October Holiday: I Stayed Home

October 23, 2010

Dear friends and family,

We have just finished a week's vacation, due to a Hindu holiday.  I have experienced the satisfaction of a well-spent vacation before and the accompanying jitters about facing the real world of work the next day, but nothing compares to this.

It feels as if I have been given a genuine peek into the beautiful  hearts and souls of people of poverty within walking distance of my rather posh neighborhood in Dhaka.  Every day during vacation I would venture out walking to some new place.  One day I climbed some rickety stairs to what appeared to be a beauty salon that sold some homemade clothing.  I had a manicure done on my stubby nails.  It felt good to have both hands in warm, sudsy water even though it was so hot and humid inside the shop that one of the workers had to keep us cool with a huge leaf fan.  I bought a pink sari, played with a baby, and left.  One day I just walked ten blocks and ended up at a green metal door that led to a world completely different from the housing around my school.  I was befriended by a rickshaw driver who bought me lunch...delicious spicy fish, cooked papaya and potatoes, and lots of rice.  He refused to let me pay.  Anyway, I will attach some of my favorite pictures from my day of exploring.

Through the Green Door

A Proud Family

People Working and Playing

Young Woman Waiting for Her School Kids

To Buy or Not to Buy...

I vote YES for this salesman.  Courteous, honest, hardworking... 

And a double YES after seeing his hard working crew...I DO want some of that lovely cane furniture.

But, oops!  I almost said YES to the fisherman at my corner, but my maid came running and told me, "'No, ma'am, that fish is all bones.  You won't like it."  She spoke in Bangla to the man.  He may come back with a fish without so many bones.  They were good looking fish with clear eyes and pink gills.

Thumbs UP!!!!

Thumbs Up??  How does he do it?

Greetings from Dhaka on October 16th, my second day into the week long holiday.  I will always be baffled by the positive, loving spirit that the people have all around me.  A home next to the railroad track?  A cheerful spirit?  Yes, the two go hand in hand in the slums of Dhaka...at least as far as I have seen.

"All I really need is love in my heart, food in my belly, and love in my family."  ...words from a children's song that seem to hold true in Bangladesh.

Love to you all,                                                                                                    
Karen

Time for Adventure!

Look at the love in the grandpa's eyes!

It is the start of a week-long holiday in honor of a Hindu goddess who established good over evil.  I have decided NOT to join the throngs of expats who are leaving Dhaka.  Instead, I have begun to take a close look at the people around Dhaka.  It is a mind-baffling experience to see the wide variety of living conditions within one city.  I went to shop for cane furniture and ended up not only looking at the beautiful furniture.  I took a look in the back of the shop only to see  very poor families living several generations to a hut, practically on the railroad tracks.  They were lovely people!  They welcomed my into their homes!

                                                  

My Apartment and Shipment Arriving

10-10-10

Wasn't it fun to write today's date?

I am sorry that I haven't been more faithful with my blog.  Some of you have asked for a picture of my apartment.  I will post one that shows how engulfed everything is by the huge, white space that is my apartment.  I am slowly adding things that make it feel like home.

Speaking of home, I will include a picture of my grandma's wooden rocker being delivered by the long-awaited shipment from home.  That Homebound truck was greeted with shouts of joy by all the "newbies" here at AISD who were waiting since July for the arrival of whatever they sent from their homeland.


All is well here.  The weather is starting to become cooler.  Hooray!!

Love to you all,
Karen

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My Grandmother's Rocking Chair Arrives from America!

A Thing of Beauty in the Middle of Dust