Malaysia etc.

Okay, I know I haven't written in forever. The longer I waited to write, the more difficult it seemed to try to update everyone on all that has happened in the last 2 months. So, my apologies regarding the delay, and I'll do my best to recap the last few weeks. Also, sorry if this post in incredibly lengthy and verbose (a lot has happened!).

On November 25th I went to Malaysia with 3 other Fulbrighters and 2 of our friends. We took a red eye flight from Dhaka to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital. The city is pristine and organized (two things Dhaka is not). KL is also incredibly diverse; it has significant Chinese and Indian immigrant populations. The cool thing is that city feels very integrated, rather than being segregated based on racial lines. KL's diversity also manifests in the fabulous array of food available. Our first night, which coincided with Thanksgiving, we ate at this amazing Italian restaurant called NeroVivo. Feeling deprived of cheese and authentic Italian food, I stuffed my face with what was easily the best gourmet pizza I've had in all of Asia.

Our hotel was in the middle of Chinatown, which transformed into a bustling market of cheap goods and knock-off purses by night. We had a chance to explore the tourist attractions of KL, including the Central Market, the Petronas Towers (they used to be the tallest in the world), the King's Palace, the National Monument, and the National Orchid Garden (which was truly gorgeous).

We also made the short trip outside the city to the Batu Caves, where we visited Hindu temples, climbed 200+ stairs, and explored the inside of the caves, which was filled with Hindu statues carved into the cave walls. It was all very Indiana Jones-esque, especially the part where we maneuvered our way up the stairs through an obstacle course of menacing monkeys.

Malaysia was also an oasis of consumerism. I'm sorry to admit it, but after spending 2 coffee-deprived months in Dhaka I was actually happy to see a Starbucks (and that's saying a lot). Malaysian malls are monstrous, easily 10+ stories tall. They have all of the international and local brands and everything is very pretty. Plus, the air-conditioned comfort of the mall shopping experience is somewhat lacking in Dhaka. Needless to say, I kind of had a field day shopping.

KL is a great city in its own right, but for me it provided certain comforts of home that I had been sorely missing. Among these were sidewalks, public transportation, traffic laws, clean streets, open spaces, being out after dark, access to a diverse spread of cuisine, coffee, and the freedom to wear whatever I wanted. While I do love wearing the shalwar chemise (typical women's dress consisting of shalwar pants, a longer kurta top, and a scarf called an orna or dupata worn to cover the chest), after more than 2 months the initial charm is starting to wear off. The outfit is typically comfortable and does reduce the staring significantly. However, I'm constantly fighting with my orna, which is usually around my neck either too tight, uneven, or falling down about to get stuck in the wheels of a passing rickshaw. This is not to say that it doesn't have its perks. The orna can be incredibly useful, thrown over one's head if it starts to rain, or used to breathe through if one passes a particularly disturbing smell (also not uncommon here). For the most part I am learning how to peacefully coexist with my orna, but it takes practice.

So things have been going well for the most part here in Dhaka. I’ve been continuing my Bangla language study, which is coming along nicely. After many weeks my speaking capabilities are starting to improve dramatically so that I can usually get through a conversation, even if I’ve missed a thing or two and my verb conjugation is not perfect. It feels good when I’ve successfully conversed with a shop owner, read Bangla at random, or bargained the hell out of someone in overcharging me because I’m so obviously a foreigner (and yes, I do pride myself on my bargaining skills). Bangladeshis tend to be extremely excited and encouraging about my speaking Bangla, which is great.

In Dhaka in particular, Bangla has been very English-ized (I’m sure there’s a proper word for this) so it is easy to rely on the crutch of English words when my Bangla fails, although I won’t necessarily be able to do in the village. Interestingly the hybridizing of Bangla-English is actually a national trend here. Words such as “hashpatal” (hospital), “offish” (office, a personal favorite of mine), and phrases such as “ami tomake miss korbo” (I will miss you), have been adopted by Bangla and are even written in Bangla characters. It’s quite sad to see certain Bangla words, which are often extremely beautiful and meaningful (although viewed by Bangladeshis as too serious or poetic) fall out of use.

Learning Bangla has truly been a window through which I can better understand Bangladeshi culture and people. The language itself is very much a part of the culture and being able to speak it has allowed me to make more meaningful connections and have incredibly valuable and interesting interactions. I am so happy to have had the opportunity to learn Bangla these past months.

Going Places, Doing Things

So it's been a few weeks since my last post and a lot has happened! The week before last I went to New Market and Chandi Chowk, which are both part of a very huge and very crowded shopping district in central Dhaka. Shopping around in the narrow stuffy corridors of Chandi Chowk, felt like the real Bangladesh. The day was exhausting and extremely intense, but I was able to buy a gold nose ring and beautiful silk for new shalwar chemise (with the help of my Bangla-speaking friend and her mad bargaining skills). It was quite a day!

This past week was incredibly busy as Lauren (the other ETA) I had an orientation where we visited different Bangladeshi schools in order to get a sense of the education system. We first visited a girl's madrassa ( a Muslim school), which was very interesting. The school used to be an orphanage and was actually the first girl's madrassa in Bangladesh (typically they are only for boys). While the school's resources and quality of English education were not the greatest, the girls were obviously bright, extremely enthusiastic, and very sweet. We also visited two private schools (Scholastica and Viqarunnisa). These schools were huge, well-funded, and obviously catered to the Bangladeshi elite. Throughout the week I was able to recognize the huge range in educational opportunities and resources in Bangladesh, as in the U.S.

On Tuesday of last week I went on a field trip with the BLI (where I'm taking Bangla classes). We went to the Red Fort also called Lalbagh in Bangla (literally meaning red garden). It is a 17th-century Mughal palace and it's really beautiful. The day was really fun and it was great to see a little bit of Bangladesh's history. This was also my first trip into Old Dhaka!





On Wednesday I took my first trip out of Dhaka to visit Shaturia, the village where I'll be living for 6 months, beginning in January. It took us 3 hours to get to Shaturia (mainly because of the insane traffic in Dhaka and because of the road quality around Shaturia). Once we got there it was a bit of a shock. I knew that it would be rural, but I did not realize just how rural. Shaturia is approximately 30min from the nearest town. The village is comprised mostly of farmland and houses made out of tin (we are lucky enough to live in an apartment in a relatively nice government complex). There are no restaurants or shops apart from the roadside stalls. Anything besides basic groceries (like fruits, vegetables, and rice) will need to be purchased in the nearest town. We have yet to figure out how we will get clean drinking water (which may have to come from the nearest town Manikganj). Needless to say, things will be very different in Shaturia compared to my comfortable privileged life here in Dhaka.

This is not to say that I'm feeling completely negative about my village stay. The landscape in Shaturia is absolutely gorgeous. The school where I'll be teaching is very beautiful and the principle of the school has been trained to teach English in the U.S. She is honestly amazing and is absolutely willing to do everything in her power so that we have a good experience. We will be teaching grades 6-9 and will teach for about 6 hours a week. Class sizes are substantially larger than in the U.S., usually between 60-80 students! Although this is a little intimidating, the girls are polite, incredibly sweet, and very excited to have us. Right now the thing I'm most excited about is teaching the girls and getting to know them. I guess the rest will figure itself out.

So, skipping forward a little bit, I went on a really fun day trip to Srimongol (near Sylhet in NE Bangladesh, which is where all of the tea in Bangladesh is grown) with some Fulbright friends and one of our teachers from BLI. We left early in the morning and arrived at Lawachara National Park by around 10am. The park was absolutely gorgeous and jungle-y. We were greeted by a very social monkey who proceeded to follow us around for a few minutes. We went on a really beautiful hike and encountered approximately 20 of the largest spiders I've ever seen -they were literally larger than my entire hand! As if that wasn't scary enough, they were so close to the path that I had to keep my eyes peeled to ensure I didn't walk into them (we had a few close calls).

After our hike we drove to one of the tea estates and made a little picnic for ourselves in a pathway amidst the tea plants. We were having a great lunch, when we were suddenly interrupted by a herd of cows heading straight for us. We moved out of the way as they passed by, and especially enjoyed a few calves that were running to catch up with the herd (they were adorable!). The tea estate was comprised of lovely rolling hillsides covered in tea bushes and tall trees. It was serene and probably the most beautiful thing I've seen since I've been here. So that's about it for now. More to come soon...

1st Week in Dhaka

So I've been in Dhaka now for a little over a week! Getting here was a lengthy process, but everything went pretty smoothly (with the exception of flying through a typhoon on the way to Bangkok -that was a first!). The people at BLI (the Bangla Language Institute, which is connected to the Independent University of Bangladesh) have everything set up for us here, which makes life surprisingly easy.

I have my own room, which has a gorgeous view, and my own bathroom. Our apartment is very spacious and, most importantly, it has a generator and AC! Both have come in handy over the last week as power outages happen daily and the humidity and heat have been pretty intense. A delightful/strange part of our setup is that we have a very lovely man who cooks for us 2 meals a day (which means I'm eating very well). His name is Shuranjan and he is a Buddhist from Chittagong. He is extremely kind, and while I am still very uncomfortable with him trying to wait on me, I am thoroughly enjoying talking to him about cooking and family in my broken Bangla-English.

My days are almost entirely dedicated to learning Bangla. It is exhausting, frustrating, and extremely difficult, but our classes are paying off. Currently my Bangla language skills include hiring a rickshaw, bargain down prices, and reading/spelling like a 5 year-old. I am realizing how essential Bangla is/will be to this experience, especially for the village stay in January. Although it's been a struggle, I get really excited when I can actually understand a question someone asks me or when I actually have the words to express what I want to say!

I've slowly been exploring our area of Dhaka, although there is much much more I want to see. Hopefully next weekend I will be able to see Old Dhaka, which is really the heart of Dhaka. I'm currently living in Baridhara, which is the fancy/ex-pat side of town (one friend called it the Republic of Baridhara). While living here has it's perks, I'm itching to get a feel for the real Dhaka.

Okay, well that's it for now. The first four pictures are from the roof of my apartment building. The last one is from my bedroom window.

Preparing for the big day

Hello! Welcome to my blog! As you all know by now, I am about to embark upon a 10 1/2 month Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Bangladesh. Starting a blog seemed like the easiest way to keep people updated throughout the next year, so I'm giving it a try. I'd also really love to hear about you, either through this blog, email (my email address is amann417@gmail.com), or skype (my account is amann417 and there is a 14hr time difference between LA and Bangladesh).

So I'm not really sure how to start. I leave on Sept. 29th and am busily organizing and preparing my life for the coming year. I am very excited (and nervous) about this experience and can't wait to get started! The first part of my trip is a 3 month language award through the Bangla Language Institute, during which I will live and take classes in Dhaka (the capital of Bangladesh). Hopefully by the end of the 3 months I will be conversational in Bangla (Bengali). The second portion of my grant is a teaching post in the rural village of Shaturia, which is located 2 1/2 hours NW of Dhaka. I will be teaching English to middle school-aged girls for the next 7 months and living with my co-ETA Lauren. So that's basically what I'm going to be doing this year. I look forward to keeping in touch with all of you in the coming months and will write again once I arrive in Dhaka.

Oh, and just to clarify... This is not an official Department of State blog. The views, information, and pictures presented in this blog are purely my own and in no way represent the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State.

Thanks for reading!
a.m.