Blogladesh

First off, I made a promise to someone back home I would use this title in at least one of my posts. So I hope I made your day.


Travelling from Winnipeg to Vancouver to Hong Kong to Bangladesh went as smoothly as it could have possibly went. For someone who has never travelled internationally before it was great to travel and spend one day in Hong Kong before going to Bangladesh to ease into the culture shock. As an anthropology student, I've had discussions about culture shock but the actual experience really cannot be described.

As soon as we were off the plane it was like Dhaka had engulfed me. A complete sensory overload from the different smells, the instant sticky skin sensation, the yelling and honking and the colorful billboards, vans and rickshaws. This was only at night too. In the morning the whole group went for a walk and the stares and attention was overwhelming. The streets are choked with traffic and honking is a language in itself. There are larger apartment buildings and business buildings with tin shacks selling drinks and snacks lining the streets. There are new overpasses but 90% of the people actually successfully cross the roads. This leaves me baffled every time I see someone weave in and out of traffic that is packed and going what feels like at least 40km but maybe 60km. But back to the stares. Most looked confused, others happy and some blank. The difference between learning about a different culture and watching programs such as the passionate eye or discovery channel and being there is monumental. When I first stepped out my anxiety was through the roof. I felt like I had been delt some terrible news and was walking around in a daze with the wind knocked out of me. It has taken about a week and I am just now starting to relax when I walk around the cities. Yesterday I felt the most at home so far, dodging traffic and taking rickshaws to the market and back. I still don't know if I'd ever feel even 80% comfortable with getting around and the stares that I've been experiencing.

The RDRS staff and guesthouses have been phenomenal. We each have a roommate from the group and a common room to spend time together. Every meal has had variations and breakfast is definitely my favourite meal of the day with fresh bread, homemade nutella, eggs and juice. Lunch and dinner are more Bengali with rice and dahl served for every meal and three different vegetable sides. Robin, one of the RDRS staff told me I had perfect eating technique, at which time I blushed and then have been fumbling around ever since. The most comfortable time of the day is after dinner with tea, where we all sit at the table and have talks. I love this part because my family does this everytime I'm over for dinner so it's familiar.

There are two major aspects to Bangladesh that have really hit home for me so far. The first is the blatant spectrum of ultra poor to rich in Dhaka and even now in Rangpur. On the road there are rickshaws, auto rickshaws, buses in poor condition and then brand new cars. Off the road there are tin homes propped up right beside business buildings and hotels. Some of the stores we've been to have been housed in buildings that look like they would crumble if you even look at them, but once you go inside becomes a beautiful air conditioned department store.

At one point when we were driving in our brand new "only second time on the road" van, our driver hit a rickshaw with a passenger on it and the rickshaw flipped over. The driving in Dhaka is chaos and near accidents occur every second but the speed of the van and the sound of the collision took back the entire group. Our driver Tipu and the RDRS employee continued on shaken, but otherwise unchanged. We on the other hand, looked out the back of the van intently to see the two men stand up.

While on one hand I'm so glad they both seemed okay, I'm still extremely worried about what happened to both of them after the crash. They fell hard and permanent injuries and damage to the bike was a real possibility. I couldn't even think about what if it had been a woman and her child in the rickshaw. That one moment of contact could have changed the lives of the rickshaw driver and the passenger but we would never know because our driver just kept on going. I learned later it was because there was no way of knowing what would happen to our driver if he stopped. He could be pulled out of the van, be made to pay damages and lose his job. If we offered to pay for any damage a habit might be made of hitting foreigners for money.

The second major aspect of Bangladesh I've been having problems with is being a female foreigner in a conservative patriarchal society. On one hand we have been given preferential treatment in forms such as the right of way for traffic and customer service. We are always greeted very politely and doors literally open for us (with the help of doorstaff). We are allowed entry to the most guarded and prestigious hotels. On the other hand we are staying in a country where women are primarily caregivers and domestic day labourers while contributing in some way to family income.

As a foreign woman in Bangladesh I am subjected to this double sided set of assumptions that I'm finding I constantly have to mediate. Experiencing extreme preferential treatment but with the men being spoken to and served food first has left me feeling undone. Interacting with people becomes confusing as well. This is my first encounter with not knowing how to read my place within society.

But not everything so far has been this confusing or daunting! Every person I've met so far has been over the top kind. Forget friendly Manitoba, Bangladesh beats us by a landslide. Also on our third day here we went site seeing to the ancient capital of Sonagoah. It was like nothing I had ever seen. The old buildings were mostly red brick and the architecture reminded me of a cross between small plantation houses from the southern US and the old-saloons from western movies. You could easily picture the buildings in their glory days but today they were run down and crumbling due to neglect and humidity. I questioned my career choice of not going into archaeology.

We also stopped at a replica of the Taj Mahal. It was a great tourist spot and looked like it was a hot spot for couples. That was the longest time I've spent outside so far and I swear I sweat through my clothes. Speaking of clothes, I am now the proud owner of three new outfits! I still feel like I'm wearing my scarves wrong though and I make a point to observe every woman who walks by to see how they wear theirs. All of their clothing is absolutely beautiful.

One last thing I wanted to touch on was the fact that there is an abundance of cell phones in Bangladesh. I wasn't expected to see so many and the range of economic classes who use them. Even little children walking down the street on a cell phone seems like a normal thing here. On our drive to Rangpur we saw billboards advertising cell phones to farmers in rural areas. I would love to know more about how cell phones have changed the country and communication here. Considering that land lines were most likely not prevalent before cell phones, I would find it so interesting to learn how it all worked and the direction cell phone use is taking.

We are now in Rangpur, a city roughly seven hours north of Dhaka. There are much fewer cars here but the population density hasn't changed at all. I'm sad we will be leaving for a few days tomorrow but look forward to having this as our home base.

Last, I just wanted to point out that although the driving makes me incredibly nervous and anxious in this country I have to thank my friend Katie for her driving skills in Winnipeg for getting me through this first week of what most people might feel are near death experiences. Thank you.