctioneer hit his gavel (about every 30 seconds) a metric ton of tea was sold. I can't even visualize a metric ton of tea.

How do potential buyers determine which teas to bid on? There is a tasting room upstairs, where the "elite" buyers come for weekly tastings. Not part of the tea trade's higher echelons? You are allowed to come in and just sniff the teas. This room had over 800 (yes, 800!) different types of tea out for sampling. We got to try a few.






All "real" teas come from the same plant, Camellia sinensis. Processing the tea leaves in different ways makes the different types of tea (black, green, oolong, and white). Factors such as weather, length of growing season, soil, and age all affect the flavor of individual teas (Introduction to Wines, anyone?).

A couple decades ago, the tea business in Bangladesh was mainly exports. Now, around 80% of the tea stays in the country, and the other 20% is exported to Pakistan. This year, however, domestic sales are expected to increase even more. It is (hopefully) an election year in Bangladesh, so men will frequent roadside tea stalls to talk politics.

Friday, August 1, 2008

The Lowdown

I was a biology major…and now I’m a volunteer English teacher?! Let me explain. I’m working at the Access Academy for the Asian University for Women (AUW). The AUW is set to open in Fall 2009. The Access Academy is an intensive 18-month program, designed to prepare under-privileged students for the AUW. The students come from several South Asian countries (Bangladesh, Pakistan, Cambodia, Nepal, India and Sri Lanka). English is priority, but there are also computer and math classes. The goal is to catch everyone up to speed for college. Can you imagine attending college in another language? Other than the native one you went through high school with? So, for one year, I'm here!

Chittagong Hill Tracts

Yesterday a group of us took a day to visit the Chittagong Hill Tracts.* It took about two and a half hours of driving to make it up there.

A note about driving in Bangladesh:
I think people drive on the left side of the road (British residue). But no one seems to follow any sort of system at all. And I thought driving in Doha was bad! Here, its a constant game of chicken. A little car is driving down the road, a bus comes barreling down in the opposite direction (this is where I hold my breath), and at the last possible moment, the little car swerves out of the way. The bigger vehicle (usually) wins.


So, after two and a half hours of driving on steep winding, twisting, bumpy, holey roads...I'm now pretty confident I know what its like to feel carsick. We pass through a couple check points and show our passports, along with the note of permission we obtained from some government official.

First we stopped at a Buddist temple and monastery. It was beautiful. And so calm and quiet, compared with the crowded intensity that is Chittagong. We got to chat with some of the monks, who were just hanging around, reading the newspaper.




We then stopped by a textile shop, where we got to see women sewing clothes and weaving beautiful scarves on enormous looms (Bangladesh is big in the garment industry, for better or worse, more about that later).




In the afternoon, we had some tasty daal for lunch and took a long boat ride around a beautiful lake, stopping off at couple little islands. Everything is just so green here!





This all sounds quaint and pleasant, right? Time for a history bite. The indigenous people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, to my understanding, developed an autonomous government while Bangladesh was fighting to break from Pakistan in the 1970's. But once Bangladesh became independent, it was usurped by the new nation and the Hill Tracts became part of the new country. Soon thereafter, the Bangladeshi government tried to resettle the Hill Tracts region with Bengali people (West Bank, anyone?). The natives were not thrilled, and since then there is a good deal of hostility between the two. There is rumored to be an ongoing genocide against the indigenous people by the settlers and the military, abetted by the government. The actual state of affairs is hard to discern, especially as a foreigner wanted for tourist bucks, but there is definitely a prejudice against people from the Hill Tracts region.

Back the the boat ride. The lake was beautiful. But it was also man-made-- by the Bangladeshi government, to harness hydro-electric power. It flooded the farms and homes of hundreds of indigenous people, and destroyed one of their most sacred temples.



I had a hard time enjoying the scenery, with that in mind. This is why I'm a bad tourist.




*Please don't read the travel advisories for this region. And if you do, please don't tell my mom.