Bangladesh

CHINA

2008-02-02T01:12:00.001-08:00

Fact --- I went to China.

***** Observations
No one... I mean no one in Yunnan Province speaks any English.

In an effort to eliminate diapers... children under 5 have crotchless pants and crotchless snow pants. Talk about chapped cheeks!

Chinese cab drivers are probably the most honest people I have met in Asia. (no sarcasm.. really they are)

Ashley makes pretty good train "chooo chooo" sounds and signs as well as airplane noises and charades.

Having white people in your photos is an awesome souvenir for Chinese vacationers. (FYI I totally do the peace sign with them)

The "Snot Rocket" is a totally acceptable practice on the streets of China.

There is a Chinese "Oprah". Same set, same couch, same hair. Yet the Chinese version of Oprah does not know that there is really a lady named Oprah.

Wikipedia is outlawed as is CNN (which it should be).

98% of travelers in China are there teaching English. 1% are going to Shangra-la and the last percent are trying to escape Bangladesh.

Time is UP!

2008-01-11T08:16:00.001-08:00

So my internship is almost over.... I only have 12 days left in Bangladesh. Here are some of my latest observations.

**The brake, shock, and horn business must make a killing in Bangladesh. And any potential investors should get in now.

**Karina and I thought we couldn't get any closer until... we shared a twin bed together. Nothing like a nap full of spooning to kick off a great advocacy seminar.

**There are only so many times that your life can flash before your eyes, while you are sitting in the front seat of a 10 person bus with no horn on a two lane highway going god knows how fast because the speedometer is broken passing plenty of overturned buses and cars from accidents while facing oncoming traffic, before you get bored. Honestly.

**Bangladesh's biggest export is men. Seriously.

**Apparently Bird Flu has made a comeback and has closed the Bangladesh and Indian border to all chickens trying to cross the road.

List of misused English words by Bangladeshis
These are ones that are super annoying to me.

Scope - There just is no scope to finish.
Trans. There is just no chance/possibility/way to finish

Program - I have a program this weekend.
Trans. I have to go to my cousins birthday party/my aunts house/a seminar/fill in the blank this weekend.

Saloon - I am going to the Saloon for a haircut.
Trans. I am going to the salon to get haircut.

Shifting - I am shifting on Wednesday.
Trans. I am moving on Wednesday

Too much - We had too much fun in Calcutta. Trans. We had so much fun in Calcutta

Only - Nine hundred taka only
Trans. Your total is 900 taka.

Holiday - We don't work on Fridays.. it is holiday.
Trans. We don't work on Fridays.. it is the weekend.
(vacation is also not in their vocabulary)

Holidays

2007-12-26T07:58:00.000-08:00

Victory Day, Eid, Christmas, and New Year's.

All of the above fell in 2.5 weeks. Some were more enjoyable than others!
Victory Day was on December 16th. It was in 1971 that the Pakistan army surrendered ending the war of independence. All around Dhaka there were celebrations and flags everywhere.

The next holiday was Eid. This was is not so enjoyable. Families than can afford it buy cows or goats and sacrifice them. Let's just say we stayed in that day. They divide the meat into 3 sections. 1/3 they keep, 1/3 goes to their poor relatives, and 1/3 to the poor. For at least a week before animals were coming into the city from villages. Watching 3 men struggling with a massive cow was somewhat amusing... until I saw a cow hit by a truck because the men couldn't control it.

So in the car garages and on the streets the butcher comes and does away with your animal. That morning looking up our street was not pretty. Animal carcases and blood running everywhere. After Eid the streets are less than sanitary. The smell and sight of blood was disturbing.

YEAH FOR CHRISTMAS! After several attempts at the travel agent to get out of Dhaka for Christmas (as 99% of the people I know did)... we ended up at the Westin. It would have been pretty pathetic to stay home in our apt with no tree or carols with one, if not the best, hotel in Dhaka and only 2 mins up the road!!!

No gifts for Christmas this year... Sleeping on a pillow-top mattress with a duvet was a Christmas present in itself. Okay so I bought myself one present.. and wrapped it myself.. yeah I know.. how sad is that. Oh well.

New Years. Okay...so I am an old woman. When Bangladeshis say they are going to "dance the night away". They mean it. Literally it was 5 am and breakfast was being served and most people were still getting down on the dance floor. I do not have the energy (or the dance moves) to keep up. And apparently neither could Sean.

FYI... I only have a month and a half left!

Humber comes to Bangladesh

2007-12-05T20:58:00.000-08:00

Work... One of the first and probably the ONLY post about work. 2 Humber faculty came to Dhaka to do a 5 day Train the Trainer program. Sheryn came to train the group of 10-12 core trainers on techniques to better facilitate training sessions.
And Jennifer(my boss in Canada) came to oversee all the project activities that Humber has been doing with BWCCI.

It was probably the busiest week I've had since I've been here. Not only were we busy with the Training session, but every night we were busy showing Jennifer and Sheryn around. Although I did get to do some stuff that I wouldn't have had a chance if they didn't come.

We went to Gazipur to visit someone's village. Ha... I even made it to the National Museum. That only took 4 months to get to! (honestly I like museums.. but this on... yeah I could have waited 6 months and not gone at all)

We went to Tangail, which is a village, 2 hours outside of Dhaka to watch some training and talk to some local women. It was one of the best experiences I've had in Bangladesh.

Oh and then Karina left me for over 2 weeks while she went to India for a wedding. Probably the longest two weeks since I've been here.
FYI riding a rickshaw alone is lonely.

Yeah I think the parasite must have affected my memory because I can't remember anything else. I am getting really bad at this blogging stuff. I have become lazy and I think pictures are better than my crappy writing!

Alright I get it.. I haven't written in a while. Nepal update

2007-12-05T19:49:00.001-08:00

Okay... So I have been a little busy and just haven't had time to write. Thanks to all of you who felt the need to point out that I was slacking. Thank you. *eyes roll*

ANYWAY!!!... Here is the condensed version. Since the end of October time has flown by. In the chaos that was November... I worked like crazy to get ready for Humber faculty, was passed over by the Bangladesh government for a visa, took a trip to Nepal, climbed Everest, helped with the Humber 5 day training program, went to visit two villages, took part in one seminar, fought off food poisoning, shopped and shopped and learned about fabrics, went to the National Museum, and finally got rid of my parasite!

Start with the most interesting... I went to Kathmandu, Nepal! So like I said before.. the Bangladesh government likes to take its time with things.. and my visa just wasn't on the priority list. Annoying as it was waiting for an extension... I should be happy that I didn't get it because I got an all expense paid trip to Nepal.

After literally causing a fist-fight between taxi drivers over who would get the fresh meat off the plane I made it to Thamel.. the tourist/backpackers hangout spot of town.

1st day spent getting my Bangladesh visa and playing(more like running away from) with the monkeys at the Monkey Temple.

2nd day was spent hunting for my Credit card that the Bank had decided to keep the day earlier.

3rd day I rented a car and driver (who doubled as my tour guide... like I was going to fork over another $40 for a tour guide!!! what a scam). He took me to Bhaktapur, an ancient Newari city and then up to Nagakort for a view of the Himalayans. Oh and early I almost got suckered into doing a fly by of Mount Everest for $130 US.
But come on.. Mt.Everest. Next time...

4th day - Spent at the airport as GMG is a SUCKY airline who have a horrible reputation for canceling fights as their aircrafts are not in "air worthy conditions" and inspectors are constantly taking them off scheduled flights. But do they tell you that noooooo.. They throw you in a hotel half an hour back into the city after you woke up early and got to the airport EXTRA early that morning! Original flight time. 12:15pm rescheduled flight time 7:00pm, re-rescheduled flight 9:30 pm, re-re-rescheduled flight time 11:45 pm, acutal flight time.... 11:49pm. Oh and by the way none of those were guaranteed to leave until 2 hours before the flight time as they weren't sure if an aircraft would reach the airport. FYI you might have to stay at HOTEL PRIME for the night .. compliments of GMG airline... FYI GMG.. Hotel Prime is waaaaaaay past its PRIME!.

That was a summed up version of Nepal. I really wish I had more time and money because after the craziness of Dhaka I really needed a vacation and the ZEN of Buddhists.

Hmmmm.. what else about Nepal?

Maybe after I read my journal I will find some more interesting stories... or maybe not.

Well I did get some Cool Photos!

I am Bujy

2007-10-27T21:01:00.000-07:00

2nd Durga Pooja
Akter and his daughter – took us back to the small temple and the craziness unfolded. Dye and water and incense are everywhere. Dancing. Then they take the idols to the lake and take them around 7 times then sink them. But before that they dance like mad before the idols. Karina volunteered/got dragged into the circle to dance. She boogied down and when she had sweated off 5 pounds she was finished… APPARENTLY it became my turn… yeah right. I am sorry.. but 95% of white Canadians are bad bad bad dancers and I am one of them. ANYWHOOOO I get my groove on with these painted ladies with a couple hundred people gawking at my awkward attempt at dancing! It was a blast.. sweat, dye, dirt, incense and all. Then the two of us have to do a dual dance thingy.

Fighting the Indian embassy- Anyone who has been through developing countries visa processes will understand how you wait and wait and wait and very little gets done. Yeah well I learned that it is all about WHO you know and if you have to flirt it out with this old man to get what you want… you do it. Thank you British High Commission man for feeling sorry for a loser who needed a copy of her passport.

Cox’s Bazar
Alright so after the CNG ride of death – we end up at the Bus pick-up place… Yeah took an overnight bus from 9:30 pm to 6:15am to Cox’s Bazar. Now the thing that gets me is that the actually Km’s from Dhaka to Cox’s Bazar is only like 500… but the road condition, traffic situation, rickshaw, CNG, and animal traffic that you may encounter on the way is, to be kind, F- RIDICULOUS. Anywhoooo to say the least I made it there with only the help of 2 Gravol. Which is pretty good for me. FYI --- anytime in Bangladesh you are given the choice for Business class on a bus… TAKE IT. TAKE IT.

The resort we stayed at is owned by my boss and this is where the advocacy seminar we were holding took place. (The actual reason for the seminar… was to impress the donor (Centre for International Private Enterprise) who had a Program representative come from Washington and check on progress).

Having most of the day free we hit up the beach first thing. Now anyone who has been to DR, Cuba, Mexico… Cox’s Bazar is the same thing. But WAAAAAAAY crazier waves and less skin showing as women don’t wear bathing suits… and for that matter.. neither do men. Pants and T-shirts are the norm… and for women.. they go in in their everyday clothes… I have a “SINKING” feeling that this aids in the number of drowning that take place here. ( alright that was a bad pun). Seriously next time try swimming in pants and a t-shirt and see how far you get with a current that is dead set on taking you out to the Bay of Bengal.

We hit up the town next to try the Burmese market – As Cox’s Bazar is so close to Burma/Myanmar (for you older folks) there are many refuges and immigrants here.

Later that day we had an general meeting with the Board members and then more beach time with all the women and then a BBQ.

The 2nd day was the Advocacy seminar and was quite entertaining. Around 150 people attended – many women entrepreneurs from the community and many local bankers as well. The point of the meeting was to open dialogue between women entrepreneurs who need financing for their businesses and the banks. Karina and I did registration… and the token foreigner flower delivery to the Chief Guest.

After we hit the beach. Swimming with the men from BWCCI was the HIGHLIGHT of the trip. These men were hilarious! I was afraid we had lost some of them to the ocean a time or two. Swimming I don’t think is a sport practiced much here at all… BUT WAVE jumping… now there is something the Bengali’s would win an Olympic gold if it ever becomes an Olympic sport. These grown men turned into 5 year old boys as soon as they entered the water. The giggles and shrieks that came from them were KILLER!!!

Sunset watching and moonlight gazing on the beach are also events that the Bengali’s would win if they were Olympic sports.

Watching the sunset was the main event for some ladies. Almost like the New Year’s ball dropping ceremony.

The bus ride back to Dhaka was the WORST trip I have ever had. The first hour on the bus was wretched. I don't think I have ever had motion sickness that bad before in my life... and then... For those of you who have ever experienced a squatter toilet... this is directed at you. (LYNETTE… AUNT CHRIS… I am THINKING OF YOU 2)
Let’s just say…Ashley needs more practice and more baby wipes to clean her left foot when she is finished.

After arriving back in Dhaka we spent the day with CIPE donor. Took her shopping, and for icecream and lunch and then she treated us to the Westin-.. UM HELLO. Ashley is moving to the Westin permanently. This place was amazing. Although there was some SERIOUS OVERFLOW of American Marines in the pool… Seriously these guys are everywhere. I don’t think I have seen that many tattoos since … yeah don’t know when.

Holidays

2007-10-20T23:12:00.000-07:00

Well my holidays are over... Back to work. Oh but wait we are going to the beach for work. Yipeeee. I'll let you know how that goes later this week.

Anyway yeah so Eid was fun. Everyone gets all dressed up and hits the streets to strut their stuff. Okay maybe no struts their stuff but they definitely go out to celebrate and eat and eat and eat. From what I understand people go from house to house and eat special Eid foods. Well we only went to two houses.. and I couldn't eat another thing. We went to Shamim's (my supervisor) and to Akhter's (a trainer from BWCCI). The next day we went to Ruba's house (a member and a board member). Too much food. Too much. The city was totally different from regular Dhaka. So much more quieter and no tension. It was nice.

There was also a Hindu holiday this week. Durga Pooja. Akhter and his girls took us to two temples, one at a small University and one at Dhaka University. The smaller of the two felt like a rural village in the middle of chaotic Dhaka. We also popped into a University Professor's house for some sweets. (photo)

I have been dying for a serious touristy day. The kind where someone takes you around and you don't have to struggle for rickshaws or CNGs and you can take all the cheesy touristy shots that you want. This was a pretty good tourist day. The two temples and New Market. New Market is this huge shopping market in Old Dhaka... and we were soooooo lucky that it was still Eid holidays and it wasn't crazy crazy busy as it is normally. Apparently you get shoved and it is so packed the only way to move is to be pushed.

The second temple on Dhaka University grounds was packed. Almost as busy as the Skydome when the Yanks come to town.

OOoooh... and I took local transit for the first time- A bus… yeah.. In the words of Larry Dawson- I took it TWICE... My 1st and my last. Actually it wasn’t that bad.. besides the man who got on after me stroked my shoulder 3 times on his 2 minute ride!!

WARNING-- For all you squeamish girls.... LOOK AWAY. LOOK FAR FAR AWAY!

I happened to come across this fellow in my bathroom at 3:30 in the AM.. Half a can of spray and 8 hours later.. he surrendered. Or maybe it was a She and her babies will learn a lesson and not come in my room. Largest thing I have seen! Shuddering now thinking about it.

No funny rickshaw stories to update you on... but something that has amused me lately. People here are extremely curious as to why you are in Bangladesh and where you come from. Typical question- “You’re country ma’am?” I have this thing of making them guess... here are the responses in order of the number of times they come up- JAPAN, UK, Australia, France, Sweden,Germany, Iran, and Saudi Arabia --- They usually get frustrated and I have to tell them. Canada just never gets enough credit. Oh and apparently I am also in the Peace Corps.

I wish I was the man in the boat. So chill.

Eid Mubarak

2007-10-10T05:46:00.000-07:00

I GUESSSSSSS... I'll do another entry. I just haven't found any motivation to write one. You have to be in a writing mood.. and I am a sucky writer.. so that mood never happens.

Things are going well. Work started to pick up and THEN we went on HOLIDAYS! Ha. Figures. We get a week off for Eid vacation. Humber is planning to send 2 faculty members here in November so that is what I am working on.. getting everything in order so that we can do some training and hopefully the Business Support Centre stuff.

Other than that I have been working on getting my Visa extended. Not sure if it would be easier to go to India and get it done.. or risk Bengali bureaucracy. Either way.. I hope it works.. or I will deported at the end of November. The other day at the passport office we were trying to decide when, who, and how much we should bribe them. I am sure Rupen would be proud.

Got another rickshaw story. The other day Karina and I hop on to head home. The guy peddles two feet the jumps of and disappears behind us. Confused to say the least.. I turn around searching for him.. and find him peeing against the wall. Although this is normal to see...it is EXTREMELY FUNNY.. when it is your rickshaw driver. Karina was not impressed and wanted to peddle away with his rickshaw to see what he would do.. I just sat there and laughed for 5 minutes!

Hmmm... what else? Had a "Thanksgiving" dinner at my boss' house. Although my bet is it was a chicken and not a turkey, it was still a nice gesture. We also went for Iftar at someone's house and because of the torrential rain got stuck on the other side of the city with no options of going home that night.Roads flooded no taxis, no CNG's, barely even rickshaws. Thankfully we were able to stay at a BWCCI member's house. Nothing like wearing someone else's (although it was new) nightgown and bunking up with Karina for the night!!!

Well I guess that is it. I have no idea what else to write. I think I need to write things down as they happen.. because I am forgetting a TON of extremely funny events.

Oh I've been in the postcard writing mood so if you want one.. or would like me to attempt to send you one... I haven't experimented with the mail yet... Send me your address.

Rickshaw Drivers Revenge

2007-10-02T03:36:00.000-07:00

Soooooo.. I've been a little bit slow on the Blogs. Blame that on Bangladesh Bacteria Round #2. Cipro.. you are my hero.

Alright. Funny story #1 - actually I don't know if it will be followed by another one.. but either way.
A couple of mornings ago while going to work in the bumper to bumper rickshaw traffic, which happens alot, our rickshaw dude bumped the back of one ahead of us. NORMALLY this doesn't do anything but startle the pooooor unaware passenger ie. ME! Anyway.. Rickshaw guy #2 either broke his flip-flop or hurt his toe.. not sure which. He hops off his rickshaw and starts yelling at our dude. Karina hops off like the 'shaw is on fire.. I sit there like an idiot hoping it'll blow over. Next thing I know Guy# 2 picks up his flip-flip and starts beating our dude with it!!! Yeah...totally hilarious and scary at the same time. Only when ten other rickshaw guys stop and surround us trying to calm the little spat down.. THEN I realize maybe it is time to run. Karina drops our 10taka and we run like we didn't pay.

Ramadan is still going on and this changes the whole city. Women are popping up everywhere. Normally on the street during the day you see very few women. Around 6'oclock at night the city shuts down for Iftar (breaking of the fast). And all stores close up and everyone sits down and eats. Then around 7 it is PACKED again as everyone is out shopping for Eid- The week after Ramadan where people eat and eat and celebrate and eat. I got a snazzzzzzy new Sari! Bling Bling Ashley! Pics to eventually follow!

So work.. yeah work.. Ramadan seems to be the excuse why things aren't happening. I semi-understand seeing as you aren't eating and it is a holy time and all but at the same time you still have deadlines and projects to do. Still slowly working on the website stuff.. but the lady went to Russia for 2 weeks. Suppose to be doing the annual report... Suppose to.. hmmm.. Training in the rural village got canceled because of Ramadan. So I still haven't really gotten to see what BWCCI does and how they do their training. Just attened a Media CIRCUS or two.. and handed flowers over to important people.

I guess all this procrastinating at the office is rubbing off on me.. Karina and I seem to be spending too much time shopping. And my CIDA budgeted butt can't afford it. Although on the plus side.. the ridiculous good Canadian Dollar is totally helping.

Hmmmmm.. what else? OH RIGHT.... Ha.. went to the Dutch Club for a "WHITE PARTY" the other night. You know the ones that involve getting dressed up all in white and acting civilized for 10 minutes before you hit the bar and booze up like you are 16. Then you have one tequila shot and in the 130 degree temperature that is enough to send you to the dance floor thinking you can get jiggy with it when really you are just the fool trying to break out the "shopping cart and the sprinkler". Yeah one of those parties! I think 99% of the people there were severely dehydrated because we were surrounded by wet t-shirt contest contestants that didn't have water.. just their own sweat! Pretty good party.

Here is a video of the view from our rooftop. We live in a pretty residential
neighbourhood.

Okay.. I've rambled enough. Adios.

I am out of witty titles . YEAH

2007-09-22T10:40:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-15T05:51:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-12T04:41:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-09T03:41:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-04T04:54:00.001-07:00

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

2007-09-01T09:17:00.000-07:00

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.