Wisdom from Rock

Those of you who know me may be aware that I enjoy classic rock. Today I was traveling from Bogra to Dhaka and I was listening to Jimi Hendrix on my iPod. Some of the lyrics are trippy and weird, but some of them were really quite profound and seemed to apply to my life. So I thought I'd write a blog about it. I've heard from a bunch of people that they enjoy reading this blog and I kind of like updating it, so here we go.

"A rolling stone gathers no moss."

- Jimi Hendrix from "Highway Chile"

At SALT orientation, we were asked "why are you doing SALT?" and then the follow up, "why are you really, really doing SALT?". It was kind of hard for me to answer as there seemed to be a lot of reasons. However I think I realized that my main reason was because I wanted to experience something new and out of the ordinary. I've enjoyed the past two years at university and have made a bunch of friends that I now miss dearly, but I felt like the more comfortable I got, the more uncomfortable I became, if that makes any sense. I felt the need to do something different. Is this selfish? SALT stands for SERVING and LEARNING TOGETHER. I really truthfully am interested in serving and learning and I hope I am doing that (I already have learned a ton), but I am very thankful for a change of scenery. All that to say I think it's important to be a rolling stone sometimes because if enough moss gathers, you may become stuck. This quote also relates to my spiritual journey over the past few years. I've been trying my best to live an "examined life" of which a big part is my faith. I find it's easy to be bogged down in everything ordinary and everyday and when that happens, I seem to lose sight of what really matters. I feel the need to constantly restate to myself what I believe, and I find that it's always changing.

Well, I hope this rambling was somewhat coherent.

Ben

"Walk on brother, don't let no one stop you."

My Life Flows On

October is almost over, and the past month has seen many changes in my life. I've moved to a new town, started a new job, lived with a new family and set a new routine. Sometimes changes can be overwhelming. I haven't really felt that yet (maybe I'm not easily overwhelmed) but still it hasn't been easy. Before I left Akron, I wrote down one of my favourite hymns in my journal. There are a lot of great ones, but this one I am especially fond of, particularly when many changes are happening around me. I think nowadays hymns don't get the respect they deserve, especially in the younger generation (dang kids). I would take any hymn over contemporary worship music any day. This is a beautiful song. The lyrics are below. The tune is probably familiar to those of you who have spent a significant amount of time in a Mennonite church.

My life flows on in endless song,

Above Earth's lamentation

I catch the sweet, though far off hymn

That hails a new creation.

Refrain

No storm can shake my inmost calm,

While to that rock I'm clinging

Since Love is Lord of heav'n and Earth,

How can I keep from singing?

Through all the tumult and the strife,

I hear that music ringing

It finds an echo in my soul.

How can I keep from singing?

Refrain

What though my joys and comforts die?

The Lord my Saviour liveth

What though the darkness gather round?

Songs in the night he giveth

Refrain

The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,

A fountain ever springing

All things are mine since I am His!

How can I keep from singing?

My New Family

A few days ago I moved in with my new host family. As I mentioned before they are Hindu. The family consists of Swapan (pronounced: Show-pon), his wife Moli, son Piyash and Swapan's mother and father. There are two young men that live with them (though I don't think they're related). The first is named Pintu and he owns a small photo/cellphone top-up shop. I would say he's about 25 years old. The other is also named Swapan and he is a university student. My house is near a river on the outskirts of Bogra in a Hindu community.

It's easy to tell that family is very important in Bangladesh. It is common for parents to live with their sons when they get old. Every relation has a different name in Bangla. For example, there is a different word for your older brother's wife and your younger brother's wife. You don't call your father's older brother the same name as your father's younger brother. In Bangladesh you never call anyone older than you by their first name. I call Swapan Swapan-da where the da is for respect. I call his wife Boudi (older brother's wife). I call his father kaka (uncle) and his mother kaki-ma (auntie). My Bangla teacher gave me a list of all the names for family members and it is one and a half pages long. Hindus and Christians use the same titles but Muslims have an entirely different set. This means a lot of confusion for me.

A couple nights ago I went to kaki-ma's mother's (my didi) house for a birthday celebration. A little boy was turning one and I forget his relation to kaki-ma (maybe great-nephew?). It is a big family and I was introduced to a lot of people and I remember absolutely no names or anyone's title. I hope this doesn't come back to haunt me. Anyway, in Bengali fashion they fed me a lot of food. To start I had pouri (puffy flat bread), shobji torkari (vegetable curry) and dal (lentils). Then I had more. Then I had some mishti (very sweet things made from milk and a lot of sugar). I also had more of that. Then they fed me payes, which is a very sweet, milky rice pudding. Believe it or not I also had a second helping of that. To top it off I was given a Bengali version of Red Bull, called Royal Tiger. By the end of it I was pretty wired. All the food was very good though. I suppose I've been lucky so far. I seem to like everything I've eaten. Except burnt fish paste. That was gross.

I was asked dozens of times "where is your country?" and "are you married?" Standard questions for bideshis (foreigners). In the middle of all this, eating, trying to converse in Bangla between mouthfuls of food, I realized I can never fit in here. It isn't possible for me to be a Bangladeshi. Even if I lived my entire adult life here I would still be a bideshi. However, that doesn't mean I can't try.

Thanksgiving

Another Thanksgiving has passed and I think it is the first in my life that I have not had any kind of celebration. Needless to say, I kind of missed it. I suppose a common Thanksgiving tradition is to say some things you're thankful for, so here goes:

• the opportunity to live in Bangladesh this year
• a new host family (I have not yet moved in)
• an increasing knowledge of Bangla
• friends and family
• my first piece of mail (which I received Thanksgiving Day)
• my first piece of mail (feel free to take the hint)
  

The list could go on, but I think I'll stop it there.

I am still doing language study, now 4 days per week. I've also been getting some Bangla script lessons which is quite interesting. It's funny learning a language from the ground up. I suppose that's what it's like for children, stuttering along with a limited vocabulary. Learning to read again brings back a few distant memories of "sounding it out" and a sense of accomplishment when I can read and understand a big word. Today I read বাংলাদেশ (Bangladesh). Maybe soon I can start on some children's books!

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving.

Ben

Bogra

I have been living in Bogra for the past 4 days now. This is where I will be based for the rest of my term. I haven't been here long but I already prefer it here over Dhaka. It's cleaner, quieter and smaller: more like what I've grown up with. I have been living at the Bogra guesthouse with the three other Bogra MCC workers, Nate, Phil and Daniel. On Sunday I will move in with my new host family! I am looking forward to that but also a little nervous as well. I'm sure they'll be great. I don't know much about them except that they're Hindu which is pretty cool. My family in Dhaka was Christian so my entire family experience in Bangladesh will be with minority groups which is interesting.

So the Bogra office takes up the first two floors of an apartment building with the guesthouse taking the other two. The fifth floor goes out to the roof where there is a small building used for staff trainings. I have a desk on the second floor. It looks like this:
I've never had a desk at a place of employment before, so I feel pretty qualified now.

I suppose you're all wondering what my work is. That's a good question. I met with my boss Mohkles on my first day here and he said I will have quite a lot of freedom in my work. This can obviously be a good or bad thing depending on whether you are a good self directed worker. It looks like my work may be involving rooftop gardens/anything that interests me. Hopefully I'll update you later when I make a more clear plan.

A couple days ago I went out with Phil for my first Banladeshi haircut which turned out better than expected. The haircut cost less than 50 cents and even included an upper body massage. After cutting my hair the guy proceeded to massage my scalp which felt good. He than started rubbing my hair around which kind of hurt. Then was the shoulders and upper back. I wondered if I should ask him to stop because he obviously wasn't a professional and he was a bit aggressive. But I didn't mostly because I was curious how far he'd go. He massaged my back while I was sitting in the chair leaning forward which bucked me around a bit. Then he massaged my arms which involved a somewhat painful Indian Sunburn. He shook them around a bit and jerked them up to pop the socket. He also cracked my fingers for me. All in all it was the most interesting haircut I've ever had. You can judge for yourself on the quality.
Take care.

Ben

Good News

I figured I owed you another update, so here it is. I have confirmation that I will be heading to Bogra on the 4th. I am excited for that. They also might've found a host family for me too. Also, my work permit has come through and I've been told it is very likely that my visa will be extended too. If you're unaware, the visa I got before coming was only good for 3 months. Swapan in the Dhaka office has been working on getting me a one year visa so I don't have to leave the country every 3 months. Things seem to be falling more or less into place.

I also suppose to be fair, I also owe you a wikipedia account of Durga Puja. Last Monday I went to my Bangla teacher's house for lunch. Afterwards he took me to a Puja. Durga Puja is a Hindu festival named after the goddess Durga. Durga has ten arms and you might've seen pictures of her before. The festival also includes the gods Shiva, Lakshmi, Ganesha, Saraswati and Kartikeya. The Puja is a clay statue depicting all these gods and is usually set-up at the front of a large room or tent. After the 5 day festival the Puja is thrown in the nearest river. Apparently in Bangladesh Durga Puja is a big festival and often observed by people that aren't Hindu. I suppose it's kind of like Christmas in North America. The day I went was the last day of the festival, so everything was winding down, but I took some pictures anyway.

Have a good one.

Ben