Why yes I am still alive

and kicking.  And terribly, terribly sorry to all of you who may have regularly or even just sporadically checked my blog to see if I'd written about my adventures, as promised.  The thing is, Bangladesh has turned out to be not so much of an adventure.  Or at least, not the kind that involves exciting travels to interesting places or a life-changing internship (not that I expected the latter, but I had sort of hoped for the former).  A lot of things didn't work out quite the way I had hoped, while other things did - like meeting and getting to know my wonderful family, eating delicious food, and improving my Bengali.

The things that didn't work out, or that were challenging to experience/witness were many, however.  But from them I learned some seriously valuable lessons about life, relationships, travel, and my own limits and strengths.  Valuable lessons, but not the most fun lessons, which is why I kind of lost the motivation to update here.  I will tell you guys more in person when I eventually meet up with you all upon my return (in early April, rather than late May as originally planned).  

Do I sound too sober?  I suppose I am - this trip has given me much food for thought (and lots of material for a cliche child-of-immigrants-visits-homeland-to-explore-roots book, if I wanted to write it, haha).  But there are many silver linings to my experience here, and Bangladesh is a beautiful country.  I'll definitely return, and I am very glad that I came. :)

Children in Cages

After a rather gruelling 23 hours of travel (despite Air Emirates being wonderful), I arrived in Dhaka two days ago.  And I was definitely not in Kansas anymore:  as our plane descended to land at the airport I could have sworn, from my window seat, that we were about to land on a farm - what with water canals going through the grass fields beside the airstrip, haha.  Funnily enough, though, the moment it really hit me that I was finally in Bangladesh was when I was in line at customs, and someone's cellphone went off.  The ringtone was that of a flute playing a traditional Bengali folk tune, and I couldn't help but grin at how very Bengali it was.

My aunt and uncle picked me up from the airport and we took a taxi to their place - and the drive there was crazy.  I thought driving in India was crazy, but Dhaka was possibly crazier, minus the adorable cows.  And also minus the smell of piss, to my surprise (I expected it to stink as such, as it often did when I was in Delhi).  Dhaka feels like a less developed, more chaotic version of Delhi to me.  There is just so much going on in the streets - men pulling long carts of bamboo and bricks, constantly honking cars and buses, a billion bicycle rickshaws covered in awesome art that I hope I can photograph later on, people selling all sorts of goods on the sides of the road (there aren't many sidewalks), and of course - beggars.  There's also significantly, noticeably more men on the streets than women, and I don't know if this is because women stay home or because the city is full of male migrant workers, or both.  Either way, it translates to getting stared at more by virtue of being a female, and to creepy boys following me into shops just to stare at me (ugh).

Also spotted on the streets of Dhaka: these bicycle rickshaws that were pulling carts, on top of which sat - there is no other way to describe this - cages full of little school children.  They looked horribly unsafe and adorable all at once.  Given that the kids were all in school uniforms I assumed this was the bizarre Bengali version of the schoolbus, and not children being carted off to be sold in broad daylight... right? Right?

Bangladesh makes me laugh.

Off to the motherland! (in 5 hours)

Things I will miss:  my parents and my brother; my friends; showers (as opposed to dumping pails of water on my head); fresh air; salads; Game of Thrones season 2.

Things I look forward to:  meeting most of my relatives for the first time; delicious delicious food; cows on the streets again; Friday prayers if I can go; tea gardens in Sylhet; the beaches and temples of Chittagong; working with BRAC and possible field visits to the village; exploring old Dhaka; shopping for saris; improving my abysmal Bengali; HALAL FOOD EVERYWHERE.

Keep in touch, everyone!  I will miss you all <3

A list...

...of electronics and associated accessories I'm bringing with me for my 3.5 month trip to Bangladesh:

1. Cellphone
2. Netbook
3. Camera
4. External web camera (my netbook one doesn't work)
5. Earphones
6. Blackberry Playbook (tablet) - so I can read e-books
7. Hair iron
8. Plug adapter
9. A bajillion batteries, chargers, memory sticks, USB keys, and cables.

Everyone is going to think I'm a spoiled Canadian brat.  Which is basically true.