Returning to Dhaka and Ramadan...

After another week in rural Bangladesh this time in Dinajpur (google map it ;-)) meant the idea of Dhaka was something of an oasis. The BRAC facilities we were staying at in Dinajpur turned out to be something of an 'experience' (the word used here to mean somewhere I would never return to) with bugs a major issue. Now as a group we considered ourselves able to cope with anything but the bug situation here would challenge most; ants swarmed everywhere amongst half cock-roaches half frogs (froaches naturally), and bugs the size of your hand that I were not aware existed. Even entering the bathroom was an absolute mission while a sighting of a mouse in my room one day was the final straw for my mental state and resulting in screaming the place down and hiding until eventually someone killed it with a broom! Realising we were quite the opposite of hard core and incredibly high maintenance we had the fortunate luck of two girls gaining an AC room that we were told did not exist and also came with a bug free ensuite bathroom. While the Bengalis also staying braved through the bugs (I say this like it even bothered them) and seemed oblivious to rats, we all stayed holed up in the AC room watching TV and complaining (like the good foreigners we are). TV here is something of a cultural mix pot, you get HBO and WB showing a weird selection of Western movies; while Star Movies shows Western movies for Indian audiences (so certain words are omitted such as SHIT); then Arabic chat shows feature a guy in a David Letterman style studio but dressed up in a tea towel; while the only UK channel is BBC Entertainment that shows programmes that the BBC has pulled from the 'never show again pile'. My other impressive feat is that I have managed to eat street food from a Bengali market and not get sick, which is honestly worth praising here! Even a Bengali got sick from it, I realise I am jinxing things though...

Surviving street food and singing in the Monsoon rain..

When we did leave our AC luxury the area was very green and beautiful and we got to ride in a whole array of transport including a very packed public bus that drives suicidally and make shift carts that are basically a plank of wood with a scooter on the front. Very uncomfortable but a novelty factor! When we got to the field the projects were amazing though, we visited two schools with some of the most well behaved children I have ever seen. We taught them the macarena and sang Back Street Boys for the hundredth time (they all just looked very confused while their teacher despaired). It was when we got to the adolescent club though that we met some mad teenagers! The girls were so excited to see us that one of them basically jump hugged Shutong, the Chinese girl in our group, to our great amusement. While they all got their camera phones out to eagerly snap away at us as literally mobbing us. My hair was being stroked from all angles in curiosity while one girl took my earring out my ear to have a look before jabbing it back in my ear! We all agreed that we think this was the BRAC dating service as it was described to us a way for boys and girls to meet and socialise together. One of the interns with us was 15, he had family BRAC connection obv, so we tried to offer him up as a American offering to a bunch of giggling girls. His way of responding was by showing them all a dance called 'the hump' which started by him saying 'you hold your girl like this and...' we are all really hoping they didn't understand or we have mentally scarred a lot of Bangladeshi teenagers...

One of the schools we visited and a photo of a wee boy called Meem (he reminds me of Gus from Cinderella)!

So leaving the field was with mixed emotions as rural Bangladesh is lovely but does definitely take its toll, especially when sharing accommodation with half of its wildlife. Returning to Dhaka confirmed us as high maintenance, the first thing we all did was go to KFC (there is only one in Dhaka and its pretty swish) where eating non-Bengali stodgy food was amazing (despite it being crap stodgy American food) but the change was welcome. Next on our list was a trip to a beauty parlour where between us we had 2 facials, 2 back massages, 4 eyebrow waxing, a manicure, and a pedicure. Damn was it good. To finish up our welcome to civilisation pack we went to Coffee World then a trip to a Shisha place named MYNT (cool innit), as its illegal to drink here Shisha places are where its at it would seem...

The other exciting thing about being in Bangladesh right now is that its Ramadan, which is obviously a fairly big deal. So basically from the hours of 4.30am to 6.45pm (ish) you don't let anything pass your lips; water, food, coffee, cigarettes. Which in this heat is pretty tough. But from the hours 6.45pm to 4.30am they bloody well eat. At 3.30am you have Sehri which turns out to be an actual meal of everything from curry, bread, rice, dahl etc etc which everyone gets up for and then goes back to sleep after. Then at 6.45pm everyone sits down for snacks called Iftar, which are not snacks at all but a full buffet meal of the most amazing selection of curry, samosas, rice pudding stuff, rice crispy things, lentils, sweet desserts, and so much more. THEN they eat their actual meal at 11pm (ish).

I am currently living with one of the interns, Mariam, which is a dream come true as I get to stay in an actual apartment with a kitchen, air conditioning, and her driver. So I got to go round to her house for Iftar, therefore getting the best of both words, not fasting but still getting the enjoyment of breaking fast and sampling Bengali food! Which is amazing btw; because restaurants etc here are not serving lunch they are make Iftar 'snacks' for you to buy so a delicious spread is easy to get hold off... So last night I was able to go to her house and have amazing food when breaking fast and effectively I have my own adopted Bengali family! Since I had experienced Iftar it seemed logical to see then have Sehri, so with Mariam's family at 2.30am we travelled to visit her relatives for a middle of the night feast. A crazy concept, the nearest to this back home is having food after a night out. So in the middle of the night I had a full on curry, rice, dahl, mango extravaganza...

Since having Sehri I decided that it would make sense to actually fast one day, believe me after food at 4am you do not wake up that hungry and feeling a bit ill if anything. So today is my first (and most likely only) day of fasting... Currently I am only 9 hours in and wow is this tough...