Ben's Excellent Adventure or Thanksgiving and Eid part 2

Well, yesterday was American Thanksgiving. Because the rest of the MCC team here are Americans, we had a little get together in Dhaka including real turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes etc. It really hit the spot, especially after my Excellent Adventure...

I got a pretty good start out of Bogra Thursday morning at 10:30. The 250 km trip is usually about 4.5 to 5 hours by bus. I wanted to come to Dhaka a bit early because I had some work to do at the office in the afternoon. I also wanted to give myself some extra time in case traffic was bad because Eid al-Adha is on Saturday. I assumed that most of the traffic would be coming out of Dhaka because everyone will be going to their home villages in the country. The going was good for the first 3 hours or so until we hit traffic about 50 km outside of Dhaka. Basically, it was stop and go for that final stretch. So I didn't make it before the office closed at 5:30, nor did I make it to the 7:00 meal. I finally arrived at 9:30 after 11 hours on the bus. There was still food for me and it was delicious especially because I had only eaten a packet of potato crackers and a soggy shingara (samosa) since breakfast at 8:00 am. I don't think I have been more thankful for a Thanksgiving meal.

I was blessed to have a good seat mate, Rashed, to talk to on my journey. He spoke good English so we could hold a meaningful conversation. He was a "pious" (his word) Muslim, wearing a prayer cap, beard and panjabi. He told me about Islam, Eid al-Adha, his job, ambitions and goals. The conversation was a bit one sided which was fine for me because I'm a better listener than talker. I think he might have been subtly trying to convert me, but I was just happy to learn about his religion. I can share with you about this Eid too, now from a primary source instead of good ol' wikipedia.

Eid al-Adha is the Festival of Sacrifice. This year it falls on Saturday. The festival commemorates the day God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son and Abraham's willingness to do so. So on Saturday cows and goats will be sacrificed to represent the ram God gave to Abraham to sacrifice instead. The practice is for Muslim families (that can afford an animal) to give one third of the meat to the poor, one third to neighbours and to keep one third for themselves. No poor person is to go without food for the 3 day celebration.

There you have it. My Thanksgiving story. I made a friend and had a good meal. Overall, I think it was a good day.

Chickens are dumb

Maybe you already knew this, but chickens really aren't intelligent animals. They may fool you; the way they strut around pecking stuff, or how you can enter a barn silently and they all immediately acknowledge your presence. I have stumbled across this nugget of information as I bike through the villages almost everyday. While on these bike rides, I encounter many animals: goats, cows, sheep, dogs, ducks, geese but chickens are the dumbest of them all. I can be biking along and I see a chicken on the side of the road walking the same direction as me. As soon as I get close, I put my hands on the brakes because I know what's coming. The stupid chicken is not going to keep walking, nor is it going to move further off the road. No, its going to wait till the last second then run right in front of my bike. Sometimes they get in front and just keep running like I'm chasing it! I fear one day I'll actually hit one and I'll feel really bad because chickens are valuable here. So to all you vegetarians who disapprove of the killing of chickens, I tell you this: those chickens are going to die anyway because they're really dumb.

I wonder what this chicken is thinking? Oh yeah, nothing.

Ekhon ami shusto

Now I'm healthy (ekhon ami shusto). I was fine by yesterday afternoon. I just thought I should let you know.

This morning I ate ruti (flat bread) and dal (curried lentils) for breakfast. My little host nephew Piyash was eating his dal from a little bowl. I said, "Do you like dal Piyash?" He just turned to me with a huge smile and a face covered in dal. He is the cutest little guy. Here's a picture of him with my hat (sans dal).

Ektu oshusto...

It seems about once a month I get ektu oshusto (a little sick). It doesn't involve a fever or vomiting, just some stomach pains and "loose movements". Right now is one of those times. Even though it is not a big problem, the last place I want to be is in Bangladesh. The little everyday annoyances get that much more frustrating. I suppose its just a psychological thing. Last night I went to bed happy and contented ready for a new day. This morning I woke up and went to the latrine twice within the hour. I was feeling better by the time I got to the office so I decided to bike out to the AKB to do some work. By the time I got there the bumpy roads had jostled my aching stomach around and I didn't feel well. I did a bit of work but not as much as I had planned. The bike ride back wasn't fun. My stomach was churning and I only seemed to see the worst side of Bangladesh: open sewers, garbage, big diesel trucks belching at me. So now I'm back at the office, hoping I will feel better soon. I think my Pepto will help.

Some things I'm doing...

I think I should say something about my job, since I left you hanging on my first post in June. My job description is becoming more clear as time moves on. I am a program assistant for REAP (Research Extension and Activities Partners) and that means I can do pretty much anything that tickles my fancy. REAP is an MCC program based in Bogra and currently it has projects on HIV/AIDS education and awareness, peace education, livestock research, agricultural research, and appropriate technology development. So far my work has mostly been with the last two things.

There are 5 bideshis (foreigners) in Bogra including me. Nate and Daniel are engineers for the appropriate technology program. Phil is a socio-economist and Jodi works with the livestock program. Nate, Daniel and Phil are currently living outside Bogra at the new model homestead called Adarsho Kamar Bari (AKB). Basically this is the place where the appropriate technology research happens. I've been doing some work out there with the "living machine". The living machine is basically a method of purifying wastewater by emulating a natural wetland ecosystem. The water passes through a series of aerobic and anaerobic tanks where a whole host of bacteria breakdown the solid waste. The final four tanks are all aerobic (oxygen requiring) and open air. In these, plants and fish can live and help to purify the water. We're still in the early stages, seeing if this will work. I still need to go out and do some tests on the water (pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrates etc.), but today I planted some tomatoes on styrofoam rafts in the water. Hopefully there's enough nitrate and micronutrients in the water for the plants to survive.

I'm also doing some work on an Analog Forestry Data

base. This is basically a lot of research and data inputing. It's far from complete, but you can see it here: mccb.org/analogforestry

I have a few other ideas for urban gardening that I'm planning, but you'll have to wait to hear about that because this post is already too long.

AKB House

Workshop

Living Machine (last 4 tanks)

My tomatoes

Just so you know I'm still completely normal.

Ben