Walking by my man

I have a boyfriend already. I know, it's fast, I've been here for four days and I'm already romantically involved? Dad, if you're still reading this, stop having a heart attack. This is my man:

The billboard for LA Scissors features this handsome fellow who kindly shows me the way home every night. The direction he is pointing with his bedroom eyes is the street that I love down, imagine that! As to how he came to be my boyfriend? Well, anyone who knows me would tell you I tend to have an eye for landmarks like stores and signs, and this was one sign I couldn't help pointing out every time we passed it. Margaret, the head of our fellows program, began insisting that he was my Bangladeshi boyfriend and the rest, as you would say, is history!

Over the last couple days I've been exploring more of the neighborhood and starting orientation proper with the group. I'm the blondest blonde and whitest white girl in the group, so I get a fair amount of attention that I got used to living in other Asian countries. For the first time though, I'm getting upstaged and it's wonderful. My roommate Shelana is 6'2" and definitely steals the show when it comes to getting local attention. The average Bangladeshi man is about 5'5" (my height!) and woman is about 4'11" so being above six foot would be standout for any man in the group, but as a woman she really makes people's day. I've got to say that it's really nice to not be the center of attention for once.

Yesterday afternoon we did a special meeting talking about cultural sensitivity and specific cultural issues here that we need to be aware of. Some of the fun ones include not handing anyone anything with your left hand (right one is the clean hand, while back in the day the left hand was the wiping hand), no inter-gender touching unless you're very good friends with someone, and the importance of food as showing affection and care for guests. Overall nothing is terribly different than usual, other than men avoiding shaking hands with women unless they're in the upper caste and are more educated/westernized and therefore used to the western custom. We also got a couple of easy Bengali phrases specifically for getting us to and from the school via rickshaws over the next few days until we start our Bangla lessons on Sunday.

One fun thing that WILL take getting used to is that the weekend here is Friday and Saturday, with the work week starting on Sunday. Islam dictates Friday as the holy day much like Sunday is for Christians, so the whole week centers around Friday as a day or rest and relaxation.

We also took a brief tour around the AUW campus yesterday afternoon and found the city's one and only Pizza Hut, found a couple of Baskin Robbins, and were led to some of the best fuchkas around. Fuchkas are a mixture of onions and potatoes and peppers wrapped in a crispy shell and deep fried, then covered in a sweet yogurt mixture. One plate of six fuchkas costs about a dollar! Definitely more than a snack. We also had a couple of plates of what is allegedly the best garlic naan in the world, and it certainly tops my list.

Afterwards my roommate Minoli and I decided to brave the streets and walk home alone. Our directions were based mostly on feelings and asking passerby "Khulshi?" and making varied pointing gestures. Somehow we made it home, which seems like a miracle, but nothing beat seeing my boyfriend up there pointing the way and letting us know we were just about home.

Rickshaw driver - rides from my apartment to the university, which are about 20 minutes or so with traffic, cost 40 taka (50 cents).

Homeless and poor adults and children are seen sleeping on most streets. Packs of begging children operate in certain areas organized by adults to try and solicit money from passerby. It's a morally difficult situation to deal with - money given to beggars can be used to buy food or other necessities, but if you give to people operating in a specific location, you will be harassed to give every time they see you. 

Fruit stands 

CNGs, as they're called here, rather than tuk-tuks.

Fuchkas!

There are no state-run ambulance services, and there's no emergency number to call (e.g. 911) in case of emergencies. 

Beautiful sunset from my building's roof.