Week One: Getting Accustomed to Dhaka

The apartment: Since my project hasn't started yet, I've been in Dhaka, the capital city, for the past week. The city has a total of 12 million people, making it the largest city in Bangladesh and one of the most densely populated cities in the world. I'm staying at the program's guesthouse with two other girls who are here as Fogarty fellows. The guesthouse is in Gulshan, the richest part of Dhaka and a large expat area. The apartment is a large 3-bedroom apartment with running water in a shower head (no bucket baths!), AC, Wifi, and a maid who comes to clean, do dishes, and do laundry three times a week. There is also a hired car that comes to pick us up and take us to work everyday. With all this included, it costs approximately 25,000 Taka a month (approximately 350$ a month). Compare this to the monthly pay of a public school teacher = 3,500 Tk ($80). This is definitely not what I expected to have when I came here and I am struggling with the disconnect between what I, and others, are doing and how we live. 

The expats: Although I've only been here for a week, I worry that it's too easy to ignore the world here. We live in a very rich area, shop at imported food stores, have people to drive us to and from work, and there are even expat clubs to provide air-conditioned restaurants and gyms, an outdoor tennis and basketball courts, and a pool. As much as it spoils you, it allowed you met foreigners who are working at NGO's, writing their dissertations, or volunteering - everyone seems to be doing something pretty cool. However, from what I hear, often, rich Bengali's sneak their way into the clubs without having passports, which is a requirement for entrance. Our apartment is right behind the America club and there are also Australian, British, Dutch, Nordic, International, German, and Canadian clubs. I've never been to the other ones, but apparently some of them are much nicer than the America club, which I already think is quite posh. If you just close your eyes when driving through the city, it's almost like you are living in the country from which you are from. 

There are many other young students and volunteers here. Last night we went to a party, where we met about 40-50 other students here doing internships and volunteer work from a variety of countries - Australia, Canada, the US, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands...it's nice to know that there is a community here, since it is very difficult to make Bengali friends without speaking the language. I'm not sure that there will be this many people when I go to my fieldsite in Bandarban. From the people we talked to, everyone says its gorgeous, a resort, but absolutely nothing to do socially, so I'm not sure what I plan to do for six months there - I'm sure many more trips will be taken to Dhaka. 

The job: I've been to ICDDR, B every day this week and just sit in a small room working on papers that weren't finished when I went I left the country. The project ran into some set-backs and household data is still being entered before we can randomize our samples. All the data is in Bengali, so I really can't do anything until that is done. Anyways, the organization is large and has numerous floors of laboratories for research and then clinical science offices for more research, and then an attached hospital. The hospital (known to the locals as 'cholera hospital') is very large and provides free services, so there is a tremendous influx of people. Apparently this year there has been even more people than they normally have and there have been three tents set-up to house extra people. No one seems to know why there is so many more people, but hypothesize that it's because of the delayed monsoon. 

The weather: Since the rains haven't been coming at their normal pace, it's about 32˚C and humid every day. It makes it terrible to just stand or sit outside and I feel like I have heat exhaustion all the time. I drink about 3L of pure water a day, if not more and shower 2-3 times a day with cold water, just to cool off. Hopefully it will be nice in the forests of the Hill Tracts, but I'm learning to deal with it. 

The food: The first day I got here, there was an arrivals/going-away party with about 15 people. We went to a Mexican restaurant and ordered tacos, nachos, burritos, and enchiladas. Definitely not something I expected on my first night. The second night, we went to a terrible Thai restaurant to which I will not return, and the next we ordered in Indian food. The extent of Bangladeshi food I've had is at lunch at ICDDR, B where a meal costs about 15Tk (~$.25USD) and we have dahl everyday, which is more like a soupy, water mixture, as opposed to a thicker curry. There is always a vegetable, which tastes okay and then a meat curry, which I've never gotten yet. I am also severely disappointed in the lack of chai - they only have tea bags here, which I find odd. Hopefully I will be able to try a greater variety of Bangladeshi food to see what else is available and maybe find some chai in the smaller villages. 

The transportation: When we go out on our own, we usually take a rickshaw or an CNG, which is an auto-rick in India. The rickshaw is basically a man riding his bicycle, pulling between 1 and 3 people on a cart behind him. There are about 15 million rickshaw-wallah's in Bangladesh and their job is so physically demanding that after 10-12 years, it becomes impossible to continue. After carrying around 300-400lbs for about 15 minutes, they are only paid about 40Tk (~$.50)! Also, since the price is never set,  some people walk away giving even just 10Tk...pitiful. I'm trying to pay a little more because I think it's inhumane to make them to that for such little money. However, when you go out with people who have been here for more than a week, they know what is considered normal fare and will argue about payment. I can't tell whether it's better to follow the trends in payment or to pay what I think would be a fair price. I was talking to one of the girls here to was telling me about the drivers...they are about 10% of the entire population, but almost 99% of them didn't own their own rickshaw! Instead, they rent from the owner for about 100-150Tk a day, while they make only 300-400Tk. Last night, we took a rick home at midnight, illustrating the long hours they work just to make enough money to pay for the rickshaw and their food and living. In the last 50 years, the number of rickshaw drivers was less than a quarter of the 15 million that exist today. This isn't just due to the population growth, it's due to the rapid urbanization of the country. Most of the drivers parents and grandparents were farmers and, although still poor, had enough to provide for their families without the struggles of today. However, when the foreign agricultural companies came to the country and took over the land, thousands to flee their areas. Further, the foreigners switched to hybrid, unreproducible seeds that made the remaining farmers to be slaves to the market. It's a very sad reality, but if you took away the entire market, these men would have no other source of livelihood.

The sickness: I though I could make it a month or so without getting sick, but last night I spent the entire night puking with my roommate. One Aussie girl just got over the same thing, so hopefully it will be a short sickness. The girl who arrive on the same day as I did is also sick and numerous other people we met last night were just getting over some sort of sickness. It's great to know that about every two weeks people are coming down with something....