For all of you who are wondering, but were to shy to ask, this is the reason I'm in Bangladesh. I'm conducting interviews on breastfeeding beliefs and traditions to understand breastfeeding culture in Bangladesh. Most of my interviews are conducted while women are working, especially in the village, where they work nonstop from dawn to dusk. This woman was making "roti" - a type of bread - over an open fire. 

I managed to conduct about 60 interviews while we were in the village! 

Be right back...

I'm off to the village - don't worry if I don't post for a week or so. I'm still alive, I hope.

While we were at the beach, we had a guy read our palms. Apparently, I'm going to have another son and my married life is very happy. Hmmmmm. 

We managed a quick trip to the beach on the morning when we were supposed to leave. The tsunami killed 150 people here. It's hard to believe such destruction happened only a few weeks before we took this beautiful picture. 

K. and I "accidentally" dressed alike one day and we had to take this cheesy photo to remember it by. 

We had the conference at a place called the Indian Institute of Management at Kozhikode. It's a pretty new institution, so they had lots of areas that needed to be landscaped. They had us get in on the action, and we all planted some trees and put our names on them. K., Tanya and I planted one together. If we ever get back that way, we'll have to check on our tree! 

The "Indian WC" indicates that you will have to squat. "European WC" means that you can sit. 

During one of the more boring meetings, we had a woman get up and teach us some classical Indian dancing. We were not very good at it.  

I love these guys so much! K., T. and KT. Team BD. 

"Team BD (Bangla-Desh)" against a beautiful backdrop of Kerala coconut trees. I hope you all get the hand signal...we're making "bd" with our fingers. Ha ha, get it? He he. 

I love street kids. 

You can't tell from this picture, but I was so terrified of this snake that I almost puked. It made a hissing noise and sortof lunged at me. I don't care if it doesn't have a fang anymore. It's a freaking cobra. 

K. and I stopped at the "Gateway of India" in Mumbai, and I got blessed by this guru. He tied a string around my wrist, put some goop on my forehead, gave me a marigold and said something that I didn't understand. I'm supposed to have a happy life now. Hope it works! 

Off again!

I had so much fun in India that I don't think I can explain it, so I'm just going to post pictures. I ended up staying at Tanya's house in Kolkata for a few extra days. If it weren't for my boys, I'd probably still be there. Tanya's mom is a great cook, and their flat is really comfortable. Tanya, K. and I had a lot of fun going around Kolkata. We shared a hooka and broke it down in one of the new clubs they have there. Quite a change from the Bangladesh scene where alcohol is prohibited! It was a nice vacation for this old mom.

It was nice to get back to Dhaka and my guys, though. Isaac and Masud had a great time without me, but they seemed happy to have someone who cares about cleanliness come back in their lives. Masud bought Isaac all of the toys that I had forbidden (anything that makes loud noises, requires adult assistance, or costs more than $10). Isaac took Masud to all of the western restaurants - Pizza Hut, A&W, Wimpy. I think they even went to a theme park!

Today we rented a micro bus and came to Comilla. I brought enough dry goods to last us for the next couple of months, and we're all busy putting it in plastic bags so that the bugs don't find it. (So I hope). In the next couple of days, we'll be going to Masud's father's village. It's pretty remote - we have to take a bus, then a boat, then a rickshaw or something...and there is no electricity. We're going for 4 or 5 days, so don't expect any blog updates anytime soon. I'm really excited because although I've been to villages before, this one is pretty darn rural. I'm gonna get lots of research done on this trip.

Korbani Eid is on the 22nd. This is the holiday where we remeber how God saved Isaac from being sacrificed by Abraham by providing the animal sacrifice. We are taking two cows there to sacrifice in thanks. For many people, this is one of the only times they get to eat meat all year. I'm not fond of the whole bloody sacrifice/gory feast thing, but it will be nice to celebrate this holiday in the village. They grow their own vegetables, so I'm planning on getting some really fresh "niramish".

Well, my house is a mess and I have guests so I'll have to post more later. Stay tuned for pictures. Hi to any new blog readers that I met in Kerala! Wish I was still there with you!

Update from India...

I now officially am obsessed with India. Over the last 4 days, I have been in Calcutta (ok, so it was just the airport), Mumbai (did you all know that Mumbai and Bombay are the same thing?) and now Kozhikode, Kerala. I am making myself a goal to save up enough money to do a 2 month tour of this country before I die.

I'm still at the conference. There is a boring panel discussion going on now, so I snuck out and came to the computer lab. Besides this one boring panel, I am having such a wonderful time. It's been really invigorating to see what all the other Fulbrighters are doing. Sometimes it gets overwhelming to be in the midst of such poverty, and it's easy to feel like my little research project is meaningless. But in the context of the Fulbright program, I really feel like I'm a part of something that's very important.

The other Fulbrighters are amazing. I just had a long talk with a woman who is working on her dissertation...for HARVARD. Gulp. And there is another woman who is studying the block printing in India, and I'm incredibly jealous. The range of projects and the sheer brain power of this group is so overwhelming, and somewhat intimidating!

I'm also having a BLAST with the two Fulbrighters to Bangladesh, K. and Tanya. We get along so well that it's almost scary. I told them both that if they didn't keep in touch with me after this experience that I'd have to kill them. I mean it, T and K, no matter what far-off land you end up in, I will find you! Wait, do I sound codependent?

I better sneak back in now, but check back soon for some amazing photographs. This is a beautiful place, thus the nickname "God's Own Country".

Blog Hiatus

Just a quick note to let you all know that I'm going to India on Saturday, and probably won't be able to post until I come back on the 14th. I'm going for the South Asian Fulbright Mid Year Conference. I hope I'll have lots of juicy tales and fascinating pictures to enthrall you with. I am planning on spending lots of money. Don't tell Masud.

I think I've said before that some of my most insteresting conversations have been with rickshaw wallahs and CNG drivers. Today I had such a great talk with this driver, Mr. Abul Syed. By some twist of fate, I had paper and a pen with me, and I was able to write down some of his comments. For those who don't know, CNG drivers are just above rickshaw pullers on the caste system, and they usually don't have much education. This man, however, made some very profound and poignant statments. For example, he said that Bangaldesh is a Muslim country (he is also a Muslim), and because of that, many men believe that they should keep their wives locked up and not allow them to work. But, he said, that's slowly changing, and that's a good thing. People are becoming educated. After months of hearing the religious freaks talk about "purdah", I was overjoyed to hear this man's voice of reason. What a great moment! 

I know you're all (my mom excluded) probably sick of seeing pictures of Isaac, but I can't help it. 

In order to remember our time in the "big house", we staged this picture. Isaac stood on a chair and took it. Then we collapsed into fits of laughter. Notice that we wore matching outfits. It's just too much fun! 

This is the kind of beggar that I like to give money to, because it's obvious that this man cannot work for a living. He was happy that I took his picture. I'm going to print it and try to find him tomorrow to give it to him. 

After I took their picture, these girls kept following me, asking for more. So I had Momo take this one. 

Some cute street kids were at the park today, so I took their picture. Isaac had to get in on the action. 

I took this picture so you all could see how some women exercise wearing burqas and tennies. Talk about sweating it out. 

This is Shopla, one of the street kids. I love this picture. 

While we were at the park, some women decided they wanted to have a picture with me. I have no idea who they are, but people were snapping pictures like mad. 

It's okay for guys to wear pink in Bangladesh. I made Isaac go sit with these dudes so I could take their picture. 

It's January, so it's the time of year when Bangladeshis whip out the sweater vests and scarves. Today it was 80 degrees, but I spotted 10 sweater vests and countless scarves. Brrrrrr. 

I've decided that I'm going to start a photo-journal on Bangladeshi fashion. In Bangladesh, construction workers wear lungis. These guys are particularily suave with their gamsa (towels) tied around their waists. 

Happy New Year!

Today my Bhabi told me that whatever we do on the first day of the year is indicative of what the entire year will be like. I spent much of the day yelling at my computer. Not a good sign!

Last year, one of my uncles, who is more than a little bit of a perfectionist, resolved not to make a single mistake for the entire year. For real. That was his resolution. The next day he had a car accident. Oops.

As far as resolutions go, I don’t have a very good track record. Except for the one in 2002 where I decided to floss, I actually stuck to that one! Not that it reduced my number of dental problems, but I guess it’s good for the gums, and now I don’t have to lie when I go to the dentist. This year, I am not going to resolve to exercise or eat healthier (that’s so last year!), and instead I’m going to try to write something in my journal every day. I’m afraid I’m going to forget so much about this trip when I get back to the US, so I think it’s an appropriate resolution.
Today as I was tooling down Kamal Attaturk in a CNG, I was trying to remember how to drive a stick shift car. I’m sure it will come right back to me as soon as I sit in the driver’s seat, but it was a weird feeling – I couldn’t remember how to do it. It’s been 4 months since I’ve driven. I wonder if I’ll be scared to drive when I get back – probably not though. After surviving the traffic of Bangladesh, I think I know why Masud is such a terrible driver. He’s used to swerving and sudden braking – watch out for the goat! Watch out for the huge hole in the road! Watch out for the bus! Watch out for the man pulling a huge cart down the middle of the highway! The cars here rarely go over 60 kilos per hour, which is really really slow, but don’t ask me to convert it to mph. I don’t get the metric system.