Ramadan and Eid ul-Fitr

As most of you probably know, Bangladesh is a predominantly Muslim country with about 88% of Bangladeshis identifing themselves as Muslim. Bangladesh is though, a secular state and does not practice Islamic law (Shari'a) as part of its government and judicial system. Still, five times a day you will hear the call to prayers echoing throughout the streets of Dhaka. I really like the call to prayers. They can be annoying if you get woken up at 4:30 am, but you get used to it. I think Arabic is a very beautiful language especially when sung in a prayer.

The past month has been Ramadan, the 9th month of the Muslim calendar. I have done some researching and learning about Ramadan and the festival Eid ul-Fitr and I would like to share some with you. Naturally I used the most comprehensive research tool for a basic understanding of any topic under the sun: Wikipedia. One more benefit to not being in university this year.

Ramadan is a special month as it is a time of fasting. It is similar to Lent though much more intense and widely practiced. Everyday for one month Muslims around the world refrain from eating, smoking, unnecessary frivolities and even drinking water from sunrise to sundown. They are expected to give the extra money that they save on food to the poor. This month is supposed to be a time to purify oneself and become closer to God by getting rid of unwanted distractions. Ramadan is also the month where God revealed the first verses of the Qur'an to the prophet Muhammad. In Bangladesh I don't imagine many people refrain from drinking water because you would likely die especially if you do work outside.

Eid ul-Fitr (called Rojar Eid in Bangladesh) is a festival marking the end of Ramadan. This year Eid was celebrated on Monday the 21st and the two days following. Eid also marks the time when the angel Gabriel came from heaven to give white clothes to Muhammad's grandchildren. For Bangladeshis it is a family celebration. For the past week Dhaka has been unusually quiet as half the population has left for the villages. Many people will stay on vacation until next week because Durga Puja (a Hindu holiday) falls very close to Eid this year. So the usual traffic jams are no more for awhile just as I finished my daily commute across the city last week. Oh well...

So all that brings me to what I was planning on writing all along. On Monday night I was invited to an Eid meal at the home of Sagar (last name I don't know). Sagar works in the MCC Dhaka office. He lives on the top floor of an apartment building in Old Dhaka and therefore has a great view across the city from his terrace. He also has a very cute 8 month old son. For supper we ate special rice. It is smaller and has a more distinct flavour than the everyday stuff. On the rice we had chicken and beef curry with some kind of pickled mango on the side. Everything was very delicious and once again it was "suggested" by my host that I eat a lot. I was fit to burst after the first course but in a minor plot twist it was revealed that we still had dessert to tackle. We ate a special Eid dessert that is unique to south Asia. It is called shemai and consists of skinny egg noodles in a pan baked with raisins, milk and a whole lot of sugar. The end result is a brown product resembling a large birds nest. I quite enjoyed it. By the time we finished dessert I was really full and ready to fight anyone who said otherwise.

All in all, I had a good evening. A good chuck of Sagar's family was there: his wife and son, two aunts, one uncle, one young cousin, his mom and his grandmother. The aunt without the corresponding uncle is living in Regina, SK where the rest of her family currently is. She is visiting Bangladesh for a few weeks. As is custom in Bangladesh I wore a panjabi like I mentioned in my previous post. I also promised a picture, so here it is:

Also, some pictures from Sagar's terrace:

The buildings may appear to be touching, but actually there are very narrow roads between them. Eid Mubarak and Happy Durga Puja!

Ben

The Weekend

I had a good weekend. I didn't necessarily do a whole lot, but it was good. For those of you who may be reading this on Sunday morning in Canada, I am not losing it. The weekend in Bangladesh is Friday and Saturday so Sunday is a weekday.

On Friday evening I was asked to speak at my host family's church. The church is held in an apartment on the bottom floor of our building (NOT the aforementioned Genetic Rhyme as my misleading caption lead some people to believe). There are ~15 members. It was my first sermon and it was translated by my host brother Sagar. I kind of like being translated like that when I'm giving a speech/sermon because it gives me a good excuse to choose my words carefully. I say a sentence, it gets rendered into Bangla and in the meantime I can think of my next sentence without any awkward silences. So that was good.

I did a little music exchange with my host brothers. I got a USB thumb drive and put some of my English music on it to give to Sagar (pronounced Sha-gur) and Saikat (pronounced Shoi-kot). Michael Jackson for Sagar, Linkin Park for Saikat, two of my favourite Beatles albums (Abbey Road and Rubber Soul if you must know) and of course "War" by Edwin Starr. They returned the favour with some of their most loved Bangla artists. That was also good.

Last night (Saturday) they had a special meal for me as it was my last supper with them. We had egg soup to start followed by a heaping bowl of chicken biryani and cold Coke for dessert. My host mother Laizu told me straight up that she will know I like her special cooking if I eat a lot. So I obliged. It was my first taste of Coke in Bangladesh and wouldn't you know it tastes the same! That's one of the wonders about Coke: from a tiny village in Africa to a mega city in Asia and everywhere in between you're never far from a cold Coke. And it tastes (pretty much) the same anywhere you go. I'm sure some may be quick to inform me of the evils of giant multinational corporations such as Coca-Cola and their dubious business practices, but I don't care it's still pretty amazing to me. So I said goodbye this morning and said I would try to visit again sometime. All that was good too.

Now I'm at the MCC Guesthouse where I will live once again until I leave for Bogra in October. I have been invited to an Eid party tomorrow night and so today I bought a panjabi, traditional formal dress for men. I promise to upload some pictures when I have them.

Ben

Time flies

As of tomorrow I will have been in Bangladesh for one month. It doesn't feel like it's been that long. On Sunday I say goodbye to my host family for the past month. Originally the plan was for me to go up to Bogra next week, however that has changed slightly so instead I will move to Bogra during the first week of October. I will live at the MCC guesthouse in Dhaka for 2 weeks before I head north. I don't have a whole lot to report. I am trying my best to learn Bangla. I've been told by both my teachers that I am a fast learner, so that is encouraging when I still feel somewhat helpless in expressing myself. It's strange going from a country where I can perfectly explain any complex thought or opinion I might have, to a place where it takes concentration to say where I'm from, where I live or what I'm doing in Bangladesh. I did a rough estimate recently and my vocabulary seems to be around 300 words. It'll come.

My day to day life hasn't changed much since my earlier update My Commute. I did take a picture today that I hadn't before. Every morning I walk by freshly slaughtered cows and soon-to-be slaughtered cows on my way to the bus stop.
I apologize to the faint of heart. Lucky for you a rickshawalla walked in front of (most of) the cow being gutted just as I was taking the photo. Today must've been a special day because there were two cows already dead and an unprecedented five waiting in line. Usually there's only 3 or 4 total. Its funny how something so different than what I'm used to can become normal so fast. I don't bat an eye anymore when I see the butcher cutting up a cow in the mud on the side of the road. When you think about it, this is probably more sanitary than the industrial slaughterhouses in Canada. I would imagine when one man kills and cleans an animal by hand there is much less chance of contamination than a mechanized mass killing and cleaning operation. Anyway, enough of that topic.

One last story I want to share. Last night I was sitting up to supper with my family. My host dad Nekbar is a funny guy. He doesn't speak much English so the majority of our conversation is in Bangla. We were having hard-boiled eggs in a curry sauce. Pointing to an egg, he said, "Eta ki?" (what is this?). He likes to test my Bangla, so I replied "Ota dim." (that's an egg.) He said, "Nah, eta murgi har na." (No, it's boneless chicken.) I laughed for a while and it felt good.

Ben

My host family: Nekbar, Laizu and their son Sagar (two years younger than me). They have another son (Shiakat) who is my age and currently at university.

Septembers past

It is now September and everyone's going back to school, except me. It's a strange feeling. This is the first September in 15 years that I will not be heading off to any formal education. In a way it's a relief, to get away from school for awhile. But I find myself missing it. A few days ago I had a hankering for some organic chemistry. Yes the devil itself. I don't know what to make of that. Anyway, good luck to everyone who is heading off to or is already in school. Have a great year.

Ben

Foreign to Familiar

The title of this blog may remind fellow SALTers/MCC service workers of a nice little book we were asked to read before starting our assignment. This post has nothing to do with that book.

Last night I was in my room reading a book and listening to my iPod. My host brother Sagur comes by and asks if he can see my iPod. I said sure and I gave him a headphone and asked him to pick a song. He goes straight to the Michael Jackson. He seems to like MJ and "soft" music in general. So next I played him "Golden Slumbers" by the Beatles and I said that they're my favourite band. We go back and forth a bit, playing songs we like. I played some of UW's own Waterboys which he seemed to like a lot. The next song I played was "War" by Edwin Starr. I thought it would be quite different from anything he'd ever heard: some African-American funk/soul from the '70s. As soon as I played the song he burst out laughing. He said he recently saw the movie Rush Hour and so he pictures Jackie Chan singing along to this song in a funny Chinese accent. This caught me off guard: something I figured would be so foreign turned out to be very familiar to him

It's funny how things happen like that, when you least expect it. I apologize for those unfamiliar with "War" or Rush Hour. I hope I haven't wasted your time. Maybe this will help a bit.



Enjoy!

Ben