The other night I was going to the bathroom and when I opened the door there was about 6 cockroaches right inside of it. Two ran at my feet, THEY RAN AT MY FEET!!! I don't appreciate that kind of action at any time and especially not when I have to pee. So I naturally went on a killing spree. I started by letting them go back to their hole in the wall. I then went and got a can of bug spray. I fogged their hole pretty good and they came spilling out. So I of course turned tail and ran away like the big baby I can be sometimes. The next morning I walked into the bathroom and saw eight cockroaches on their backs. I was pretty proud of myself and immediately thought it would be funny to scare a friend with them (she later informed me that if I had succeeded she would have killed me). I got a box to put them in but as I started to scoop the first one into the box it suddenly sprang back to life and started scurrying rapidly! I of course followed the previous night's actions of running away. I came back quickly, armed with a sandal and meaning business. I didn't leave it to chance on any of them. That was how it began. Since then I have probably killed close to another 15 cockroaches in my house and another house. We had a nice deal, but they broke it by running at my feet.
One thing I forgot to mention in my last post was that it was 41 degrees Celsius here last weekend. That's something like 108 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine that with some humidity and it was down right nasty during the middle of the day. But then a cyclone came through. It cooled things off but also took out our power. Where I am it was pretty much just a bunch of wind with a little bit of rain. Unfortunately for at least 155 Bengali people it was also their cause of death. At this point there are also a fair amount of people without food or drinking water as a result of the storm. Prayers for them and the families of those who didn't survive would be very welcome.
The only other interesting thing from this past week was probably my bike race with a couple of nice young Bengali men. I was out on a bike ride with one of my co-workers and a young guy rides up next to us. His buddy who was riding on the back luggage rack (a very common site here) started trying to talk to us in english. Not being in the conversation mood we just sped up to try and leave them. They increased to follow suit and tried to talk to me again. So I accelerated to a pretty decent clip. They matched me and from the smile on their faces I think they thought they had me, but then I really started sprinting and try as he might the guy pedaling could'nt keep up despite the fact that both of us left my co-worker a little ways back. I think they got the point because they soon disappeared. Most of the time I would have just sucked it up and talked to them but sometimes it I just don't feel like it.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
This past week was a very interesting one.
My boss and I were standing outside of a truck waiting on our driver to use the bathroom before continuing our journey to visit a former partner. While we were standing there a guy walked up to the curb and just starred at us for awhile. After starring for awhile he started talking to my boss and the result was roughly the following:
man: "is he Muslim?" (referring to me of course)
boss: "yes" (he lied just to mess with the man)
man: "where is he from?"
boss: "Bogra" (the town we live in)
man: "where was he from before that?"
boss: "Bogra"
man: "are you sure he's Muslim?" (someone's starting to catch on! lol)
boss: "he's not actually Muslim, he's Christian"
man: "oh, bad luck on him then"
boss: "why's that?"
man: "he has a Muslim beard but isn't Muslim, it's bad luck"
boss: looks at the beardless man, "it's bad luck for us to be Muslim and not have the beard then"
man: "oh, right" (he didn't have a good comeback to that one)
I saw 3 different places with actual green grass yards in one day on a trip this past weekend!
(excuse the excitement but it's the little things that seem like home that excite me sometimes)
Along with those grassy areas I got to see a fair amount of beautiful things in a trip to Comilla this past weekend. I also got to hang out with a fun group of people. It was fun despite the fact our host tried to kill us by over feeding us. (I also discovered that despite the fact that I can eat a massive amount to appease people (a handy skill to have here), I can only do that for a couple of meals before even I can't force myself to do it any longer.) Then there was the boat ride back to Dhaka at the end of the trip.
We were discussing the fact that we could take a boat back to Dhaka instead of a bus and since it seemed like a good idea to us we were asking about it. Our co-worker told us there were 2 boats that go. One boat leaves at 12 and another leaves at 2. He was also suggesting that we should get on the 12 boat because the 2 boat has troubles sometimes and doesn't run. This worked out well for us because the 12 boat would get us back by the time we were wanting to return but the 2 boat wouldn't. I still asked him what kinds of troubles the 2 boat has though. I kid you not his reply was, "well sometimes it sinks because it has leaks, but the 12 boat doesn't have any problems with leaks." We got on the 12 boat of course, but unfortunately we got there too late to get seats so we had to stand on railing space. We got a lot of stares, but that isn't unusual. Despite our annoyance at the not getting seats part we soon settled in and just enjoyed the ride which was indeed better than the bus because it didn't involve a ton of swerving and honking.
My birthday went pretty decent. It started off in Dhaka. One of my co-workers baked me a cake the night before and it was delicious just like her cooking always is. On my actual birthday I woke up early with some sort of stomach bug and began a series of trips to the bathroom. I'll spare you those details though. I figured it was my birthday gift from Bangladesh. It seemed a fitting one, but I told it that it really shouldn't have. I called home and talked to the family for about an hour which is always good. Then I went to the office and got to say hi to all the staff there while also attending the weekly meeting. I then hopped on a bus heading to Bogra. It was a rather pleasant ride just like it was the last time I took the same bus. The driver on the 11 am TR bus from Dhaka to Bogra is a pretty good driver other than the fact that he doesn't know how to ease into the breaks. He loves to slam on them at every chance he gets but I rarely feel like I'm going to do at his hands so I am ok with it. It was also nice because there were only about 20 people on the bus, which means I didn't have to share a seat. I got to Bogra feeling pretty good. I went to the office and said hi to everyone one. Then sat at my computer and did some tinkering before watching a movie in the evening. I went to bed at 9 because I had done a lot of traveling in the previous several days and hadn't gotten a good sleep. That was my birthday and it was nice and simple. I like it that way.
I will likely have a little bit more to post in the next couple of days.
;-)
My boss and I were standing outside of a truck waiting on our driver to use the bathroom before continuing our journey to visit a former partner. While we were standing there a guy walked up to the curb and just starred at us for awhile. After starring for awhile he started talking to my boss and the result was roughly the following:
man: "is he Muslim?" (referring to me of course)
boss: "yes" (he lied just to mess with the man)
man: "where is he from?"
boss: "Bogra" (the town we live in)
man: "where was he from before that?"
boss: "Bogra"
man: "are you sure he's Muslim?" (someone's starting to catch on! lol)
boss: "he's not actually Muslim, he's Christian"
man: "oh, bad luck on him then"
boss: "why's that?"
man: "he has a Muslim beard but isn't Muslim, it's bad luck"
boss: looks at the beardless man, "it's bad luck for us to be Muslim and not have the beard then"
man: "oh, right" (he didn't have a good comeback to that one)
I saw 3 different places with actual green grass yards in one day on a trip this past weekend!
(excuse the excitement but it's the little things that seem like home that excite me sometimes)
Along with those grassy areas I got to see a fair amount of beautiful things in a trip to Comilla this past weekend. I also got to hang out with a fun group of people. It was fun despite the fact our host tried to kill us by over feeding us. (I also discovered that despite the fact that I can eat a massive amount to appease people (a handy skill to have here), I can only do that for a couple of meals before even I can't force myself to do it any longer.) Then there was the boat ride back to Dhaka at the end of the trip.
We were discussing the fact that we could take a boat back to Dhaka instead of a bus and since it seemed like a good idea to us we were asking about it. Our co-worker told us there were 2 boats that go. One boat leaves at 12 and another leaves at 2. He was also suggesting that we should get on the 12 boat because the 2 boat has troubles sometimes and doesn't run. This worked out well for us because the 12 boat would get us back by the time we were wanting to return but the 2 boat wouldn't. I still asked him what kinds of troubles the 2 boat has though. I kid you not his reply was, "well sometimes it sinks because it has leaks, but the 12 boat doesn't have any problems with leaks." We got on the 12 boat of course, but unfortunately we got there too late to get seats so we had to stand on railing space. We got a lot of stares, but that isn't unusual. Despite our annoyance at the not getting seats part we soon settled in and just enjoyed the ride which was indeed better than the bus because it didn't involve a ton of swerving and honking.
My birthday went pretty decent. It started off in Dhaka. One of my co-workers baked me a cake the night before and it was delicious just like her cooking always is. On my actual birthday I woke up early with some sort of stomach bug and began a series of trips to the bathroom. I'll spare you those details though. I figured it was my birthday gift from Bangladesh. It seemed a fitting one, but I told it that it really shouldn't have. I called home and talked to the family for about an hour which is always good. Then I went to the office and got to say hi to all the staff there while also attending the weekly meeting. I then hopped on a bus heading to Bogra. It was a rather pleasant ride just like it was the last time I took the same bus. The driver on the 11 am TR bus from Dhaka to Bogra is a pretty good driver other than the fact that he doesn't know how to ease into the breaks. He loves to slam on them at every chance he gets but I rarely feel like I'm going to do at his hands so I am ok with it. It was also nice because there were only about 20 people on the bus, which means I didn't have to share a seat. I got to Bogra feeling pretty good. I went to the office and said hi to everyone one. Then sat at my computer and did some tinkering before watching a movie in the evening. I went to bed at 9 because I had done a lot of traveling in the previous several days and hadn't gotten a good sleep. That was my birthday and it was nice and simple. I like it that way.
I will likely have a little bit more to post in the next couple of days.
;-)
Saturday, May 16, 2009
So I was reading an article on ESPN.com today and a quote from Wayman Tisdale stood out to me as something worth sharing.
"Nothing can change me," Tisdale told The Associated Press last June. "You go through things. You don't change because things come in your life. You get better because things come in your life."
That's how I strive to see life.
This past week was a rough one at times but in the end it was a very self-fulfilling one. I've been able to refocus on some things and resolve them in my mind and that's always a blessing. Life isn't perfect but I'd be surprised if it was.
On a lighter note I had a chance to reflect on some things I never would have known I would see here as I rode the local bus this week.
- I never would have guessed that I would see my dumb ideas from back in the states being used successfully by bengali people. I saw a man successfully working on telephone wires in the middle of the street at the top of a 25ft. bamboo ladder being held up by 5 men at its base. This, as I reflected at the moment, was much dumber than my idea of using a tripod ladder to change the light bulb in the stairway back at home.
- I never would have guessed that I'd meet a Muslim man working for a Catholic Mission via a Mennonite Organization. That is the power of MCC I guess. We even had a nice discussion on religion at lunch.
-Finally, I never thought I would have a guy rubbing his sweaty butt up and down my leg for 1o minutes while I rode that local bus. He spilled his rice so he just turned towards his seat in the aisle and squatted with his bum against my leg like it was no big deal. Being that I am who I am, I let him go and used that moment to reflect on these oddittees.
"Nothing can change me," Tisdale told The Associated Press last June. "You go through things. You don't change because things come in your life. You get better because things come in your life."
That's how I strive to see life.
This past week was a rough one at times but in the end it was a very self-fulfilling one. I've been able to refocus on some things and resolve them in my mind and that's always a blessing. Life isn't perfect but I'd be surprised if it was.
On a lighter note I had a chance to reflect on some things I never would have known I would see here as I rode the local bus this week.
- I never would have guessed that I would see my dumb ideas from back in the states being used successfully by bengali people. I saw a man successfully working on telephone wires in the middle of the street at the top of a 25ft. bamboo ladder being held up by 5 men at its base. This, as I reflected at the moment, was much dumber than my idea of using a tripod ladder to change the light bulb in the stairway back at home.
- I never would have guessed that I'd meet a Muslim man working for a Catholic Mission via a Mennonite Organization. That is the power of MCC I guess. We even had a nice discussion on religion at lunch.
-Finally, I never thought I would have a guy rubbing his sweaty butt up and down my leg for 1o minutes while I rode that local bus. He spilled his rice so he just turned towards his seat in the aisle and squatted with his bum against my leg like it was no big deal. Being that I am who I am, I let him go and used that moment to reflect on these oddittees.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
A day spent...
A tale of a saturday spent.
I got up this morning and took my time getting going. I finally worked up the motivation downstairs to the office to get on the internet. After perusing for awhile (I read up on the latest colts news and about the slug fest that has become the NBA playoffs this year.) I decided to go buy some pants and find someone to make me a shirt. First though, I decided a snack sounded good. I grabbed 2 shingura at the restaurant by the bus stand. By the time I managed to walk there I was already sweating. Did I mention it was crazy hot today? I hopped on a rickshaw and we were off. I had him take me to the clothes people by the train tracks (many of them literally right no the train tracks...). It was hot so I gave him a little extra. I started walking and looking for a pants stall. I noticed some sunglasses shops along the way but I've all but given up finding a pair that I like here. Finally, I finally found a shop that looked like it had potential. I struck out on the first guess but they were kind enough to point me down the road. The second guess was a success we began debating what I wanted. They pulled out some interesting colors (a nice light blue (think old man pants) was my favorite of the silly ones) but I chose a nice dark brown pair to direct my attentions to. I've learned that the most important thing to look for in pants here is how well they hide dirt. After looking them over thoroughly I decided I would try them on. So upon telling them of my intentions, I hopped up into their stand. As I was just about to drop my pants with my backside to the road they produced a lungi for me to wear over my pants while I changed. Handy little things those lungis are. It was crazy hot in the booth because it was made of blue plastic sheeting and a tin roof. I pulled the pants on and they looked and felt like they were all right. I managed to get them for 200 taka which is just under $3. I found out later that it wasn't a totally horrible price which pleased me greatly. I then turned around and started heading for where I supposed I might find cloth merchants and tailors to make me a shirt.
I got distracted on the way and ended up on a whim walking down a narrow alley way that ended up being the umbrella market. Eventually this brought me out to the large vegetable market and I proceeded back to where I had started my misadventure. I started asking where I might find fabric and a tailor. They told me inside another building across the street. I headed in and down the cooridors. Unfortunately, every time I stopped to ask the guys who had cloth about getting a shirt made they just pointed me further down the alley to some other place. Eventually I realized that even if I did manage to find someone who understood what I was getting at they would still probably mess something up because my bangla isn't all that great. So I gave up and started wandering. I soon remembered how hot it was and decided to find a shop with a cold bottle of water. After success in this adventure I hopped on another rickshaw and said something to the effect of, "Yo home to bel air!" He of course was one of the slower rickshaw pullers I've ever had the pleasure of using. It was frustrating only because I purposefully picked someone who looked younger so I would have a good breeze. I got back and was showing the guards my new pants only to just then find the default in them. It isn't very big though so I'm not so worried.
I lounged around some more and ate some soup for lunch. Nate and I then watched most of the first episode of star wars. We were constantly reminded about how bad the film actually is but kept watching anyway. Eventually though, the fact that he bought it in Bangladesh caught back up to us when we discovered that in the middle of the fight scene on Naboo between the Jedis and Darth Maul, the video loops back to the beginning while the sound continues to go on. We of course refused to continue just listening to the plot.
I then headed on my bike to the local 4 star hotel which for a small fee of $2 per hour will let us swim in their pool. Of course this is Bangladesh so they forgot to put a filtration system into their pool. So instead of constantly filtering out the nasties they just empty it every once in awhile and fill it completely again with fresh water. Today the water was pretty green (they haven't changed it very lately). I decided to swim anyway. I figured it can't be much worse than swimming in a pond. After a nice workout in the pool I did a little reading and then biked back to my place. I then spent the end of the day as I started it, on the internet.
Enjoy your nice boring blog post of the week.
Ta Ta
I got up this morning and took my time getting going. I finally worked up the motivation downstairs to the office to get on the internet. After perusing for awhile (I read up on the latest colts news and about the slug fest that has become the NBA playoffs this year.) I decided to go buy some pants and find someone to make me a shirt. First though, I decided a snack sounded good. I grabbed 2 shingura at the restaurant by the bus stand. By the time I managed to walk there I was already sweating. Did I mention it was crazy hot today? I hopped on a rickshaw and we were off. I had him take me to the clothes people by the train tracks (many of them literally right no the train tracks...). It was hot so I gave him a little extra. I started walking and looking for a pants stall. I noticed some sunglasses shops along the way but I've all but given up finding a pair that I like here. Finally, I finally found a shop that looked like it had potential. I struck out on the first guess but they were kind enough to point me down the road. The second guess was a success we began debating what I wanted. They pulled out some interesting colors (a nice light blue (think old man pants) was my favorite of the silly ones) but I chose a nice dark brown pair to direct my attentions to. I've learned that the most important thing to look for in pants here is how well they hide dirt. After looking them over thoroughly I decided I would try them on. So upon telling them of my intentions, I hopped up into their stand. As I was just about to drop my pants with my backside to the road they produced a lungi for me to wear over my pants while I changed. Handy little things those lungis are. It was crazy hot in the booth because it was made of blue plastic sheeting and a tin roof. I pulled the pants on and they looked and felt like they were all right. I managed to get them for 200 taka which is just under $3. I found out later that it wasn't a totally horrible price which pleased me greatly. I then turned around and started heading for where I supposed I might find cloth merchants and tailors to make me a shirt.
I got distracted on the way and ended up on a whim walking down a narrow alley way that ended up being the umbrella market. Eventually this brought me out to the large vegetable market and I proceeded back to where I had started my misadventure. I started asking where I might find fabric and a tailor. They told me inside another building across the street. I headed in and down the cooridors. Unfortunately, every time I stopped to ask the guys who had cloth about getting a shirt made they just pointed me further down the alley to some other place. Eventually I realized that even if I did manage to find someone who understood what I was getting at they would still probably mess something up because my bangla isn't all that great. So I gave up and started wandering. I soon remembered how hot it was and decided to find a shop with a cold bottle of water. After success in this adventure I hopped on another rickshaw and said something to the effect of, "Yo home to bel air!" He of course was one of the slower rickshaw pullers I've ever had the pleasure of using. It was frustrating only because I purposefully picked someone who looked younger so I would have a good breeze. I got back and was showing the guards my new pants only to just then find the default in them. It isn't very big though so I'm not so worried.
I lounged around some more and ate some soup for lunch. Nate and I then watched most of the first episode of star wars. We were constantly reminded about how bad the film actually is but kept watching anyway. Eventually though, the fact that he bought it in Bangladesh caught back up to us when we discovered that in the middle of the fight scene on Naboo between the Jedis and Darth Maul, the video loops back to the beginning while the sound continues to go on. We of course refused to continue just listening to the plot.
I then headed on my bike to the local 4 star hotel which for a small fee of $2 per hour will let us swim in their pool. Of course this is Bangladesh so they forgot to put a filtration system into their pool. So instead of constantly filtering out the nasties they just empty it every once in awhile and fill it completely again with fresh water. Today the water was pretty green (they haven't changed it very lately). I decided to swim anyway. I figured it can't be much worse than swimming in a pond. After a nice workout in the pool I did a little reading and then biked back to my place. I then spent the end of the day as I started it, on the internet.
Enjoy your nice boring blog post of the week.
Ta Ta
Monday, May 4, 2009
Dear Aunt Susan and Uncle John...
Hello, how are you doing? It rained here the other day.
I got your card, it was lovely. I always enjoy your mail.
I love you too!
but remember that part where I'm curious?...yeah it won again
(In my defense though, I had the best of intentions in this situation. We wanted to see if we could reprogram it, put a custom sound clip in it, put it in a custom card, and send it back to you. A little bit of google searching helped us to understand that this particular kind of card is hard to reprogram without special tools. That makes me sad. I was going to say something like, "Hi Aunt Susan and Uncle John." Then I was going to break into some silly song. I imagined you laughing at this and showing it to family members at social functions. Unfortunately, none of this happened and all I have for you is a random blog post. I hope you enjoyed it.)
(In my defense though, I had the best of intentions in this situation. We wanted to see if we could reprogram it, put a custom sound clip in it, put it in a custom card, and send it back to you. A little bit of google searching helped us to understand that this particular kind of card is hard to reprogram without special tools. That makes me sad. I was going to say something like, "Hi Aunt Susan and Uncle John." Then I was going to break into some silly song. I imagined you laughing at this and showing it to family members at social functions. Unfortunately, none of this happened and all I have for you is a random blog post. I hope you enjoyed it.)
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Pictorama!
The front side of the house a little while ago.
The back side of the house today.
A Dhaka University student pokes his head out the window of the bus we were riding. I didn't get his name.
Trucks!
Lots of trucks!
They carry heavy loads!
and sometimes break down...
Every one looks a little different.
Sometimes people even ride on them...but not this one, it's too full.
Did I mention that there are lots of them?
Chicken!!!!
(Unfortunately he didn't survive the mail in his original form...fortunately, we like the Picasso look around here.)
The importances of water...
I was sick yesterday. My stomach hurt and I developed a headache. It wasn't until about 7pm that I finally recognized that it was dehydration. The problem I had yesterday was that I drank koolaid instead of water. Lately I've been drinking over a gallon of water a day and that's just sitting at a desk all day. I shudder to think how much I would have to drink if I were working hard. This isn't the first run in I've had with dehydration since I got here either. I've had several days where I was just suddenly sick and had to force myself to drink a bunch to get my fluids back to normal. I generally start my work day off with a 1 liter Nalgene full of water and always have finished at least a refill of that by lunch. I guess I only mention all this because, while I usually sweat a lot, I've never had hydration problems in the past. Keeping hydrated was just something I did, not something I had to think about making sure it happens. I guess this is kind of like a small scale version of what having to think to breathe would be like.
It has also rained twice in the past 2 days. Two nights ago it rained for a short time and that chilled the night off quite nicely. Unfortunately, it also made yesterday quite hot and humid. Then again this morning it rained, but this time it poured for a good long time. As a result today has been really nice. I woke up to the rain this morning and since my windows were open I got to sit and watch it on the courtyard below as well as just smell it. I sometimes forget how pleasant a good rain always smells. In talking to one of my co-workers who happened to be in the office today I found out that next month it will start raining in earnest. He says sometimes it is possible for it to rain for 10-15 straight days during the rainy season and that it will almost always rain every day for some time period. I'm not sure how I'll feel about rain in 2 or 3 months but as of right now I'm really looking forward to it because I haven't seen much of it for the past 6 months and they just about have the roof up on our new house. That is a completely different subject though and I will refrain from going there. Maybe I'll post some pictures of that process later.
It has also rained twice in the past 2 days. Two nights ago it rained for a short time and that chilled the night off quite nicely. Unfortunately, it also made yesterday quite hot and humid. Then again this morning it rained, but this time it poured for a good long time. As a result today has been really nice. I woke up to the rain this morning and since my windows were open I got to sit and watch it on the courtyard below as well as just smell it. I sometimes forget how pleasant a good rain always smells. In talking to one of my co-workers who happened to be in the office today I found out that next month it will start raining in earnest. He says sometimes it is possible for it to rain for 10-15 straight days during the rainy season and that it will almost always rain every day for some time period. I'm not sure how I'll feel about rain in 2 or 3 months but as of right now I'm really looking forward to it because I haven't seen much of it for the past 6 months and they just about have the roof up on our new house. That is a completely different subject though and I will refrain from going there. Maybe I'll post some pictures of that process later.
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