Love and Flowers

Happy Valentine's Day!  We celebrated by going to one of the fanciest restaurants in Dhaka - it definitely didn't feel like we were in Dhaka anymore!

This evening I went for a walk in the park behind our apartment building and had some fun conversations with the locals.  Whenever I go to this park, there are always people taking photos of me with their phones.  Actually, whenever I go anywhere there are locals taking pictures of me.  I don't mind - I want to take photos of them too!  I spoke my limited Bangla with a few older women, and I could tell they were excited to talk to a white foreigner.  I also spoke English with a teenage boy whose mother convinced him to talk to me - he appeared quite nervous!  His nephew was running around the park with a phone taking pictures of me.  It was really endearing.  I decided to take a photo of him too.

The park has incredibly beautiful flowers, and I just had to take photos of them!  There are these huge flowers that they call sunflowers here.  They are the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen.

A family asked me to take a photo of their daughter in front of a flower I was taking a picture of.  They had her pose in a certain way, but she refused to smile.  A lot of the local women here will smile, but as soon as you go to take their picture they put on a serious face.

 Some more flower photos.  I'm practicing my techniques :)

Below is a picture of a family on the see-saw.  Since arriving in Bangladesh, I've noticed that many young children have a black spot on their foreheads.  At first I thought it was some sort of birth mark; but after seeing the same black spot on dozens of children, I realized it must be some sort of custom.  After talking to locals and researching online, I found out that the parents paint this black spot on their child in order to avert the 'evil eye'.

 As I walked back to my apartment, I decided to take a photo of the gutters here.  They are full of stagnant water, and it's usually used as a toilet for the men.  This is exactly what makes Dhaka smell so absolutely repulsive.

On that note I will say goodbye.  Happy Valentine's Day!! :)

Family in Dhaka!

My father-in-law came to India for work, so he was able to take a long weekend and hang out with us in Dhaka!  It's been so great having family here, and we were sad to see him leave today.  On Friday we had a tour of Old Dhaka and were able to see the Parliament Building, Dhaka University, Lalbagh Fort, Hindu Street, Star Mosque, the Armenian Church, and Ahsan Manjil (Pink Palace).  At the end of our tour, we took a little wooden boat out on dirty, smelly Buriganga River.

The Parliament Building

Dhaka University

A guy selling fruit on the side of the road.  A lot of these photos were taken from inside the car.

Lots of butchers!

One of our stops was the beautiful Star Mosque.  As we walked into the courtyard, I realized that I was the only female present.  I've gotten quite used to being the only woman around, and I feel like I hardly notice it anymore.  But this was different.  I knew I was an intruder since women are actually forbidden to enter mosques in Bangladesh.  Apparently our tour guide had permission to bring me in as I am a foreigner, but I felt incredibly uncomfortable and was ready to leave as soon as we entered.

A little boy at Star Mosque

Walking down Hindu Street took a lot of concentration.  The streets are tiny and there were people and rickshaws everywhere!  We had to keep an eye on the ground to avoid stepping in various disgusting things; we had to keep an eye out for rickshaws so they didn't run over our feet; and we had to keep an eye out for our belongings.  All while trying to see the various shops and small, overcrowded apartments.

The tiny apartments on Hindu Street

As we came to the end of Hindu Street, my father-in-law looked down and noticed he was stepping on something he couldn't quite make out.  After a few seconds we realized he was standing on a squished, dead, disgusting rat.  Surprise!

Flowers offered to the Hindu Gods

The Pink Palace

Another day in Dhaka - getting stared at by hundreds of Bangladeshi men.  I caught the guy below.

A view of the black, oily river from inside our little boat.

Muslim women in full burkas crossing the river

Bathing in the river...

Yep, that's a huge pile of trash along the river's shore

This man is selling betel leaves used for paan

A group of boys hanging out in the middle of a huge trash pile along the river

The weekend was wonderful, even though there were a few hiccups.  First off, I got sick the night my father-in-law arrived.  Then I managed to pass my bug to both my husband and father-in-law, so we had to cancel our plans on Saturday.  On top of that, he had to leave early this morning for Mumbai, fever and all.  He arrived in Mumbai safely, and hopefully he will be feeling back to normal tomorrow!

Thanks again for coming!!!!  :)