Asalaam Alaykum from Dhaka

"Madam, pleeeeaaaaaazze, madam."
A high-pitched wheezy whine from outside the car window.

Again, my new friends signal the head to chest motion that means, "Forgive me" from the confines of the safe, air-conditioned van. They try not to break eye contact, but at some point you have to give up. The beggar woman, standing no more than 5 feet tall, will remain at her post. We're temperarily stopped at an intersection that I mentally compare to the Times Square of Dhaka, Bangladesh. In Gulshan 2 Circle the beggars are out in hords because it's the Muslim holy month of ramadan. Normally, some children and women beg here amongst the stopped cars and rickshaws for food, sweets, and 1 or 2 taka. Sometimes they are collecting for a man, who is sitting, watching, smoking, waiting in a nearby car. But since it's ramadan, the beggars from the surrounding villages have migrated to Gulshan 2, providing the opportunity for people to give to them, thereby earning their way into paradise.

I'm cranky from the heat.

Everyone's cranky. Everyone's cranky for a different reason though: they are fasting all day until Eid. Again, they're trying to earn their place in paradise.

In the van we're talking about the basics of life here. My new collegues/room mates/friends/sisters/brothers have lived and worked here for at least a week before me. They're teachers (mostly) from other Western countries, such as Ireland, England, Australia, and New Zealand. They explain to me that it's best to have your mind made up about what you want to do with beggars, and then just stick to it. It's explained not a moment too soon because, oh, look, here comes a man and a child in his arms with an exploding, large head. I try to remember what that's called.... My prinicipal sweetly smiles at them, rolls down his window in the front left seat, and gives them an apple he brought.

Macrocephaly! The kid has macrocephaly. He was born like that and lives on the streets here or in a village. I think, "Please Lord let that child be from a country village, not dirty, loud, rude Gulshan 2."


This is Bangladesh. Actually, "This is Bangladesh" is a term of endearment/hate that Bangladeshis and Badeshis (foreigners) all say. When I first heard that term, my new friend Kim and I were riding a rickshaw in torrential downpour. She shouted it, laughing, over the loud rain. When I first heard that term, I thought of several good friends at home who came back from missions telling us stories that ended in giggles and the inevitable, "This is Kenya" or "This is China."

I've been keeping up with most everyone back home through Facebook and email. Sorry this first post is coming a month and a half into my big move here! Turns out the life of a new teacher in Bangladesh takes up a lot of one's day... Who knew? Everyone asks me what it's like. Well, I found the perfect description in a book I started yesterday (the book is Holy Cow! by Sarah MacDondald- a hilarious read if you want to know what life is like here). The description is actually about India, but it works:

India is beyond statement, for anything you say, the opposite is true. It's rich and poor, spiritual and material, cruel and kind, angry but peaceful, ugly and beautiful, and smart but stupid. It's all the extremes. India defies understanding, and for once, for me, that's okay. In Australia, in my small pocket of my own isolated country, I felt like I understood my world and myself, but now I'm actually embracing not knowing and I'm questioning some of what I thought I knew ... What's more, India's extremes are endlessly confronting.

When I answer that question in short for myself, I have to say: God is good.

I really, really miss my loves ones. Honestly, that sacrifice has to be lifed up everyday. Also the sacrifice of not getting to eat cheese or Pringles, or pet my dogs, or drive the Schroeder Exploder has to be tearfully lifted up time to time... But I have no better job. My class is AMAZING and the people of Bangladesh are INCREDIBLE. There's just no better job than what I get to do.

Love you all and I'm thinking of you constantly.
XOXOXO