little things that matter: October 2005

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

psycho kid

Got the Canadian entry visa, no fuss, no hassle, only an encounter with a kid with the worst case of tooth decay. So I’m waiting in the waiting room at the appointed time of 130pm this afternoon, and this little maybe-4-year-old boy comes and sits next to me. He’s trying his level best to get my attention while I try my level best to ignore him, cuz you just don’t pay attention to random kids here. Finally, after all his antics, I smile and ask what his name is and he says it, and asks mine, so I answer. His mum asks him to call me aunty. Just a note…anyone older that you meet in Bangladesh, you call them aunty or uncle, and if they’re younger, but older than you then you call them sister/brother. Anyway, so once we’ve introduced ourselves, he starts proudly showing me how many teeth of his are rotten. Basically, they all are. All his front teeth and even his molars. Once he’s amused himself with that, he starts singing in a dialect I know is Sylheti, but don’t understand what he’s talking about. And then he starts talking to me. All the while his mum is standing there entertaining his baby brother. What’s the little guy saying to me? Something about not going somewhere or they’ll shoot me!!! I had to laugh out loud, and everyone in the room could hear what he was saying. God only knows why. And he didn’t say it once, he said it over and over about 5 times. What was going through that kid’s head? I’m happily home now, away from the crazy kid, and waiting for my sister to come home from school. No new outfit today, but a nice old one.

Monday, October 24, 2005

dhaka diary

Finally got all my documents together to apply for the Canadian entry clearance and handed in the application. The interview’s tomorrow, and I can wear yet another one of my new outfits :) Hopefully they won’t create any problems, and will just grant me the visa. After coming back from Canada, it feels strange to be one of the taller people in any public place. I’m probably below the average female height in Canada, but here I’m among the taller demographic. So much so that I’ve been to several places where people look at my feet to see how high my heels are! It’s a slightly disconcerting feeling as it almost seems like there’s something wrong with my feet/legs, but at the same time, it’s good to be tall again and not tiny. Especially when I think about walking next to my friend CS in Guelph or L & Eire in Kingston and how I look so tiny in front of them. It’s been raining incessantly here. Lots of little floods here and there, and even more crazy

traffic jams. But I’m getting used to it. It’s taking longer than it normally does, but the assimilation is happening all over again. The same way that I’m getting used to all the staring. The nose is doing well. Need to go to shopping for a decent stud still. Probably will end up getting one before eid. So much to do but so little time….

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

of noses and holes

So I went and did something that I have thought about doing for years, but never got around to doing. Basically the desire wasn’t as strong, and this time, I just decided I should go do it during a random conversation with my sister a neighbour who’s a friend. I pierced my nose. Yup, my nose is now pierced. I have a little stud through my nose. I think I have to say it repeatedly to believe that I just did this a few hours ago. Even though every time I look in the mirror I see this thing sticking out on the left side of my nose, and even though I constantly feel like I have an oversized bogie inside my left nostril! I’m not fond of the stud I got, but it’s the only kind they had at the beauty parlour. I’ll be changing it of course…I want to get a diamond stud...hehe…but that might not happen until after at least a week. I don’t have any strange piercing anywhere…only my ears were pierced so far…but getting your nose pierced is a very traditional thing for Indian subcontinent women. It’s more of a tradition among married women…a woman with her nose pierced is understood to be married…but more and more younger women (like moi) do it these days so it’s no longer a big deal. Since I don’t have an attractive enough belly to get my belly-button pierced, I settled for the nose. My other half, however, is not a fan of piercings at all, and when he found out I was going to do this, he said I’d ‘ruin’ my nose. He likes my nose…go figure! Anyway, I was a bit disappointed after the piercing, I have to admit. Only because I didn’t particularly like the stud. I take solace in the fact that I’ll be able to change it soon. I was surprised by the fact that my dad didn’t protest about the whole idea.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Transportation

Interesting experience yesterday of walking the busy streets of Dhaka city, first time ever. We’re so used to being in cars all the time here, that during just a 10 minute walk, I was scared of being mugged the whole while. On the contrary, people didn’t even seem to care, which is a very different experience. Yes, you get a few stares from the general public because of the way one’s dressed (I was in a full-sleeved most conservative shalwar kameez, but still), but it’s not so bad. You get that everywhere. People just like looking at other people, especially Dhakaite men at women. Anyway, so I went and got a rickshaw to go to my dad’s office from where I was (it was too hot to walk all the way, even though I could have)…almost took one of those CNG scooters

home, but decided that the gridlock would just not let up and it would take me forever to get back home, and probably cost me 100 taka or so. So I took a rickshaw to my dad’s office, had to pay him double what it costs, but these are poor people working really hard, especially during this month of Ramadan, so I didn’t mind at all. Personally, I’m not a fan of rickshaws, as environmentally friendly as they are…not just because I don’t like the idea of someone literally pulling my weight, but also because I fear for my life on those things. They’re treacherous drivers, and they don’t seem to be afraid of anything! So I may have looked a ridiculous clutching at the sides of the ‘hood’ for dear life, at the same time as trying to save my purse and also trying not to get my clothes tangled up in the wheels…but I don’t care :o) Have to write about the rickshaw art some other day.

Monday, October 10, 2005

Dhaka #1

This isn’t my first attempt to blog from Dhaka. The last time I tried, I not only lost the internet connection, but also lost the blog typed on MSWord. So let’s see if I can make this one work. It’s been over a week since I arrived, and I haven’t yet met with the organization I’m supposed to work with for my thesis. That’s just how things in Bangladesh work, I’m told. I’ve called them every single day save the weekend, but the two people I’m supposed to meet don’t seem to have any time. It’s all very bureaucratic (and this isn’t even a govt org!) and I’m getting kind of sick of it. Apparently I have to do this for a while and keep bugging them before I get any sort of attention. Which really sucks. Dhaka’s good to be back to, but the constant gridlock on the roads and the tripled time in getting anywhere can get frustrating. So I don’t go out a lot. Have seen some friends since I came back, which was nice. One of them I haven’t seen in like 6 years or something. Was good catching up with her. Other than that, I’ve been shopping quite a bit as I have no clothes here, so need to get some made. Also bought my Eid outfit already…hehe…actually bought it on first Ramadan! Ramadan’s been good…not too difficult as it’s a relatively short day. Pressure’s on for the whole ‘arranged marriage’ deal. Parents keep asking me what my plans are, but they’re not the only ones…the entire extended family’s ‘concerned’ as well as any and every friend of my parents who are remotely close. Only discussions so far, and some names dropped, but that’s about it, which isn’t so bad. And of course, I haven’t yet heard the end of how dark and fat I’ve become. Been doing some beautification, too. A facial, some hair treatment, etc. It’s so unbelievably cheap here, I’d do it every month, if not more. Also been happily catching up a bit on Indian movies :)

The time you see below is Dhaka time I'm writing, no longer EST. You wonder when I work? Well I don’t…not yet anyway!

little things that matter