We didn't mean to start a riot...

God's gift to the world: Earplugs.

Now, I have always been a heavy sleeper. It takes a lot to keep me from sleeping just about anywhere at anytime. This was all true until we came to where we live, Sector 10 of Dhaka. Now this area used to be a huge village of tin roof shacks and lots of farm land. This was until the city put all of the land up for auction and now there is a ton of construction occuring to build new apartment buildings. Usually between the hours of midnight-2am. Along with the constant sounds of construction (smashing bricks, throwing bricks, hammering things, trucks coming in and out, and yelling) there have also been many sounds of security guards with whistles, mosques blaring music calling people to prayer (2 throughout the night last night), and the general bustle of a city. However, Tenylle was definitely smart enough to bring with her a ton of earplugs. We all have a pair now, and they are our most prized possessions.

Yesterday we got up early, had breakfast, and crawled into some vans that were to bring us across the city to "Old Dhaka." Old Dhaka is a much more crowded area of the city, not that we thought that was possible. There were tons of street vendors, lots of shops, and it was also a bit dirtier than the areas we had seen so far. Now, our plan was to visit this big museum and also a popular fort, but both were closed due to a government holiday we didn't know about. Because our main plans were scrapped, our friend and guide Musa had to quickly come up with new things for us to do.

We drove down around the edge of the river and walked around a bit. It's so funny when we get out and walk here. We feel like celebrities. There are very few white people that come here so when we all get out and walk around in a big group we get a huge following. For instance, later in the day yesterday we went to a gated garden in the middle of the city and we had at least 30 Bangladeshi men following us taking pictures. Because there is such a separation in the level of importance between men and women, men being of a higher cast, they all want to talk to me. While some of them were brave enough to try and talk to some of the girls, I was the targetof interest. I, of course, LOVED the attention. My instructor Rycki came over and told me that this one guy wanted to talk to me and shooed him my way. He was so nervous to speak in English to me that he was shaking. I felt so bad for him. We did have a lovely conversation and I think I made his day. Another interesting thing about this garden is that it is one of the only public places where men and women can touch eachother. Bangladesh is a very Muslim country and because of that, men and women aren't allowed to have physical contact in public. However, in the shelter and shade of the trees of this garden you'll spot many couples sitting close to one another. If you're lucky you may spot a guy with an arm around his girl or even a quick kiss on the cheek. It was very cute.

Throughout the day we saw 2 mosques, and even though it wasn't prayer time, we were allowed in and able to see the mosques. The first one we saw had the most intricate mosaic tiling all over the outside/inside of the building. The second one was on a raised platform about 25 feet in the air and was built almost 350 years ago. It was so wonderful to be allowed in to these sacred spots and to feel the importance and history of these buildings. During the drive we also saw many important buildings like the Prime Minister's office and residence, both were MASSIVE. Lunch was had at a wonderful little restaurant complete with a traditional meal of rice, chicken, and vegetables. It was delicious. At the end of the day we had the vans drop us off in the center of the city and we shopped around some markets for a bit before taking rickshaws home. Now, here is where the riot comes in. Now we knew roughly how to get home, and I was doing pretty well with navigating, until we got pretty close to home. Now as you get further away from the center of the city they roads turn to dirt, they get narrow, and chances are they are incredibly muddy. So after taking our three drivers down a road which we thought was our road, we turned them around back to the next biggest road we had last turned off of. After getting some directions from some of the locals, we went BACK down that road (I was right!) towards our house. We had just passed the road that leads to our house. After about 30 minutes on the rickshaw and watching the patch of sweat on our drivers back grow exponentially, we realized that we should probably pay our driver a bit more. When we finally made it, Kristin and I paid our driver 400taka (about $5.50) for the ride home, when the usual far would be about 50taka. This was all well and good, but the other two sets of girls only paid their drivers 150taka... which created a mini uproar between the drivers. Kristin and I basically paid our driver and then sprinted away. I'm sure though that the drivers figured everything out and that all was well.

We walked the rest of the way home (about a block), had some dinner, and then crahsed into bed. Earplugs in, of course. Today we got up and came to the university, IUBAT, to get some internet time in. We have nothing planned for today, so I'm sure we may go into the center of the city and do some exploring. I am having a great time and loving every minute. I'm not sure when, or if, I'll be able to upload photos. But I will definitely have some up when I get home. All is well here.

Hope all is well at home!
Love and Miss you all!

On the Road Again!

Wow... when I was missing Australia very much (I just passed my one year anniversary of arrival) jetting off to another country couldn't have come at a better time. I have made it all the way around the world to Dhaka, Bangladesh. We had a 12 hour flight to Dubai and just a short enough layover to keep us from leaving the airport and exploring a city I've always wanted to go to. After that we had a 4 hour flight to Dhaka where we were greeted by many mosquitoes and a small bus to carry us and our many bags to our apartment. Had I not been completely delirious from exhaustion that short ride through the city might have seemed quite perilous. However, after thinking we were going to plow down countless pedestrians, a few rickshaws, and even a small car or two... we made it to our apartment without incident.

The city itself is so crowded. There are people, rickshaws, and a few cars everywhere! All of which have one rule for the road: don't get hit. There are a few ways to try and prevent this; the first of which is to honk or ring your rickshaw bell. The second is to flash your headlights or turn on your four-ways. The third way is to yell as the person you are about to smash into. And the fourth is to run. Fast. I've learned that any ringing bell of any honking horn, depending on it's proximity, alerts you to impending death and you need to do a quick sidestep towards the curb.

We had a wonderful day exploring the city today with some students from the university here. It was nice to go out and see the people, the city, do some shopping, and eat some of the local food. Our meal today was absolutely fabulous! For three people the bill came to 750Taka, which came to $10usd. Insane. Everything here is so cheap. While the day has been wonderful, the impact of the poverty is already taking its toll on me. You can't walk outside without seeing some gut-wrenching sight that is so painful. The beggars in the city center grabbing on to your arm and asking for cash is just to depressing and unbelievably hard to stomach. You feel like you can help them and give them some money, but if we helped one person we'd have to help them all. It's so painful.

However, today was a great day! I believe we're going to an orphanage tomorrow and then having a class in the evening. I am loving it so far, and am excited to get the blog up and running again. I hope everyone enjoys it. The Internet is very slow here, so I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update this, but I'll try my best to do it often. Hope everyone is well at home and not buried in snow.

Love and Miss you all!
Daniel