Updates Part 3

Ok, I have been accused by all in my house of having a huge man-crush on Tim Tebow this morning. I mearly tried to explain to them how amazingly good he is. In turn they accused me of loving him. I think I got the bad end of that deal. In other news I was talking to Lena this morning and she asked me what Tim's sister's name was. I told her it was Christy and she was like, "oh, Christy! her and her husband are amazing people. I showed them around Bogra and they took me out to lunch." It seems from further conversation that the rumors I heard through sports stories of how nice and down to earth the Tebow family is, are true.

Interesting developments.

Updates part 2

My quest to get my computer fixed failed. They fixed the problem I knew about but apparently another one developed over the past several months and they know that it’s my motherboard for sure. I guess that’s the end of that pursuit.

The Tim Tebow story….

A Conversation I had with Dave an MCC worker through our SALT program.

Dave: So I met this one lady up in Bogra who is going to be living up there starting in January. She apparently has American Cable via the internet through her one brother.
Me: Sweet! I would love to have that connection so I could watch sports!
Dave: Yeah, apparently her one brother is a computer Genius and hooked it up for her. She uses it to watch her other brother play football. She said he’s a quarterback at Florida.
Me: (head snap in his direction) HOLY CRAP! If that’s who I think you are talking about it’s Tim Tebow’s sister you were talking to!
Dave: Is he good?
Me: He is one of the best in the nation!
Dave: She did mention that she was probably going to go watch him play in a bowl game around Christmas time.
Me: Dave, he’s playing in the National Championship game! I so bet that this is Tim Tebow, he’s famous for doing Missions work during the offseason.

I googled it this morning and sure enough it is Tim Tebow’s sister. Maybe he’ll come visit sometime. ;-) I am also amazed at how little some people know about sports.

I have more to say but it will have to wait…

Updates part 1

I went on vacation down the Chittagong area for Christmas. A group of 8 of us went down south to find warmer weather for a break. 6 of us were Ex-pats and we also had 2 Bengali friends with us. The Bengali friends were the ones that invited us to begin with. The adventure started off with a night bus to the Bonderbans. That’s the home town area of Joyce one of our MCC co-workers and a Bengali friend. It also happens to be a place that all foreigners have to sign in and out of due to some gorilla fighting awhile back but that’s not really an issue anymore (or at least that’s what I was told). We left at 10pm from Dhaka and got there at 7am. The bus ride was actually pretty good other than the fact that they insisted on running the air conditioning all night long. I guess the concept here is that you have to get everything that you pay for, and we paid for air conditioning on the bus so we get it regardless of whether we needed it or not. Upon our arrival we got a dormitory room to use as housing. (We did vacation the cheap way by staying in dormitory or guest housing rather than staying in hotels.) Many people in our group took naps while 3 of us headed out to take a hike. We hiked about 45 minutes up to a local lookout spot on top of a hug hill. Walking up the hill was a daunting task but it was really good exercise. We saw some pretty good views from up there. Pictures will be posted later to verify. Then we went back and had lunch. Most of us ordered Indian, Chinese, or Thai food for lunch. Then we literally went on a crazy hike through the jungle. We had a guide take us down to the river for a boat tour and he took us on a path that at times had us walking through creek beds with slippery and very steep slopes. It also wound up and down hills all the time. It was quite the Indiana Jones-esk adventure. After that we went on a boat ride up the river. It was neat to see how the traditional people lived off the surrounding land along the banks of the river. We stopped for a swim. Nate saw a water snake. We didn’t tell the girls until after they got out. We then stopped by a local village and talked to them. They are a people worth talking about but not for the purposes of this blog. Afterwards we headed to town to have supper at Joyce’s mom’s house. It was a bustling household with a warm embrace that seems so befitting of what I would have anticipated Joyce’s family being like. We had a wonderful traditional Bengali meal and spent some time helping them make deserts for their Church’s Christmas meal the next day. It was also hear that I had my first and so far only pork since arriving in Bangladesh.

The next day we got up and headed back to town for the local Catholic Mass. Sarah one of the MCC workers is Catholic and we made this trip for here but I think we all enjoyed it. I had never been to a Catholic Mass before and it was definitely interesting that my first one was in Bangla. They decorated quite vibrantly. After mass we headed to Cox’s Bazar. It is the location of the world’s longest unbroken all-natural sand beach. We got there at around 2? We went to the beach for a late lunch at a restaurant that ended up turning into an early supper. We didn’t end up getting our food until 5, so we just ate a ton of it and called it a day. A couple of us ran and jumped into the Indian Ocean while our food was getting prepared. It is so warm at this time of the year! It was awesome and really salty. After supper we went on a nice walk down the beach in the dark before heading to our guest house to stay for the night.

The next day we hopped on a bus and headed down to a port so that we could board a boat to St. Martin’s Island. Sarah left us the previous night on a bus back to Dhaka, she preferred to spend some quite time rather than doing the full crazy trip. So the remaining 7 of us got on a boat and headed out to the Island. We saw lots of the coast of Myanmar at this time as the boat followed it for a long time before heading across the gap to the Island. At St. Martin’s we got a dormitory style guest house room from some really nice local guys. We then ate some lunch and went for a swim. At around 80 something and sunny with a warm ocean, it was a nice time. That night we had a nice adventure finding a place to eat. Apparently you have to order your food a meal ahead of time on the Island because of the difficulty in getting to the market on short notice. We didn’t know that and so we had to go find a place to eat. We found a place that is open to everyone eventually but had to kill another hour until they were ready at that point. So we walked to the beach and rented some of those wooden bed type things that you always see on the beach. I forget their name right now. We just laid out under the stars and relaxed for awhile. After supper we all headed to bed.

The next morning I got up and went for a walk. Everyone else slept in a bit. I had a nice pleasant walk by myself on the beach, while I picked up shells and enjoyed the view. Eventually a local joined me and we had a nice (some sarcasm there) journey together that involved him trying to figure out why I wouldn’t buy anything from him. He eventually left me and I returned to join the others. We had a nice breakfast and after a little debate everyone eventually decided to go on a small local boat ride to a coral island that was attached to St. Martin’s by a long narrow land bridge. It was a good morning adventure capped by having fresh fish and crabs on the beach. We were constantly surprised by how much vacationers to St. Martin’s left us alone and didn’t bother us. That is rather unusual in many parts of this culture. After a good hike around the island we embarked back to our guest house. Some of us enjoyed another quick swim before we all cleaned up packed up and embarked on our journey home. We got on started from St. Martin’s at 3pm and got back to our house in Dhaka at about 7:30 am the next day. The night bus that we took from Cox’s Bazar was a miserable adventure that I feel doomed to repeat at sometime during my stay here. The bus driver apparently didn’t know the unwritten rule here that implies that you have to use your horn during the day and your brights at night to warn other vehicles you are there. He used his horn all night long. It was also kind of foggy so he did a lot of swerving. Not to mention that the bus itself was pretty bad. It was all just one miserable night. But I survived our harrowing adventure to enjoy another day so all is well.

Details details

If you want them you'll have to wait until after Christmas.

The internet cable from the office to our house got stolen this past weekend and I haven't had much internet access since. As a result, this will be short. I still have a slight sore throat but it isn't bad. If I still have it when we get back from our little Christmas vacation trip I will consider getting it checked out. (Don't worry about me mother, I'm a big boy and know when an issue is becoming serious.) A group of 8 of us will be going down to the Chittagong area starting tonight through the 28th. Details will be given when we return.

I'm still attempting to get my laptop that I brought with me fixed and it is sounding very promising right now.

God Bless,
Phil

Random thoughts...

So I just remembered that this saves as you go, which in turn means that when I lost that previous post, I didn't really lose all of it. This realization annoys me greatly.

I've been sick the past couple of days. But not really that sick. Just sick enough for it to be life altering. By life altering, I mean that it has adjusted my patterns, not that I've rethought life. I have been thinking about many things pertaining to life though. That is for another post. Basically, I have a bad sore throat. I'm not sure why I always seem to get those when I travel, but I do. I've been trying to limit my speaking for the past several days as a result. That is very difficult when you're trying to learn a language. Basically, it's the most annoying thing that could happen to me right now. The rest of me feels quite fine now but the throat problem persists. It got to the point where it actually hurt to breath for a little while tonight but after some delicious soup and about 3 large mugs of ginger tea, it only hurts to swallow now. I hope against all hope that it is going away. If not I will probably be going to have it diagnosed tomorrow. I'm also hoping to travel to Bogra tomorrow through early Saturday. This could prevent that. Who knows what will happen.

I'll let you know.

Side thought: I'm not sure what brought this into my mind last night but I've been pondering a thought all day long. How would be able to deal with reality if you were both blind and had no sense of feeling? I mean, how could you possibly understand reality? Sure you could hear and smell but how well could you trust those as more than a figment of your imagination. Furthermore, I keep coming back to the concept of space. Unless you develop sonar you're pretty much out of luck. You would have no way to detect your surroundings. This constantly leads me to the idea that you would only know if you walked into a wall by the sound of the thud you make when you do it. (that's actually mildly amusing to me) Also, how would eating work? This is just a silly thought line, but can you understand why it fascinates me? There are no end the possibilities.

I would encourage people to read Amish Grace. It's a good book about the Amish and their concept of forgiveness. It was written as a response to the publicity they received from the Nickle Mines school shooting.

Also, I must admit that it's finally winter here. It has been in the 50's for the past couple of days. I even wore a jacket and socks today.

The ramblings of a stuffed man...

I have had to learn how to eat all over again. In this culture it is sometimes necessary to eat with your fingers. This is an art all on it's own. Managing to get a substancial amount of food in your mouth while also managing to not make a mess takes some practice. If that weren't enough pressure, you also have the custom here where people gauge their guests by how much they eat. Bengali women will literally stand there while you eat and put more on your plate if you get less than half a plate left. If you refuse food, it is an insult to them. This makes eating as a guest at someones house a tricky prospect. We have learned a few strategies so far. One is to get a fair amount of rice and spread it all around your plate, this makes it seem like you have/ have had more than what the reality is. It also helps to continually compliment the cook on the deliciousness of the meal. Accept some more, you almost certainly cannot get away from this. Take a small amount the first time so that the second plate doesn't seem impossible. Finally, when you are sure you are done, put your hands over your plate palms down. Being that you are a foreigner they usually surprised that you know to do it and laugh. They honestly get the point that you are done and I haven't had anyone get upset with me yet, so I think that's ok.

That said we were the guests for both lunch and supper today. For lunch we went to our friend Russel's house. He is a friend through a friend in at the office here. We at that meal at 1:30. There was beef in every single dish but the raw vegtable medley (the Bengali version of a salad). That usually involves mostly cucumbers and tomatoes. This made for a heavy meal. Then we had another meal at 6:30 at the house of one of the heads of Prokritee. Prokritee is the company that was started by MCC that supplies Ten Thousand Villages with handcrafted goods. This was at 6:30. I was still completely stuffed from lunch. I forced myself to down one big plate slowly and bowed out quietly. Now I am incredibly tired. I'm not sure I'll even be hungry by lunch tomorrow.

Also, it should be noted that meal times are different here too. We usually eat lunch at 1pm and supper at around 8pm. A regular Bengali tends to prefer their lunch at 3pm and supper at 9 or 10 pm. It hasn't been too much of an issue for us.

Oh, I guess I should also mention the reason for the invites to meals. The past two days have been holidays here. The reason was because of Eid, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_ul-Adha) read that article if you want to know more. That is also why we had so much beef at Russell's house. It's a pretty big deal here. Everyone goes back to their home village for the celebration. That has meant that Dhaka was really quiet for the past couple of days. I've heard it estimated that as much as 10 million people leave Dhaka for Eid. I don't think it was that much but it was a lot. So yeah, read the wiki article.

I'm really sleepy now. Goodnight and enjoy the cold back home (if that's where you are).

Phil

With Love for Janice's curiosity.

A House, possibly the one we live in.

Part of our kitchen

The rest of our kitchen.

Our dining room, complete with language study materials and flowers for Nathan

The bathroom/shower...I've only had cold showers since I got here.

A living room.

The front room, we usually have laundry hanging here.

My face, just so you know that it's still there.

I have some more pictures to add but I don't want to spoil your appetite.

Aches and Holes

I was sore. I went to the dentist yesterday. I got two cavities filled. They cost about $50 each. That is a lot more than I was hoping to pay.

I am sore. I played soccer the past two mornings with the locals and it turns out I’m using some muscles I haven’t used in awhile but it actually makes me want to keep playing. I know from previous experience that it doesn’t stop hurting every time unless you do it often enough that your body gets used to it.

I will be sore. I have more dental work that needs done. 

I’m very thankful that unlike most other people I know here, I haven’t had some sort of stomach bug in the past month. I got sick once this past month and I “got over” it relatively quickly. I still cough stuff up all the time but I’ve gotten used to that. The good news is that it’s completely fine to spit on the street here.

Speaking of streets, they are putting in new sewer lines in our area. This is quite an interesting process to see. I’ll be sure to put some pictures online later today. Basically they start by digging a trench down the middle of the street. The key to this is that they don’t use equipment to do it. They do it with the resources available. In this circumstance it’s mostly labor. So they crack the road with a stake and four people hitting it with sledge hammers. Once they have the top layer cracked apart they have to get through about three layers of red brick. They use pickaxes for this. After that there is just silt all the way down. For the silt they use tools that are a short handled hoe/shovel combo. They dig this trench about 10 feet deep and straight down on the sides. It ends up being about 4-5 feet wide. Then they use tripod hoists to lift the pipes into place. They cover this all with a sand material. I’m not sure what they will do when they are done. They might go back and remove the sand and do something. I’ll have to let you know when I find out.

The wheels on the Bus go round and round...

No chances this time, I’m typing this in Word first.

The past week has been a rather eventful one. Every MCC staff person in the country went to a training seminar this past weekend. There were about 80 of us total. To get there I had to ride a bus. That was an experience worthy of its own blog post. But it won’t get it. Basically we got on what was a pretty nice bus. Then it started driving. Then it started honking as it weaved through thick Dhaka traffic. Then it continued honking. Then it honked some more. Did I mention it honked? I guess what I’m trying to do is let you know how much this guy did it. We would be flying along as fast as possible out in the middle of the countryside and this guy would just lay on the horn regardless of whether he really needed to do so. But that wasn’t the most unnerving part, just the most annoying. The unnerving part was how he woven in and out of traffic in the countryside just like he would in Dhaka. Only at this time it was at a considerably faster rate of speed. I kid you not, he would get past someone, accelerate as fast as possible, honk, try to go around someone when you could see we weren’t going to have enough time before the oncoming traffic got to us, brake hard, get behind the person he was trying to pass, honk as the other side passed, gun it again while honking and trying to pass again, if he got his nose past the front of the person he was trying to pass they were the one who had to brake for the next oncoming vehicle. Let’s just say I now understand why most buses around here are dented up badly.

The training went well and it seems like it was a good first step towards many changes that need to occur in MCC Bangladesh as an organization. We danced, I did something totally ridiculous, everyone loved it, basically nothing new or out of the ordinary there other than the part where everyone loved it. Maybe a video clip will pop up somewhere for your enjoyment.

We also had Thanksgiving as Ex-pats. It was delicious but I messed it up by eating a huge lunch which meant I wasn’t prepared for Thanksgiving supper.

Then there was the trip back. So we decided to catch the train back to Dhaka. As we were approaching the front gate to the train station I wasn’t surprised at all to have someone trying to get money from me. It is a pretty typical part of life here. He had a stack of paper something in his hand and I assumed they were train tickets and told him that I didn’t need one. Luckily for me I had my handy dandy Austin Miller there to actually know what he was saying and tell him that I wasn’t interested. The next thing I know this guy is going to the guard (who is holding a rifle) nearby and insisting something. Luckily the guard pays him very little heed and we move on. Then Austin explained to me what happened. Apparently the guy was collecting money for the local Mosque and the paper was the receipt. The guy had picked me out of our group because I was the one who was obviously a Muslim. This is because of my beard. When Austin told him no, he went to the guard insisting that he should be allowed to talk to me because he was pretty sure I didn’t understand what he wanted to tell me. Needless to say I have now learned how get myself out of such situations. From now on, I will just say, “please forgive me.” Hopefully that solves the problem.

We got back and have done more Bangla learning this week. I thought I was poor this week and it turned out I’m actually rich. (I was looking at my American finances.) I get to go to the dentist tomorrow. That’s all I have for you. Maybe I’ll have something more interesting to say this weekend.

This one time...I forgot to put a title on a post...and then referred to said title in the post. Yeah, that title was supposed to be "The Amish Rambo".

So I'm rather annoyed right now. I just wrote out an entire post only to have it deleted when I tried to add a photo. Unlike my brother though I'm going to try and at least make an attempt at rewriting it.

Some highlights of the post that I wrote that I'm now rewriting were.

Language study, it happened this week, it will be happening for 2 more months...that seems like forever right now.

My mom came through! Yay her, she usually does by the way. I did a trial run and am currently baking rolls for Thanksgiving.

Some of us (maybe up to 8 of us) have decided to head to the Beach for Christmas. I hope it's 20 degrees back home.

I got a new Nickname last night. If you haven't guessed by now it is the one in the title. I'm not sure what I did to get it. All I can think of is that maybe it was the new haircut I got. Or maybe is was the bandana I was wearing at dance practice. Wait, I'm Mennonite...did I say dance practice? I meant...umm...err....read your Bible pray everyday? (or maybe I should go with 'Jesus'...Sunday school answers are always appropriate right?)

Sorry about the lack of creativity in this post. I assure you that the previous post was much more interesting and whimsical. That losing it thing really killed any desire for being creative I had...so I guess I'll just leave you with a sideways picture. I'm too lazy to turn it, so just turn your head. You could also turn the computer screen. Just don't drop it, that would be bad.

A commentary on Pop here.

That's right "soda" people, I called it pop.

Since getting here I have had a few chances to partake in this delightful substance. As always my first goal was to find some Mountain Dew because I'm a dork like that. I did succeed in finding it. I was very curious to see how different it tastes here. The surprising thing was that it didn't taste that much different. It mostly just tasted watered down compared to american Mountain Dew. I have decided to not drink it as a result. I have also tried Coke, Sprite, and RC cola. All of which taste much better here. The only difference in the taste is that because they are made with sugar instead of corn syrup they taste sweeter. I think RC cola in particular tastes delicious here and considering I can buy a 500mL bottle for $.30, I think I'll be going with that as my drink of choice. Not that I drink it all that much here. I've now been here almost 3 weeks and am currently sipping on my 3rd bottle.

Speaking of which, it is hard for me to believe that it's been almost 3 weeks already. Thanksgiving is almost there in the states and we have decided to celebrate here too since we are all actually going to be together for an all staff training next weekend. I'm making the rolls if my mother ever actually gets me her recipe. I'm going to trust that she does get it to me in time.

I also remembered where Jodi is from. She is from Archbold, Ohio. I can't believe that I forgot that.

Stay Well,
Phil

The Players

So I promised my parents that I would do a post on who I'm working with here.

Person #1: Nathan- He is originally from PA but has spent the last several years in NC. He worked for IBM and is now working for MCC doing appropriate technologies. He will also be living in Bogra when we settle into our permanent places. He enjoys long walks on the beach and owns a house.

Person #2: Gloria- She is originally from PA. She just graduated from Eastern University with a Masters in International Development. She will be working in Dhaka for an organization that was originally founded by MCC doing design work. She is an avid badmitton player and loves tea.

Person #3: Jodi- I don't really remember where Jodi is from. I do know she was working in Sri Lanka for the last couple of years. She has now joined us for the next 7 months and will be working up in Bogra. She does something with cows. She plays the oboe and loves cheese.

Person #4: Sarah- Sarah is from Colorado, she graduated from Notre Dame. She is here working in Dhaka. She works with the peace programs MCC runs here. She can do a backhandspring and is a vegetarian. We are currently living with Sarah while we stay in Dhaka.

Person #5: Joyce- Joyce is from Bangladesh. She works as a coordinator/secretary at the MCC office. She lives here with us at Sarah's house on a permanent basis. She enjoys people and places.

Person #6: Various other MCC workers- I'll tell you about them later.

Person #7: The old lady who lives below us. She is from Bangladesh and enjoys trying to speak Bangla to us. Her other hobbies include smiling and opening the entrance gate to our building for people.


Some or all of the information above may or may not be accurate.


This past week I got sick for a couple of days. That put me behind on my Bangla learning which was frustrating but I was already frustrated with that to an extent. It's ok though. I have done quite a bit of reading since I got here. I'll try to think of what else I might say on here later.

Random thoughts and tidbits.

The first thought I've been pondering is whether I'm way ahead of time or way behind it? They say I'm 11 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. This means I experience a day 11 hours sooner than everyone back home. Ha ha chumps! I think I'm also like 14 hours ahead of Jon, or something like that. The one problem I've had with this thought process is that I might actually be behind. I didn't learn who our next president was going to be until like 9 am Wednesday morning when everyone back home knew that Tuesday night. I don't know how I feel about all that.

In similar but not the same news, I love how the time difference works out as a crazy sports fan. I have had a chance to watch the updates of several Pacers games online, live. I am a morning person and when they play 7pm games in the states I get to watch them at 6am here. It is marvelous. Especially since they are decent this year. I am amazed at the effect TJ Ford has had on Jeff Foster's scoring abilities. I couldn't figure that one out for the longest time but then I read today that they are running the pick and roll with him. It makes so much more sense now. I guess all I'm trying to say is YAY!

I think I had more to say but I can't remember it right now.

Have a good one!
Phil

By popular demand...or not so popular, it depends on your opinion of Shelley

Cricket players across the road.















There is a Taco Belle here! Yeah you can see the extra "e" if you really look hard.













I'm sitting in the right brown chair right now.













A nice nostril shot just for Shelley.

Tonight I took an adventure. I took a CNG (little green motorcycle motor run buggy) down to New Market by myself. I was looking for a book. New Market is huge. You can find almost anything there. Imagine a Wal-mart sized area filled with clothes crammed booths. Now take that and make it a multiple story building. Then spill it into the streets for blocks on end. I found a book dealer. I asked the guys there if they had Muhammed Yunus' book. One guy ran off and found me one in Bangla. I told him I wanted one in english. He disappeared. He showed up about 5 minutes later saying that there wasn't one in this market but if I'd wait 10 minutes he would get me one. It turns out he knew where another market was that had it. So he ran to go get it and sure enough he found it. One thing that isn't in short supply here is cheap labor. There are tons of people here. I started to head back. I talked to a CNG driver and he said he would take me back for about $1.15. I thought to myself, "I was told it shouldn't cost more than about $.85." So I decided to walk farther. Then I decided to walk the entire way. It took me just under an hour to walk the entire distance. I wasn't walking slow either. I decided that for future references, it's worth paying the extra 30 cents that they charge me because I'm white. On a more positive note, it is incredibly safe here. There are tons of security people everywhere as well as tons of people in general. There is very little danger to walking for an hour outside after dark.