Breaking it down

For inquiring minds who have wondered about what I actually do at AUW, here is a "day in the life" post. Thought I'd make use of the 50 minutes I have to wait until dinner is served :) This is what I've been up to today:

5:30am: Wake-up time (Yikes!) No, I don't actually have to wake up this early. I think too much cha has disrupted my sleep cycle. I do feel decently rested, though, and enjoy having quiet time to myself in the morning. Still, I'm hoping this does not become a regular thing.

5:30am - 8:10am: Getting ready/chilling time. Today I'm donning a bright blue shalwar kameez top with some crazy colors and designs. I'll try to get pics of my wardrobe up soon for amusement. After getting ready I like to email and read the news and books. I've gotten through some great novels since being here (no internet streaming) and right now am working on Amy Tan's The Bonesetter's Daughter. My Kindle is getting a workout like never before. I'm trying to remind myself to take a break from my computer at home since I'm on it so much at school.

8:15am: Catch the van to AUW. The van comes every morning inside the gate of my apartment building and brings me back to the same spot after dinner. It's a nice perk, especially because facing the Chittagong city streets can leave one frazzled and sweaty.

8:25am: Arrive at AUW, walk up to the WorldTeach office and throw my things down on the desk.

8:30am - 9am: Meet with the effusive and formidable editor-in-chief of the student magazine (so excited about this!) and conduct an interview for open editor positions. I love having a job where my background is valued and utilized. I'll get to help the girls by providing workshops on all the different components of journalistic writing and editing as well as being a consistent resource for them from pre-production to press.

9:30-10:50am - Attend a lecture for the new media class for which I am TA. Today we had a guest lecturer, the dean of students here, who talked about how social media has impacted her life and career trajectory. I'm the point person on the students' semester-long blogging project. Good thing I learned da skillz here!

11:00-11:45am - CHA TIME, then back in the office, crossing off items on that to-do list. Luckily the copy machine is across the hall and I have finally learned how to make things double sided - a small personal victory.

11:45am-12:15pm: LUNCH TIME! I count down to every meal I get to eat at the AUW cantina (no, it's not actually called that). But the food is really that good. Today we had chapati (thin, tortilla-like bread), unlimited cucumbers and carrots, daal (lentils) and spicy good mixed vegetables of two varieties. I decided to declare as veg here so I can always get the vegetarian options; they're better and healthier. I'm not jumping off the meat ship entirely, though. I don't think I could ever refuse a German sausage!

(I interviewed a cute Burmese student yesterday as part of a WorldTeach project to profile students for donors of the university, and she raved and raved about said cucumbers and carrots. She said cucumbers and carrots are expensive rarities in her home, and she could not believe the cafeteria served them every day and you can take as many as you want!! It's small things like this that add so many bright spots to my days).

1-2pm: More interviews for the magazine. These ladies make me smile :)

2:30-3:50pm: Make-up Language & Composition class with my Pearls. Unfortunately I was sick over the weekend and had to cancel Sunday's class. (A breakdown of my inevitable and hilarious first visit to a Bangladeshi hospital is to come!) Today we worked on verb tenses and strategies for their first narrative essay assignment. Teaching for me in Kosrae was difficult, here it is enjoyable and fulfilling. I love my students' engagement in class and their commitment to their learning. I also relish reading their writing assignments; each has a unique voice informed by her culture and background.

4-5pm: Meeting with my two Pakistani students who unfortunately had to arrive late for the semester.

5-6:30pm: More to-do list time, cha drinking, and blogging!

6:30-7: DINNER. Yes, it deserves all-caps. Tonight's included more chapati (sometimes we get naan!), spicy daal, a mildly sweet and creamy vegetable curry, and some SE Asian-style mixed veggies.

Now I'm waiting for the 7:30pm van to take my fellow volunteers/friends/colleagues-all-rolled-into-one back to our building. Tonight's plans will include a gathering with the girls to watch more West Wing, eating cookies, and doing some reading. Then I'll get up tomorrow morning (hopefully later) to happily do it all over again. And...already almost October? Time is flying!

My addrezz

I am an avid user of electronic communication, but nothing beats getting a handwritten letter or card in the mail when you're away from home :) Here is my address, for those who have requested it:

Helen Moser
The Asian University for Women
20A M.M. Ali Road
Chittagong 4000 Bangladesh

I would also love to send YOU a beautiful handmade Bangladeshi card, so send me your address if you don't think I already have it.

Finally, a quote I love, complements of Jenn Glinski, a fellow volunteer and friend here:

“To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.”
- George Santayana

The Pearls will be reflecting on this in their first narrative essay. Wish them luck!

A happy deshi routine

*While the outrage in the Muslim world over the YouTube video has spread to Bangladesh - there have been protests in Dhaka and Chittagong - they have been quiet, peaceful, and far away from me. This situation has made me more conscious of going out alone and does worry me a bit, but overall I am safe and happy.*

This week is my second "real" week at AUW, and I've now fallen into my normal, busy bee schedule. My Google calendar is filling up by the hour. On a typical day I either teach my Access Academy students or TA for my new media class, attend meetings with faculty and students, tutor at the writing center, and in the time between email, plan for my classes, drink cha, eat delicious free meals at the cafeteria, do grad school application work, and constantly look at said Google calendar. For me being both busy and productive yields contentment, and I'm happy to have finally fallen into this routine. I'm feeling great here at this wonderful university.

I love my Access Academy Pearls! I don't want to blog too much about them out of respect for their privacy, but I have been so impressed with their class participation, critical thinking skills, how much they genuinely want to learn, and the respect and appreciation they have shown to me. One of my students even approached me after class to ask if I could prepare a list of novels she could read in her free time to help improve her writing. Their in-class questions are also a source of personal delight. "Ma'am (they insist on calling me that, as they do all of their teachers), why did Gloria Steinem call her magazine Ms. instead of Mrs.?" YAY.

Update: I'm now officially the advisor of the AUW student news magazine! Excited!

What to do when we're not at school is something the other volunteers and I joke about a bit. Other than spending time in our apartments reading, watching the West Wing or other DVDs from AUW's extensive, if disorganized, collection, and doing other forms of chillin' the options that exist out in the city are basically shopping and eating. I enjoy both of those activities, but one can only look at so many textiles and eat so much naan! Or maybe not!

Off to another gloriously free and hopefully spicy dinner at the dining hall :)

My little corner of the world

On most days I'm at the AUW oasis from when the 9:10am van drops me off until after dinner at 7:30pm. So I was very happy last week to get settled into the WorldTeach office and have my own little space to work and chill comfortably between classes, writing center hours, and endless trips to make copies. It's also conveniently across the hall from my twice-daily cha (milk tea) procuring place! Check out the office haps:

Where I'm sit to work (and email and chat!)

These are a few of my favorite things!

The grand view behind me, made quite lovely when the sun sets.

It's a collaborative workspace. Love these ladies!

Bengali Beach Bliss

The first time WorldTeach Bangladesh ventured to the beach (a beach called Patenga, about an hour, traffic-filled van ride from our apartment) all illusions of quietly reading in the sand, or even just sticking our toes into the Indian Ocean were shattered. Instead, we spent the day being surrounded by crowds who encircled us, asked us to be interviewed for local television, and not-so-stealthily took pictures and video. Ever seen the move when a person stands in front of you so that both of you can be in the picture "together?" Awkward. On the upside we did get to hang out for the local police in the “VIP” tent, but overall it was not the retreat for which we had hoped.

Enter Cox’s Bazar. Last weekend, on WorldTeach’s dime, we took a van over some very bumpy roads (gotta love the back seat – ouch!) for about four and a half hours to reach…serenity. Cox’s Bazar is one of Bangladesh’s top vacation “destinations,” a smaller beach town where the Indian Ocean meets the Bay of Bengal with some beautiful beaches. That’s what I’m talking about! We spent one night at the loveliest of lovely Mermaid Eco Resort (highly recommend and very cheap, by American standards), where we slept in romantic thatch huts, laid in hammocks, ate freshly caught crab and pasta, and finally got to stick our toes into the ocean. 

See the shots below - I almost felt as though I were back in Kosrae. When it's time for another Chittagong respite, I'm buying a bus ticket and heading south.

A welcome coconut...had nuttin' on the ones we got from our backyard in Kosrae, but still a nice treat!

Interesting Mermaid lobby mural.

Thatch roof paradise.

Hammock time! Catching up on my Eugenides and soaking in the quietude.

Our "romantic" bungalow. 

Bridge to the Bay.

Beautiful Bengali beach.

Time to frolic! Tons of children followed us on the beach and then were our heroes in
rescuing our belongings when the tide came up too high, too fast.

Water, water everywhere! (And not a drop to drink).

Catching a boat to a private beach!

Roommates enjoying getting rowed around.

Ladies with their toesies in the silty sand.

Oh hai!

Come along on a rickshaw ride with me!

From Rickshaw ride

I'm getting back to my journalism roots. Click the image above to experience what it's like to be on the back of a rickshaw. Still not quite like being there, but getting closer!  Enjoy the ride :)

Hot off the press

My TA course assignment:

Course Number: ASIA 3410 (CS3410)

Course Name: New Media

Course Description:

This course offers a unique blend of communication and development studies, policy analysis, and technology based innovation research. New Media is a global phenomenon, emerged in late 20^th century, which symbolizes the near omnipresence of on-demand media content across the world. New Media encompasses online social networking, voice and data based communications, and digital audio-visual contents. It works as a catalyst of wide scale media convergence in every sphere of human society. This course looks into history of New Media, its place in global communication anthology, its present socio-economic impacts on developed as well as developing countries, and the participatory and “democratic” nature of its information dissemination process. Major issues related to Freedom of Expression, Privacy, Social Mobilization, Empowerment, Right to Information and the possible roles of New Media on defining those will also be discussed, based on contemporary case studies (e.g. Arab Spring, London Riot, WikiLeaks, Facebook, 4G Network, etc.). Finally, this course focuses on the key challenges and opportunities of New Media in the coming years, especially from the Global South’s perspective.

Pretty perfect!