Miss Bridget

Sometimes I get home from work here and I have to pinch myself, "did that really happen?"

Like the day that I was escorted like a movie star through a muddy village community in the rain to be shown a toilet. 

And you know, since I was in town, why not shuffle the teacher aside and thrust the Australian girl in front of the grade 10 class to give an impromptu lecture? Of course. 

Oh, and did I mention cute children? ;) 

Those days. They're kind of great.

'Tis the season

I like fruit. 


Growing up, Dad had to put a two-piece-per-day per child cap on our daily fruit intake, to stop all the fruit being eaten as soon as the shopping bags hit the kitchen bench! One of my clearest childhood memories is trying a mango for the first time, and the days after where I tried to convince Dad that surely Burnie was tropical enough to start a mango orchard?!? My parents often remind me of when we lived in Boat Harbor and as soon as we pulled into the driveway after school I’d run to the back fence and check out the status of the nectarine tree – and munch away until I was forced inside! Hayley could probably also vouch for my fruit love, as when we were in Ireland I had the knack for honing my radar in on every blackberry bush in sight! Yes, I do like fruit. 

But since being in Bangladesh, I've been overwhelmed by the Bangladeshi attitude to fruit. Bengali's don't just like, no, no - they love it! Ha. Entire conversations are had (regularly) on the topic!
"Bridget this is called mango, have you had this before?" "Bangladesh have the best mangoes in the world, very sweet!". Guavas have just come out here, and the office is buzzing! 

work mates going crazy for the guavas!

The world of cold stores and refrigerated transportation hasn't hit the 'desh quite yet, so fruit seasons truly just last for the time the fruit are ripe on the trees! The locals get excited - they only have three weeks to gobble up all the Lychees available, then they have to last a whole year until they're out again!

Lychees!

Even if you can manage to avoid the constant office conversations about fruit (which, believe me, you can't!) you can tell which fruit is the new 'it' fruit for the season because there are about a thousand fruit sellers on every corner, and they only sell that one fruit! The end of May was lychees, then came the famous mangoes, and now guava! There are certainly no two-piece-oer-day rules here! The locals (and me!) buy whatever the 'it' fruit is by the bag load. Seasons aren't talked about by their proper name, but by the fruit produced! So currently it's not monsoon season, it's the end of mango season, heading into guava season!

Mangoes. Green on the outside, but deliciously sweet on the inside!

'Tis the fruit season! and while I'm mourning the passing of the mango season, with Guavas at 20 Taka (AUD 0.25c) per dozen, I'm turning Bangladeshi and welcoming guava season!

The quiet life

Chittagong life can be busy and noisy and smelly. It can be really great to, but sometimes the busy, noisy, smelly end of the scale can weigh down good vibe side, and you know it's time to escape. Escapes may be tripping to the capital, or Kolkata, but this time I craved the countryside!

So toward the jungle and up the river I headed! ...with my housemates and amar bondhobi (girl friend!) from Dhaka! A night away was so refreshing! Green and green and quiet and water and book reading and card games and quiet and leisurely walks without hoards of people! 

Here are some pics from my night away staying at a friends place in a Hospital village compound on a beautiful river. Ahhhhhhhhhhh, deep breath. Nice. 

Yeah, we were pretty snap happy this weekend. But aren't you glad! ;)

Leprosy Hospital

Today I visited a leprosy hospital. I'm being honest when I tell you I thought leprosy was a dark ages disease that was sure eradicated but for a few cases. Um no. There are at ;east five leprosy specific hospitals just in Bangladesh! And what I thought I knew about leprosy (highly contagious, limbs fall off) turns out to be old myths and totally not true! Wikipedia can give you the details, but it's a viral infection that if detected early enough, it can be treated. But unfortunately, early detection here isn't common.

And patients with leprosy? They like visitors.

Today was the first day of Ramadan here in Bangladesh, so the hospital was pretty empty as many patients had gone home to their families for the month. But the patients that were there were warm, accepting and patient as the bideshi visitors practiced our minimal Bangla! 

Rockin' the SK

The Salwar Kameez - affectionately known as the 'SK' by the abbreviate-everything Aussies!

My wearable wardrobe here in Bangladesh is pretty much exclusively filled with these three-piece styling' outfits. The benefit: it's like wearing bright coloured PJs in public! I know you're all jealous!

Glenna and I obviously have impeccable taste, as without consulting, we both chose contrasting colours of the same fabric at the bazaar for our kameez!

So for those day when we're feeling blue, we can rock out in our matching SKs - and all the world feels new! 

Kolkata!

Last weekend Glenna, Caitlin and I did a fly by two day weekend trip to Kolkata, INDIA! It was my first taste of life outside Bangladesh since arriving, and it was oh so sweet! It's saying something about life in Chittagong, when you head to India for a reviving weekend!

India is a freeing and magical land! I didn't quite realise how 'mulsim-ified' Bangladesh is until spending a few days in India!

I had almost forgotten what it is like to be a tourist and walk ON FOOTPATHS everywhere, bare my shoulders and not wear a scarf, eat delicious street food, followed by a pint of beer AND LIVE MUSIC AT A PUB!  I know right, it's the little things.

To be honest, I didn't know much about Kolkata until I googled it a few nights before going. All I really knew was it was cheap and easy to get to from the 'desh, they had those big 'ol Cuba-esk 1960s yellow cabs, and Mother Theresa. Google filled me in: ..."No longer identified with slums, destitution, and the inspiring work of Mother Teresa, Kolkata has grown into the cultural capital of India. It's a vibrant yet intimate city full of captivating soul."   Is google ever wrong?

So my 36hours in Kolkata was spent:

Frolicking in the green parks

Pretending I was in Europe at the Queen Victoria Memorial

Watching people bathe in the Hooghly River

 Jump shots at Eden Gardens! ...must have just missed Ganguly

Visiting the Missionaries of Charity house and Mother Teresa's grave

 Taking local transport. ...although couldn't quite bring myself to get on the human pulled rickshaw!

and just general people-aren't-staring-at-my-every-action kind of fun!

India, I love you!