An Adventure Packed Day

Today was incredible: terrifying, exhilarating, nauseating, and delicious.

At 10:00am our cook/bearer arrived for her first day.  The whole dynamic is so strange to me, and I can't help but feel odd as she cooks and cleans my home when I don't have a job.  Plus it's strange being the boss of a woman much older than me - and while I am a foreigner in her country.  Nevertheless, she seems to be a wonderful woman who came highly recommended by other embassy personnel.  She calls me madame, along with everyone else in this country, and she only stops working to pray a couple times.

After she finished cleaning the whole apartment, we went out to buy some produce and cleaning supplies.  We don't have a car yet, so we had to take a rickshaw to Gulshan (on the other side of the lake).  Oh. My. Goodness.  I was terrified!  I have taken a rickshaw once since we arrived, and that was within Baridhara.  In order to get to Gulshan, you have to go on a busy street for a few hundred feet.  Those few hundred feet took about 10 minutes as the traffic is so bad.  The rickshaws do not yield to cars - they stick themselves out and assume that the car will stop.  Thankfully, all of the cars did.  Our cook/bearer was wonderful - she held on to me and acted as my seatbelt.

At the market we bought a mop, bucket, broom, and various vegetables.  It was great to have her around to haggle, plus the fact that she knew where she was going.  There were a dozen vegetable stands and the men behind each stand would look at me and hold up an onion or a pepper with a big smile on his face.  I also had a few children and a few older women come up to me to ask for money.  Sometimes our cook/bearer would say something to them in Bangla and they would leave me alone.

Now, the next thing I have to say may disgust you.  If you have a weak stomach, I would stop reading this paragraph and go on to the next.  Ok, now for the nauseating part of my day.  As we were shopping and walking around the market, I couldn't help but notice that there were small cockroaches EVERYWHERE.  All over the vegetables, all over the walls, all over the ground.  And not only were there cockroaches, but the smell in the market was absolutely awful.  It was by far the worst smell I have ever experienced in my life.  At one point I almost threw up from the smell.  Now, we definitely don't have to shop at this market - there are other places to buy produce - but the market is insanely cheap, and from what I hear, the vegetables are very good (after cleaning with a bit of clorox).

So we buy all of these things, and we still need to get home.  I'm thinking there is no way we can both fit on a rickshaw with all of our purchases, but we must.  There are no taxis here, and the only thing relatively safe to get home is a rickshaw.  So we manage to fit everything, but I have to use my arm to keep the mop and broom from sticking out too much to the side.  I'm informed that since I am on the rickshaw, we have to take the backroads instead of the main road.  I am very thankful for this, and the extra 20 taka (27 cents) is definitely worth it.  In fact, the main road is so jam packed that in the one hundred feet we spend on it, I still manage to get my arm brushed by a motorcycle.  The guy on it looks at me and says 'sorry' with a smile.

To give you an idea of what traffic is like here, go to this link.

http://www.pictureninja.com/pages/bangladesh/image-dhaka-traffic.htm

We finished our first homemade Bangladeshi meal and it was delicious!  And very, very spicy!  My mouth was on fire for a solid 10 minutes, and my stomach was on fire for even longer.  One hour later I think the spiciness has finally worn off.  All in all, a good day.  I think I will sleep well tonight!

Taka

Bangladesh's money is called Taka, and it's 75 taka to 1 US dollar.  It's been a challenge for me so far, as it takes me a bit of time to figure out how many dollars I am actually spending on things.  When I went to the grocery store the other day I spent 2,050 taka.  I couldn't help but feel like this was a huge amount of money, until I calculated it and realized it was only $27.25.  I pull out my wallet and realize all I have are increments of 1000 taka, so I hand the lady 3,000 taka.  The poor lady looks at me and asks if I have anything smaller than a 1,000 considering 50 taka is less than $1.  Unfortunately I didn't so she had to empty her whole cash register to give me change.  Boy did I feel bad.  Since then I have brought smaller bills with me.

A Bangladeshi Rock Concert

On Thursday night we went to a Bangladeshi rock band concert that was held in a local cafe.  The band sang American 'oldies' to an audience of mostly wealthy, young Bangladeshis.  After spending most of our time around locals who earn about $1 a day, this crowd was the complete opposite.   Needless to say, we did not feel like we were in Bangladesh anymore.

Here are a couple clips of the songs they played:

Since Bangladesh is a predominately Muslim country, alcohol is illegal for locals and therefore there are no bars or places to buy alcohol except the commissary and a couple American hotels.  Foreigners are allowed to bring alcohol to most places including restaurants and in this case, the rock concert.  There were 8 of us who went, and we brought in a bottle of wine and some beer.  I have to admit that I did feel guilty drinking alcohol when I knew that it was illegal for everyone else in the room.

So, not only am I feeling a bit awkward for just drinking alcohol, I have to make it worse by spilling my cup of red wine all over the floor and couch in front of me.  I know it sounds bad, but I promise I was trying to get my camera out so I could take some videos of the band to put on this blog.  So I tried to be all nonchalant and go over to the bar to get some napkins without anyone noticing when the manager comes over and prevents me from grabbing the napkins.  The manager goes over to one of the waiters and says something - and of course my immediate thought was that I was going to be kicked out.  Instead, two waiters come over and clean up my mess and the manager looks at me and points to the band as if to say, don't worry - enjoy the band!  I couldn't believe it.  And I know he was trying to be nice and show me a good time, but I couldn't help feeling more embarrassed and guilty because I couldn't even clean up my own mess.

The concert was a blast.  If you know me well, then you know I LOVE oldies and was very excited to hear them play.  :)

Our Apartment

The pictures of our place are finally here.  We haven't received any of our shipments yet (but we should get our first on Monday) so it's mostly furniture, but at least you can see where we are living!

Here is our living room to the left when you walk in the door.

When you walk in the door and look to your right, this is what you see.

Here is our family room with the welcome kit's TV (where we spend most of our time).  We still aren't used to having so many rooms and we tend to stay in this room, our bedroom, and the study most of the time.  We never seem to venture into the living room or spare bedroom.

Our laundry room with the deep freezer.

Spare bedroom.  This room has the best view - the park.

One of the 5 'terraces' we have.  The only one worth using - the others have A/C boxes on them.

Kitchen!  It's pretty nice.  No dishwasher, but that's ok.  We must wash our dishes immediately otherwise  the dishes are swarmed with ants.  Our trash can is underneath the sink, and I hate opening the cupboard because the smell of pesticides is so overwhelming.  I have started holding my breath and walking out of the kitchen before I continue breathing.

Our wonderful water distiller.

The master bedroom.

The annoying yet wonderful de-humidifier.

Our study.

We have 4 bathrooms, but this bathroom is my favorite.  The other bathrooms are very plain in comparison.

And that concludes our apartment!  We can't wait to paint some of the walls and get our things so it'll feel more like home; however, we are very happy to call this our home!!

Bangladeshi Food

Today a good friend took me to the local grocery store to get some fruits, vegetables, and meat.  In order to eat the produce here, you have to soak them for 20 minutes in water with a bit of bleach.  Due to the water being so contaminated here, you have to be careful when eating anything raw or anything with the local water.

I bought some mangos, grapes (that are tiny!) and 1/2 kilogram of veal.  The veal cost 375 taka, which equates to about $4.75.  Quite inexpensive :)

Yesterday I had my first local food, and it wasn't the best first impression.  It consisted of the scrawniest chicken leg, rice, some vegetable mix that was CRAZY spicy, a piece of fish, and some cut up cucumbers. The sauce that came with the chicken was also very spicy.  The fish had a ton of tiny bones, and since I'm not a huge fish fan to begin with, I decided to give my fish to my husband.  The soup was pretty good - I think it had polenta and various vegetables in it.

I will definitely have local food again - I've heard the home cooked Bangladeshi food is much, much better.  We have an interview for a cook/bearer next week, so I'm looking forward to that!  It'll be very strange having someone else doing the cooking and cleaning, but I think I'll manage it somehow :)

Our Neighborhood

Yesterday I took a walk around the park near our apartment building, and there were lots of signs about health hung everywhere.  Check out the cat below the sign.  There are lots of stray cats throughout the city.

This sign is hilarious.  Cholesterol contents in food.  Check out the number 1 food.

The mosque near our apartment.

This is how construction works here - bamboo is used to hold up the people and the buildings.

This I will never get over.  SO many wires - this is all over town.

Of course, these three kids wanted their pictures taken.  The oldest one followed me everywhere pointing to her clothes that were ripped, pointing out that she didn't have shoes, and kept asking for food.  She followed me all the way back to my apartment where the security guard asked her to leave.

Pictures!

This is one of our fabulous views - multiple concrete buildings

 Here is a man paying the rickshaw driver

These three boys were fascinated by me and wanted their pictures taken.  They were very cute and rushed over to me to see the result of the photo.

 The boys again - in front of the entrance to a park near our apartment.  This park is closed every day from 10am to 2pm.  I thought this was a bit strange :)

A rickshaw ahead on our street.  As I was walking, I had 3 rickshaw drivers following me and asking me if I wanted a ride.  I told them no, but they continued to follow me and smile.  One rickshaw driver was ahead and slowed down to stare at me as I walked back to my apartment.  Quite the curious ones!

Here is the mosque behind our apartment.  The call to prayer occurs 5 times a day.  The first is at 4:30am, then 1:00pm, then around 4:00pm, then sundown, and another one in the evening.  

Cultural Differences

So far I've noticed a couple things about Bangladeshis:

1.  They do not know what a litter box is.  When the internet guy came a couple days ago, he looked at the litter box and asked me what it was.  I told him it was a litter box and he gave me a quizzical look.  Before I could explain it, he had already bent down and put his hand in the litter!  I said, "no!!  that's where our cats go to the bathroom!"  He was a bit disgusted, and I couldn't help but laugh :)

2.  They walk on the left side of the 'sidewalk'.  I was walking to a Foreign Service Spouse Tea Event yesterday, and I kept walking on the right.  Luckily everyone I passed was nice and gave me a big smile.

3.  They love to please, and are offended if you try to do things yourself.  This was true in Thailand as well.  When we stayed in Thailand, we had 4 carry ons and 2 big cat crates.  When we checked in, the guy at the front desk said that he would have his security bring up our bags.  My husband, being a do-it yourself kind of guy, went to one of his bags and said he could take this one up.  He saw that the guy was offended so he asked him if he wanted him to leave it.  The guy looked at him and said (quite loudly and convincingly) "Yes, Sir!!".

    Everyone here has a driver, and our sponsor is no exception.  Apparently she told her driver that I might be calling to get a ride somewhere.  I hadn't realized this was an option, so I never called him.  Every day when our sponsor got a ride home from work, he would look at her and say, "Miss Lindsay did not call me today..." with a frown on his face.  Needless to say I am calling him today for a ride to the US Embassy  :)


I'm sure there are PLENTY of other cultural differences that I have not picked up on yet - and will, very soon - but these are just a few of my favorites so far.  I'm still enjoying taking everything in, and I'm excited to see more!

We made it!!

So we finally made it to Dhaka, and it's great to have the move-out and the flights behind us.  Now that we're here, we have a whole new and exciting to-do list!

First thing on our list was to get internet which I did today.  I couldn't believe how quickly it was done.  I called the guy's cell phone and an hour later he was here - 20 minutes later and we had our internet!  This would never happen back home.  So now we are up and running and can skype whenever we are home.  If you don't have skype yet, it is time to download it :)

My husband has a work issued cell phone, but I need to get one soon.  The US Embassy has this service called Motor Pool, and all you have to do is call and tell them where you are and where you want to go, and they will take you.  It's free for the first month while you are getting settled and figuring out your own transportation.  We've decided we will get a car, and we will DEFINITELY get a driver.  There is no way I am driving here - there are people running in the street everywhere along with tons of rickshaws and cars, and there are no lines between lanes.  So basically everyone drives where there is space.  It's quite frightening.

As far as our apartment, it is really, really nice.  It is fully furnished, and the furniture is incredibly nice.  It's a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom apartment with a living room, dining room, family room, and kitchen.  We also have a water distiller in the back where the 'servant's quarters' are (which we will be using as a closet).  We must use that water for drinking and for brushing our teeth.  The tap water is the local water, and you do NOT want that water anywhere near your mouth.  We back up to a mosque, so we hear the call to prayer every morning at 4:30, along with 4 more times throughout the day.  It's a fascinating and extremely exotic sound.  It's woken my husband up every morning - thankfully I can sleep through it most mornings :)

The people here are very friendly, and they always seem to have a smile on their face.  Most people on the street are fascinated by you and follow you with their eyes wherever you go.  The children come running towards you saying 'taka, taka', and they will put their faces on your car window until the car pulls away.  I've only been out around the wealthy neighborhoods so far (Gulshan and Baridhara), so we'll see what happens when we go to Old Dhaka!

Don't worry - I'll be posting pictures soon so you can see what life is like here :)