Bangla Home

Life has been very busy for the last month or so. The teachers all moved into a new building, about 7 minutes (by rickshaw) from the school. It is so nice to live and work in separate buildings! I love the students, but it is such a relief to not open my door to a chorus of "Hello Miss!!" every hour of every day. The new building is absolutely gorgeous, too. Next year, the "real teachers" -- the university faculty-- will be living here. We'll probably have to move out in June, so they can move in.

My new room (ignore the laundry hanging up to dry)

It's not perfect, of course: there's no hot water, a zillion mosquitos and ants, the noise outside is deafening (cars, CNG's, people, wild dogs and jackals at night...), and the pollution gives me a horrible cough. But really, it's pretty nice. When I came to Bangladesh, I sure didn't expect to be living in such a nice place. On the other hand, I also didn't expect to be teaching high school level English literature without a curriculum. Hearing stories of volunteers in rural villages in remote parts of the world, where just getting through the day is a struggle, I recognize the fact that decent living conditions enable me to put a lot more energy into my teaching. Enable isn't the right word-- more is expected of us. And that seems fair to me!

The mechanic shop across the street. Apparently it's open 24-hours, as I've woken many nights to the sound of drills, hammers, engines, etc . . .

The view from my window

Fun fact: House values in our neighborhood have risen since we came to this new building. And no, it's not the result of some convoluted market theory. They rose because 15 Western girls moved in.

Language Moment

We're reading Charlotte's Web in three of my classes. They asked me to define an unfamiliar word that keeps appearing in the text: crate. I explained that it is a box with an opening, normally made out of either wood or plastic. Everyone nodded in understanding. Upon hearing the definition, however, one student's face fell. Her hand shot up in the air.

"But Miss, it can't be made out of bamboo?!?!"

Happy Thank-You Day!

"Miss, how do you celebrate the Thank-You Day festival?"

Liberation War

With politics heating up in Bangladesh (Election Day is December 18th!), I thought now might be a good time for a little history.

Bangladesh was a part of Pakistan (despite the awkward geography) until the 1971 Liberation War. Many of our students are the proud daughters of Freedom Fighters. Prior to liberation, Bangladesh was East Pakistan, and today's Pakistan was West Pakistan. Despite the fact that East Pakistan was far more populous, West Pakistan maintained the majority of government power. When a Prime Minister from East Pakistan was elected, the government rejected his rule. They proposed a dual-minister situation, with East and West each having their own. This was not received well by East Pakistanis (the future Bangladeshis). The war erupted soon thereafter, and Bangladesh was born!

Additionally, there was the Mother Language Movement. In the 1950's, West Pakistan proclaimed Urdu as the national language, despite the fact that the majority of East Pakistan spoke Bengali. Protests followed. Although it preceded the Liberation War by a couple decades, the animosity between the two language groups surely contributed towards the Bangladeshi push for independence. Bangladesh, after all, means "land where they speak Bangla".

Head Start Needed

This article about birth in Bangladesh is pretty alarming: "Hard Start for Bangladesh Baby". And birth is most definitely not the last hurdle. I was speaking with Qamar Banu today, the woman who is basically the "mother-in-residence" for all of the girls. She told me that a lot of children in this country are very malnourished when they are young, and this is a big problem because then there are problems with their mental development. They have a difficult time with school later on in life, all because they did not have enough to eat when they were young.

Here Comes the Sun

More Nepal pictures, as promised (although it is a month later, oops!).

On the last morning of our four-day trek, we woke up at 4am to climb to the top of Poon Hill in the dark. Sure wasn't easy, but it certainly paid off!

JUST before the sun rose . . . we were above the clouds!

Just as the sun began to rise . . .

Suddenly, we saw the sun shining on the mountains in the west!

So beautiful.

LauraBeth, mountains, me (I was super cold, and wrapped in someone's scarf)

Posting this one to illustrate how horrible I am at posing for pictures :)

Hiking, the previous day

I miss Nepal . . .

Daal bhat (lentils and rice). Standard Nepali fare. We ate it everyday. Yum!

Congratulations!

The students are saying "Congratulations, Miss, Congratulations!" I think this quote from a recent New York Times article sums it up well:

GAZA — From far away, this is how it looks: There is a country out there where tens of millions of white Christians, voting freely, select as their leader a black man of modest origin, the son of a Muslim. There is a place on Earth — call it America — where such a thing happens.

Pretty incredible, huh?

The night before the results came to Bangladesh (when the polls had just opened in the U.S.), I walked down the street from my new apartment to the local convenience store-- three walls, a flat roof, not very big. We had a chat with the lman that owns the store, dubbed Mr. Moon Shine (after the name of his store). He has good English. "From America? The election? I hear many polls," he said, "You vote for?" "Barack Obama," I said. "Obama! I like him, too," replied the owner, "This world needs peace. He can. Obama can make world peace."

The next morning, I woke up at 6am to catch the results as the first polls closed in America. For that initial hour or so, McCain's electoral count was ahead. I sat there in the empty apartment, alone, in front of the BBC. I was beginning to think I should be worried. Then things starting looking up. I had to leave for class, but some students busted into my classroom when it was official: "Miss Cindy! Miss Cindy! Barack Obama is President of U.S.!!"

I watched his victory speech with my students during tea break. I admit I cried a little. I'm excited for America, and I wish I could describe how much people in other countries care. If only Americans could care as much about the politics of other countries.

I think the following dialogue illustrates the point:

Scene: An hour after Obama’s Victory Speech. In class, during silent reading time.

Student [whispering]: Miss! Miss! I have a concern!
Miss Cindy [walks over]: Yes?
Student [still whispering]: It’s not about the book.
Miss Cindy: Yes?
Student: This, Barack Obama in America? Is it a, um, turning point?
Miss Cindy: What do you think?
Student: Yes, miss, yes! I think so.
Miss Cindy: Well, we’ll all find out soon.


We've got a new President. And there's a lot to be done. Talk about Great Expectations!