Bangladesh Hey!

Someone yelled that out when the first power failure we experienced hit our area... it was very funny, and we are quite used to them by now.. at least 2-3 per day so it's nothing special.

I finally got access to the internet after so long and I thought I'd you all a list of things I've had to get used to in the past week and a half or so. Enjoy!

1. cold to lukewarm showers! actually a good thing because it's so hot here

2. sometimes we do have to make use of the eastern toilet... VERY hard to get used to..

3. can't go out at night past 9 pm for girls... not too wise... lots of activity though, woman-free!

4. we wear salwar kameez everyday!! it's really fun, and we can be super colourful!

5. everything is bargained, not only prices but time as well! like when you need something done, the merchant will set a date far away and you work him down.. nothing is fixed!

6. we ride rickshaws (the bicycle type) and CNGs everywhere. the CNGs are also called baby taxis, i'll upload pictures soon.

7. the air pollution is brutal... for that i am grateful for the salwar kameez because it comes complete with a dupatta so you can cover your mouth and nose!

8. the traffic is sheer madness and navigating it is an essential skill

9. here you attach 'sister' or 'brother' to everyone's name... for sister it's 'appa' for muslims and 'didi' for hindus... for men it's always bhai so it's easier

10. we have to be careful not to swallow any water while brushing our teeth.. it's bottled water only and soon we'll work our way up to boiled water

11. the meals have been very boring so far, lol... but that's the menu where we are staying... lots of rice, watery daal, chicken or fish and some veg... the other day we treated ourselves to pizza hut

12. the food is SO spicy and there's hardar/haldi/holud (turmeric) in everything so your fingers get yellow!

13. we eat with our hands here and watch out.. don't touch your food with your left hand!

14. like i said before... power failures all the time.. just take them in stride

15. people eat dinner here at like 10 pm... i guess it's kind of like when we're away at school :)

16. everyone asks you if you're married!

17. no matter where we go, absolutely everyone stares at us, men and women alike.. it's like they can spot a foreigner from a mile away.. and we always hear ppl whispering 'india' and 'pakistan' around us..

18. we do our laundry by hand!

19. very hard to get used to never being understood or understanding anything.. but we're slowly learning the language.. ami bangla shik achi

20. the doorways and ceilings are so low! yes, i have hit my head a couple of times

21. the honking in the streets is so LOUD... but it's part of the chaos control...

22. men are the shopkeepers in every store, no matter what the merchandise.. even ladies underwear!

23. people make brutally honest comments with the best of intentions..

First batch of pictures:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=190i8ygb.pc004pb&x=0&y=4ea86