So folks...this travel blog is back up and running. Greetings from Dhaka, Bangladesh! I'll be here all summer for my internship working with BRAC. I'll write more about what I'm doing here in a future post. For now...just a run down of my first few days...
Dhaka: A city of chaos, filth, energy, colour, smiles and passion - swaddled in a blanket of constant cacophony. Like any major urban city in the Subcontinent, Dhaka can be overwhelming with the traffic, noise and contrast of extreme wealth and poverty living side by side, and on top of one another like a stacked jenga puzzle. In that sense, Dhaka, just from what I've seen in my first week in the city, has been what I expected. I am sure there will be many things that surprise me as I start to explore the city, and it is those surprises that I most look forward to.
The rise in humidity, however is not one that I welcome with open arms - although the unruliness of my hair may lead you to think otherwise. The monsoon season here seems to mean, at least one good solid rainfall every day. Although it appears to be a nice wave of cool from the excessive heat, it is met with more traffic and wet clothes. My first foray into the downpour was met with a ineffective bargain for a CNG (an auto-rickshaw), a graceful jump over a puddle, followed by a less-than graceful step on a slippery set of stairs that led to my ultimate fall while trying to go up.Right now, it's pouring down buckets. Trucks full of buckets.
Choice of clothing therefore, to combat the heat and rain, all the while respecting the local culture, is a challenging task at hand. I would estimate that 80% of the clothes that I brought with me are inappropriate for this country, and shopping for traditional salwar-kameezes is an even bigger challenge. Every article of clothing is drenched with extraordinary pattern, embroidery, sequence and colour. I've always been one for pattern and colour in my wardrobe (you know, to , balance my quiet personality) but there's only so much glitz and glamour I can handle. There have been several futile attempts to explain to shopkeepers that I'm looking for something simple and plain, but invariably they bring me something with gold sequence, pink polka dots and green swirls paired with orange checkered pants. Okay, so I'm exaggerating...but would not be surprised if there exists such a salawar...Eventually, I will give in and embrace the colour and pattern clash culture. The thing is, honestly, many of the women I see wearing these combinations look amazing - they can really pull it off. I, on the other hand, with my frizzy super short, super curly hair, teva shoes, purple cross-bag and wide-eyed confused Bangla-tourist face, can't seem to pull of the look.
That said, I'm trying to blend in with long flowy tunic tops I've collected over the years, and a summer scarf that I'm hoping is passing for a traditional dupatta. The dupatta is a long scarf that women always wear draped around their neck and/or shoulders. It seems superfluous to an outsider since many women do not use it to cover their hair, but just to hang around your neck- especially in this heat, but it is a very much necessary article of clothing to display a sense of modesty. I'm just paranoid about it getting stuck in the wheel when I'm taking a rickshaw.
So that's all for now. More stories, photos and videos to come!! I'll leave you with this: I am reminded here, how far a genuine smile can get you. With my mangled Bangla and a heartfelt smile, most people are willing to help out and come down in price (to a certain extent of course). Hoping the power doesn't go out during this down pour.
No comments:
Post a Comment