Hello, all! As you should know by now, I am back in the US and have been here for five months! My experiences in Bangladesh were amazing, and I look forward to returning (hopefully next summer!). Since several people have been asking me to finish this blog, I finally decided to do so as a Christmas present for my grandfather and anyone else following it. So, Merry Christmas! Since it’s been such a long time, I will only talk about the highlights of my last month there instead of giving the little details. I apologize for the length of this post and the long break since the last one.
During the hartals, I went to Gulshan 2, shopped for pearls, and talked to the shopkeepers. Bangladesh produces pearls, so they are very inexpensive and good quality. The shopkeepers were very nice, and not just because they wanted to sell me things – they had no other customers because of the hartal. I had long conversations with several of the shopkeepers, speaking Bangla most of the time. They asked where I was from, and where I learned Bangla, etc. and were very helpful when I didn’t know how to express something. Afterward, I walked through the produce area in Gulshan 2 bazaar, talking to the fruit and vegetable sellers there before going home.
My language partner’s family invited me to a wedding the next Friday; unfortunately, they had the time wrong so we missed it. This turned out to be a good thing because my jamdani sari had ripped! It turns out that saris, if left folded in the same position for too long, can develop weak areas in the fabric that tear when worn. Luckily the dry cleaner in Norddabazar was able to repair it and it’s now barely noticeable.
That Saturday we had class to make up for the days missed because of hartals. After class I headed to Gulshan 2 to find the spa; my back had been hurting (I blame the rickshaws, which are too small for me to sit in with the top up!) so I wanted to get a massage. I didn’t know exactly where the spa was, so I walked down toward Gulshan 1. I managed to walk right past the spa, and kept walking past the flower sellers, people selling embroidered bedspreads, and the mosque until I came to a shopping center. I had heard of the bookstore located in this mall, so I decided to stop there and buy some Bangla language books that I could take home with me. Since it was obvious that I had missed the spa, I caught a rickshaw to take me to the one in Banani. The massage was wonderful!
On Sunday I went to mass in Bengali at a little church across the major road from Baridhara. Although I didn’t understand anything that was said, it was a Catholic mass so I was able to follow along. There was no kneeling, and you had to hold your hands differently to take communion, since you couldn’t touch the Eucharist with your left hand. Women also covered their heads with either their sari or orna while in mass. I went with Tara and Audrey, and we talked to several of the women while walking back to Noddabajar after mass.
Sunday was also Shab-E-Bharat, a Muslim holiday that is important in Bangladesh. As my language partner explained it to me, they believe that what you do on Shab-E-Bharat will affect what happens to you the rest of the year; so they eat well, spend time with family and friends, and the men spend most of the night at the mosque praying. I went to Moumita’s apartment to have dinner with her family. There I met her aunt, who would be moving to the US in a few months, and listened while her family had conversations in Bangla. I was just beginning to understand enough to follow along, but I couldn’t respond yet. I returned to Baridhara after dark, and there were a lot of men on the street dressed in their white mosque clothes; it was more crowded than it usually was during the day.
On Friday that week Moumita and I went to the shopping area around Newmarket. I only had a few weeks left, and I needed to buy presents for my family members still. I also wanted to buy an inexpensive sari because the two I had were too fancy for everyday wear. We went to the sari shops first. There is an entire building full of stalls selling different types of saris. I found one that I liked, a purple and teal one with a gold and purple border. I also bought a pre-made skirt to go with it. There was a man outside selling fitta, or the drawstrings for petticoats and salwar kameez pants. In another section, there were a lot of stands selling bangles and other kinds of jewelry; I bought two sets of glass bangles to match my saris, and a few other sets to give to friends. I also spent a while buying ornas for friends and found a 3-piece fabric set for my roommate (she gave me her measurements and I had a salwar kameez made for her before coming home). For my brother and dad I bought some plain cotton Punjabis. For lunch Moumita and I went to the KFC in Dhanmondi (which was a rickshaw ride away). I was disappointed because they did not sell biscuits and mashed potatoes with their chicken; they only had fries. The chicken tasted the same, though. While we were in Dhanmondi we went to Aarong, and then book shopping in Aziz Supermarket (the word supermarket means something different in Bangladesh). That night I slept over at Moumita’s house, leaving early in the morning so I could get back in time for the field trip. The most successful part of the day, besides getting most of the presents I needed, was bargaining with all of the shopkeepers in Bangla without needing much help from Moumita!
The next day was our last field trip, and our last trip out of the city. It was nice to get out of Dhaka again; I don’t really like the city, but the countryside of Bangladesh is breathtaking. Our first stop was CRP, an NGO devoted to rehabilitating people with disabilities. We met the founder, a wonderful British woman named Valerie, and toured the campus. They make their own equipment and wheelchairs, have a school for mixed special needs and normal children, and have a transitional living facility that replicates the conditions of villages and small towns (so the newly rehabilitated could figure out how to deal with their home environment before going there). We next went to the Savar national memorial, and it was, for once, an absolutely gorgeous day; the sky was blue and cloudless, with bright sunshine and a nice breeze. I had fun taking pictures of the lotus flowers in the pond. Nearby there was a pottery market that I wanted to visit, but didn’t have time to do so. We ate lunch at a large government-run restaurant across the street. Our next stop was the campus of Jahangirnagar University. The grounds are gorgeous, with lots of trees and green space. We visited a river fair in one of the university buildings, which was trying to share knowledge about Bangladesh’s rivers and their importance to the environment and the country. There were a few members of the Garo tribe there; I had a long conversation with them in Bengali. They live in the northern part of Bangladesh and were at the festival representing their own NGO. Afterward Shamim took us to meet his advisor, a poet and professor of Bengali. In his office, they recited Bengali poetry, including a Tagore poem about a river that was printed on an orna bought at the river fair. We ended up getting back to Dhaka really late, but it was really nice to have a long relaxing day out of the city before leaving.
Meanwhile, having figured out the general topic for my senior research, I had gotten in touch with the director of the American Institute of Bangladesh Studies. On Sunday I went to Dhanmondi by myself to meet with her; it was the first time I had been so far by myself, and my Bengali was good enough to do it at that point. I thought about going to Newmarket while I was down there, but decided to go back to Gulshan 2 and stop into the pearl shops to get a few more presents.
The next day, I wore a sari to class for the first time. After class, I went to the American center to talk to some prospective undergraduates looking at American universities. I discovered that Bangladeshis notice a foreigner in a sari far more than they notice a foreigner in a salwar kameez. I got many compliments about it, but also many questions. The one that was most interesting was “Are you comfortable wearing this?”; apparently because I was a foreigner I would find a sari uncomfortable? I like wearing saris, but they make it a bit difficult to climb in and out of a rickshaw.
On Tuesday I had my most fulfilling Bangla day so far. I took a rickshaw to lunch, and talked to the rickshawallah the whole way there. I asked about his life, and where he came from, and what his father did, and his job, and how long he’d been in Dhaka. Rickshawallahs make about 600 taka per day, not including expenses. I gave him some extra money to thank him for talking to me for so long.
On Wednesday, after class and a lecture, I went to Gulshan 2 and had another good conversation with the rickshawallah. I was supposed to meet Moumita, and when she called her family and she were shopping at Pink City for Eid outfits. I shopped with them for a little while, and then I went to Gulshan bazaar to buy apples. As a thank-you present for Moumita’s family, I wanted to make an American meal, and applesauce was on the list.
The next day after class I went to a conference with Farida. Although the conference topic wasn’t particularly interesting to me, I was able to meet some important scholars. Afterward, Farida and I took a rickshaw to Gulshan Ek, where there is a place to buy imported goods. I needed some shampoo and big bars of chocolate. We then decided to walk to Gulshan 2, and met some of the other people from the program on the way. We went into several malls and shopping centers, not looking for anything in particular (there was no class the next day). Later, I finally went into the Westin, which I had wanted to do for a while; it was exactly as one would expect the only 5-star hotel in the country to be. Afterward the whole group of us went to Gulshan 2 bazaar; several people wanted to buy saris for the final project.
On Friday, Moumita took me to the book area near Newmarket. It is the book version of Narnia. When I can actually read Bengali I will spend many, many hours there. It works differently from a book store; you have to tell the booksellers what you’re looking for, and then they send someone off to find it. I bought a few books there, but the selection in English wasn’t very large (nor should it be!). I wanted to go to the other shopping areas around there, but it was the Friday before Ramadan and very crowded. We went back to Gulshan and went to the Pizza Hut for lunch. Pizza Hut had waiters who came to your table and took your order. The waiter began to speak to me in English, but I politely requested that he use Bangla. He was surprised. I got pasta and a brownie for dessert.
On Saturday, I went to Moumita’s house to make several things, including American food for dinner and some sweets for the talent show (my talent was cooking). Moumita had borrowed her aunt’s toaster oven, so we tried to make apple pie. It turned out to be closer to apple crumble, but was still good. I had to be flexible, because I was working with a toaster oven and two burners, but the food turned out well. The sweets were chocolate chip cookies and a Bangladeshi mishti made out of flour, sugar, and powdered milk and then deep-fried like a donut. The meal went well overall; a few of Moumita’s friends joined us, and everyone complimented it.
The next day was the day of the talent show. We went to class in the morning, but there was no AC so they sent us home after about an hour. We all got dressed in our saris (I wore my blue Monipuri sari) and went back to IUB for the talent show. Everyone did well; I had made enough sweets to feed everybody. The best part of the show was when Farida draped ornas over her arms, held peacock feathers, and danced around the stage acting like a butterfly.
My final project was about cognates and really short, but I dressed in my Jamdani sari for it. There were five hours of presentations. Afterward, Farida and I went to the tailor in Noddabajar because she needed to pick something up. If people notice a foreigner dressed in a sari, they particularly notice a foreigner dressed in a green jamdani sari walking through a bazaar. I walked up to the fruit and vegetable stands to buy some fruit, and almost every person I passed commented on it. Memo to myself- do not wear fancy saris to the bazaar!
We got out of class early on Wednesday, since it was just a review session. I had some errands to run. There is a $50 tax on foreigners leaving the country, which had to be paid in dollars; we didn’t know whether it had been included in our ticket price or not (it had). I went to the bank to see if I could take out money directly in dollars, but ended up having to change taka. After that, I took a rickshaw to Banani supermarket to drop things off at a tailor, then returned to Noddabajar to pick up some finished items, and then dropped off my sari at the dry cleaner. After that I studied.
The final exam was the next morning. I thought it was really fair, and not that difficult. After that, I was free for the next two days. I took a rickshaw to Gulshan 2 and then walked all the way to Banani supermarket to pick my things up from the tailor. On the way, I noticed a large video store and bought a copy of Sisimpur, which is the Bengali version of Sesame Street. I walked the other way to Gulshan, over the bridge to finally take pictures that I had been meaning to take for a long time, then down toward Gulshan Ek. I crossed Gulshan Ave. and walked through the neighborhoods back to Gulshan 2. I was looking for a handicraft shop that I had seen from a rickshaw the other day, and eventually found it. After shopping for a little while, I walked back to Gulshan 2, stopping in a pottery market and a chocolate shop, then took pictures in Gulshan 2 bazaar and talked to the vendors. That night, the program had an iftar dinner at a nice restaurant on the other side of Gulshan. There were a lot of speeches and good food as soon as the sun went down. I went back to help Farida pack; she and Andrew were leaving for Chittagong by train the next morning.
On Friday, I went to Gulshan 2 to buy food for the plane flight and go pearl shopping for the last time; I needed a few last minute gifts. I then went to a grocery store to buy tubes of henna, and then to my language partner’s house for iftar. Moumita henna’d my hands so they would be decorated for the trip back. Unfortunately, my skin didn’t hold it well, so most of it was gone by the time I got to her house for iftar the next night. We left at 1 AM the next morning.
So those were my adventures in Bangladesh – this time. Thanks for reading!
