It's been ages - sorry.

Ok, so I am never sure how many people check in with this and I have been lazy the past two weeks, so not much has been going on anyways. A lot of time spent by the pool at the Canadian Club and the British Club. Unfortunately very little tan to show for it, as the heat is a little much to take without an umbrella. Anyways, update from this weekend. John and I headed to the Banga Bazaar with Ben (who also goes to Dal) and his friend Nadar (who is Bengali). Banga Bazaar is this crazy place where all the over-runs and flawed clothing is sold from the textiles market here. Early in my trip I realised that other natural disasters and transportation accidents, this is why we in the west should really know Bangladesh, so much of our clothes is made here. I bet you can find at least 10 articles of clothing in your wardrobe made here (girls it is really east - just look in your underwear drawer). Anyways, so Banga has everything and a ton of people to go along with it. The alleyways are tight, the air is sticky and the people are pushy - but their are great deals to be had. Because I was with three guys, somehow we started with looking for caps - all flexfit caps in the world are made here. I had to laugh because any hockey team you want, they have, any golf course, they have - there was even one from the Salty Dog Cafe in Hilton Head. After the hats, we hired a guy who will take you around to the stalls and help you bargain (I have to admit he was pretty good). If you say - I would like women's shorts, he will find them for you. So we started with the boys wanting dress shirts - Calvin Klein, H&M, Hugo Boss, you name it, it was there. Basically I got to follow the boys around while the ticked off their lists - they ended the day with caps, basketball shorts, dress shirts, t-shirts and the one Bangladeshi item - lungis (basically a sarong that is sewn in together, but you still tie it). Finally, I got to do some shopping and walked away with 3 shirts and a pair of shorts for under $6. Nice to have some western clothes to wear during my upcoming travels. Like I said before, lots of women's underwear is made here - I think all La Senza is from here. So you can go into these stalls and there are bags and bags of underwear. I couldn't bring myself to sort through them while and Bangladeshi guy was saying 'how about these', but Ben and John's girlfriends each have a new selection of underwear returning to Canada for them. Anyways, it was a really fun day and nice to have  Bangla speaker along (especially having him tell them to stop taking pictures with their mobiles). We headed to the club for a nice swim and some food. A really good day. 

Ok, so I officially have one week left before I am off to Nepal and I can't wait. As most of you know, things here haven't been perfect and I am looking forward to getting back to my backpacking ways. I also finally got my Chinese visa and so will be meeting Jim in Beijing in 16 days. Will definitely have updates for those. Plus, it is 3 weeks today that I will be back in Canada. Can't wait for Mom's food. 

3 days with the Imams in Sylhet

So I ended up not having to go into work at all this week. It was a holiday on Sunday and Monday I headed up to Sylhet with Junayed. Junayed is one of the program coordinators for the Leaders of Influence Program. They work with religious and community leaders to emphasize development projects and how these leaders can bring some of these projects to their communities. We were heading to Sylhet to the Imam Training Academy (ITA). I have to admit I was a little nervous as Sylhet is noted to be the most conservative area of the country. On Monday, we had a six hour drive which included driving through Srimangal, the tea growing area of Bangladesh. It was a funny moment when I first saw the hills. It hadn't occurred to me that I haven't actually seen any hills since I arrived here. Bangladesh is a super flat flood plain essentially. So that was beautiful. If you've never seen a tea garden, they are quite beautiful - very green, with these amazing rows that look kinda like a maze. When we arrived in Sylhet, Junayed had to go over to the ITA, so I hung out at the hotel. We went out for dinner, chicken kabab for me.Tuesday was my first day at the ITA. I had to cover, which made me a little uncomfortable and I was playing with the head scarf all the time. But the Director of the Academy was actually quite welcoming. Apparently 2 years ago, they had an American woman with them and they wouldn't even let her in the gate, so there has been a lot of progress. When we went into the big room where the sessions were held, it was very strange for me - 100 Imams and me. The Director introduced me and made a point of s

aying how nice it was that I was trying to wear Islamic dress. It seemed like every session he said something about this. I started to realise it was to encourage th

e Imams to accept having me there and to point out the fact that I was being respectful of their culture and traditions. I will say though, it was super hot. No AC and being completely covered. I had a few moments of 'get me out of this damn thing'. 

Anyways, the sessions we did the first day were a basic intro to the Foundation and USAID (who sponsors the program) and then a trip to a school to introduce the idea of pre-school and playing to learn instead of using a stick and a trip to a local clinic that focuses on women and children's health. I had to laugh at the Imams with the little kids at the school. I mean kids are kids and generally they don't care who is there, they will continue playing. The Imams kinda just stood there and ended up just being white pillars that the kids ran around without looking up. I went in and sat down with a group of the kids and of course they started interacting with me. Some of the Imams clicked that they were too tall and they needed to get to the kids level or they will just be ignored. It was like they had never been around kids before. 

Anyways, that night Junayed took me to the shrine of Hazrat Shah Jalal. 

He was the 14th century Sufi mystic who brought Islam to Bangladesh. Apparently he arrived on a magic carpet to save the people from the oppressive Hindu King. It is an impressive site, although I couldn't go see most of it being a woman and a foreign one at that. 

There are also these catfish that are apparently really important there, I just thought they were gross.  

Second day we drove back towards Srimangal to the Lowacherra Forest Reserve to teach the Imams about conservation. Now, in a country of

 160 million people smaller than New Brunswick, conservation isn't really high on the priority list. But this small reserve is trying. It is apparently home to gibbons (although I didn't see any), but there is also a group of natives that live there. Natives here really mean people who are more Southeast Asian in descent rather than subcontinent. There was a talk, which I had to leave because I was too hot. I went to sit in the AC of the van and take the head scarf off for a bit. We then went on a 'hike', which just about killed some of the Imams (most of them are overweight and obviously non of them exercise). 

We walked through a pineapple plantation and went up to the natives little village. Their main income comes from batal leaves. Apparently people just eat them here, I tried one but didn't like it. Their homes are obviously much more influenced by Southeast Asian culture, which was neat to see. They also were wearing much more practical clothing for the hot weather (they didn't have to cover up completely). After lunch (which I had to eat separately), there was a talk about wetland preservation, but I skipped out on that and hung out in the van. It was fascinating to realise that something that is so ingrained in us, is so new to them. 

I was shocked to see a few Imams just throw garbage on the ground, I mean even in a national reserve. Anyways, we stopped for some tea on the way back and then back to Syl

het. 

(that would be me fixing the head scarf, Junayed told me I was being a good Muslim woman and covering my face - thanks)

Final day had a session on safe migration (primarily for migrant workers) and a session on HIV/AIDS prevention. The Imams had to do action plans and then there was a bunch of little speeches (including one from me). I got to hand out some of the certificates (which apparently was a big deal according to Junayed). 

Then the director had us to his office for some fresh pineapple juice - yummy! A 6 hour drive back to Dhaka, although 2 hours of it was sitting in traffic in Dhaka. Met John and Derrick and some others for dinner at the American club and I have to say, it was so good to have some non-Bangladeshi food. Yesterday was a fairly uneventful lazy day, probably the same as today. The trip to Sylhet was definitely a highlight of my time here and I will say I am ready to get out of here. Three weeks left until Nepal and I can't wait. I am tired of the bugs and arguing with rickshaw drivers and am ready to be doing something different. But like I said, only 3 weeks left. 

A long weekend in Dhaka

So, it's a long weekend for us at the Asia Foundation. Because the Foundation is an American organization, we get a day off for independence day - too bad nobody else does. Anyways, it's been a good weekend. On Friday we packed up and moved to our new place. We are house sitting for the head of the Foundation here, while he and his family are on home leave in Canada. So we have a whole house to ourselves. It's pretty nice. Friday night we headed over to Andy's place to plan out the pub quiz that we are in charge of (we won the last one, so we have to set the next one). Andy had made chili, which was fantastic. It was a pretty fun evening with yummy food (including apple pie). Some Americans had fireworks a block away for July Fourth, so we got to watch those too. 

Yesterday I met Derrick and Sara and their daughter at the British High Commission for a morning swim. The BHC is so much better then the Canada Club (my on-going lament). Nice just to chill, but then it started to rain. I met up with John and Andy and we headed over to the Westin for a champagne lunch. Got in the car and their were two others, Jenny (who I've met) and an older man, Steve. Well, Steve and I had a nice chat and ended up sitting across from each other at lunch. So I chatted away with him over lunch. Finally, when everybody was getting ready to head out, Dawn says to me, do you know who he is...nope. He was the new British High Commissioner. Well I would have appreciated someone telling me that before. Anyways, he was really nice and it was nice to have him out with all of us younger folk. The rest of the afternoon was spent at Jenny's and then headed home to watch a movie. Todays plan is the Canadian Club for a run and a swim. 

Tomorrow I am heading up to Sylhet with the Leaders of Influence Programs. It is an Imam training session that I will be attending. Junyed (from the Foundation) was telling me this is probably the most conservative Imam training academy in the country, so it should be fairly interesting. I will try to get pictures...until next time.

Weird Work

So I've realised that I haven't written very much about work. I've been approaching it as so similar to work at home, that I haven't been noting those strange occurrences that I've noticed since being here. My time at the Asia Foundation is over half over and a meeting today really made me think about it. It was a meeting with the US Ambassador to Bangladesh and two men from USAID. The meeting was concerning the Leaders of Influence program, so there were 8 Imams there in their little hats (kufi's). I was the only woman in the room and just had a moment sitting across from these 8 men. It was just kind of surreal, when at home would that happen? What was fantastic was the energy that these Imams have for influencing their communities in a positive way - to facilitate dialogue with NGOs, to dispel misconceptions, to emphasize the importance of governance, rights and women's empowerment. It was one of those moment that you can see hope. Bangladesh is in this fantastic position of being majority muslim, but living in harmony with other religious groups and allowing their values to grow and progress. (I am being all young and idealistic)

Ok, my other little blurb that I got from a meeting with the Election Working Group yesterday (it was a very frustrating meeting) - this is not a culture of getting things done, it is a culture of let's have a cup of cha. This is totally true as every meeting seems to go in circles and is so freaking repetitive. I also have to laugh at people's manners over here (answering mobiles whenever, taking pictures with you mobile during a meeting, interrupting, burping). 

Anyways, really the thing is there is so much possibility in this country in so many things, someone just needs to facilitate the communication to get the ball rolling (although, that probably won't be me).

Get me out of Dhaka - thanks.

(That is Elham, our resident Bangadeshi child who teaches me the name of animals in Bangla) So I had a frustrating week at work, culminating in not getting to go on a trip to the Southern Region of Chittagong for a Buddhist Monk training session with the Leaders of Influence Program. I've been pretty bitter and probably not all that pleasant to deal with. John took off on the trip this morning. I ended up going with Russell (one of our colleagues), his wife and their friends on a boat trip north of Dhaka. It was amazing how in a very short distance, life is so different, and somewhat more pleasant. We got on the boat which is owned by a number of ex-pats. There were cushions and such on the floor and it was just a lovely relaxing trip up the river. Anne (Russell's wife) brought some great food including quiche, lovely cheese, French bread and some fantastic brownies. Wine and beer for all. It was pretty fantastic and may have eased my bitterness a bit. (Although the weather was getting a little threatening, but turned out fine)It also helped when John sent a text to say that the whole bloody country looks exactly the same (7 hours from Dhaka). But the best part of today may have been wearing shorts and a tank top in public for numerous hours. Nice. Anyways, I am chilling tonight, watching some of the movies I have picked up for 120 taka (2 dollars) - oh piracy. They are perfect quality, but it gives me something to do. Anyways, I will speak to you all soon. 

Oh, Jaylyn, Karbati maybe the stupidest national sport ever. It is a mix of red rover and tag while yelling karbati, karbati, karbati. Unfortunately I haven't seen anyone playing it, but if I did I would ask to join in just to say I had played. 

The British have the best parties

So, another week at work and such. The City Corporation elections have been set for August 4. I was hoping for a little earlier making a trip to Nepal easier, but who knows. Anyways, Thursday night we had a work dinner. We headed to the Baton Rouge for a buffet (a little dicey to have a buffet in Bangladesh in my opinion). Anyways, it was a retirement dinner for a former employee who had been with TAF for 21 years. I hadn't met him until that night, but whatever. So it was a decent dinner and fun to get to chat with everyone. Remembered to bring my camera, so I got pictures of a few people, but here is one of Sukla and I. She was the first person I met at the office and is pretty wonderful in helping John and I out, especially when it comes to rickshaw prices and Bangla words. (John cut off a bit of my head) Yesterday was a pretty lazy day. I hung out at the pool for awhile and just about finished another book. Last evening, John and I headed over to Andy's flat. He is the head of British Security in Bangladesh. He's a ton of fun and always has a full beer fridge. After a drink there, we headed over to the second British club (the Bagha Club) for their Summer Solstice party. We met Derrick there (who I had met at the Casino night - he taught me to play Black Jack). It was a great night of drinks and dancing. I have to say, watching a collection of people from all over the world dance is one of the most entertaining things ever. There was one guy who danced like a penguin, another woman who was out of control (almost like the mom jeans lady). They were just pretty funny. Then there was the Bangladeshi movie star. He was on the hunt for a western girl, it was between Sarah from the UK and I, neither of whom had much interest in the guy, but he tried, oh did he try. He asked me where I was from - Canada - where in Canada - Alberta - Oh, I've been to New York - Umm, ok (awkward moment as I tried to decide whether a) he thought NY was part of Canada b) he thought Canada was part of the States or c) he was just stupid). Anyways, Derrick and Andy did there jobs and protected Sarah and I. Our rickshaw ride home was amusing as Andy, John and I shared one back. Now, John and I always complain that we barely fit in one, so I'm not sure how great of an idea it was to have 3 of us. It was late though, so we didn't really need to worry about traffic. 

Today was also good. The four of us met up at the other British Club for brunch. I hung out with Derrick at the pool while John and Andy went to the German butcher for good food choices. It was a beautiful day finally with nice sunshine and I have to say the British Club is way better than the Canadian Club - there are actually people there. Anyways, I am now taking it easy as we have a busy week of meetings now that we actually know when the elections are going to be held. Hope you all have a great weekend. 

Feeling Re-energized!

Ok, so today I have totally been re-energized and am ready to do this election thing again. Somehow, I had become very skeptical in the last month. And because of that, kinda losing interest in why I'm here. But today, we had a meeting with a representative from Britain (Michael Meadowcroft). He totally made me excited about it all again. He was an MP in the UK for a number of years and now runs the Electoral Reform Society. Anyways, just what he was talking about and the questions he had about our program were really interesting and got me thinking again. The thing I think that was most important in what he said is that elections are the result of democracy, not the cause. Something all of us back home should maybe think a little more about, how it's the activities that go on between elections and our civic engagement that allow elections to be of the importance that they are. Anyways, I thought I would let you all know that I am being positive again and excited again about my work. Oh, and tomorrow the Bangladesh Electoral Committee is supposed to be announcing when City Corporation Elections are to be held. Really hoping that it happens the last week of July, then I will be here for them, and still be able to head to Nepal for the first week of August before going to Beijing. 

Oh, other happiness - Russell, one of the guys we work with, had us over for dinner two nights ago. We had real North American cheese burgers and apple pie and ice cream for dessert - I was happy. Speak to you soon!

A little more Dhaka...

So yesterday at work we convinced Bulbul, who works in accounting, to take us on another tour of Dhaka today. We told him where we had been, and he planned a route for us and would be our tour guide. So after picking Bulbul up at his house, we headed off to the National Assembly. Unfortunately we couldn't get very close. Apparently the building is pretty much shut down because there are no elected officials (thanks to the lack of elections). So we could only get in front of the grounds and into the park dedicated to Zia, the second president of Bangladesh. 

We then headed over to Dhaka University to take a look at a bunch of monuments (to the language movement, the student movement and the national martyrs). 

We also stopped at the science faculty which has a beautiful building that was named for the British Viscount who had been in charge of all of the sub-continent (can't remember his name though). 

Lunch at a really strange Thai restaurant names Voot, which means ghost, but it was good. 

We then headed back to Old Dhaka to see a few things that we had missed the first time through. Went to the main Hindu temple (weird shrine) and then to Lalbagh Fort (another important pink building). The fort was pretty cool as it is pretty much a park for locals, beautiful grounds to escape the rickshaws, and kids are playing, people are picnicing, and generally a nice place. 

So yeah, that was about it. Had dinner at our favourite pizza place around the corner and watching some of the Euro Cup now. 

Things I learned today 1) having a yellow license plate in Bangladesh signals foreigner and means you get to do whatever you want and people won't question it. 2) Being a foreigner means you are subject to price discrimination, both when it comes to bargaining as well as more blatantly (foreigners pay 100 taka to get into Fort Lalbagh, locals pay 10 taka). 3) Bangladesh politics is really messed up (this has been coming all along but was even more obvious today). The first president was assassinated by the army, along with most of his family. One daughter survived, went on to become PM and is now in jail on corruption charges (actually, she was just granted leave to Canada to seek medical treatment - we don't want her). The second president was also assassinated by the army, his wife went on to become PM and is now in jail on corruption charges (she has been offered leave to the US to seek medical treatment). See a pattern here? Apparently the first two guys were wonderful and not corrupt and believed in Bangladesh, their families not so much. 

Anyways, those are my lessons for today. 

Rajshahi and Mangoes

So John and I finally got out into the field for 3 days this week. We went to Rajshahi with Najmul and Aziz from Data International. DI does the survey work for The Asia Foundation. The current survey is regarding people's perceptions of the hopefully upcoming City Corporation elections. So we started off from Dhaka at 7:00am. It took forever to travel the 300 kms and we arrived in Rajshahi around 2:00pm. Oh, how I love developing countries and their roads. In addition to iffy roads, I will once again say, people are crazy drivers here, particularly bus drivers. They weave in and out of traffic and sometimes it looks like they are going to tip over. On a side note, we saw 3 accidents on the drive back yesterday. Anyways, once we got to Rajshahi, we checked in at our hotel. I had to laugh as my bathroom looked like a prison cell, and I was definitely putting down the mosquito net over the bed. So we went out into the city to meet up with some of the surveyors. I went with Aziz and we met up with Naser, a university student from Dhaka. He was conducting surveys in the slum area. It was really interesting to get to go along, and Aziz translated a bit for me. We stayed for three interviews, two men and one woman. It was still amazing how much interest in the community I brought about. A white girl in the slums is probably not all that common. One woman thought I was a medical person and was trying to find out what was wrong with her granddaughter (she had bumps on her skin). Anyways, I took some pictures to make the kids and women happy, but tried to figure out what was going on with the interviews too. Some interesting things that were said, the woman was upset because she liked the old mayor, he put a park into their neighbourhood, but now he's in jail facing corruption charges. Another man had said that he didn't know how to decide who to vote for, because they are all upper class people and he doesn't know anything about them, or who isn't corrupt, whereas the old politicians, he knew what to expect even if it was corruption(the devil you know, the devil you don't). He also commented that he wanted the City Corporation to put more money into things like parks, which he thinks are really important, especially for the poor - a place where they could escape their world for awhile. Very interesting. Anyways, Aziz and I went back to meet John and Najmul who were taking awhile, so we picked up a bunch of fruit in the market, their version of blackberries, coconuts, bananas, litchis and of course mangoes. Once John and Najmul arrived, we headed down to silk street - beautiful saris everywhere. I didn't buy one, as I really don't know what I would do with a sari (I would get very tangled if I tried to wear one). Anyways, we headed back to the hotel and then tried to go see the Padma river (the Ganges from India), unfortunately, thanks to Indian dams, there is a severe lack of water and from the view points, you can barely make out the water. So Tuesday was mango day. Najmul was bringing back a truck load of mangoes to Dhaka. Rajshahi is mango country in Bangladesh. We went and met some of his family in a mango orchard and watched them pick mangoes and then throw them down to the children who had jute sacks to break the fall. I was impressed. If I had to do that, I would be hit in the head so many times. We also got to eat a fair number of fresh mangoes there. We also attracted a fair amount of attention from the local kids. 

White people here is a rarity, especially in the more rural areas. 

After the mango grove, we headed into the town to see the mango market, there were mangoes everywhere, it was crazy! The town was on the border with India, so we went to the border crossing which has a really cool old wall as the barrier. The bord

er guards were also curious and asked if we were from Nepal, or Afghanistan. We have been asked if we are from a lot of places, China, Sweden, really take your pick, just not India and Bangladesh. 

We tried to stop at this one mosque, but it was raining way too hard to get out of the van, so back to Rajshahi. 

Yesterday was pretty much just a driving day. Again, saw the three accidents, and then got stuck in Dhaka traffic. Finally, around 4:00pm we arrived at home. I waited around and prayed for electricity and a good internet connection to register for my classes at 7. Everything went well and I got all my classes. Anyways, I should get back to work... 

Another interesting day of insights

Ok, so today's post stems from our evening out at the Canada Club last night. The club was hosting a Mexican Fiesta, complete with margaritas, so John and I decided we would be sure to find the elusive young people there. So we headed over, collected out margaritas and soon realised, we were wrong. The young people were not there. So we hung out with the older crowd. Actually, I shouldn't say that, there were a bunch of young people, like 12 or so. No, there was also some people our age-ish. Problem - they were US soldiers from PACOM, not my idea of fun. Anyways, here are my insights from hangout with the ex-pats last night. Being an expat in a poor country has it's high points. I mean really you can afford a life style here that you couldn't even imagine at home (see the fact that John and I - both students - belong to a 'club'). It has it's downsides though too, and the most prominent one last night was the total loss of fashion sense. There were socks pulled right up with shorts, there were way too high cut pants (on both men and women), there were fanny packs, there were weird hats, too many mom jeans to count and the kicker was the knee length sarong with cowboy boots. It was hot. So if you want to be an expat here in Bangladesh, you must lose all sense of fashion in order to fit in. 

So yes, that was last night. This morning, we got up and went to church (I know) with Sukla, one of the women that we work with. I was curious what a Christian church would be like here. Well, it was interesting to say the least, and way too hot. It was in this little community hall, not a real 'church' and there was a lot of singing, and such. I couldn't follow much, it was in English and Bengla and a little Benglish, but I got bored (and there was no gobble gobble to entertain me). The amazing thing is how young the congregation was. I mean like all under 35. Very different from back home. Anyways, now that I have doubled my church attendance for the year, I am going to go back to being a non-church goer. 

So that's it. Speak to you soon. 

PS I want to tell you why there are no pictures of all these goings on at the Canada Club. Cameras are not allowed. I have been trying to decide why this is. It probably has something to do with security, but I also have a theory that it is that they don't want pictures to get out so that they don't let the Canadian tax payer know that they are paying for things like this (although I actually have no idea who pays for it). Anyways, that is why there is a lack of pictures from my many many hours spent at the Canada Club. 

My mom said...

So after my last ranting post, I got an email from my mom. She was laughing at me, and suggested that I be a little more positive in the next post and include what I like so far about Dhaka (she said I only had to list two things). So here it goes...

1. I like the grilled cheese sandwiches at the Canadian Club, they remind me of the ones Urs used to make for me at the cafeteria in high school. Unfortunately there are no smiley face cookies to finish off the meal. 

2. I am having to think hard about this one...

2. I like that I work with a woman that reminds me of Radhika (who would have thought I would ever say that?) As Pete once said, "is part of the reason we think she's so smart because of her accent?" 

ok, and I will give you a few more things

3. I like having snacks delivered to my desk, although it's no Tim Horton's, but tea, and mangoes and something I don't know how to pronounce that is yummy are enjoyable.

4. I like samosa's

Most of all, I am glad that I can laugh about it all and brush it off, even when I am super annoyed. 

This makes it sound like I hate it here, which I don't. The work is super interesting, although we are on a bit of a lull right now. Next week we are heading up north to the border of India to tag along while some survey work is being done for the upcoming city elections. We are getting introduced to a lot of really interesting people and it is amazing to see that if you want to do something, or are interested in some cause, it is totally possible to get involved and make a difference (ah, mushy). But yeah, work is interesting. And I am probably in better shape now then I have been in ages, spending a lot of time at the gym (it is air conditioned, so I like it there). 

Anyways, there mom, is that good? Am I done yet?

Speak to you all soon.

The City that Always Sleeps

Well, for a city with so many people and so much appearing to go on, there is a serious lack of things going on. I have been in a kind of rotten mood recently and kinda annoyed with Dhaka. Things are just so different here, and little things are getting on my nerves. So here's my list

1. People staring. Stop staring please, and the camera phones are getting a bit annoying. 

2. Spitting. I find the sound disgusting, not the spitting sound, that sound before hand, the one from the throat, it has only a few places that it is acceptable (hockey benches and hiking) and even then I hate the sound. It is not appropriate.

3. Horns honking. Seriously, we know you are there and a horn is not going to make traffic move any faster.

4. Bugs. They don't generally bother me, but ants in my bed, are you kidding? 

5. Burping. I know here it is a compliment, and this is coming from one of the most un-lady like women ever, but seriously, in a business meeting?

6. Shorts. I miss them. I miss tank tops. It is very hot and I would appreciate being able to wear less clothes. 

7. Rickshaw drivers. Enough said.

Ok, I think that is my rant. I will have more I am sure, those were just the ones I thought of on the rickshaw ride to work this morning. On another note, yesterday we were introduced to a Dhaka rain, wow. It was crazy and the drainage here is horrible, we were watching cars outside our office as they went through the big puddles, even better was the rickshaws. 

Beyond Dhaka

So, as promised earlier, John and I ventured out into the Bangladesh beyond Dhaka, although really not all that far, only 23 km, it just took an hour and a half. I am thoroughly tired of hearing horns honking for no apparent reason now too. Anyways, we went to the Sonargaon area which is where the original capital city was. I have to say, Bangladesh needs a little work when it comes to restoration and/or upkeep of historic buildings. We headed first to Sadarbari, which is an old rajbari (basically an estate). It was quite lovely on the outside, and some of the 'folk-art' inside the 'museum' was interesting, but really it was the exterior that was more interesting. Although, I did like the treasure chests, they were cool. We also seemed to be turning into the actual exhibit, as everyone wanted to know where we were from and how we liked Bangladesh. Quite funny. Anyways, we wandered around the grounds for a bit. John bought some weird, creepy looking doll thing. Oh, and then we came upon this little thing of kids rides, although if I were a parent, there is no way my kid would be getting on one of these things, it makes Whoop-up Days rides look like a walk in the park. Then it was time to explore a little, our poor driver (from the Foundation), thought we were crazy I'm sure. Our trusty lonely planet, was not so helpful with the maps, and any suggestion of being able to see Bangladesh as a backpacker is completely false. The town of Painam Nagar was very cool, but again left something to be desired on upkeep. Trying to find the Tall Shiva Shrine (John's check list) consisted of trapsing through a few plants and some mud and me being ever so cautious, sure that a cobra is going to appear at any moment. I'm with Indy...I hate snakes. Luckily, all we got was the Shrine and some neat pictures. Again, forcing our driver to ask a lot of people (they are everywhere, even in rural Bangladesh), we went over to the Goaldi Mosque which dates to 1519. It has made it a bit better than the old capital, and is still all in one piece, I guess to be taken care of, you must be religious. Adventuring some more, and listening to LP, we crossed the highway to Mograpara to see the Tomb of Sultan Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah, the oldest Muslim monument in Bangladesh. Sounds good no? No, it is boring. The wedding welcome arches on the other hand, were much more interesting and worth the trip across the highway. We decided to head back to Dhaka, but as a treat for surviving the heat and humidity, we had a late lunch at A&W. Yummo. Had a work out tonight, and a nice chat with a teacher from Winnipeg, who also agrees, Bangladesh gives you a very odd understanding of the world and after a year here, he still is baffled by some of the behaviour (the staring never ceases). Oh, speaking of staring, funny story today, there were 5 guys walking along, John and I were also walking. They all kinda stopped and looked at us for a minute. 4 continued walking. One stayed and stared as I walked by for quite some time as all his friends left him. Again, John thought this was really funny, so he went and said hello to the guy. Guy then stopped staring and walked away. We also had our pictures taken numerous times today on cell phones. So yeah, that's about it. Bed time, and off to work tomorrow morning. 

A new flat and a day at the club

So not a whole lot to report. We moved into the new place on Thursday. We are living with Rowley (our IT guy), his wife and their two kids (I can't remember his wife or daughter's names right now, his son who is 3 is Elham). First night was a bit rough, the power went out and the back up generator in my room decided not to kick in for the fan, it's amazing how horribly hot it can get in just a few minutes. But finally after an hour, it was back on, and I actually got a pretty good sleep. We had breakfast with them yesterday morning, breakfast here has a lot more meat, which isn't my favourite. There was liver yesterday (yuck). Needless to say, I did not try that. We spent pretty much all of yesterday at the Canadian Club. It was so hot, so lots of time by the pool, worked out, had a beer and played some pool. Anyways, today we are venturing beyond Dhaka which could prove interesting. Will have some pictures for you...

An office is an office

So, as you can probably tell, I have been sitting in the office a lot recently. So nothing much to report. I am working on two projects right now, one is Legal Empowerment of Women and Disadvantaged Groups and the other is Free Election and Institutional Reforms Project. Both are pretty interesting. The legal empowerment project is just winding up and I am working on finishing up some manuals for NGOs. The election group is really starting to get going again on a new chapter. Voter registration is finishing up, and we are gearing up for the first elections (City Corporation elections in 4 cities). Really, we are hoping to test out our civic and voter education systems and our election monitoring stuff on the smaller scale before having to go all out with Parliamentary elections in December (hopefully). 

Other big news - John and I move to a flat today, which will be nice. We are moving in with a colleague and his family. He lives in the nicest part of Dhaka, in amongst all the embassies. It will be about a 15 minute Rickshaw ride to work everyday, but that's fine, and the Canadian Club is pretty much the halfway point. So that is exciting, plus it's the weekend! I know I am still working 5 days a week, but ending the week on Thursday seems like a nice little luxury. So, yeah, an office is an office, but hopefully get out into the field next week. Hopefully I will have a fun-filled exciting weekend and have lots of Blog stuff. Until then....

Oh and for all of you who are trying the press 219, I am sorry if it doesn't work. Riz, I don't think Foxy will get the hang of it unfortunately, she's smart, but the lack of opposable thumbs is an issue. 

Out and About in Old Dhaka

So we headed out to Old Dhaka yesterday, which was kinda intimidating. We took a cab down, which took almost an hour and then arrived at Sadarghat Boat Terminal, where we had no problem finding somebody to take us out on a boat. It was a pretty neat thing to see. All the ships being built and all these people employed by the shipping industry. We saw one ferry absolutely packed, and it makes you realize a little more why there are so many sinking boats here. Anyways, our timing wasn't great as it was 12:15 when we started, and I almost died of heat and sun. Way too hot. Our boat guides then agreed to take us over to Ahsan Manzil (the Pink Palace). And as you can see - it is very pink. It was quite impressive. But in taking us over there, we then had guides for the day - oops, but it was actually probably a good idea, the roads in Old Dhaka are extremely confusing. So, we then headed for some food, which I am not regretting slightly, not feeling so hot last night, or today. But it was cool in the restaurant, which was much needed. So we had our political/economic tour in the morning, and it was off to the religious hot spots in the afternoon, and I have to say they were very impressive. We stopped at the Hindu temple, the Armenian Church (17th C.), the Sitara Mosque (Star Mosque) and another mosque that I can't remember the name of. It is amazing how welcoming everyone was. The Armenian church from the outside was absolutely beautiful, and because it is walled, there is a serenity in the yard that I didn't think existed in Dhaka. The caretaker was extremely welcoming and showed us around a little. There was also a very funny goat (I mehhhed at him Robin and he mehhhhed back). Anyways, the Star Mosque was also amazing. This beautiful tile work was so impressive. We started to attract a crowd at this point. No matter where you go, kids love seeing pictures of themselves. We were welcomed into the Mosque to see more of the tile work and again, everyone was fantastic. At the last mosque, we attracted more children, and John was invited to play a little cricket, he got schooled by 9 year olds though. They were good. Finally we headed over to Bangsal Rd. where we got to see Rickshaws being made, which is a never ending job in Dhaka as there are so many of them. We had adventured around in a rickshaw for most of the day, and it was kinda neat to see them being made. Finally, we caught a baby taxi home, which was a rather harrowing experience. About 10 minutes from home, it started to pour. It was a crazy down pour which ended up lasting well into the evening, so last night was chilling at the hotel. Oh, I forgot, we almost got in our first rickshaw accident. In a rickshaw jam, our driver decided he would pick up a little speed, and then he couldn't stop in time and we ran right into the back of the one in front of us, almost launching both John and I to the pavement, but we both caught ourselves, and survived the experience. It was a great day. I was stared at constantly, and had a few men do the full on whip lash look, to John's great amusement. So getting a little more used to it, but sometimes you just want to turn around and stare right back at them. Ok, breakfast time, and then off to work. Miss you all! 

Out on a Dhaka adventure...kinda.

So, yesterday was a pretty big day. John and I ventured beyond our little confines of Road 50 and into the world of Gulshan. We headed out in the morning in search of running shoes for John. Who knew that Bata shoes may be one of Canada's greatest exports. I was kinda disappointed to know that I have big feet by Bangladeshi standards and couldn't find any sandals. But John got two new pairs of shoes. We then went to pick up gym stuff from the hotel and then headed out on our first Rickshaw adventure to the Canadian Club. We have had this guy bugging us every time we leave the hotel or work, asking us if we want a rickshaw, following us if we walk anywhere, so finally he got his dream and we got a ride. His name is Rickshaw Wallah Ali. His rickshaw is in desperate need of repair. It was an interesting experience. John and I were nicely jammed in there, but felt that every turn or stop, one of us would go tumbling out. I wish I had had my camera with me, but I forgot. Anyways, we finally got our memberships sorted out with Jalal, who may be one of the nicest people I have met. The gym facility is pretty awesome. Pretty much all new machines, free weights galore, just needs some more stretching mats. I had a good work out and then we hung out by the pool, read and had some lunch. It is nice to be in a place where I can wear a tank top without being stared at, or even worse. We then headed back to Aarong, the store that I got my clothes. I picked up two more Salwaar Kameez, but with the wide leg this time. Have to laugh cause they are like Hammer Pants.....da na na na, na na Can't touch this. Anyways, they make me laugh, but they are comfy - I know Stacy and Clinton say that is not excuse to dress badly, but what if everyone has them on?

So back to the hotel for a little rest time, and then Kim (head of the Asia Foundation in Bangladesh) and his wife Muna picked us up to head to Russell's house (another colleague).  We had a drink there, met one of Russell's sons, whose prom it was last night and chatted for a bit. There were three other people with us. The head of USAID in Bangladesh, a Bengali-Canadian woman whose husband is a hot shot business man here, and Forest, the man who knows everything and everyone in the development community in South and South-East Asia. Anyways, we then headed to the Shilpakala Academy which is apparently like their national performing arts center. We were at a Korean dance performance hosted by the Korean embassy. It was funny, we were ushered in as very important people, and were sitting in amongst all the people from the Bengali government and all the ambassadors. It was strange. 

Ok, so then they start announcing all these people. There are tv camera's everywhere, which is apparently a very Bengladeshi thing. There lights are on you all the time. Very annoying. Then everybody does their speeches...Ali is getting bored. Finally the dancing starts, and I realise the tv camera's are still going, as well there are now print photographers up at the edge of the stage taking pictures. There are people in the audience with video cameras. This country is crazy. Then between each dance, we had this man tell us what each dance was about and what we should feel about it....this exquisite demonstration of ability should evoke feelings of love....it was ridiculous. Plus he didn't speak English very well, so it took forever. The Bengali-Canadian woman was sitting next to me, and we both got the giggles. Apparently this is not a normal thing to have happen at the theatre here, but it was just so funny. Then, the other thing, nobody turned off their cell phones. The guy behind us, actually answered his, and then accidently pressed speaker phone and all you can here is "Hello? Hello? Hello?" which made me laugh a little more. The performance was actually quite impressive, especially the drumming. But with all the other stuff going on around, it was hard to concentrate. 

Anyways, we then headed for a Korean restaurant, which was fitting. It was really good. Lots of conversation and laughs. Anyways, it was a great day, very entertaining in general. Who knows what today will bring.

Another day at the office and children in cages.

So it really was another day at the office (that is John outside the office). John and I headed out to look at a possible flat, but it didn't work out. But, on the drive back to the Foundation, we saw these very strange vehicles. They reminded me of the scary man in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, you know the one who locks up the little children. But yeah, it was like a caged rickshaw...very strange. 

This afternoon proved very interesting with two meetings, the first with DFID (British Development Agency) and the second with PACOM (US military group). Very interesting, such different approaches and emphasis with each group. DFID was all about governance and blah blah (stuff that I am actually interested in) and PACOM is all about community policing, interesting but not my thing. The Asia Foundation does both, but differently than both of the individual organizations. Yeah, it was just an interesting afternoon of comparison. Sitting in on the meeting, not contributing anything yet, just learning, and trying to soak some of it up. Anyways, John and I ventured out into the scary world of Gulshan to find non hotel dinner. It was interesting for sure. Our directions may not have been the best. Russell gave us an it might be the second, might be the third, which is kinda understandable when you never drive yourself. Anyways, we ventured, got offered a million rickshaw rides and I am getting more used to being stared at all the time. Anyways, we had Japanese tonight, which was a nice break from spicy. Oh, we also need a place to live here in Gulshan, so if you hear of anything, let me know. 

Oh, and I am pretty sure I am going to be addicted to tea by the time I get back, either that or I will never want it again. Sayeed never stops with the tea, but it's all good. 

Press 219 for Tea

So one of the coolest things about work so far is that if you dial 219, Syed shows up at your desk with tea the way you like it... lemon tea, little sugar please. I shouldn't say it's the coolest thing, but it is pretty nice. Anyways, today was the second day at the office and consisted of a lot of reading, a meeting with the National Youth Forum, where they got in trouble from Sheela for messing up with their funding, and a meeting with the head staff including Farouk, our senior economist in going over the monthly poll the Foundation puts out testing the public perceptions and such regarding elections. Interesting what questions get asked, and how careful you have to be with wording, not to step on anyones toes. Another exciting thing today - I have my second bag! My feet are so happy to be out of running shoes and into sandals. It took a bit, had to go out to the airport, get clearance to go back into the secure area, then go through customs with my bag, and then out finally. Everyone was so nice and helpful, but it is funny, because nothing is done efficiently. 

Just thinking of other things I noticed today - traffic here is crazy (I seem to say that in every place I travel, but this is up there with the scariest). The cars, baby taxis and rickshaws have little awareness of anybody else and I have yet to see a car (other than the F

oundation cars) that don't have scrapes all along the sides. It is crazy! I was also thinking of how it doesn't smell. Africa had a very distinct smell, but I haven't noticed that here, which is nice. 

Also, I wore one of my Salwar Kameez today and got so many compliments. I feel like I am wearing pajamas, but everyone seems very pleased with me dressing like a Bengladeshi woman. Too funny. But yes, they are very comfy. Ok, I am off to sleep, hopefully a full night this time...

A found bag, some new clothes and my first day of work

So, this morning once I got myself sorted a little, I headed over to the Asia Foundation where I will be working for the summer. I was introduced to everybody, but can't remember hardly any of the names, I need a list with pictures (The Dal Legal Who sets a high standard). Anyways, I also met John and then the two of us sat down with Kim, Jerome and Russell to kind of outline what the Asia Foundation does, some of the different projects we might be interested in, and some logistics stuff. It's pretty interesting. One of the projects I am interested in is called Leaders of Influence, where they take leaders from different religious groups, but mainly Imams, and try to introduce them to the more secular organizations, with the aim of building bridges in civil society, in order to demand government accountability (I probably didn't word that the best, but I am tired). Anyways, there is a deep distrust of secular groups by the religious groups, and vice versa, and this program is meant to try to bridge that gap a little. So yeah, the election stuff is also interesting. The Foundation, along with other groups, has been trying to help the interim government update the voter list, which in a country of 160 million, is pretty difficult. So yeah, there are lots of possible projects, right now John and I are both just getting our feet wet and doing quite a bit of reading of annual reports of the projects. We are hopefully going to get out in the field quite a bit in the next couple months, which should be good too. John and I headed over to the High Commission to register ourselves, and as well to the Canadian Club to get our memberships set up. I am looking forward to some time there, nice gym facilities and a very nice outdoor pool. We also went out shopping for a bit. I bought two Salwar Kameez and a new tunic. I will die of heat here, but I also have to have 'appropriate' clothing. After shopping, we got back to the office, where Kim told me they found my bag in Hong Kong, so now we just wait until it gets here. I can't wait for non-running shoes shoes. Project for tonight - try to get my sleep schedule a little more normal for here.

Crying babies, too many hours in a plane and no luggage

So, as you can tell from the title, it's been a rocky start. I am here safe and sound though, but lacking a change of clothes, gross. It's hot here already (26 at 8:30) and I am pretty sure I am going to melt while I am here. Andre on the other hand was happy in Vancouver and is still happy here in Dhaka. He arrived with all his luggage (which is none) and is enjoying the tropical weather.I didn't get much of a sense for the city last night, as it was 2:30 am by the time I got away from the airport, so no traffic and very little light, but today should be interesting. I am going to head down to the office in a little bit to meet everybody and should get to meet John at some point today too (his flight arrived early this morning). For those of you who don't know, John is the other student from University of Ottawa. Anyways, I need to get something to eat, so I will keep you all updated...

Off to Bangladesh in one month

So I am off to Bangladesh for a summer internship. Wow how things change really quickly. I found out last weekend and bought my tickets today. Can't wait!

It's been forever, but I am off again.

So, it has been forever and law school seems to have taken over my life. But I am taking an extended break coming up Wednesday. I am heading down to Peru for Halina's wedding! She is getting married on Friday and I am super excited to get to be there. So yeah, I will only be down there for two weeks, so probably not too many posts, but I will try to get a few in. Talk to you all soon from Peru!