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.