Back home

I arrived back home two days ago. It's a strange feeling to be home. In some ways it feels like I never left. Other than some noticeable changes around town, Stouffville is Stouffville. I went on a bike ride today on my 21 speed mountainy bike. Very different from solid steel one speed with curved handle bars that I rode in Bogra. I noticed the lack of a bell. I felt my finger inch toward where it should be whenever I saw a car approaching. Luckily, there were less rickshaws, people and animals to dodge, and no stupid chickens.

I spent the past week in Akron, PA, debriefing with my fellow SALTers from around the world. It was great to see them all again and to share stories. In many ways our experiences were different but in many others they were similar. We all had common challenges and joys. It was a great time to relax and play frisbee. I hadn't had any major physical exercise for the past year, so I was sore after a couple games of ultimate. It felt good to play again though.

I'm going to Waterloo tomorrow to visit some friends at school. I don't have many plans for the next month before school starts. I imagine I'll do some work on the farm and try to catch up with family and friends. This will probably be my last blog post. It's time to put this baby to bed. Now that my SALT year is over, I don't imagine I will have any particularly interesting insights to share with you. Not that I imagine life here to be dull, but I just assume we are now having similar experiences. If you are really interested in what I'm doing, just ask. :-)

See you around,

Ben

As I came, so I go

I came to Bangladesh 11 months ago with mixed emotions. I was mostly excited, but I was also a little nervous. I didn't know what to expect. I was coming to a new country, a new culture and a new language. It seems kind of strange leaving now, because I finally feel settled in. My fluency in Bangla is at its best, and all the things that seemed strange or unusual before are just normal now.

As I prepare to leave, I have similar emotions as to when I came. This time, however, I'm going to a familiar country, culture and language. I suppose the nervousness comes with the anticipation that home won't be quite as familiar as I might have remembered.

I fly out of Dhaka on the night of July 20th. I arrive in Akron, PA 36 hours later, assuming everything goes according to plan. Leaving Bangladesh is different than leaving Canada. When I left home, I knew I was coming back in a year. I don't know if I'll ever be back in Bangladesh. I told Piyash that I would come back for his wedding. His mother said that will be in 20 years. She seemed pretty confident on that number, so I guess its settled. I wonder what Bangladesh will be like in 20 years?

A common phrase these days as I say goodbyes: Ami asha kori amader abar dekha hobe - I hope we will meet again.

Highway symbiosis

Symbiosis is a biology term used to describe a relationship between two or more organisms that are unrelated taxonomically, but help each other survive in some way. When I refer to symbiosis on a Bangladesh highway, I mean many different forms of transportation using the same road and some how manage to get people to their destinations without (many) casualties. I've been using highways in Bangladesh for the better part of 10 months now, but I have yet to describe it in a blog post for you curious readers back home. I remembered this on a recent trip to and from Dhaka.

The Dhaka-Bogra highway is two lanes and undivided. I should say it is two lanes by markings of paint only; certainly it accommodates many more vehicles. The shoulder, for example, is a legitimate place to drive, as well as right down the middle if there is no oncoming traffic. Really, there is no place I have been in Bangladesh where lane markings have any say in where people drive.

The users of the road vary considerably. I will list them more or less from smallest to largest, which also happens to be least to greatest asphalt priority: chicken, duck, cat, dog, goat, child riding goat, human, bicycle, motorcycle, cow, cow pulling cart, rickshaw, vangari, rototiller thingy, autorickshaw, tempo, homemade tractor, tractor, car, pickup truck, small truck, small bus, big truck, big bus. The speed limit really is as fast as you can drive without hitting something else.

Passing ettiquette: Passing is acceptable in all circumstances, as long as your vehicle is faster than the one in front of you. Passing with oncoming traffic is not a problem; once your vehicle's nose is past the vehicle you are passing, said vehicle must hit the brakes to let you in front so the oncoming traffic does not hit you. If the oncoming traffic is of lower asphalt priority than you, they simply head to the shoulder.

Horn ettiquette: The horn is the most useful part of the vehicle. If the horn is broken, you might as well consider the vehicle totalled as it is not road worthy. Luckily, there are repair shops that advertise horn replacement, so no worries. The horn is mostly used whenever you are passing another vehicle. Because mirrors and signals apparently haven't been accepted by the general population, they are most necessary for the smaller vehicles in order to avoid getting crushed. The general rule when driving is to concern yourself only with what's ahead. Those behind and beside will make their presense known to you by the horn.

High-beam ettiquette: When driving at night, the horn is given a break and the high-beams are used instead (for the most part). When passing with oncoming traffic, the high-beams signal to the driver heading your way to slow down, or head to the shoulder. I just assume (almost definitely incorrectly) that Bangladeshis are immune to high-beam blindness.

You probably get the idea that highway driving is not for the faint of heart. Its an action packed adventure of dodging people, livestock and other vehicles while trying to drive as fast as possible. City driving is similar, but usually significantly slower. I have seen many totalled buses and trucks on the side of the highway, crushed into trees, rolled down embankments, etc.

MCC does not allow service workers to drive motorcycles in Dhaka because of how dangerous it is. Bangladeshis are very peaceful, but if a driver strikes and kills a pedestrian, an angry mob will soon form to lynch the driver and torch his/her vehicle and possibly other vehicles that happen to be present.

To paint this in a slightly more positive light: there probably are less fatal accidents per capita in Bangladesh than in Canada because vehicles are travelling slower. I said people drive as fast as possible, by realistically cars rarely hit 80 km/h on the highway. Also, there are not nearly enough paved roads in Bangladesh for all the vehicles to pass freely, so maybe this is the best method? My Western sensibilities tell me that well organized, enforceable traffic laws would work better, but in my heart I want to believe Bangladesh has it right. That said, I won't be shedding any tears for Bangladesh's highways when I head home in a couple weeks.

Ben

Monsoon's a-comin'

The sun peaked through the clouds today. It's the first time he's shown his face in four days. It's been raining off and on most of the time. I don't really mind though, because the temperatures have been comfortable. I slept with a sheet covering me last night.

The monsoon season is important for Bangladesh. Around 80% of the yearly rainfall comes in these 3 months. However, the monsoon can also bring devastating cyclones and massive floods.

The region of Sylhet has the greatest monsoon in Bangladesh. It is located just south of the Himalayan foothills, so the hot, humid air from the Bay of Bengal rises and condenses right above Sylhet. One year, a town in the region reported a 1 metre rainfall in a 24 hour period! That's crazy! The same town averages 11 metres per year.

A couple weekends ago I was sitting at home reading when it started to rain. I walked out in my room to watch for a bit. Pintu and Bishaw came out of their room and asked me if I wanted to go walk out in the rain with them. I said sure. Wearing only our lungis, we went for a stroll. We walked the length of the dirt road along the river and through a few neighbourhoods I hadn't been to before. We saw a frog. Frog in Bangla is bang. Not quite the same pronunciation as in English though. The ng has a bit of a nasal sound to it. Bishaw said he ate frog once and it tasted like chicken. I agreed with him.

Ben

Bishoi Kap

I know my last post was about the World Cup, but really this is the event that's defining my life these days, so I thought I'd write about it again. Most of my conversation with my host brothers revolves around football nowadays. Bishaw was disappointed with Germany's loss to Serbia and I was less than impressed with England's lack-luster effort against Algeria (0-0 draw). So far the Brazil and Argentina fans have nothing to complain about, which is, as I mentioned earlier, almost the whole country.

When I last posted the games hadn't begun. I could only speculate on what a World Cup in Bangladesh is like. I had questions like "Why does everyone like Brazil and Argentina?" My own hypothesis was proven wrong when I asked Mokhles. He told me that Bangladeshis love watching flashy, big name players and Brazil and Argentina have had their fair share. Players like Pele, Ronaldo, Kaka, Maradona and Messi are household names.

Near my house is a biggish road with a bunch of shops and stalls. Someone has set up a big white sheet over a billboard and projects the night games here. I was really surprised to see this, but it's great. The power usually goes off at around 8:00 pm (the start time for the second game) but to my even greater surprise, I found that the projector is hooked up to a car battery so we can watch the games when the power is off! These times when the power goes out I would normally spend sitting on a bench outside my house trying to catch a cool breeze. Now I can watch the game.

It's fun watching games with 500+ Bangladeshis. We pretty much clog the road meaning vehicles trying to get through have to constantly lean on their horns (not really abnormal though). I went to the first Brazil game at 12:30 am and there were hundreds of people out even at that hour. They play again tonight at the same time, and I plan on going. I read in the paper that a bunch of people were watching the first Argentina game in Dhaka when the power went out. This sparked a small riot and involved a few torched cars. The government has asked the power companies to try their best to limit load shedding during the matches.

It really is impossible to not be caught up in the excitement surrounding the World Cup. I can't imagine what it's like in South Africa. I've begun making tentative plans for going to Brazil 2014. Who's in?

Bangladesh: The unknown South American nation

I am fully aware that Bangladesh is located in South Asia, nestled in India's armpit. However, by walking down the streets nowadays it's easy to forget this. The World Cup is two days away and most of Bangladesh has made their support known. It's basically between Brazil and Argentina, and their flags can be seen everywhere. I honestly don't know why. I heard that the 1998 World Cup was massively followed in Bangladesh, so much so that the millions of TVs crashed the power grid for four days. In that tournament Argentina and Brazil did pretty well, so maybe that's where the support comes from?

There is an Argentinian flag painted on the outside of my house. I assumed everyone in my host family supported Argentina until I took a poll. Kaka, Swapan and Shipon support Argentina; Pintu and Biplob support Brazil, Bishaw supports Germany, Boudi and Kaki-ma do not have a favourite (although their husbands like Argentina) and Piyash didn't understand the question. I have officially given my support to England. I suppose being the lone English speaker in my house I have felt some kinship with the English people. Also, their colours are the same as Canada: red and white.

So for the next few weeks the world is going to have a party. Your country may not be in it, but you can still have fun. Even if you don't watch soccer, pick a team and follow them. You may even get into the spirit of things!

God save the Queen,

Ben

Carpe that diem

"Come on, Steve. We've got a diem to carpe!"

"Carpe the diem. Seize the carp."

There probably isn't a Latin phrase that has been more perverted by English speakers than carpe diem. It's OK though; Latin is a dead language, so no one is offended.

Now that we're into June, I've begun to realize how rapidly my time in Bangladesh is winding down. I only have 6 weeks left. In those 6 weeks I have quite a bit to do. I need to bring closure to my work, write some reports and do an end of term evaluation. Now more than ever my thoughts are straying towards home. Over the past 9 months or so, I've been trying my best to focus on the present. Of course, I've thought about home quite a bit. I miss all of you a lot. I think I've done pretty well in taking in Bangladesh and keeping my focus here but it hasn't always been easy.

Carpe diem is a phrase taken from a Latin poem "Odes" by Horace. The whole stanza goes like this:

Latin: carpe diem quam minimum credula postero

English: Seize the day, trusting as little as possible in the next

I don't need to trust the next day. All I need to do is trust that God will provide for me. So far I haven't been let down.

"Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary."

Ben

P.S. Try to guess the movies those quotes were taken from. If you give up, look here.