Semester Two Update!

Semester 2 has been go-go-go! I am now working in only English classes in the high school and it has been a bit of an adjustment! That doesn't mean I have been living a boring life, though.  Dhaka winter has a lot of great things going for it: cool weather, little-to-no power outages, themed dance parties, travel opportunities, and the WORLD CUP of Cricket!

Bangladesh in the news:

I experienced my first earthquake! It was pretty scary.  Savanna and I were watching TV in our living room, when everything started to shake and rattle.  I could see the apartment swaying as we made eye contact and silently waited until it was over to start to panic and yell.  I quickly grabbed my cell phone and called a few teachers until we got a hold of someone to confirm what we had just experienced: a pretty serious earthquake! There was a smaller one the following week, but I was on a rickshaw heading back from laying out at the Canadian Club, and didn't feel it! Here's some info on the first one: Earthquake Article

WORLD CUP MANIA! Dhaka has been counting down and preparing for the world cup for months now.  Before Christmas, I started seeing some signs of the upcoming cricket frenzy.  Large cut outs of the elephant mascot were stationed around the city to get people excited about the upcoming matches.





In addition to these, the airport got entirely redone: new tile floors, freshly painted walls, strange lifelike models of tribesmen making pottery on mudbanks, and cricket paraphernalia around every corner.

cricket poster outside of our gate at the airport

even the walkway to the airplane was WC themed

All of the medians in the streets were decorated with posters, twinkle lights, and cut outs of birds and flowers of Bangladesh!

This week, Bangladesh made it in the news for something negative I'd like to counter.  It was ranked 2nd worst city to live in by the Economist Intelligence Unit. I'd like to say: Watch this video! It doesn't exactly focus on Dhaka, but check out the great things, or as the slogan says, the "Beautiful Bangladesh" that is out there!

Finally, to really get a true picture of how Dhaka has been transformed for the better by a few weeks of hosting the World Cup here, read this article from ESPN.  Thompson has a nice way with his words to try to grasp the picture of the Dhaka spirit. While it is impossible most of the time to truly describe the things that happen here, he gives you another way to see "Beautiful Bangladesh".

Ok- enough legit current events.

How about the current events of my life (in photo montage)!

Epsom salt Bangladeshi Version. Dyed my foot purple for a whole day after use. 

New Super fun roomie: Kajori! She moved in a few weeks ago and is working as the Elementary Intern.  

I volunteered at the Elementary School Track and Field Event.  First, I volunteered saying I would only help if there was a running backwards race (go ahead, picture it and laugh), but I got assigned javelin throw. Some of the kids were definitely on 'roids cause they threw twice, some times three times as far as I could. (or maybe I have never been good at sports that didn't involve choreographed movements)

My form was at about this level.

Scene around the corner from school and near my apartment. There is a construction site behind the brick wall and, yes, a man carrying live chickens by their feet in the foreground.

The flowers are SO beautiful right now! Some of them are a foot in diameter, I swear! This one is outside of the gate to our apartment. 

We celebrated Kelly's birthday on the rooftop at the ARA with the karaoke machine.  It was AWESOME! 

80s Dance Party at the BHC with the girls! (This was a few hours post earthquake, but that didn't stop us from having a good time!)

Funkadelic Party a few streets down from our place! 

We had another Service Learning Day at school, and I traveled with my group to Apon.  Here, Barry is interviewing these children who have been rescued from the street.  They are sharing their horrific stories of drug addictions and suffering they experienced before coming to live in Apon.

Breaking the language barrier with a game of rock, paper, scissors.

At the gate ready for a long weekend getaway with Savanna to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia! 

The most delicious dumplings I have ever experienced. We ate here twice while in KL. It was worth the plane ride just for this scrumptious treat! 

We did everything we wanted to get done in KL: sunbathed (this is a view from the pool on our hotel rooftop), drank starbucks, and shopped! 

Ok, yes we also went to a club.

We got up early and made it to the KL twin towers by 9:30am and the tickets for the walkway were already sold out! Oh, well- at least I snapped this pic!

What to expect in the next blog post? I am heading to the Himalayan Mountains of India on Friday with 25 high school students for Discovery Week.  Think warm thoughts for me and keep your fingers crossed I can successfully pitch my tent, pee outside, build a fire, and purify my own water.  On second thought, tomorrow I'll look into seeing if Misti can come along...

While the water boils...

Flowers for helping with the play, flowers
from my Secret Santa, and  Christmas
tree I bought at the Commissary!

I have a few minutes in my hectic last few days in Dhaka for a quick blog post update :) --I am currently waiting for the water to boil in the kettle so I can have an evening cup of coffee (care of Bree's friend who flew in to Dhaka for 24 hours and brought us some fresh ground beans)!

So, last week (as you may have seen from Savanna's recent blog post) was quite festive! I volunteered to help out with the High School Play (Rumors by Neil Simon) doing choreography, hair and makeup! Each day after school last week I dedicated about 2 hours to helping make all the students look like the true stars they were! The play was absolutely hilarious! I was so impressed with all of the hard work the students and teachers put into the production.  It one of my favorite memories from AIS/D so far!

My Godmother and I wrapped in our first saris!

Back to the festivities of last week: I decided to enter into the Secret Santa game at school! It was SO fabulous coming to my mailbox each week in the HS Office and finding a treat all wrapped up and Christmasy/Bangladeshi: just for me! One day, I even got a special letter all the way from the states from Mike that included a really red (even after weeks of being in the mail and traveling across oceans/continents) leaf! It was just the touch of fall Bangladesh needed before plunging into winter <3 It has been a cool, breezy 70 degrees every day recently! It is so funny because all of the locals are wrapped up in sweaters with scarves on their heads and really concerned about the change, but I am still rocking dresses and open toed shoes to school.  I am going to have a real shock when I experience Virginia winter in JUST THREE DAYS!

 Bree, Lauren, me, Nadine & Savanna
before the rooftop party

At the end of the week, a few of us decided to go to the Aussie for drinks in a "farewell" :( to Bree.  Per doctor's recommendations, she has to return to Australlia for good this Christmas holiday to regain health in a non-developing country! One thing I have learned from living all the way over here on the other side of the world, is that it really is a small world.  We find connections and relationships in ways that I never thought possible.  So, even though Bree is leaving and won't be in Dhaka anymore, I know that I will see her again, it is just a matter of time and location :) Perhaps Hawaii as a halfway meeting place between our homelands?

Stella and I are celebrating how successful
the play was!

After returning home from the Aussie, I checked my email and found a note with the subject line:  "Surprise! Laura in Dhaka" and I thought- hmm spam from someone reading my blog.  I double clicked, opened the email- and IT WAS TRUE! My Godmother came all the way to Dhaka without even telling me! I immediately emailed back and made plans for us for the rest of the weekend.

Looks a little different from the Oktoberfest, right?!
But it is the same rooftop! 

In the morning, I picked her up (her hotel is really close to my place and the ARA) and we had a yummy breakfast at the American Club.  Afterwards, she tagged along with me for the last performance of the HS Play.  She got to meet all the actors back stage and see the work that goes into applying makeup (making 16 year olds look like they were in their 50s isn't easy!) and up-do's!  We watched the play and held our sides as they split from laughing :D Next, we rushed home to meet Sav and Bree, where Wahid took us to the salon to get wrapped in our saris.  The AIS/D Christmas party was Friday night on Rich and Colleen's rooftop!  The ladies at the salon wrapped us up tight, we stuck on our bindis, and went to a pre-party at Rob and Nadine's.  I was totally in the Bideshi Christmas spirit by then (Bideshi is Bangla for foreigner) with eggnog, women in saris, and men in their traditional dress shirts, Christmas cookies and decorations! The rooftop party was delightful- all the faculty and staff was present- the Christmas tree was set up- the tunes were playing loud- and the food was DELISH! We hung for an hour or so before making an early departure to an AYAD party at Ally's house (Bree's friend who was a youth ambassador with her).  It was a mask party-- see photos :)!

Best flatmates I could ask for <3 

Because it was a late night, we didn't pick Aunt Laura up til around 11am the next morning, but made up for the late hour by making homemade pancakes!  Although the first one turned out yellow and spicy (the pan was not cleaned from the last batch of chicken curry- Miiiisti), the rest were yummy and gave us just enough energy to get through a day of running errands.  We went to DIT2 (a market across from the Westin) to get some last minute Christmas presents for everyone back home and to show Laura a bit of the local handicrafts!

It has been SUCH a treat having her here in Dhaka with me.  It has been the best Christmas already, and it hasn't even truly started yet! We had taco night last night (yay Misti!) and topped the night off with delicious chai tea from Nepal.  Tonight Sav and I are heading to Kazana's (our favorite Indian restaurant) with Aunt Laura for some liquid fire chicken and special naan!

Excited about our wreath purchased at the Commissary! 

Tomorrow I am taking a group of students to the International School Dhaka for a theater workshop. (First time chaperoning all by myself!) A performance group is in Dhaka for a few days doing Julius Caesar mixed with Jatra (traditional Shakespeare meets South Asian theater).  Should be an intriguing fusion of arts!

Dancing at the Masquerade Ball! 

I'll try to post one more time before returning home- but if you want to keep track of my travels- I am flying from Dhaka to Doha on the night of Dec. 16 (Dhaka time) and arriving in Dulles at 2:30 pm Dec. 17! Can't wait to touch base with everyone over the holiday!

It's Been a While...

Life has really gotten under way here in Dhaka. I find that the time I have free I like to enjoy on skype or hanging out in the living room with the roommates and our new fishies. As you've noticed, the blog has fallen low on the priority list! To try and make up for my lack of posting- I am going to let you see for yourselves what I have been up to.  I may not have been uploading posts, but you know I have been snapping photos! So: enjoy the view!

Dinner at a delicious Indian restaurant for Tracy's Birthday :) What a fabulous night with some of the other female teachers! 

Stella's for a Welcome-to-Dhaka cocktail for her daughter Kira- it was beautiful and we got to experience a huge lightning storm from the comfort of a cool rooftop

At the fabric market in Old Dhaka: dozens of vendors all selling tons of fabric for great prices! We went to a tailor party last weekend and are getting some great dresses copied with our new fabrics! (Savanna and Kira are trying to negotiate prices) 

A view of part of the fabric market in Old Dhaka

A street vendor in Old Dhaka

An organic food store we found on the way home

Dressed up and ready for a party hopping night in Dhaka- BHC and then ARA! (in our disco ball elevator at Dokhina) 

Savanna and I at a charity Poker Night at the British High Commission 

Donna cheeses for the camera while Lia and Rob are very into the game and Mark and Lisa decide to try their luck elsewhere.

Kelly, Donna and Lia looking gorgeous! 

Marine Dance Party at the ARA- We headed here after the BHC and it was fun! Not like dance nights at Boylan, though... ;)  We did manage to keep it open later than 1am! 

Some of the beautiful smelling flowers we bought in Gulshan 2. This white bouquet we took over to our new friend Dave's house for dinner with his family! Dave graduated from UVa with us, but we never knew him until he found us in Dhaka! What a small world!

SHIPMENT ARRIVED! I came home from school (it was spirit week- and I was dressed in an SK for opposite day) to 15 beautifully packaged boxes that looked exactly the same as they did when they left my house June 17th! It only took 90 days for them to voyage across the world! They all even have a pleasant aroma of pine from their crate. Pinkberry has been so happy to keep me company inside my mosquito net at night! I knew I was a grown up after unpacking because the thing I was most excited for was my bedskirt so I could cover up my ugly blue box spring! I'll post pictures of how made-up and homey my room looks after the carpenter comes this week to finish hanging my pictures! 

The high school participates in an activity called Service Learning where each student becomes a member of a SL group.  The teachers also join one.  The one I am working with is called Apon (which means close friend in Bangla).

We went out as a small group on a Friday to get a feel for what kind of help we could contribute to Apon.  It is a rehabilitation center for those addicted to drugs and alcohol.  

It took about 3 hours roundtrip for travel (on a Friday- when there is "no" traffic), but it was so wonderful to escape the hustle and bustle of the city for a while.  We had to leave our bus and walk on foot because the roads aren't drivable, but being out in the lush green fields and seeing some of the local people was really an experience. (Pictured here is Robin and Barry- the HS art teacher and one of the HS history teachers) 

One night this weekend we went with a handful of Bree's friends to a delicious sushi restaurant- they served beer! It was very yummy... don't worry Mike- I didn't order any Cuttle fish.

Last weekend, there was a going away party for a group of Australlian volunteers here in Dhaka.  They had a decorating company come and set up everything on the rooftop- a tent, cushions, couches, tables, ice, glasses, and even a sound system.  I think Wahid (our driver) was very tired after we kept him out til almost 5am that night... 

One day when we came home this week, Misti had made us APPLE PIE! Isn't she the best?! We wanted it so badly we moved the microwave from the kitchen to our one outlet that works during a power outage to heat up a few pieces.  This is the quality downtime I've been having instead of keeping the blog updated- it is fabulous! 

Last night was Class Colors night at school.  I am a junior class advisor, so I donned my pacman themed jr class tee and headed back to school for some Thursday night fun.  They painted banners, played dodgeball and had an ice cream eating contest.  I was getting a brain freeze just watching them!  The students lined all three floors in the HS rotunda to cheer on their peers. 

Savanna's Bangladeshi Birthday

Jello shots at one of the houses!

Weekend of September 2nd-4th
Savanna's birthday weekend started off by all the newbie teachers getting to go on a house tour! We met in the main rotunda at school at 3:45, boarded a bus and set off to journey from Baridhara to Gulshan in hopes of finding some inspiration for our empty (but painted- yay!) walls.  Everyone's houses looked so good and ready for entertaining! I guess that is one of the many benefits of having bearers- your house is nearly always presentable. We got some good decorating ideas (and good treats- drinks/apps) from our lovely hosts!

Squeezed in our first (and Bree's millionth) rickshaw!

We had to skip out of the last house in the tour to make it back to Wendy's boot camp class! Working out on a "Friday" burns twice the calories, I hear. Thursday night was pretty chill.  We headed to the ARA and there was some awesome karaoke on the roof.  And by awesome, I mean really weird Asian videos playing in the background of 80s/90s American classic song lyrics + Bangladeshi Americans singing their hearts out.  We were quite entertained for a few hours and then realized that the entire work week was catching up to us and we wanted to head home for a movie night in our pjs.  After piling in the car, we decided to first hit up Movenpick since we haven't stopped talking about ice cream for the past 40something days.  However, the large crowd of young local men reminded us we were not appropriately dressed to be out in public, and we were forced to turn around and head home sans ice cream.  Movie night failed when Bree and I both passed out from exhausted shortly after returning home.

Our view from the rickshaw

On Friday morning, we got up at a decent hour and donned some of Bree's shalwar kameezes! We had opted to have our first rickshaw experience in the comfort of Baridhara and to make it legit- wore the traditional clothing for Bangladesh.  We headed to the gate and Bree taught us the fine art of getting a rickshaw.  She yelled "HEY RICKSHAW" really loud down the street and one excited young man came peddling up full speed and stopped right at the gate of Dokhina.   He tried to charge us 50 taka for our 10 street journey and Bree laughed in his face.  We ended up settling on 30 taka which is still a rip-off for the short distance.  Since there were 3 of us, and we are bigger than the average Bangladeshi woman, we decided we would settle on this price.  We shoved ourselves in to the little carriage and off we went! It was quite fun and felt a lot like being pulled in a horse drawn carriage, except the horse is replaced with the skinniest man you can imagine.  Once we got to Avera, we were pampered with mani/pedis and feeling like local royalty with our brightly colored SKs on.

Sav and our awesome new friend!

Post salon treatment, we picked up Melissa and went to the ARA to pick up our long awaited club cards.  Over a month in Dhaka and they finally let us in to the fine establishment as true members.  It felt great to scribble my member number on the tab and know I wouldn't have to think about the cost until the end of the month.  I think that feeling will quickly disappear after my first bill, so I am cherishing it while it lasts.

To continue with our princess treatment day- we set up appointments for Ronjon to come to our house for massages in the evening.  Everyone at school highly recommended him.  He showed up at the door with a big smile on and a small bottle of massage oil.  We moved a spare mattress into the living room, plugged the ipod into some speakers with calm music, and dimmed the lights to set the mood.  Sav and I each got Swedish hot oil massages for over 1 hour and a half each! And it cost a whopping 700 taka (10 dollars!) It was a much needed stress/anxiety releaser for me.  I was tempted to go ahead and set up a weekly appointment with Ronjon, but with the holiday coming up, decided to put it off for the time being.

Our server and his mosquito net

I made a quick batch of mac-n-cheese for dinner (so yummy!!!!) and then got ready quickly before our friends came over to help celebrate Savanna's birthday.  After hanging out at home for a bit, we went to our standard stomping grounds- the ARA to bring in Sav's 23rd at midnight.  There was a decent crowd of young people there and it was nice to see that there are people besides teachers who live in Dhaka.  They were really fun and perhaps a little too fun, seeing as I didn't feel back to my normal self until a few hours before dinner the next day!

Dinner was a total success.  Tracy and I made reservations at a Korean restaurant- Sura for 7 o'clock.  We had a back room reserved and about 20 teachers came! Sav had a really good time, and it is just so great to get together with everyone in a non-work environment.  The people at AIS/D are all so unique and have such incredible life experiences to share.  I feel like I should walk around with a tape recorder most of the time so that I can make sure I remember all the specific details that people share with me about other parts of the worlds and things adventures have had. The food was yummy and made me think of Aunt Jina :) After dinner, we had cake (Bree and I made it!) and cupcakes and then opened presents at home.

The crew at dinner!

Weekend, success! Nepalese adventures up next...