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