Eid Vacation, Day #1

I'm going to document this trip in far more detail than necessary-- for my recollection more than anything.

The adventure begins with my roommates and I misunderstanding the time for our bus, and rushing out the door like madwomen. We made it to the bus station, where I managed to literally wack the top of my thumb off on a door. They say Bengalis care about their neighbors-- the bus driver literally ran over with a ball of cotton and a huge jug of salve. I can't speak much (any) Bangla, and I had no idea what was going on while he dipped my finger in. But my finger is growing back, so I guess that's good!

All nine of us teachers on the trip were assigned to the front of the bus-- where single women must sit. I took the 9th seat, by myself at the window-- where single women not travelling in pairs must sit. Next to me sat (and soon, slept on my shoulder) a Bengali man. Turns out he spoke English, so (after he woke up), we chatted about Bangladesh. Apparently the jute industry is moving to India, and taking lots of jobs with it.

We arrived in Dhaka around 10pm. Nishi, one of our students, and her father picked us up and took our whole group to their small apartment for dinner. It was so generous of them, and so delicious! Then they drove us to our hostel for the night.

So begins our journey.

My luggage. I pack light. Especially when knowing I have to carry it up a mountain.

Art Imitates Life/Life Imitates Art

Nepal, In Sum

At 4am last night, I returned to Chittagong after a marvelous 10 day vacation in Nepal. I'll write more (a lot more) later, but here are some highlights:

1) Doing an 8-day, 45 mile mountain trek in 4 days instead, due to an anti-Maoist strike that closed major highways but actually just consisted of a line of stones across the road and some men doing yoga.

2) Accidentally catching a glimpse of the Kumary-- the Living Godess-- in Katmandu.

3) Nepali Dance Party

4) Momo's, Daal Bhaat, and Tibetan Bread.

5) Hummus and Hamburgers.

6) Getting stuck in a traffic jam of several mules and herds of mountain goats.

7) Seeing women walking outside. And owning shops. And even being construction workers.

8) Meeting some guys that fly planes for the United Nations-- and going over their apartment to play Guitar Hero. Guitar Hero!!

9) Chatting with friendly Bangladeshis. Including the ex-Director of Oxfam's operations in Iraqi, whom I sat next to on the plane ride home! We'll definitely be keeping in touch . . .

10) Gorgeous views of the rice paddies, mountains, and rural villages of Nepal:

Final Exams

Read the list of words. Then write the topic:

1) fish, mutton, beef, chicken

This was a question on one of my exams. I got a variety of answers, including:

"not vegetables"
"meats non-vegetarian"
"kinds of curries"
"protein foods"
"foods"
and, a few: "meats"

Teaching English is a lot more fun than I thought it would be, especially with the lower-level classes. But it has its challenges, too. For example, "mountainous nurse" is not an appropriate way to describe a large nurse. And I have no idea what it means to "mesmerize the window". Try explaining the difference between "ice" and "snow" to students from rural Sri Lanka. Then there was the student who, in her summary of a book about a man who loves his wife but is angry with his father wrote "He is making love to his wife, but he is not making love to his father." Figured I better correct that one pretty fast.

On the flip side, I think that having no context and preconceptions of English words and phrases gives non-native speakers an incredibly unique power of expression. The girls describe their thoughts and life experiences in limited English-- which means short, direct, poignant sentences.

I admit I took this job mainly because I thought it would be awesome to live in Bangladesh. Now that I'm here, though, I'm starting to realize the importance of learning English. Ah, globalization and the hegemony of America. Learning English is the key to a good job, whether that be working with tourists or a global corporation, or even in order to get a high-quality education. Knowledge of English opens many doors for people-- doors that, as a native English speaker, were already opened for me. Lots of the girls here are really smart and will go far. They just have an incredibly challenging game of catch-up to play first. I'm now quite grateful that English is my native language.

Ms. Chinty (it's Cindy...so close) is finally done grading exams. Time for a nap, then off to Nepal for Eid (the holiday after the holy month of Ramadan) Break!

Its beautiful under the mosquito cockroach net.

A Parade

I took this picture out our window one special morning. There was a parade for...National Literacy Day.



The literacy rate in Banlgadesh is 48%, according to UNICEF. I like the idea of parading with a purpose!

Tell Miss Cindy...

that she has TWO packages!

A box of goodies from home (contacts! sunglasses! and more!) AND an entire box of dark-chocolate peanut M&M's from Aunt Mary Jo! I could not ask for more.

The highlight of my day:



One was mailed from America on August 12, the other on August 21. They both arrived yesterday. The best part was, it cost me over 1,000 taka (around $10) to collect my packages. Apparently packages take less than a week to make it to Bangladesh. Then they sit around in customs, where every single box is opened, and everything is unwrapped and inspected. So that $10 I paid...they call that the "repacking fee". Don't unpack it, and I won't have to pay you to re-pack it! Oh my.

Obama, ensh'allah

The man's got world-wide appeal:


He may not have enough foreign policy experience, but he does have the edge in international celebrity.

There's a good deal of anti-American sentiment abroad (I don't mean here, in particular. In general). People say the same thing. They like Americans once they get to know them, but they still don't like America and its leaders.

Flying home from Beijing last winter, I sat next to a Mongolian man travelling to Canada. When he found out I was from America, his jaw dropped and he said, "Aren't you scared?". He was referring to America's lack of gun control laws. It was a situation he viewed as completely archaic, and representative, in his eyes, of our slide downward as a country. While not all Americans are the gun-toting, speed-racing highway robbers he imagined-- if this is what foreigners envision, it is time for us to flip things around.

There's nothing Bush can do to gain favor abroad, at this point. By the same token, unless Obama makes a huge mistake as President, it won't be easy for him to tarnish his image. People across all continents are raving about Obama. The "stardom" contest currently underway on the campaign trail in the U.S. probably isn't the best way to select a leader. But why not use Obama's star power abroad to our advantage?