A slice of Paradise!

It's hard to describe with words the paradise we are in right now!

My man arrived 5am on friday morning and made this little swede the happiest girl in the world. We spent the day with a little bit of shopping and checking out my Niketon neighborhood. On saturday we got a taxi to the airport and on our way there witnessed a mass slaughter of cows going on along the high way because of Eid Celebrations! After a one hour flight we arrived in Cox's Bazaar, caught a CNG to Mermaid Resort and arrived to PARADISE!

Arrived at the airport!

First view when we got to Mermaid Resort

Paradise!

Delicious lobster!

We got a very warm welcome by the lovely staff and a short boat ride to our Ashram. And WOW. We couldn't believe our eyes! Endless beaches in both directions and, except for some fisher men and a few kids playing here and there, we had it ALL to our selves! The Ashram only has two cottages and is cared for by an indigenous family of 7. We settled in and had our first lunch- Lobster delivered to our house. We then enjoyed a few drinks in the sunset and when we sat there on the beach our neighbors from the other cottage, Bob & Nathalie, walked pass. Imagine our surprise when we realized that Nathalie actually grew up in the same town that we are from in Sweden!!! Insane! :) We shared a drink with them and went swimming in the sunset together.

Sunset swin!

We had a very lazy morning on our second day. Breakfast by the beach and some hammock-hang-out before we went walking along the beach down to another Mermaid Café about a kilometer away. Delicious food and the best milkshakes we ever tasted. After that we went for a walk with one of the staff- the artist Mr. Englishman :) - who showed us a private beach where we went swimming, chasing crabs and watching the sunset.

Today we went into Cox's Bazaar so that Andreas could get a massage and I managed to donate my Visa card to one of the ATM's. BUMMER. I'll (hopefully) get it back tomorrow thou!!

Puja preparations in Shakhari Bazaar!

Today was a colorful adventure! Fina, Sean, Frida & I went with The Urban Study Group (USG) to Shakhari Bazaar in Old Dhaka to look at the preparations for the hindu "Puja celebrations" together with some other foreigners. We arrived at 8.30 and were walking around Hindu Street and its connecting streets for about 3,5 hrs. It was SO fun, but also very hot and humid and therefore exhausting.

A woman making flower decorations for the puja.

Hindu Street in Old Dhaka

For Durga Puja, the 24th of october, the hindus decorate the streets with lights, flowers and stages with statues especially made for the celebrations. On the 24th they carry all the statues in a parade down to the river, where they sink them. The story is that the Godess Durga is coming home to earth to visit her family, and therefore the people celebrate, and on the 24th when Durga is going back they help her with this by carrying her down to the river.

We went to the temples, watched people decorate the stages, looked at historical buildings and enjoyed the happy spirits of the locals.

Stage with hindu statues built over the street.

Decorations and statues in a temple.

One of the temples.

After a yummy lunch in a local restaurant, the four of us squeezed into a CNG and made our way home through the steaming hot city.

Day trip to Sonargaon!

Around 11 am this morning Hasan came to pick up Fina and I and we headed to the old capital of East Bengal, Sonargaon for the day. After being stuck in traffic for a fair while we eventually reached our destination and made our first stop at the Lok Shilpa Jadughar (Folk Art and Craft Museum) and Bara Sardar Bari House from 1901.

Fina, me & Hasan outside the Bara Sardar Bari House.

Hi there..

Nice architectural details!

In the park surrounding the museum was a lush garden with a pond and handicraft shops where we went strolling with bangladeshis enjoying their friday. 

Fina by the pond..

...me crossing the pond (why take the easy way, right?)

Carousel for the kids.

By one of the colorful saree shops were an old man and a teenage boy making the traditional jamdani fabric. It was really impressive to watch them throw the spool between them.

Saree-shop!

Making the saree fabric jamdani.

Further down the road was the majestic but ghost-like ruins of Painam Nagar. It was the trading centre for cotton fabrics during the brittish rule and built between 1895-1905 by wealthy Hindu fabric merchants. During partition the merchants left and the buildings were occupied by locals up until recently when it was enlisted on the World Heritage list and emptied for preservation. 

Building in Painam Nagar

Time for refreshments! 

A door. 

The ghost city of Painam Nagar.

Oh Dhaka, you’re breaking my heart..

Today has been a bit tough. It started with a heart breaking interview this morning with someone who has been through hell for many years. It is very hard for me sometimes to accept how it seem that for some in this culture, divorce is often considered a bigger shame than beating someone half to death.

 Feeling very emotional after the interview, it was very hard getting out of the office and into the streets and facing the beggars. Because of Eid Celebrations (national holiday and religious celebration) next weekend the streets are filled with more beggars than usual.

 To start with, a little boy, maybe three years old grabbed my sleeve, said he was hungry, asked for money and wouldn’t let go. When he eventually did let go, his mother (18 yrs the most) followed me to the CNG with a baby in her arms and kept asking for money. It feels so utterly cruel to keep walking, but I know that if I would have given them some, there would have been a swarm of people around me shortly. Minor inconvenience in comparison thou I guess. 

Tears were not far away.

 My flight tickets for Cox’s Bazaar got cancelled for an unknown reason so I was making my way through the city trying to first get a refund and then book new tickets at a different agency. Complaining about this matter would be ridiculus. Especially after walking down the streets watching disabled people placed on cardboard on the side walk with a beggar bowl in front of them, little babies not more than a few months old sitting all alone in a corner, blind people making their way through traffic and knocking on car windows, little kids pulling your sleeves asking begging you to give them a few taka. 

All this was just too much for me today. My heart is aching. It is breaking.

I was so happy to meet up with my roomies Fina & Sara Jane for dinner at ”Spagetti Jazz” for some delicious food and a really nice time.

Facing the streets again after dinner thou, with a belly full of food, made me feel even worse. And here I am in my air conditioned room and my comfy bed, just a few hundered meters away from some child sleeping in the gutter. 

Heart breaking. 

It's a small world indeed & The History of Bangladesh - for dummies ;)

I just got back from a really great dinner at a Thai-restaurant in Gulshan. I went there with my lovely flat mate Fina who told me that her friend Frida (also from Sweden) and her flat mate was meeting up with us there. Imagine my surprise when I realized that her flat mate is my cousin Hanna's friend Sean, who is from the states and also writing his thesis here, and who I've been in contact with through FB and wanting to meet up with! :) It's a small world indeed. We had a really nice time and decided to do some exploring of Old Dhaka next weekend.

Other than that I've been busy with my research for the past few days. 

On friday thou, Hasan and I went to the Liberation War Museum & the Bangladesh National Museum. I learnt so much about the history of Bangladesh and was lucky to have Hasan with me as a very knowledgable guide! 

Outside the Liberation War Museum.

Hasan and I about to enter the National Museum!

Since I learnt so much I thought I’d share the essence of the Bangladesh history with you all- so here it comes:

The History of Bangladesh for dummies! 

Ok, so going all the way back to ... 

17th century- Bangladesh (and Pakistan) was a part of India, although the power in all of the country was divided in regions by different land lords. 

1757- When India was colonized by the brittish, the power was centralized. Thou the colonization brought some positive things to the country, such as an educational system, the developement of roads etc. the native Indian people was taken advantage of by the brits and suffered in many ways. 

1947- Because of political and religious reasons, the pakistani and bengali regions of India was divided into its own country when the brittish left. Bengali regions was referred to as East Pakistan and remained a part of Pakistan up until the elections of 1970.

1970- Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, whose party won a majority in Parliament in the Pakistani elections, was blocked from taking office. This because Rahman won the majority of votes in East Pakistan, while Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto won the majority of votes in West Pakistan. East Pakistan/ Bangladesh then wanted to separate from Pakistan and become their own country, something that West Pakistan did not accept. And so in spring 1971, the war begun.

1971- The war went on for nine months and soruces say that between 300,000 to 500,000 bangladeshis lost their lives during this time. The war was fought on Bangladeshi land and pakistanis especially targeted academics, who they considered responsible for the war. Millions of bangladeshis sought refuge in India, being forced to live in packed camps where starvation and famine was ravaging. 

Women in military training for the Liberation War.

Eventually India finally decided to come to the assistance of the bangladeshis, and in nine days Pakistan Army surrendered to the joint forces of India and Bangladesh.

1971 to present-  Bangladesh has endured political turmoil, natural disasters, famine, religious indifferences and poverty, and is now celebrating its 40 yr anniversary as a country. They still face many challanges but it is also the fastest developing country in the world, with great improvements in many areas ever since their independence. 

’Ain o Salish Kendra’ annual staff retreat!

Today I got back to Dhaka after spending three days in the serene country side just outside of the town of Savar. I was there because of the ‘Ain o Salish Kendra’ annual staff retreat, which is a conference the organisation holds once a year for all their employees ( everyone from the janitor and the tea- and coffee maker to the executive director and board members are there) and where they go through what each unit has achieved during the year etc. 

We left Dhaka on tuesday morning in four busses and arrived at the BRAC CDM Resort around noon. As serious as a ’conference’ might sound it was actually a blast! In between lectures and talks about budgets etc. were singing and dancing and everyone was dressed up in colorful salwaar and sarees the whole time and were so happy and giddy! Those bangladeshis sure knows how to make a conference into something FUN! :)

The staff arriving to the retreat.

A dressed up staff-member and Sunjida.

Nasima and the maintenance-man/(woman?:) )

The PsychoSocial Counelling Unit!

The retreat it self was really nice with beautiful surroundings and a fantastic view over bangladeshi landscape.

Gorgeous Jafrine.

Theatre, fun and games with the kids.

My supervisor- lovely Nasima- getting celebrated on her birthday!

Games!

Last night it was time for solidarity night, which meant even more music, singing, dancing, laughing, glitter & glam! Before it all started three of my co-workers helped turning me into a real Bangla-girl. They did the whole sh’bang with a colorful saree, golden necklace, earings, bracelets and make-up! I’ve never felt as glamorous before in my life! ;) 

Rakhi helping me putting on my saree!

All dressed up!
Runa, Rezina, Nasima, Me, Sunjida.

Most of the staff participated in some way in the performances, as did I. My contribution was singing an a capella love song in swedish! :) 

I have gotten the promision to mention the organisation’s name - Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK)-  here in my blog because I would really like to tell you all about their work. I was so inspired and impressed after hearing the passionate and intelligent staff share their work, that I would like to dedicate a later blog post to what I have learnt about the organisation during the conference. 

অফিসে একদিন / One day at the office

I had a very nice start to the day today as I got the friendliest CNG driver so far! He had a big cheeky smile on his face and thou he couldn't speak any english at all, we both tried to communicate through sign language which went surprisingly well! When he wasn't trying to speak to me a was singing happy bengali tunes and his happiness was contagious. I was happy as a lark when I arrived at the office :)

My mood got even better after spending the day with my lovely co-workers. They are such amazing and ambitious people who really inspire me.

The counselors.
Standing:  Nasima Akter (supervisor), Runa Khandaker & Sunjida Islam
Sitting: Rezina Parvin (supervisor) & Roushan J Parvin (lawyer and department director)

Me together with my supervisors and the department director.

The whole organization is going on their annual retreat this week and since it will end with a party I decided together with my colleges that I needed a saree! One of my supervisors, Rezina, promised to help me with the shopping once we finished work. I can't even begin to say how thankful I was that she came with me! I would never have been able to find the right shops and get everything I needed at a reasonable price without her help. I bought a lovely saree in indigo and purple, a beautiful set of pearl (necklace, earrings and bracelet) and also a new salwaar. I can't wait to wear it all!

The Jewelry Shop owner who makes all the items himself.

The shop owners wife, showing off a necklace :)

Sightseeing!

Yesterday was an awesome day. After a nice and slow morning, Hasan came and picked me up around 12 and we headed for Old Dhaka. On our way there we stopped at shining white Baitul Mukarram, the biggest mosque in Dhaka. It was fun to see all the mosque-goers arriving for their friday mass.

Cute kids outside the mosque

Outside of Baitul Mukarram

Old Dhaka has really narrow streets and so it was quite an adventure to make our way through all the rickshaws and people. I'm so impressed with anyone daring enough to drive in this city; you must have nerves of STEEL. I really enjoyed watching everything going on outside the car. So much to take in and look at.

 Our first stop was the Sadarghat boat terminal where we managed to find a man who offered a little tour on one of his boats. It was a small wooden row boat and because it was friday the river was free from the huge ferries that usually traffic the waters, otherwise I would have thought twice before getting in. The water is really dirty and all the sewage from all of Dhaka has its outlet into the river, but the tour was a really nice way to enjoy the everyday life of the bangladeshis. Little wooden boats packed with families, people cleaning themselves and swimming along the river banks, cargo boats filled with sand for construction sites driving past.

Our next stop was the Pink Palace of Ahsan Manzil. It was built in 1872 by Nawab Abdul Ghani, one the most influential persons in East Bengal in the last half of the 19th century. It was restored in 1980 and now seemed to be a quite popular friday excursion for bangladeshi families, as the garden was filled with people. The palace it self has definitely seen its glory days, but it was nice to get a glimpse of what it might have looked like some 140 years ago.

People in the Pink Palace garden.

Pink palace

The last stop of the day was the house of the National Assembly. A very cool building designed by Luis Kahn in 1963, during the Pakistani rule.

You're not allowed inside the building, but on the opposite side of the road is a park were we went for a stroll in the sunset and enjoyed the festival-like spirit of bangladeshis enjoying their friday evening.

It was so amazing experiencing Dhaka together with someone from here. I can't even imagine what it would have been like if I was to try to do the tour myself and SOOO appreciate having met Hasan!

I ended the day with going to dinner in Gulshan 2 with my flat mate Nobuko and her swiss friend Nora.  Gulshan 2 is the upper class area of the city and it almost feels surreal after spending the day in old Dhaka. The contrast couldn't be any bigger. After dinner we went to the Nordic Club for a drink before we headed home in a rickshaw. I was a really cool and quiet evening and nice to cruise the streets at a time when there is no traffic.

I ended the day with a Skype call with my man and went to bed as a happy little swede.