I am out of witty titles . YEAH

This is the Canadian Club. My little getaway.





I have been busy this week… sort of… We have been desperately searching for an apartment. We are in an expensive area to begin with here and once they see me… yeah the price doubles or triples.

Incase you all haven’t noticed.. Ashley Dawson is a walking wallet. You know in cartoons when someone’s eyes bug out and they are dollar signs.. yeah that’s what people do when they see me…







IF ONLY they knew how broke I really am. It is super frustrating. I feel like I get ripped off EVERYWHERE I go!

We thought we had a lead on apartments when this local agent started showing us places… then we finally realized why… He was going to rent it at Bengali price… then charge us Bideshi price! ANYWAY… We think we have settled on a place. It is a little farther than we would like but it has everything we want and everything is brand new.

We’ve been hitting up the foreigner places lately- Pizza Hut, Coffee World (Starbucks), the Canadian Club, and the Beauty salon. At least in these places we pay foreigner prices but we know we are getting quality… more so than other places.

Work.. yeah.. I’ll get back to that some day. Actually I’ve helping with the website. They created a year or two ago and it hasn’t been working in a while so I am trying to edit the content and then help create or suggest other things that they should have on it. Once it is working I’ll post the link. Also there was or is suppose to be training soon in a small town/village but I think we will only go for the day. Because Karina and I have both been to the Dr. I think our coordinator is afraid we will get sick if we stay longer!

I am a little more comfortable out on the streets now. It is always easier when you have someone.
Random thought... Kids are hard to read here. Some of them are just curious and just want to be near you and are interested and then others just assume you will give them money. The ones that chase the cars down on the road are dangerous. Karina actually got slapped across the face last night by some street kid who was maybe 7. We were stopped at a light and we got swarmed. Getting stuck at traffic lights.. or just in traffic in general is always a nervous moment. In a rickshaw people can plainly see me and I am often swarmed by people asking for money.. in a CNG (tuk tuk) I can try to hide my pale pale arms and feet and the swarming is less. Also some people think Karina is a local and it often helps as they won’t bother us as much or prices are regular not Bideshi price.

The weather has been unbearable the past few days, even for Bengalis. It is 34 and with humidity it feels like 45. You hit a wall when you walk out of A/Ced buildings. Although on the plus side… LESS RAIN lately!! I hope I didn’t just jinx it. I can’t wait until winter. They tell me it is coming in October or November … I am desperate for 20-25 degree weather!! Maybe I won’t have to shower 3 times a day!

UPDATE : After re-writing this 10 times and not posting... I finally just gave up.
WE HAVE MOVED!!! I HAVE A HOME!!!!

The place is brand new and has or is getting everything we want right down to the washing machine! The owner is the brother of the hotel manager so we shouldn’t have any shady landlord problems. It is so nice to have something that is as close to home as you are going to get.



The weather is getting cooler...YEAH.

Oh yeah and we are going to Cox's Bazar in October! for "work". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cox's_Bazar
Hahahaha... I think the office just wants a break after Ramadan! Either way I am excited. It is the longest natural sandy beach in the world. Something like 120 kmx. Yeah to wearing boarder shorts and a t-shirt instead of a bathing suit!

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

I'll spare you all the gritty details but the past few days have been rough to say the least.

The Good
Friday night Karina, Sean and I went to the Canadian Club which is a rec club for Canadian diplomats abroad. This place was brand spanking new. Beautiful pool, gym, lounge, bar, TV, etc. Typical country club stuff. We went for a Montreal smoked meat dinner event to meet the man in charge of CIDA interns and meet some other interns.
We can get a membership to the club only because we are interns and access to the club, basically, will keep us sane. It allows girls like us to wear a bathing suit, shorts or a tank top and not be harassed or mauled! And when you need a drink drink… this is the place to come… come on…Tequilla $2.50! You can’t even get that in Canada!

So we schmoozed it up with some people who potentially could lead to jobs later… the head of UNICEF in Bangladesh, some CIDA people, etc. Somehow we met some local Bengalis who took us and some others to a party…. Yeah a party at the US MARINES compound. Yeah every stereotypical idea you have about them.. yeah I found it there. Literally I was in a frat house with a bar, big screen tv, disco ball, fooseball table, mini basketball net, on the rooftop pool table, air hockey, and ping pong. Thank god it was a dead party. I couldn't have handled anymore Jarheads.

The Bad
On Friday we decided to go shopping in the morning and not even 2 minutes after leaving the hotel a man grabbed me and when we walked away he came running after us and then started chasing us across the road and when we tried to jump in a rickshaw he tried to jump in too. It was one of the scariest things ever. Finally some other rickshaw guys chased him off as he was chasing our rickshaw. Apparently he was mentally ill. Totallllllly freaky! Not a good start to the day.


The local TTC. Yeah. I swear I'll never dis the TTC again. Alright who am I kidding.

The Ugly
We've had some problems at the hotel with staff (just think.. 2 young girls... alone) anyway... . and we don't really feel safe here anymore and are leaving. We have been looking for a new place and we have the option of a service apartment place to go for the short term or long but we would like to find something cheaper perhaps.

Well I made it to the DR....although not for my cold. Apparently I (and my intestinal tract) have had Round 1 with Bangladeshi bacteria. And I believe it won the round. Although I now have a cool Indian Elvis looking Dr. friend who can help me with the subsequent Rounds!

The Other
Yeah.. I haven't been to work since Tuesday. Hopefully I can return soon and get into a routine and actually feel like I am doing what I came to do. Oh and I am going to profile the people we work with.... If I ever make it back to work!!

I've got a Fever and the only perscription is more Cowbell

Alright so maybe it isn't Cowbell but it certainly isn't the 10 different kinds of Meds I am taking. (This picture doesn't show how sick I really am)

I am sick. Yeah... figures.. Two weeks and I get a cold. This is a little on the ridiculous side though. I really should have not gone to work the first 3 days but I did. Now I regret it. I have NO voice, fever of 101 (which may not seem like alot.. but when it is 99,000 degrees already outside), and a serious addiction to the kleenex box. It totally sucks. And what makes it suck even more is that Karina just got here and now I have someone to do things with.

So we've been to the market now a couple of times.. The fruit and veggie and spice parts are interesting to navigate and learn how to bargain. Men sit atop 3-4 levels of platforms surrounded by veggies. This dude totally called me over and made me haul my butt up to the top just for a photo! He was loving it!

The past couple of days the weather has been miserable. Rain and more rain.. but today there was sun and I was cursing that too as it was so hot. I guess I just cannot be please when it comes to weather. The constant sweating is a little ridiculous.


Not much going on at the office... another project launching thing tomorrow but I am not going in again because I am sick. I think we are going to a village sometime next week to do some training. Should be interesting.

Ramadan starts on Friday... although I am not fasting (come on... there is no way this kid could possible last all day without food) it will be interesting to see how everyone handles the lack of food. Apparently many restaurants and markets will be closed until late in the day, and most people don't want to work. We actually get to go home an hour early everyday. This time really shows who is a true Muslim! I am waiting to catch someone hiding in the closet mowing down some French fries!

The Sausage fest that happens on the streets... women are only seen out and about when they walk to and from work. Other than that.. Sausage fest all the way.

Oh yeah and Aziz one of the office guys got me medicine.. and it cost $1. I got a bottle of Cough sirop, 10 fever pills, and 10 cold pills.. grand total $1. Yeah imagine Shopper's Drugmart... You couldn't walk outta there without spending $15-20. Although I was a little skeptical and Googled the Meds just to make sure I wasn't getting illegal ecstasy or something! I've seen the movie Brokendown Palace.. I don't want to go to Thai prison thank you.

And I noticed I used the word interesting a lot. Interestingly enough.. I don't care. I also noticed that there was no point to this post either. It is extremely random.

Chittagong and Cold

So first off.. No making fun of the bedroom eyes I seem to be making in this photos.. I don’t know what happened.

Thursday I left for 3 days to go to Chittagong for a wedding. The 250 km journey only took 6 hours. Not bad eh? Ugh. Throw me under the bus. I am a poor traveler and the kid tossing his cookies in the seat across from me didn’t help much, along with the constant air freshener spraying that Deshi's seem to have an addiction to. Alright so anyway.. back to the wedding. We arrived late afternoon and then took the next 3.5 hours to get ready for one of the wedding events. Needless to say I needed a lot of help as I for one and NOT a girly girl and cannot get dressed up, two have never worn a sari, and three can't handle myself in heels.


aaaaand... I look like I am going to vomit in this photo....

So along with the marching band and our 3 bus loads of people, we went to a community hall for the wedding something or other… The Groom’s family presents the Bride’s family with gifts and then each family does some dancing. That pretty much sums up night number one. Oh and the whole weekend is being documented on an RCA video camera circa 1989 with two guys running around on each side with lights.. aaaand everything is plugged in somewhere with extension cords! Oh and because I was the token white kid.. I ended up having that thing stuffed in my face more than I needed.

Friday morning after breakfast we went on a city tour of Chittagong. Chittagong is on the Bay of Bengal so there is a massive port and there are touristy spots on the water.
We visited one and I suddenly became the attraction. It was like a bad bad photo shoot with me as the subject. Literally babies were thrown in my arms so they could have a picture with the white kid... although they didn't have a cameras.

That evening was the wedding ceremony. First the Bride's family brings gifts to the Groom's family. Including the wedding outfits for the Groom and the Groom's mother. Oh and then as they dress the groom.. people groom him. I have one photo of me staring as someone clips his fingernails!
The woman on the left is my boss lady and the Bride is on the right. BLING BLING.

During the day it had started to rain... obviously as it seems to everyday... and by the time we left for the Chittagong Country Club some of the roads had begun to flood. At the club the wedding was under a big tent.... the torrential rain pretty much ruined the ceremony as no one could go to the tent as the ground was one big mud pile. Only the bride and groom and a handful of people ventured out.



After a goat dinner and some wretched yogurt/vinegar/spiced drink.. it was time to wait for the cars to take us back to the hotel. Because the roads were flooded.. this took HOURS longer than it should have. Once we reached the hotel the parking lot was flooded up to my knees in water....sari in hand.. I trudged through the disgusting brown smelly water.. as every other Deshi woman was carried through. I just didn't see the point in hurting/breaking some poor guys' poor back over dirty water. The whole wedding events were exciting and interesting.. seems much more informal compared to every stuffy wedding I have ever been to. The second half of the wedding... the reception (ie the reception of the bride into the groom's family) will be in Dhaka in January.. New Year's I think. Should be one goooood party!

The bus ride back to Dhaka on Saturday was difficult to say the least. Flooding everywhere (check out my facebook for some videos). Also I had developed a cold and the constant dripping of water from the bus roof onto my head and lap didn't help. Yeah honestly who gets a cold... of all the things that could have gotten me.... it is a freaking cold that sends me to bed. I guess I should be happy about that!!

Today at work I ACTUALLY DID SOMETHING productive! I edited a proposal and gave recommendations! Wooooohoooo! And tonight I am going to the airport to get Karina the other Canadian intern from Humber. And last Wednesday I went to the A&W with another Canadian intern. Yes I am excited about A&W. Yes all very exciting events of my days.

Oh and from my sick bed.... I am watching the Miss Teen USA right now... Miss South Carolina.. you crack me up! Thank god for education.

Robbery, Roaches and Rain

A week and a day and I have already been robbed apparently... robbed or really pick-pocketed well really pick-pursed!! Last night after taking my first rickshaw ride alone I returned back to the hotel and as I was going through my purse I noticed my cellphone was missing. I was thinking maybe I left it at the office... well more like desperately hoping that I had but highly doubting that I had left it. I searched and asked around this morning and we couldn't find it.. we even called it and obviously it had already been shut/cut off. Crap . Seriously this phone was way better than my oldie that I had in Toronto and cost 1/4 of the price!

So I've had some run-ins with the local wildlife.. and by wildlife I mean bugs. I found a baby cockroach hanging around my toothbrush one morning. Yeah and obviously I disinfected it and ran for my toothbrush case only after I smushed him. Weird thing is after I finished brushing my teeth and went to throw out the paper that I had smushed him with... he was gone... honestly.. I know they survive everything but come on.. I got him goooood! I have encountered a few others and if anything gets bigger than these ones and I am seriously going to have issues.

I've also noticed I have mystery bites. They pop up out of nowhere. I am hoping that they are just ant bites as I have them keeping me company in my room as well. I checked for bedbugs and I am clean there.. but I don't where these mystery bites are coming from.. any suggestions fellow travelers?

Speaking of ants... I had this great candy stash going on.. and some ants tried to overtake it. I won the battle... or so I thought. I am mowing down my sucker today and I get to the middle.. take a good bite out of it...and I just happen to look down and BAM.. just like there should have been the tootsie roll centre.. I had ant centre! It.. or they.. not sure if there were multiples.. had crawled up the plastic sucker stick. Little protein never hurt anyone.. I guess...

Serious rain today... that's all I have to say about that.


On a better note in only a week I have picked up quite a bit of Bengali. You know the usual... Good Morning, How are you? I am fine. My name is... but I've got some goodies learned as well- Busy road- banana - no problem - Can you give me your pen? Some pretty useful stuff eh?.... right.

Maybe tomorrow I'll introduce you to some of my co-workers.. you know do some profile pics... oh and today I met the Dutch ambassador.. not that it is of any relevance to anything I have mentioned above. Oh and I also met the Canadian High Commissioner the other night at a benefit dinner. She might come in handy when if have a run in with the law!

Dhaka Dhaka Dhaka

So...... after some serious consideration and after having to repeat myself 20 different times to 20 different people and forgetting who I told what to.. I've decided to start a blog.
I am probably the worst person to blog as I ramble and it will probably be really choppy with no direction or flow and be poorly written with lots of .....'s ...But whatever.






As most of you know (and if you don't... well SURPRISE!) I am in Dhaka, Bangladesh for six months doing a Humber sponsored Canadian International Development Agency internship.. so I can graduate from Humber!

The official information on my internship:
Overview
The partnership between Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BWCCI) and the Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning is a five-year program to assist in the goal of reducing poverty and decreasing the vulnerability of women by enabling them to establish their own businesses and to effectively manage and grow their enterprises. More specifically, the project will build the capacity of the Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BWCCI) to develop curriculum, training resources and trainers to provide training to women wanting to establish micro enterprises and small businesses and then helping them to manage them effectively.


MY JOB
The Project Support Officer will assist the Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BWCCI) in the marketing of entrepreneurship training workshops and community outreach. The intern will also assist in the strategic planning of a Business Support Centre for entrepreneurs.

So I arrived in Dhaka on Sunday the 26th during curfew. The current government in Bangladesh is a "care-taker government". It is a military backed government that took power in January 2007 basically with a coup. Anyway, recently there was some rioting at Dhaka University and so the government imposed a curfew from 11pm to 6am (which has since been lifted). So I get to the airport and no one is there to meet me except a man with my name on a piece of paper. We hit 5 military checkpoints on the way to the hotel. I only get yelled at once by a man with the big gun and only have to show my passport twice. The other times I get waved through because I am a bideshi (foreigner). So I arrived safely with all my luggage. BONUS!

I am staying at a hotel/guest house for now. Soon I will start looking for an apartment or a nice Bengali family to adopt me!

I have been to the office everyday but I can't say I've done much work. I am still getting familiar with the place and how it works. I've been mostly reading up on the past/current projects and what has been done before me. The office has been busy as they just launched a new project, Promoting Women Entrepreneurship through Advocacy, and held a conference to present it to the media. Apparently I made quite a few of the nightly tv news stations! Being the token foreigner! (A news article regarding the project)
http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2007/09/03/news0957.htm

Other than that I haven't been up to much. The streets of Dhaka make me very nervous. Besides the fact that I think I am going to get run over on the road every time I cross it... or that the "rules of the road" apparently don't apply in Dhaka..... I obviously stand out like a giraffe in a zebra pen, and the staring and yelling at me is a little unnerving. I haven't ventured out much alone much because I am still afraid of getting lost... although I did go for a walk and locate the Pizza Hut and A&W... just in case... you know for those those days when I can't handle the spicy food... which I still can't eat now anyway!

My upcoming plans include a big wedding to attend on Thursday. The president of BWCCI's son is getting married so I am off to Chittagong for two days to be one of the 1000 people in attendance! Yeah and it will be my first Sari experience... knowing my luck it'll fall off and I'll be left there standing half naked.




Yeah so like I said... no direction and scattered thoughts but oh well. It's my first attempt.. give me a break.