2 1/2 Weeks - In BaNla

It seems we are seeing Bangladesh from the Symbiosis car we are driven to Mymensingh and the fish farm in or from a rickshaw.
It is still a bit like watching a video especially in the a/c van, although that is having engine troubles so it goes much slower and does not respond well when Shobuj (show-booz, our driver's name, it also means green) wants to overtake! The photos on this blog show some of the things we see from those view points.
The Rickshaw stories continue.
We have paid from 15tk to 40tk to the same place.

Sunday (the first day of the working week) it poured with rain on the way to language school. Gratefully I had bought an umbrella on Saturday but our legs got soaked. Our wallah went a slightly wrong way but that meant we could direct him over a road he is not supposed to cross and he could take us the whole way. I gave him 50tk as I thought he would be likely not to get much work in the rain. When we stood dripping waiting for class the other students told us about a plastic sheet he should have had to keep us dry.

Friday we went to the Australian Club and had wallahs waiting for us. That time we were a real convoy with 4 rickshaws in all. Our hosts had just returned from Australia and knew the wallahs well but got confused between 500tk notes and $au50 and over paid by an extraordinary amount. They are sure the boy will make good with free rides. Not loosing face is very important here. “Koto debo” means what will you take (fare). One wallah told his friend the fare we agreed on... so we were sure he knew what we were giving him.

Monday someone called out to our wallah, “Debo? 250?” he called back “100” We had agreed on and ended paying 30tk. Saving face is very important in Bangladesh. We had decided to pay 30 tk min. for that length trip. Rice has become expensive and they have families to feed!
We catch them when we can, rather than walk. It is a way of spreading the money around in an under employed economy

Tuesday I went shopping with Mrs Banu (our house help). That was an experience. She chooses our food very carefully including eggs one at a time which she washed carefully when we got home. (This is due to bird flu) We walked down but we caught a rickshaw home with the heavy shopping. She happily let the boy carry our things to the rickshaw and did not pay him. She did not negotiate a price for the Rickshaw at all and got cross saying aste aste (which we learnt today means slower) when he went in front of a car. Tuesday was raining so the guard on the door at language school (every building has a guard) bargained a price for us for a CNG (Compressed Natural Gas). It was more expensive because they are drier! CNGs are three wheeled baby taxis powered by compressed natural gas. They are used for medium length trips. There is a limit to how far a riskshaw wallah can cycle and of course he needs to be able to get back home without losing too much time or money. Our first attempt to get one didn't succeed! Josh Telfer (SAust friend/relative who arrived on our flight with us and is studying language at the same school) is becoming a master of CNGs. He catches buses too but I am not sure I will ever get up to them! Last week we have began the adventure of learning a new language. The verb always goes at the end of the sentence (except when there is a negative eg “Ami bangla jani na” Jani is the verb for know but the na means I don't know it!) These verbs are then changed according if they are first or second person as well as according to tense. I am also learning that English is far more complex than I had realised!
Tuesday when I shopped with Mrs Banu (who is illiterate and does not speak much English) I tried practising a little; fellow shoppers and shop workers a like were most helpful and even gave me cooking lessons as well. It is not all easy. The weather is so exhausting. No cool changes. It does not even cool down at night. We are sooooo pleased we have an a/c in our bedroom. We are always sticky. My shalwa (pants) end up sticking to my legs as I walk by the time I get up the steps. We have fans on all the time so things blow off the table... that is unless to power is off with load sharing which happens at least once a day for about an hour. But that is a forced rest so it is not all bad.

One day this week we came home and the light did not come on. Steve just said power must be out ... and we continued on as if it was normal ... because it was! So the adventure continues!