Endings

I've thus far failed to write accounts of a wonderful trekking experience in Nepal and an unexpected opportunity to visit India for AUW Admissions, but this video really encapsulates what this year has been about:

From "You are my Sunshine" by the AUW Pearls

It will be so difficult to finally say goodbye to these special ladies, who have inspired and fulfilled me in a way that I will never forget. It has been an honor to teach (and learn immensely from) them this year. They surprised me yesterday during a party at my apartment by gathering to sing a modified version of "You Are My Sunshine" - little did they know the song comes from my home state!

I'm in final countdown mode now: 7 days until Commencement (finally! the pressure's been on!) and 8 days until my departure from Bangladesh. Then it's travel time - I'll be hopping around in Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam for about six weeks before returning to the US for graduate school at Georgetown in the fall (and some summer fun with my sister and my cats!). I have no idea how to end this post, or how to leave AUW, so I'll just stop writing now.

Hartal!

An email from AUW security:

"Dear All,

It is for your kind information and required action please. Today 28 February 2013, the political agitation went bad due to Hartal. As a follow up of today's situation, agitated political party has called upon 02 days continuous 48 hour Hartal on 3rd and 4th March 2013. Beside this Hartal announcement there is a previously declared "agitation demonstration" on tomorrow 01 March 2013 after 1 pm.

Situation:
1. Tomorrow is Friday and political group has announced agitation demonstration throughout the country which may lead to hostility.
2. Sunday 03 Feb 2013 and Monday 04 Feb 2013 are called Hartal for spontaneous 48 hours.

Suggestion: Keeping in mind the previous Friday incident and recent style of demonstration, following are to be adhere for safety and security for the student, faculty and staff.

     a. Tomorrow Friday 01 March 2013; Student should not remain out side of AUW after 1300 hours (01pm).

     b. During 48 hour Hartal on 04 March 2013 and 05 March 2013, day scholars students should be escorted by their Father or Mother while coming at AUW and going back to their home. Other students will not be allowed to go out of AUW campus.
     
     c. For other staff and faculty, separate instruction will be issued about their movement.  

All members of AUW are requested to remain alert on moving outside of their home. We will keep you informed through mail and text messages, when ever it will be necessary. 

Thank you for your kind cooperation."

Pretty much every week since winter break ended, like clockwork, a hartal has been called in Bangladesh by one of the political parties. What this means is that businesses and offices shut down, transportation stops (except those ever-industrious rickshaw drivers!), and on many occasions there are protests. Most are peaceful - but for the last week things have been heating up, with some violence occurring in Chittagong yesterday. It's all related to a war crimes tribunal that's currently deciding the fates of people convicted of war crimes in the 1971 Bangladesh war of independence.

CNN has a story here and my lieblings newspaper has a story here.

And The Daily Star, a Bangladesh newspaper, probably has the most up-to-date information (at least for us English speakers).

I want to emphasize that I personally have not witnessed any violence, and I am totally safe. There have not been protests in my neighborhood, and AUW is absolutely capable of protecting its faculty. They keep us well-informed about what we should do. We usually still hold classes on hartal days, and AUW sends a van for us at 6:30am (hartals are usually dawn to dusk). We then return home via van at nighttime when the hartal is over. Some days I've skipped the early morning van to rickshaw in to school later, and the streets between my apartment and AUW have been totally fine, even peaceful and pleasant without the usual cacophony assaulting my ears. Definitely not looking forward to the continuous 48-hour hartal on Sunday and Monday, though! We haven't had one of those before.

I went to the grocery store this morning to stock up - could be a long time before I see the sun again. Due to the called "agitation demonstration" today I will have to remain inside my apartment from 1pm until...who knows? Luckily I have nice roommates to keep me company, a good book to read, graduate schools to obsess over, and several recipes I want to try :)

Busy as a Bangladeshi Bee

Enough about work! My social life has also become much busier this semester, largely due to the fact that WorldTeach has made some great local friends. It has been so nice being a part of a larger group and getting to know Bangladeshis. The group has also been extremely generous in inviting us to many events in Chittagong, like weddings! For those who aren't familiar, Bangladeshi weddings are elaborate, week-long affairs with many events. So far I have been to a reception and the groom's Holud. Still not yet the actual wedding, haha.

At a reception, the now-married bride and groom sit on a stage
(for hours!) to receive and take pictures with their guests

Wedding time = sari time. Love!

A tradition at the groom's Holud is to feed him cake.
Obviously, I was very amused by this.

Elaborate Holud decoration.

Families spend exorbitant amounts of money on all the wedding events, and the ones I have been to have been quite the elaborate affairs. Thousands of guests is the norm, which makes sense considering family size and population density here. Many weddings are still arranged, which I have been fascinated to learn more about also. While it's easy for me to criticize that with my Western lens, and it certainly is not how I see my own life going, for many people here it's just the accepted way of doing things. In some cases, I've learned, the couple is told about the arrangement (without having met eachother) a mere week before the wedding events start.

And there are always events going on at AUW. A couple weeks ago I attended a conference organized by the Speak up Against Violence Against Women club (and my lovely roommates!) that brought students as well as men and women from the local community together to talk about the terrible and ubiquitous issue and propose solutions. Then there was a week of Lunar New Year events, including a "food fun fair" where I unfortunately did not get enough food because I could not win tickets :( And yesterday was International Mother Language Day, a national and university holiday. Students marched in the morning to the Mother Language Monument in Chittagong and then put on a cultural show, complete with singing, dancing, and drama. The day is a significant one especially for Bangladeshis, due to the struggle to maintain Bangla as their official language during rule by Pakistan in 1952.

At the start, the new semester also brought the opportunity to escape the Chitty for some nature. It's always nice to be somewhere where you don't wake up to large trucks blasting music early in the morning. WorldTeach sponsored a trip to Bandarban, a region in the hill tracts close to the border with Burma. It's a mere two hours drive from Chittagong but a completely different world (a world that is strictly guarded by the Bangladeshi military). There are mountains and valleys and a lovely river. We spent two days there doing mid-service retreat activities, hiking, and visiting a temple and a Burmese market. I'm always extremely impressed with the beauty of Bangladeshi nature, when I'm fortunate to be among it.

A creature of nature aka a HUGE spider - eeep!

Happy to have such a lovely view behind me.

The Golden Temple!

Ladiez of WorldTeach

View of a lovely valley.

That's me!

Meghan and I, surrounded by peanut fields!

We're on a boat!

Women we passed on our boat ride.

View from the highest point in Bandarban.

Making friends.

Soaking up the sun.

Updates from the Chitty

After almost one month away in beautiful Thailand and Burma, it was time to return to the DESH for semester # 2. I was ready to hit the ground running, but my arrival at the Dhaka airport (the place my fellow volunteers refer to as "the gateway to hell" and "the place where mosquitoes come from") slowed me down a bit.

It seems I had picked the weekend of the second largest gathering of Muslims in the world (!) to fly back into Dhaka, and that was evident as soon as I stepped off the plane and tried to go through customs. Chaos. I stood in line amidst the crowds for something around 2 hours, not sure the entire time if I was actually in the right line. It was hot, I was tired of standing and desperately needed water. Wahh. After I made it through, I found that my domestic flight back to Chittagong had been delayed 6 hours because of "morning fog." As soon as I went outside, I was called out to and stared at by throngs of men who gather to hustle the incoming passengers.

Vacation decidedly over, I allowed myself a few moments to feel lost in culture shock before sinking into a (very uncomfortable) chair, adjusting my orna (scarf), and realizing that I knew about 10 people waiting for the delayed flight. Oh, what a difference 6 months makes! How lovely to have friends. The rest of my wait was pleasant and interspersed with conversation, trips to purchase and guzzle bottled water, and "This American Life."

This semester I'm keeping busy. I'm continuing to to teach the fabulous Pearls in Language & Composition. They've just turned in an argumentative essay and I'll be starting to grade them tomorrow when this 3-day weekend ends. I've been so impressed by the incredible improvement I've seen in many of my students' writing and am looking forward to 9 more weeks teaching them. That's right, only 9 more weeks! Classes end May 2, and graduation is May 18. Time is flying!

I'm also tutoring at the writing center, where I'm leading several workshops on project management (da details, I haz them!) and am TAing for a qualitative research methods course, taught by a lovely, intelligent, and caring professor who focuses on gender issues like violence against women. It's a great refresher on research for me and should provide a nice transition to grad school. All of my apps are in (whew!) and I'm excited to have an acceptance from one great program in Boston already, with hopefully more to come. I should know everything within one month. As much of a dork as it makes me, I just love this whole process.

My other responsibilities at the university include advising the student magazine ("The Spectrum" - what a great name!) and serving on the Commencement Committee, where I'm helping to plan the first graduation ceremony. AUW has now been open 5 years, and the first class will graduate this spring. It's going to be such an exciting moment for the university and it's students, and I'm happy to put my proclivity for planning to good use. I've also spent the last few weeks helping to plan a retreat for the Access Academy students, which successfully happened last weekend at the new campus site. Standing by a bonfire while the girls lit candles and said wishes for their futures is an image that don't think I will soon forget from my time here. The s'mores weren't bad either :)

"It's amazing how you can spend a small amount of time in a country and it can leave such a permanent mark. Some destinations you'll barely be able to remember. But Bangladesh? Every detail is burnt in the memory in vivid Technicolor."

This post effectively describes my life in Bangladesh unlike any other I've read before:

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/blogs/the-backpacker/the-big-difference-between-memorable-and-fun-20130212-2e9px.html

Burma, the conclusion: Inlay Lake

 I left Bagan early in the moarnin' and arrived at the airport to find that the time on my ticket was merely a suggestion. We would have to wait for the actual flight time to be announced. A couple hours later, tired of sitting on wooden benches, I finally boarded the short flight. I always try to have the mentality that even if things don't work the way I understand, they usually work. The Bangladeshi bus system is the prime example of this. Moving on...

The easiest way to get to Inlay Lake is to fly into Heho and then get a ride (about one hour) to the lake. I found fellow travelers going in the same direction and we split a cab. I checked into my nice, if basic, guesthouse and quickly hopped on a bike to cruise around the small town and catch the sunset from a lovely vineyard. I biked past many fields and homes and got lots of waves and smiles from villagers. The sun felt so nice on my skin, a sensation I miss during my workdays in the fluorescent-lit offices of AUW.

On the way home, pushing dark, I - of course - got lost as I tried to remember my way to the guesthouse. But through the kindness of a stranger I arrived home and got a good night's sleep in preparation for my early wake up the next morning.

After a complimentary breakfast featuring a huge, ripe AVOCADO (where have you been?!!) I met my guide for the day and followed him to his longtail boat. The guide spoke no English and was a bit gruff, but he knew where to take me. I shivered and dug my toesies under my tote bag to protect them from the frigid air as the boat cruised toward the lake. I really wished I had had the foresight to bring a blanket. But it was that magical morning hour when the sun is new in the sky and everything has a bright glimmer. Eventually it became warm. We soon reached the entrance to the huge lake and drifted past fishermen, locals on their way to work or school, and of course other tourist boats.

People visit Inlay Lake not only for its beauty, but also because of the numerous tribes that live on or around the lake. There are whole settlements built onto the lake itself, full of handicraft workshops that make silver and gold jewelry, lacquerware, spun silk, and tobacco products (or at least those are the ones I saw). And everyone also wants to go to the markets. That was where we started. We pulled up to a landing where hundreds of other boats had also parked and I hopped over bridges to get to the market setup. The front stalls were full of touristy "souvenirs," but behind them was (what I think) an authentic market - rows and rows and fresh vegetables, spices, and local products. There was also someone making what looked to be delicious donuts, and of course I had to buy one. It was gooey and coconutty...mmm. Theory that all countries have their own tasty version of the donut further proven.

I then hopped back on the boat and had a lovely day of tourin'. We passed by numerous wooden stilt homes and workshops, stopping at some so I could observe the process of whatever they made. We also ventured to a lovely temple on a hill that was surrounded by hundreds of stupas, a golden temple, a monastery, floating gardens, and a restaurant where I had a delicious avocado salad (aka guacamole, deconstructed!) and Burmese noodles.

The day was my last in Burma, so I had a  nice dinner of the local food and prepared for another early wake up for my flight back to Yangon and then Bangkok. My time in the country was too short, but so enjoyable. Despite some early complications, I felt so calm and at peace among the people and beautiful scenery there. Get to Burma, friends, while it's still relatively uncrowded and affordable! I can't wait to see what happens to that country in the next ten years. Since being back at AUW I've had so much fun sharing my pictures and experiences with students, especially the Burmese ones.

And that's all, folks! The new semester is keeping me busy, but I promise to update soon with more tales from the Desh!

My year, in just one photo

The conclusion of my Burmese travels to come shortly, but until then a picture that pretty much sums up my year in Bangladesh:

Who is the man between Anina and Meghan? Definitely not a member of WT Bangladesh! LOL
(Photo courtesy of Anina Tweed).

Temple Hopping in Bagan

After a fun night out in Yangon after a not so fun day, I got some shut eye at the still-somewhat-stinky-from-Durian guesthouse and woke up earlier than the crack of dawn to take a flight to Bagan. In Burma the time on your domestic airline ticket seems to be a suggestion rather than an actual departure time, so it's important that you call and confirm the time of your flight the day before. I found it still did not guarantee timeliness, but what are you gonna do? Basically sit among a sea of foreigners in the domestic terminal in a room much too small while you wait for a man to start yelling frantically and pushing his way through the crowd wielding a large sign to inform you that your flight is ready to board.

A bit chaotic, but it works!

An hour later I was in lovely, lovely Bagan. People go to Bagan to see really just one thing: temples. According to Wikipedia (a source I do not allow my students to use, but to heck with that here), "During the kingdom's height between the 11th and 13th centuries, over 10,000 Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries were constructed in the Bagan plains alone, of which the remains of over 2,200 temples and pagodas still survive to the present day." Yep. Sounds about right. As soon as I left the airport the temples and pagodas started popping up on each side of the dusty road.

After making it to my peaceful guesthouse, surrounded by temples itself, I crashed for a few hours and then took to a bike with a basket - Kosrae style - to start seeing them temples. Of course immediately I got lost, but was happy for it: I biked past a school that was getting out for the day and elicited huge smiles and waves from the female students, all uniformed in white blouses and long, green longhis. Consistently in Burma I felt graciously welcomed by the very friendly people, and especially by the children.

After righting myself I made my way towards the old city, stopping to admire the many temples and pagodas along the way. Some are in better shape than others, but individually and collectively they are stunning, especially when you look out over an entire plain covered in them.  It's hard to describe in words, so here are some pictures:

That's me! JOKES - but it could be. Took this while bike riding myself.

 After a mild (compared to Thailand or Bangladesh) but delicious - and cheap - meal of some kind of fried noodles, prawns and vegetables I went down to see the river and then returned home for the night, tired from all that pedaling and temple hopping. Some beautiful sunsets Burma has!

I loved that manual labor jobs are acceptable for Burmese women! I have not seen that ever in Bangladesh.

View from the roof of my guesthouse.

I awoke early the next morning to go with a driver on a day-long tour of the area to maximize my time there. We started at a fruit and vegetable market  where I relished walking through the packed aisles to see all the women selling their products. As I was one of only a few tourists there, I really felt as though I was getting a vibrant picture of what real life is like. Even though I was there to see temples, the market was probably the best part of my day. I even got to try a sugar apple out of the deal!

The onion lady.

Avocado!!! After being deprived for 6 months in Bangladesh, it was so nice to see my
favorite fruit/vegetable (?)  appear again. 

Spices

In the midst of it all.

Then I hopped back in the jeep for a whirlwind tour of Bagan's most prominent temples and all the ones in between. One highlight was seeing a temple completely covered in pigeons. Another was the reconstructed grand palace - even though it wasn't ancient, it was stunning and completely empty of tourists, minus me. By the end of the day I had gone into probably about 50 temples and seen many more. Whew! Not gonna lie - definitely got a bit tired and jaded by the end. One thing that got old was all the hawkers that set up at each temple, who constantly approach you to buy things. I have a feeling it's going to get even worse in the coming years, so get to Burma now!

Child monks - The taxi driver had to stop for a "child monk crossing" in Yangon, and then I saw many more in Bagan.

Pigeon infestation!

Even Buddha likes to paint his toenails! 

The "new" Grand Palace. It was reconstructed recently based on the plan of the
"old" Grand Palace, discovered at a dig site.

More from the Grand Palace

One funny thing about Burma - people always seemed a bit in disbelief that I was traveling alone, and many asked me "Do you have a family?" which I think is Burmese code for "Do you have a husband?" LOL. It's just not common in this part of the world for a female to travel by herself, even though it's entirely safe most places. And most females my age in South Asia are already married.

And a note about Burmese food - not really my thing. The aforementioned noodle dish not withstanding, I had a few disappointing meals there. One notable experience was the buffet the driver took me to on the tour. Basically you sit down and are presented with about 20 different traditional dishes. The hardest thing for me to stomach was the taste of preserved fish in many of the choices. It's really one of the only tastes that results in that gross "I'm gonna vomit" feeling for me.

The dried-fish-based buffet

Stay tuned for the conclusion of my Burmese travels - Inlay Lake!