Everday I rise...

... and take a look outside my window

Little People

Let me introduce to you the crew that I roll with. I live with my uncle and his family. He and my aunty have a little son, Jarrar, who is 15 months.

Jarrar (1)

In the apartment below lives my other uncle with his family and my grandmother. My uncle and my aunty have three kids: Fayeza (4), Farzad (3) and Farsat (1).

Fayeza (4), Farzad (3) and Farsat (1)

Fayeza is the only girl of the clique. But she tries to prove her point. When she puts nail polish on, you can be sure that Farzad and Farsat have nail polish on as well. She can put on a show with Indian dances, which lack in technique but are really fun to watch and she gives her mother a hard time in the morning. Basically when it’s time to go to school (nursery/kindergarten), and you think she is awake, she still is asleep at the dinner table. Plus Fayeza has lots of excuses not to eat. My favorite one was, when she was eating chicken and rice, she said there were too many fish bones in the fish and she couldn’t eat it.

Her brother Farzad just turned three years old this month. We had two day birthday celebrations for him. His speech isn’t accurate yet, but still fun to listen to. And when you tell him something not to do, he of course does it. When Fayeza comes up with a smart sentence, you can be sure to hear it from Farzad’s mouth as well (so it’s not only the nail polish issue). Farzad can make his big sister cry by wiping off the lipstick off her face. And in comparison to his older sister, he doesn’t give you a hard time when it’s time to eat. It sometimes is the other way around…

Jarrar and Farsat are only two weeks apart. It’ll be fun watching them grow up. While Jarrar is quick on his feet, Farsat just learned how to walk. But my guess is, that Farsat will be the one to talk first, since he is dropping his first words (not rhymes, yet). I am wondering whether Jarrar already can fluently talk and is just fooling us (“haha, look at these stupid big people, waiting for me to say ‘dada’”). Both can poop their pants and touch your face with their sloppy hands. Jarrar is always delighted when he sees Farsat and gives him a strong hug, sometimes so strong, you might think he is trying to wrestle. And Farsat in return has learned something to say, that sounds like “Jarrar”.

Now you know, so you better not mess with me and my little people.

Highfield, Stand Up! Khilgaon Chowdhury Para, Stand Up!

Für Mitu

look/dekho 002

Flowers

My office building. You can throw stones at the bottom right window to holla at me.

This kitty had 4 babies on our office premises. Somebody took them home.

Important

Outside the German Embassy in Dhaka

Koi jaben? - Where do you want to go?

Hop on!

Chris, this could have been helpful, when you moved to your new appartment

To all samurais, who need to sharpen their swords



Brick City



Who said Germans work hard?

If Walt Disney only knew...

Fun Fact: Bangladeshis don't care about copyrights. Well, let me think about it... they don't. For example if you go to "Nil Kheth", a book market near Elephant Road, and want buy any English textbook for university, you can do so for about 4 - 5 Euros. "The Godfather", "Harry Potter" or "The Da Vinci Code" are priced at about 1,10 Euros. Of course they lack in quality, but they fullfil their purpose.

The same goes for CDs and DVDs - wanna hear the latest music or watch the Oscar awarded movies? No problem. That is why you might hear a bunch of teenagers sitting in their car in Gulshan and bumping their heads to Trillville and Lil Jon ("WHUAT? - OOKAAY!"). And that is how I was able to complete my collection of Modern Talking CDs.

<3

After Kentucky Fried Chicken openend their first restaurants, you soon saw "Kentucky" all over the place, sometimes even spelled "Kentaky". I might consider buying my toothbrush at "Kentaky General Store" next time, but as of now, I'll have an ice cream with brownie at KFC.

Fun Fact: Bangladeshis don't care about expiry dates

Where is the mistake?

When Kraut goes East

I’ve been here for two weeks now and there are lots of things that are surprising to anyone, who has never been to Bangladesh before. Let me give you four examples:

One:

After arriving, I had to open a bank account. So we went to the bank and had to fill out some forms. If you KNOW somebody, you ARE somebody. There are no structures in Bangladesh, that’s why I have no problem at all to go along with the non-existing system.

We KNOW somebody at the bank, so we didn’t have to wait in line and were treated first (kinda good and bad at the same time).

Plus we were introduced to the vice president. After chatting about where I am from and other irrelevant stuff, he told me all about the facilities of the bank. He was really proud to explain to me their internet banking system. If I apply for i-banking, I can watch my statement online. [WOW!] And the highlight of this year is that I will be able to transfer money from my account to another online. [WOOHOOW!] “What great news I thought” and just nodded my head to show fake excitement.

Rickshaw fare from Mirpur-11 ½ to Mirpur-10: 30 Taka.

Two:

My little cousin Jarrar had to go see the doctor for a regular check-up, so I went along. We had to go to the hospital in Moghbazar. Have you ever seen anyone take off their shoes at the hospital? I did. At the Ad-Din Hospital everyone has to take off their shoes at the entrance, even the nurses. The floor is really smooth and the place looks nothing like a hospital. With all the wood work and lighting, it looks more like a fancy hotel than a place for sick people. Maybe this is the right way for people to become better than all the “white” I know from German hospitals.

Rickshaw fare from Moghbazar to Chowdhury Para: 40 Taka.

Three:

Did you ever think that getting your hair cut in Germany is overpriced? It definitely is not in Bangladesh. I went to the saloon to get my hair cut, a fresh shave and a head massage. The saloon was air-conditioned and sometimes they turn on Bollywood movies for entertainment. Even surprising to me was that most of the guys weren’t even Bangladeshi. They are Bihari people originally from India and Pakisan and speak their own languages as well as Hindi and Urdu. So while you are getting your hair-cut in Bangladesh, you can watch Bollywood movies from India and listen to gossip in Urdu.

All in all the haircut, twice a shave, peeling and head massage cost me 120 Taka (I really didn’t ask for the peeling). To give you an idea, 100 Taka are about 1 Euro.

Four:

Last but not least, when you think everything is going smoothly while writing your blog, there is a power blackout. I can hardly imagine a power outage in Germany, except after severe storms or similar.

From what I remember, I think Bangladesh has electricity to cover only 65 - 70 % of the national needs. That means when I have electricity to use my laptop, somebody else in the country doesn’t. It is not that big a deal yet, but can become annoying, when you are planning to stay for 199 days.


Outdoor services: How about a shave?





At the bank





Jarrar
Age: 1 year and 3 months
Occupation: Cousin; touching things; working on becoming a genius



Manush ar Manush

There is a saying in Bangla “Manush ar Manush”, which literally means “People and People”.

The Cricket World Cup is taking place at the moment in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. I can’t remember the first game that took place in Bangladesh, but the second game was Ireland against Bangladesh on Friday, February 25^th at Mirpur Stadium. I was visiting my aunt, who lives right around the corner from Mirpur Stadium. So the night before the game we went to take a walk – “Manush ar Manush”. People were everywhere, not only to enjoy the world cup atmosphere, but also to watch the special lighting, that was installed for the competition. It kinda reminded me of the spirit of the Soccer World Cup that took place in Germany in 2006.

Cricket here is as important as soccer is in Germany. So everyone gathers to have a good time. Unfortunately the Vuvuzelas have taken over Bangladesh ever since the Soccer World Cup in South Africa. So there weren’t only lots of people, there was more noise than in a Dhaka traffic jam with all the horns.

On Bangladesh game days everyone has their TVs and radios on. Even in shopping malls people watch the game. I was at a mall on that particular Friday and whenever something important happened, you could hear a wave of cheer. Plus the cheer after the game was even louder, since Bangladesh beat Ireland. Streets were crowded, fireworks were lit and kids were chanting.

In related news: Bangladesh is going to beat the West Indies today at Mirpur Stadium.

Update: Bangladesh lost to the West Indies, but they beat England on March 11th :D.



Street vendors selling everything a kid could wish for



Making Takas

Lights

Me and my cousin Lipshan in front of the Bangladesh Cricket Association

Manush ar Manush

Noisemakers, even without the Vuvuzelas

Ballin' and...

... Batting

Ey, Rickshaw! Ey!

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Bangladeshi advertising

Woodworkers

Kids playing cricket in the streets

For Shafeeq

After Jummah (Friday prayers)

Veggies

Fruits

Popcorn to go

The chubby guy

Do you know the song by U2 called “Stuck in a moment that you can’t get out of“? Well, there are moments that you don’t want to get out of. Like flying above the clouds and seeing the sun turn red and purple and then set at the end of the sky. Or flying through the black night above the sea and all of a sudden you see the lights at the shore of Dubai.

No pictures, just imagine.

But there are moments that you get pulled out of, for example when you meet the chubby guy. It’s not like I forgot his name, we never introduced each other properly. On my flight from Dubai to Dhaka we were sitting next to each other. Emirates Airlines has these entertainment systems that you can watch movies on demand on. So all of a sudden he asked me to help find an “NDA” movie.

I had no idea what he was talking about.

He said from his flight from Ta’if, where he used to work in Saudi Arabia, to Dubai he was watching “NDA” movies. I still had no idea so I went to “All movies A-Z” and asked him for the spelling. He just kept on saying “ND, ND”. Then all of a sudden it occurred to me, that he meant “Hindi, Hindi”. He wanted to watch the colorful Bollywood movies with lots of singing and dancing, which are in Hindi language.

But that wasn’t it. Of course he had to tell me his life story. The chubby guy wasn’t that old and had been working in Ta’if for eleven years as a salesman at a store. He was really dark skinned, well dressed and probably in his early thirties. He was returning to Bangladesh, leaving his life in Saudi Arabia behind to get married.

When I was filling out my immigration form to enter Bangladesh, he did not only ask for a pen, which would have been fine, he indirectly asked me to fill out his immigration form as well, which I kindly declined.

Then later, when it was time for breakfast, the steward asked whether he wanted the “vegetarian”or “non-vegetarian” dish. He just shook his head, not even looking at the steward. Do you know how South Asians shake their head the same way when they mean “yes” AND “no”? That’s how he shook it, leaving too much room for interpretation. I am pretty sure, with all the “ND, ND”, the immigration form and the breakfast incident, that he was illiterate. I saw him last waiting in line to pass immigration and still wonder how his life in Bangladesh will be after eleven years abroad.

Touchdown Dhaka: February 21^st, 8.33 am, 21° C.