Hello, Ben

Every so often while I'm walking down the street someone will call out, "Hello, Ben!" or, "How are you, Ben!" I will look at them and not have a clue who they are. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. There are maybe a dozen foreigners in Bogra, and over 200,000 Bangladeshis. People often ask me my name as I walk down the street. I can't remember everyone, can I?

The lack of foreigners is one thing I like about Bangladesh. If you walk up to someone on the street and ask them a question in English, 49 times out of 50 your question will be met with a blank stare or an awkward smile. I like that. I've always been a little annoyed at myself when I travel because as a native English speaker I can go pretty much anywhere I want without making an effort to learning a new language. While I have definitely taken full advantage of this convenience, I feel kind of cheap. Here I am, Johnny Monolinguist just expecting the rest of the world to speak my language. In a way, its an excuse for ignorance and a modern face for imperialism. Now, here in Bangladesh I can communicate in a foreign language and it feels good.

Bengalis have died for their language. In 1952, when the government in West Pakistan decided that the national language would be Urdu, students protested in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). They were killed. Afterwards the UN declared February 21st as International Mother Language Day. I am proud to have been able to learn Bangla, a language that brought together a nation. Would you give your life for English?

That said, lack of English speakers is probably part of the reason why tourists don't come here. I must confess, as much as I love Bangladesh, I wouldn't suggest anyone pick up a Lonely Planet and head on over. You're just setting yourself up for disappointment. One time I saw a foreigner in the main market in Bogra. I knew he didn't live here, firstly because I know every foreigner in Bogra by name and secondly because he was looking at some sort of guide book or map. I considered going over and asking if he needed any help but I thought, "Well, he's made it this far..." I think Bangladesh is great if you have at least 4 months to commit. You can learn some of the language and learn about the people and culture. That would make it worthwhile. I can't imagine stepping of a plane in Bangladesh without knowing the language or anyone living here. You go to a taxi driver and try speaking English. He stares back at you blankly. Now what?

Nomoshkar,

Ben

Pictures

Click here to see some pictures of Cambodia.

Cheers!

Au Cambodge

A few days ago I returned from Cambodia. It does feel good to be home. Traveling is fun, but also exhausting. I'll try to describe the trip, although I dislike listing events day-by-day because its really boring for me. Is that selfish?

We started the trip by flying to Malaysia. This is a necessary stop for the cheap AirAsia flights we took. We spent the night next to the airport in the Tune Hotel. Its a little budget hotel chain. The rooms were tiny, but modern. The bed took up about 75% of the floor space, with a further 23% being bathroom. The first thing I noticed stepping off the plane was that the air was really hot and humid. Just a taste of things to come in Cambodia and now in Bangladesh.

The next day we had a morning to kill before our afternoon flight. We didn't have time to go into Kuala Lumpur so I walked around the airport shops marveling at, but not partaking in, the Starbucks and McDonalds. My stomach had been a little off that morning, and I felt a bit worse as we arrived in Phnom Penh. We were greeted by Lana and Andy Miller (MCC South-East Asia reps) and picked up by an air conditioned bus to head down south to the coast. Lana and Andy had gotten some sub sandwiches for our supper, and while I wasn't feeling particularly hungry on account of my stomach, I felt like I had to eat. I hadn't had a good sandwich in over 7 months. And mine had bacon on it!!! Six inches of sub and one root beer later, I wasn't feeling so great. Right as my body decided to get sick the bus decided to break-down. So we pulled over to a little rest stop to wait a couple hours while a new bus came. I've gotten pretty good at waiting around during my time in Bangladesh, but its not so great when you have diarrhea. So I took some Imodium and tried to sleep in the hot, stuffy bus. I woke up at the sound of our new bus, aka my savior. I thought I was feeling better, but I realized 5 minutes into the bus ride that I was just telling myself that. Long story short, we made it to Sihanoukville after one of my worst bus experiences, got our rooms, went to bed and I felt quite a lot better in the morning, albeit very dehydrated.

The rest of the week was really nice. We had group sessions with Andy and Lana in the mornings. They started with worship and then into individual and group activities. We did some things with Myers-Briggs personality indicators and I think I learned quite a bit about myself and others on the MCC Bangladesh team. For lunch we had Khmer food at our guesthouse. I really enjoyed Khmer food. The curries are a lot more coconutty and sweet compared to Bangladeshi curries which are tumericy and spicy. The afternoons were free time. We went swimming, snorkeling, kayaking and sandcastle making. I had never been ocean kayaking, but it was quite fun. For supper we would often have barbecue. I had marlin, barracuda, tuna and squid as well as pork ribs. Pork would be a common theme in my meal selection throughout the trip.

After our week was over, we headed back to Phnom Penh. I visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum while I was there. Before and during my time in Cambodia I did some reading on their recent history, namely the Khmer Rouge regime. Its a really sick and sad story. The Genocide Museum was Security Prison-21 from 1975-1979. Over those four years, about 20,000 people came through the prison. There, "enemies of the party" were tortured, forced to confess to their imaginary crimes, before being taken to be executed. Only seven people made it out alive. Our tour guide lost her father, a brother and a sister to the Khmer Rouge. She, along with her mother and other sister, became refugees in Vietnam. The building, which also used to be a high school, is still very raw. The tiny cells are still there, as well as barbed wire fences and blood stains on the floor. Torture instruments such as shovels, chains, knives and waterboards are also on display. Overall, a really depressing and chilling place to visit. Seeing Cambodia today, its hard to tell that they have this history from just over 30 years ago. For that matter, its hard to believe Bangladesh had a bloody civil war 39 years ago.

After Phnom Penh, I headed to Siem Reap with some other MCC folks for some vacation. We spent three days visiting the ancient temples at Angkor. We got around by tuk-tuk (a wagon pulled by a motorcycle) for two days and by bike for the other day. It was really hot, but really fun. Also in Siem Reap, we visited a silk making place. It was interesting to see the process from worm cocoon to scarf.

On the way back, we had another night in Malaysia. We stayed in Kuala Lumpur in Chinatown. That night we went to eat at a small food court. We found a Bangladeshi restaurant, which was closed, but the owners were happy to chat with Daniel and I. I don't imagine many Bangla-speaking foreigners come through there. To be honest, I probably wouldn't have eaten there even if it were open. I still have four months of Bangladeshi food to look forward to.

The next morning, we saw a bit of Kuala Lumpur before our afternoon flight to Bangladesh. KL is a very modern and developed city. We took an LRT to the Petronas Towers and walked around the park. At the base of the towers you can find a mall sporting stores such as Gucci, Prada, Armani and Hugo Boss. Definitely a bit of a culture shock. Before leaving, I will admit I had McDonald's for lunch. I couldn't help it. Plus, you just have to make sure its still the same. And believe it or not my double cheeseburger tasted exactly as I had remembered it.

Arriving in Dhaka, we stepped out of the airport into an onslaught of people and heat. We argued with the taxi drivers and chatted with the beggar children. When our taxi pulled into the swollen, honking sea of traffic I realized I was home.

I'll add some more pictures to Facebook soon. These are just to whet your appetite.

Ben

A dead bird and elephant soccer

Well I guess I found something interesting to write about.

The circus has come to town! Yesterday evening I went with some other MCC folks as well as the Allens, an American family that is here with the Baptist mission. I was surprised at how big the fair grounds were. I expected a bunch of tents and shops all packed together with a ton of people. This has been my experience of Bangladesh so far. However, the fair grounds were large and expansive with a few tents and shops and not too many people. At the far side we could hear the main event getting ready to start. There was a large tent with music playing outside. We bought our tickets and went in. The show was pretty fun complete with acrobats, contortionists, clowns beating up midgets and, of course, elephants playing soccer.

For the past few months, there have been some birds living in the office. They often fly by my desk on their way to their nest above a doorway. Well yesterday I was minding my own business when I heard a clunk, thud and felt something smack my shoulder. I looked down on the floor and saw a dead bird. It took me a few seconds before I realized it had been cleaned out by the ceiling fan that was whirring above my desk. I had always thought it would be an inevitable event as the birds have to dodge two fans on their commute from the window to the nest. It hasn't been a problem for them for the past few months because the fans have been off. Now that it is steadily getting warmer, I wonder how many more birds will find a similar fate?

Blog post

I don't really have anything interesting to say. Life is flowing on. I'm sure I'll have a more interesting post when I return from Cambodia. I added some pictures to my Bangladesh Facebook album as well as uploaded my India pictures from December.

Bangladesh pictures are here.

India pictures are here.

Have a good one,

Ben

Holi, it's March!

Apparently its March. I don't know where the time's going. February seems like a blur. I am kind of sad I missed most of the Olympic spirit. I got a few updates online, and it seems like I missed a good one. I wonder when they'll come back to Canada?

Last week was Holi, a yearly Hindu festival. It was a pretty fun week. In the evenings I would go with my host family to the place where the main events were happening. There were vendors selling balloons, food, candy, jewelry etc. There was even a small ferris wheel made from bamboo poles and powered by two guys pushing it. I didn't have the opportunity to try it out. The main tent had a shrine with statues of the gods Ram and Krishna. There were people dancing, singing, praying and offering little white candies and incense to the gods. Once the people had said their prayers, they would toss the extra candies to the crowd. They taste like pure sugar and I think I had a pretty good sugar rush going every night. Afterwards we would eat fuchka and jilapi, two of my favourite foods here. We had some visitors from the village stay at our house, so I shared my bed with one of my host brothers. I have a single bed, so it was a little tight!

On the 19th I'm heading to Cambodia for a couple weeks. MCC is having a retreat there and I'm taking a week afterwards of vacation. I'm very excited for that! I'll definitely buy a camera before I go so I can share some pictures with you when I return.

Dhan, chal, bhat

The literal English translation of the title is "rice, rice, rice". It makes sense that there are multiple names for it in Bangla because one can see it in many forms on a given day. Dhan is rice still in the field. Right now the paddies are being planted in my area. As I ride through the villages on my bike, the sight all around me is small green plants popping up through water in the fields. Chal is rice after it has been harvested but still uncooked. It is often sold in huge 50 kg sacks. Finally bhat, as you might have guessed, is the fluffy white stuff you eat. I eat bhat at least twice a day here. Bangladeshis aren't satisfied with a meal unless they have eaten rice. A common way of asking someone if they have had their meal is saying "Apni bhat kheyechen?" (lit.: "Have you eaten rice?") Sometimes people ask me what my parents do. I tell them my mom is a teacher and my dad is a farmer. A common question is "Oh, how much rice does your father grow?"

In Bangladesh, rice is the undisputed staple food. The per capita consumption here is higher than anywhere in the world. I've read that 70% of the average Bangladeshi's caloric intake is from rice. It's hard to describe the reliance on rice here. It also gives a new definition to what food security means for the people here. If the price of rice goes up even 10 or 15 taka (15 or 23 cents) per kg, people starve. If the rains come late or a cyclone hits the south, people starve.

When I first came to Bangladesh, I was overwhelmed a bit with the amount of rice I was expected to eat. In Canada I would eat rice a few times a week. I thought that was a lot. Now when I tell Bangladeshis that I might eat rice 2-3 times per week in Canada, they laugh at me. They can't believe that we survive on bread, noodles and corn.

But there's a lesson to be learned here. In Canada, we eat because it tastes good. A side effect is that it keeps us alive. Here, its the other way around. I used to crave food from home, but now I'm fine with rice twice a day. Because nothing keeps your belly fuller than a big plate of bhat.