A River Village

Sunday, August 1st 

I can really see myself getting used to this breakfast served whenever I want it and however I want it thing. Scrambled eggs are one of Niru’s many specialties (including eggs, toast and tea) and I was quite pleased with them! Nice and fluffy! At school today, we learned all about the technology the school has and I was able to skype for a bit with Mom and Dad! They had just come home from Grandma O’Brien’s birthday gathering, so it was fun to catch up! We went on to have another HS meeting and learned more about the logistics of everything around here. I keep forgetting that I am here to work, and not just to be wined and dined by AIS/D all day and night.

I have to get myself in motion soon! Lunch in the cafeteria was naan (I LOVE), spicy chicken curry, salad and oranges. They have the cafeteria tables decorated with pretty tablecloths, flower centerpieces and water coolers to keep the bottled water cold! It won’t be like this for much longer, but it is a nice touch for now. We had more meetings in the afternoon about our personal safety and I feel good about how organized the school is here! Mr. Akbar is in charge of everything and has quite a good sense of humor. I like him and all of the other staff I have met so far! They are smart and loyal and extremely helpful. Everyone just wants to please us, and they are doing a great job at that! Savanna and I decided to try out the salon Avera because all the other ladies have been raving about it! We headed there after school to get a hot oil head massage. INCREDIBLE! We walked in, and the ladies jumped up to our service. I had a 45-minute head, neck and back massage, a wash and style, and a manicure for only 1300 taka! Which is a little fewer than 20 dollars… what a STEAL! I am planning on treating myself to this quite often in lieu of the daily Starbucks I used to have in the States (This was Savanna’s comparison that I will use to rationalize my new habit).

After our pampering, we went back to school to meet up with everyone and pile on the buses. We took a pretty long bus ride to this small river village outside of the city. It was so interesting because everyone stares at you with such intense curiosity. Many of the people in the village have never even been into the city of Dhaka. The town basically came to a standstill when our 2 buses came barreling through. It was QUITE a tight squeeze. The locals had to help us through some places because with the river on both sides of the bridge we did NOT want to topple in (I am not exaggerating). These people were wonderful to observe because they were not begging, they just wanted to say hello!

We waved and they would gather around the windows to peer in as we gawked out. At least the feeling of being observed was mutual. There were big clusters of chickens, goats, dogs, and cows being herded or just meandering around the road. On either side of the road (where there wasn’t flood water) there were little shacks with everything you could imagine. They had potato chips and toothpaste, a whole shack devoted to DVDs, pastries, breads, sodas, and, of course, lots of tea! It is so strange to see a community that seems to be living on the edge of poverty, yet each shack had a television in it, and everyone walks around with a cell phone glued to their ear. When we finally made it through the skinny streets to where the boats could pull up, it was a beautiful scene.

Many of the people came up to watch us get off the buses and walk across the long muddy field to the edge of the water. On the field there were 2-dozen children playing soccer with some of the adults. It was so innocent and a relief to see. After being stuck in the city where the only children you see have the most fearful and desperate looks on their faces, these kids are a welcomed sight. A pair of girls followed us all the way to the river whispering to one another in excited voices, but never approaching us too closely. When we got to the river, two boats were waiting with boatmen ready to navigate us on the river.

We walked across a plank they laid out from the boat to the riverbed that was about 8 inches wide. The boat had a thatched covering for a roof (in case it rained) and the floor was lined with oversized pillows and blankets for our comfort. The sunset was beautiful- from where we were we had a view of the city skyline in the distance with the foreground of dense green vegetation and river activities. One of the (many) interesting things about the river were the billboards that scattered the edges of the water plants. Another cool thing were these party boats that passed by overrunning with Bangladeshi men (of all ages!). They had massive speakers on them and were BLASTING techno like Bangla music.

They would all be standing on the roof screaming at us and dancing in unison. It looked like something from a music video! I took some footage, but I will have to see if I can figure out how to post it on here… Some of the boats had fancy Christmas lights that were decorative and others had karaoke machines. It all looked like a lot of fun… and possibly some alcohol consumption, too (which isn’t exactly allowed for a lot of the locals)? We sipped on red wine and cold beers while the sunset and felt truly relaxed for the first time since we got here. I have been getting full nights sleep, but I am conking out when I hit the pillow and going all day-night long with activities. So laying on the boat, away from the city and enjoying the river life was a much-needed change.

After a bit of boating around, we threw some lines across to the second boat and everyone climbed on board to make plates full of thai food from a local restaurant. It was delicious! We ate quickly and without knowing what was on our plates because although the lanterns provided for nice ambiance, they did not provide much functional lighting. After dinner, we slowly turned around and meandered back to the “dock” (thin walking plank to riverbed). The bus ride home was very enjoyable because I slept the whole way! When we got back to our apartment, our new roommate Briana was sitting on the couch! A great ending to a fabulous day.