The Travels of Helen of Troy: 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.