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!