This minivan has seen better days (is that blood on the door?) but the driver is feeling pretty rad wearing his flower necklace. 

There's my balcony, on the top floor. Don't look - my underwear is hanging there to dry! 

This is the entrance to my apartment. It looks bleak, but that's because Masud took the picture in the rain. It's actually a nice buttery yellow color. Seriously. 

Isaac spends most of his time here, watching Disney movies. Notice the wall with the window - it's wet. We've had so much rain in the past few days that the wall has soaked through. Mmmmm, I can almost smell the mildew! 

The scenery from my porch is GORGEOUS. 

Isaac LOVES his toy shelf. 

Being a naughty four year old, he also wanted to demonstrate how to poop in a hole. 

Isaac wanted to demonstrate the art of peeing in a hole. 

Isaac is showing off our bed. Notice the lovely AC unit in the upper left hand corner. Alhumdulillah! 

This is our dining area. 

It seems like the rickshaw-wallas of Comilla are really old. I feel so bad to make them haul my huge butt around for 4 taka. 

Here is Momo using the scariest kitchen utensil ever invented to cut "lal shag" or red spinach. Tasty but time consuming to prepare. 

This is Rusty the Trusty ant eating tik-tiki who lives near the dining table. 

And you thought I was kidding about the ants? This is the converging point of three grand ant trails. Nothing a little pesticide can't handle. 

Enid is the Kitchen Tik-Tiki. Check out those beady eyes. He must be up to something. 

…The Lord God Made Them All

I am sharing my home with no less than 200,000 ants. This morning I had an ant in my ear, and I ate some ants mixed in with my peanut butter for lunch. As we speak, there are probably three or four ants randomly crawling somewhere on my body, and I can count 5 on my desk.

Good thing we have 6 tik-tikis in the house to eat some of the ants. A tik-tiki is a small lizard that eats bugs and makes a tik-tik-tik sound. I’m glad they’re here, actually. Isaac has named some of them. Angel and Hookey live in the TV room, and Harry lives in the bedroom. Not only do they eat ants, but mosquitoes as well.

There is an evil catch-22 involving the mosquitoes here. In order to minimize the number of bites, we have to sleep under a mosquito net. The sad thing about the mosquito net is that it cuts the amount of breeze being generated by the ceiling fan by about 75%. So either you’re cool and get malaria or you are hot and bite free.

They say that spiders eat mosquitoes, too. Well, that’s good, because there is a monster-sized spider in the bathroom behind the mirror. Ok – so it’s only the size of a silver dollar, but it’s hairy and it moves fast. My morning bucket bath was not a peaceful one, because I had to keep one eye on the spider – which I affectionately and spontaneously gave an unrepeatable “nickname”.

Ahhh, bugs and reptiles.

No internet yet, but here's another post plus pictures for your viewing enjoyment.

How to Crash a Deshi Wedding
September 17, 2004
My brother-in-law (the one in whose house I am living – heretofore known as Dada) got invited to the wedding of his office-mate’s only daughter, so of course we all tagged along. Bangladeshi weddings are quite the event, and people here spend relatively large chunks of their hard earned money to throw a big shindig. Today was the bride’s family’s turn to throw the party, so we went over to the community center. I think it’s a three story building, and there were three weddings going on simultaneously. We all got dressed up, and I wrapped myself in a green sari and began to perspire immediately and profusely. It was worth it though, except that my gut roll hung out a little. Anyways, we got there and really didn’t know anyone, but we sat down at a table and were served polau (yummy pilaf type rice), fish, chicken, and beef, with a side of salad and a dessert of doi (sweet yogurt). I didn’t eat the meat of course, which people thought was weird, but it was really good polau. Then I went up to see the “bo” (bride), and sat next to her and asked if she minded if I took a picture with her. I have no idea who she is and she has no idea who I am, but we made a cute pair anyways.


Settled in and ready to roll.
September 16, 2004

I just found out that last night in Debiddar (I’m not sure how to spell that but it’s a place near a river somewhere close to Comilla), a dam broke and 200 villages were washed away. So many people died – women, children, everybody. It’s been raining constantly and there is just no place for the water to go. What a tragedy. What is worse is the fact that three months from now there will be a huge food shortage. Right now, the market is flooded with fish that nobody wants to buy, but all the crops for this season have been wiped out. In my email today, I got a warning from the US embassy that houses fall apart during the flood and the electric wiring becomes exposed, creating an electrocution hazard. Apparently this happens to a lot of people.

My flood related discomfort is much less serious.

It’s been raining pretty much nonstop since we arrived here, but somehow we managed to get the apartment furnished. I really shouldn’t say “we”, because I wasn’t allowed to go with on the buying excursions. This was for two reasons: 1) because the streets were completely flooded and getting around was hard enough without the dumb white lady tagging along, and 2) because when the store owners see me they automatically increase the price of their goods. I stayed here and organized stuff and waited for the guy to come and hook up the converter for the DVD player. Isaac is now in DVD heaven. My bhabi bought him a “mora” (bamboo stool) today and he’s so happy about it that he won’t get off of it. He also got a bamboo bookshelf that has doors on it for his toys. The shelf cost 200 taka, or $3.45. He was so happy about it that he gave it a kiss. He’s still having dysentery issues, but hopefully it will clear up in a few days.

Because of the rain, none of the clothes that we have washed are drying. We hung them throughout the apartment on ropes, but they just don’t dry. It’s too humid. They are starting to smell really gross, so we strung some ropes up over the stove and left it on (gas is so cheap here – about 5 bucks for an unlimited monthly supply) and now they are drying out, no problem. Do I feel bad about the gratuitous burning of fossil fuel? Yes, but stinky clothes just won’t do.

I’m reading a great book that is helping me get through the scary moments that I have when I realize where I am. It’s called The Power of Intention by Wayne Dyer. I happened to pick it up right before we left and started reading it on the plane. It has to do with surrendering to your destiny and allowing things to happen in the way that they are intended to, and also using your free will to create that intention. Sounds hokey, but it’s an amazing book.

Today I’m supposed to get my phone line, so that bodes well for the internet connection. I’m starting to really get down to business, although it’s hard to know where to start. I have a vague Idea but turning it into reality is not easy. I’m trying to take one thing at a time.

If you’re reading this, send me an email! I need contact from the outside world!


September 15, 2004
Men Spotted Peeing (MSPs) and other interesting details

Bangladesh is truly a man’s country. Men have absolutely no problem whatsoever to stop wherever they happen to be, squat down, and drop trail right then and there. It’s called Gono Batroom (the people’s bathroom). Women, on the other hand, have epidemic rates of UTIs due to the lack of public restroom facilities. The ones that do exist are usually gross, and it’s difficult to maneuver in a bathroom when you are wearing six yards of strategically wrapped fabric. So far, I have spotted exactly 33 men peeing in public. Yes, I am keeping count. (Masud just came in and asked me to add that not ALL men feel comfortable peeing in public, only some. And I would suppose that the level of comfort is correlated with the fullness of bladder.)

It costs 5 taka per minute to call the US using a calling card. So if 58 taka equals one dollar, then 5 taka equals about 9 cents. Not bad! Maybe I’ll be calling some of you after all!

People don’t use washing machines here – not because they have anything against washing machines, but they are kindof a luxury item and not all that available to the general public. Either they wash the clothes themselves (hard on the legs and back, take it from me) or they take the clothes to the laundry place. For each piece of clothing, it costs 9 taka to wash, dry and iron, or only 3 taka to iron. Masud dropped off a pile of our laundry to be ironed, and when he picked it up, he gave the lady 6 taka per item instead of 3 taka. She was so happy that she stopped and said a prayer for him right then and there. I can’t imagine ironing a pair of Masud’s pants for 3 taka. What am I saying? I do it now for free, I guess! Anyways, I guess I’ll be getting a “Bua”, which is a woman who will stop by my house once a day and wash my clothes and do some minor cleaning. I’m not sure how I feel about it. On one hand, she needs to work, and I need someone to wash my clothes. On the other hand, I feel like I’m exploiting her need to work. She’ll do this for about $20 a month. Cheaper than a washing machine, but hard on the ol’ ethics.

Some disturbing news that I keep forgetting to write down – when we stay in Dhaka, we stay at Iqram-bhai and Rina-bhabi’s house. Rina-bhabi got sick the day we left for Rangpur, and we have recently found out that she has contracted the mosquito-borne Dengue fever. There are two types of Dengue, one kind is not very serious and some people don’t even know they have it, but the other kind is very serious and causes internal bleeding. Sadly, she has the second kind. She’s in the hospital now and we are all hoping that she recovers soon. It’s scary to note that we were in the same house where the infected mosquito bit her…


September 14, 2004
Deshi Stats

Number of days in Bangladesh: 9
Number of puking episodes (Isaac): 3
Number of amoeba infections: 1
Number of festering mosquito bites (Isaac and Katie): approximately 30
Number of different potions, contraptions, and chemicals used to prevent mosquito bites: 6 (mosquito net, DEET, herbal insect repellent, Permanone, some sort of machine that vaporizes mosquito repelling oil, small solar powered device that emits a high pitched tone)
Number of the above mentioned items that are effective: 0
Number of bugs ingested: unknown
Number of ants currently running across my desk: 9
Number of strange men who have said “How are you?” or made cat meow sounds in a peculiarly high-pitched voice when they see me: 3
Number of scary bus riding moments: 1 (tire exploded on the way back from Rangpur)
Number of scary rickshaw moments: 1 – collision with another rickshaw, no major damage

Well, that paints a pleasant picture, doesn’t it? Something tells me I should try to focus on the positive. Let’s see what I can come up with…

Number of amazingly good deals on furniture and household goods: 5
Number of bags of Doritos found and purchased in Dhaka supermarkets: 4
Number of meaningful, heartfelt conversations with reminiscing husband: 3
Number of people who are genuinely happy to see me and willing to help me in any way that they can: Too many to count
Number of epiphanies I’ve had since I’ve been here: 6
Number of pirated DVDs and CDs purchased: 18
Number of times I’ve had to leave Isaac at daycare: 0
Number of times I’ve had to cook meals for the family: 0
Number of times I’ve had to clean the toilet: 0 (Ok, so there’s no toilet. But Isaac is pretty stoked that he learned how to “poop in a hole”. With all the amoebas, he’s an expert at this point.)

The Comilla Jail, where we bought Isaac's mora, and some really beautiful towels. Apparently, they put the prisoners to work making stuff. Good idea. 

This is one flexible kid, able to sleep in a rickshaw. 

All dressed up for the wedding, here we are sitting in a rickshaw. 

This is Momota, Isaac's babysitter and my Bangla tutor. She's pretty great. 

Maya makes a mean bhuna kitchuri. Notice our laundry drying strategy. Nothing like wearing cumin scented underwear. 

The view from my kitchen sink 

Here is a picture that I took from my "baranda" (balcony). You can see the roof of the house that Masud grew up in, and beyond that, there is water covering the road. Masud and Maya went out in that to get my furniture. 

Ferris had laid two eggs, which she has since abandoned. I guess she didn't like the smell of our cooking. 

When we started moving into our apartment, we noticed a houseguest that had taken up residence in our kitchen. Introducing "Ferris" the pigeon. 

Maya, Isaac and I standing in front of the hotel where we stayed in Rangpur. 

Archive Blogging...sorry for the delay!

September 13, 2004
I’m finally posting these! I wrote them a while ago, but don’t have internet access. We’re all okay, but Isaac has dysentery. He’s taking medicine so hopefully it will clear up soon. We’re in Comilla and it’s been raining for 2 days straight. The streets are flooded, but it’s delightfully cool and there is a nice breeze. We’re working on my apartment, buying furniture (difficult when the streets are flooded) and setting up everything. Hopefully I’ll get my own internet connection soon, I’m feeling lost without my email!

September 5, 2004 – We’re Alive!
I’m writing this post although I don’t know how long it will be before I can upload it to my blog. I’m not sure when I’ll get internet service.
We made it here without any major problems. It was a long journey, though, and this time Isaac was a little more restless than I remember him being on the last trip. He was pretty good for a four year old though. There was a guy at the airport holding a sign with my name on it when we got off the plane (just like the movies!) and he helped us with the bags and the customs part of the airport experience. We got to go out the back way, and avoided the throngs of people who flooded the front area. I felt like a movie star!
I met Shaheen Khan, who works at the Public Affairs section of the American Embassy here. She is going to be very helpful. I found out that she knows my advisor, and actually was a roommate of his daughter’s when they lived in Illinois. It’s a small world, huh?
We really didn’t give ourselves time to recover from the trip. Masud has such a limited amount of time here that we want to get as much done as we can right away. We have been running around and sleeping in spurts, and I hope it doesn’t catch up with us and make us sick. We are planning to go to Comilla pretty soon and get everything set up as soon as possible. It’s hard to live out of suitcases, especially when those suitcases were not packed based on a logical plan, but were stuffed with whatever was the right shape or weight. I’ll be so happy once I can unpack!


September 10, 2004 - One word: SAUNA

Yep, it’s hot here. I hate to admit it when Masud is right, but it’s true that I can’t survive here without AC. The humidity just saps the energy right out of you. I’m told that this weather is pretty mild. God save me when April and the hot season rolls around.

Other than the heat, things are going really well. We’ve accomplished a lot in the past week, and I’m feeling extremely confident about my project. I met with one of my research partners in Rangpur this weekend, and she is really incredible. I plan to dedicate an upcoming post to the past weekend and what I learned.

Isaac has already been sick. He barfed three times the other day, and then got a rash. He seems fine now, and I’m thinking maybe he just got overheated or something. Seriously, it’s that hot in here. He’s really happy to be here, although he misses his “partner” (grandma). I keep telling him that we’ll be able to talk to her soon, but I always forget to buy the calling card when we go out.

Dhaka is really an awful city. It’s so dirty and crowded and scary. I’m so glad I’m not staying here. The only redeeming factor about Dhaka is that you can occasionally get Doritos and Mountain Dew. Comilla, while much better than Dhaka, still has its safety issues to consider. Rangpur however is the most beautiful and peaceful place I’ve been so far in Bangladesh. It’s just recently been developed, and it’s not too crowded yet. It’s safe enough that people can walk around at night without worrying. I think I’m really going to enjoy my time there, and I might try to figure out a way to stay there longer than I originally planned.

September 11, 2004 – The Rangpur Experience

After a week of being in Dhaka and the suffocating heat, I was beginning to feel really overwhelmed and discouraged. We decided to go to Rangpur before going to Comilla because the two cities are in different directions and we want to stay in Comilla for a while once we get there. As soon as the bus cleared the edge of Dhaka I started to feel better. The Bangladeshi countryside is really beautiful and it helped me to remember why I wanted to come here in the first place.
Rangpur is about a 6 hour bus ride north of Dhaka. On the way up, we saw a bus that got too close to the edge of the road and rolled off the side. On the way back, one of our bus tires exploded. Fortunately it was a back tire, and the driver was able to maintain control. If a front tire had exploded, we probably would have been hurt.
The actual city of Rangpur is really beautiful. It has recently been developed and it has nice roads and buildings, and it’s not overly crowded. The streets are relatively safe and it’s a peaceful place. Maya and Masud-bhai (Maya’s husband is also named Masud, so for clarification I call him Masud-bhai) graduated from Rangpur Medical College, and Dr. Javed and his wife Dr. Tasnim (also graduates of RMC) both practice there. Dr. Tasnim, a gynecologist, is going to help me with my project, and she allowed me to shadow her for quite a while when we were there. I should have taken some pictures, but I was so amazed by what I saw that I forgot my camera was even in my bag.
First, we toured the medical college and I saw the facilities there, including the gross anatomy lab, where two dissected bodies were laid out! I had to tell Isaac that they were plastic and that somebody was making them for a movie. Then we went to the Rangpur hospital where Tasnim-bhabi is posted. She also has office hours at her clinic, and she allowed me to sit with her in her “chamber” while she saw patients. Her chamber is a small room, no more than 12 feet by 8 feet, with a desk and an examination table. She sits behind the desk and consults with patients from there unless an exam is necessary. In a three hour period, she saw around 50 patients. It was quite different from what I am accustomed to in the US.
First of all, the patient is called in by an attendant. The patient brings their own medical records along, which makes a lot of sense to me. Since patients might go to different doctors, they bring all their medical records, so doctors can quickly see their complete history. Sometimes two or even three patients are in the room at once. To me, with all of my awareness of privacy rights, this was really amazing. Especially since gynecological concerns are usually somewhat embarrassing and sensitive, I was amazed to see how people didn’t really mind having their business discussed while other patients were in the room.
If a pelvic exam needed to be performed, only the patient, the attendant (and myself) and of course Dr. Tasnim were in the room. Some women were not embarrassed by this, but some needed to be convinced that if they wanted to be treated, they needed to let the doctor examine them.
Another interesting cultural practice that I noticed was that the patient usually came in alone and consulted with the doctor alone, and then the doctor called in the rest of the patients family before giving the diagnosis. It seemed that this was to make sure that the patient had a support system in order to comply with treatment, especially in cases where a pregnant woman needed to be on bed rest.
After three hours of seeing patients, sometimes two or three at a time, and fielding phone calls at the same time, we went to the hospital where Dr. Tasnim performed a hysterectomy and a c-section. I was allowed to see both of these procedures. I had to change my street shoes into special sandals that they had in the OT (operation theater) and I wore a hat and a face mask. I was really amazed at how much energy Dr. Tasnim has. She had started working that day at 8 a.m., and finished the c-section at 11:30 p.m., and still wanted to go with us to eat at a restaurant after that.
The next day, I observed her in her chamber for a few hours, and then was lucky enough to watch Dr. Javed perform a laproscopic gall bladder operation. Right after that was finished, there happened to be a woman next door who was giving birth, and I got to see that as well! (And the pain of child birth came flooding back. Nevermore!)
It sure was a busy weekend, and I’m so excited about working in Rangpur. I have lots of new ideas to incorporate and I’m sure that this experience is going to be incredible!

See you on the other side!

Well, blog fans, this will be my last post from the good US of A. We're leaving tomorrow morning at exactly 10:45 a.m. and we'll arrive in Bangladesh on Sunday at 9:45 a.m. (Bangladesh time). For those of you who are wondering, Bangladesh is exactly 11 hours ahead of us (12 hours ahead once we go off daylight savings time in October). So we are actually arriving in Bangladesh at 10:45 p.m. on Saturday night Minnesota time. Once we get there, we have to go through customs (which should be easy thanks to the "expediter service" that will meet us at the gate), and then it's off to my brother-in-law's house. He lives in Dhaka, about 10 miles from the airport. If we are lucky enough to arrive on a hartal (strike) day, however, we will have to stay overnight in the diplomatic zone. On strike days, nobody is allowed to ride in cars except official people within the diplomatic zone. It's possible that there will be a hartal, but maybe we'll get lucky.
I'm anticipating that we'll need to spend a couple of nights or maybe a week in Dhaka before we head out to Comilla. I'm going to set up my home base there, and I'm really looking forward to unpacking my suitcases and organizing everything. Then it's down to business!
I'm not sure how long it will take for me to get internet access. Masud is an email-freak (and I admit it, so am I), so we might have it sooner than later, but don't worry about me if I drop off the radar for a good week or so.
Well, I'm going to go find out which suitcase has an opening for the three pounds of cheese I just bought. I hope it doesn't rot on the plane. My poor cheese.