I'm Coming to America!!!!!

Fishermen Dragging in their Nets at the Sundarbans

Village Life along the rivers

December 4, 2010

Dear friends and family,

I really can't believe that I will be boarding a plane for America in a few days.  I leave on December 15, our last day of school before a long break.  I can't wait.  I have been so nostalgic for Christmas music.  I downloaded a few tunes and do have a live tree that I decorated with lights and little brightly painted stars and elephants.  It's not the same!

Since I last wrote, I have been to the Sundarbans, a Scottish ball (had a long dress made at the tailor), and have been volunteering to serve breakfast to slum children at a Mother Teresa Sisters of Charity Home.  The photos I have attached are from your trip to the Sundarbarns.  I have lots of shots of that very relaxing cruise to the Sundarbans. We saw wild boar, monkeys, 7 ft. long lizards, eagles, kingfishers, and dolphins.  The twelve of us on the boat got along really well for four days and nights.  We even took mud baths in the Bay of Bengal and went swimming in the ocean.  Food on board was excellent, prepared in Bengali fashion by some of the nine crewmen.

School continues to be wonderful.  The people of Bangladesh continue to be gentle and kind.  All is well, but I'm missing home.


Karen

November Eid: The Animal Slaughtering Time

This man is one of many hoping to sell oxen as Eid approaches. 

Setting up residence with the prized oxen

Can you see the head of the ox at the front of the truck as it approaches market?

As the November Eid approaches, animals of all kinds arrive in Dhaka to be sold.  Muslim tradition holds that on a particular day and time, animals are slaughtered and butchered.  Meat is shared with family, friends, and the poor.  My neighbor told me that on Eid morning last year she was awakened by a repetitive, clanging sound on the street.  She looked out her bedroom window to find the butchering in progress.  Seeing all the animals at the market reminds me of the county fair.  There is an obvious difference, though, and I am glad that I will be out of Dhaka when the killing begins. 

Cows, oxen, and even camels can be found in homeowners' garages now as Eid draws near.  Such an interesting time of year!!!

It's November Already!!!

This picture reminds me of The Kite Runner

These girls are in a school bus coming home from a day at school.

Dear Ones,

I can't believe that it's November.  I will be coming home next month!!!  Everything is going well in Bangladesh.  We are entering a milder season, compared to the hot, humid summer.  It is called early autumn.  There are fragrant blossoms appearing that the children have brought to school.  They remind me of plum blossoms.  Lovely.  It's sunny now and the livin' is easier.

I will be going to the Sundarban region in southern Bangladesh on Monday night.  Twelve of us will be sharing a boat on a four day trip to the mangrove forests.   This is another Eid holiday.  I will write about that next; it's very interesting.

Much love,
Karen

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!