Notes from Dhaka

home again, my friends

2010-06-22T03:26:00.009+07:00

Indeed, we are in Minnesota.

The last week was crazy busy between the online classes, packing and saying goodbye. Did I mention the party the ambassador gave for all of the Fulbrighters, coming and going? A great opportunity to see the folks who were still in Dhaka. Then there was a Fulbright seminar at the American Center where the younger scholars presented their research.

And lunch with my officemate after the Fulbright seminar, and a different lunch with so many of my colleagues, at Cinnamon, of course.

I didn't take pictures at Tracey's sweet goodbye party, but this is one of us after the boys went to one of their proms.

Leaving was --- I don't know what to say, so maybe I'll just leave it at that. Landing was complicated by being very sick for a week at home, but now I'm easing back in to a previously familiar place. Not sure where I'm going from here, not back to the old blog and it doesn't seem right to continue notes from Dhaka when I'm just not there. I'll figure it out and find a forwarding address. cheers.

post #200 from Dhaka

2010-06-07T23:09:00.002+07:00

that went by pretty quickly.

just some random thoughts about today.

news in Dhaka is all about the fire and the building that collapsed earlier in the week. feels like the whole city could sink into the ground water (which dropped several meters in the past year. not centimeters. meters).

hot. humid. sticky. but no rain today.

slow start to the day. woke up at 4:30 for no good reason. usually the call to prayers doesn't wake me anymore but I guess I was done sleeping.

somebody wanted pancakes for breakfast, before his last final exam. ok. some days are like that.

needed to get presents today. I really do not like to shop. so I did all the shopping in one day.

three stores, 2 CNGs, 2 rickshaws, 2 hours of traffic, one nasty accident where I heard the car hit the rickshaw and I saw the crumpled mess. somehow the people were ok.

too dehydrated to go to the last water aerobics class. sorry to miss the get together afterwards. but some days are like that.

online classes opened. one goof-up -- I wrote quizzes and saved them carefully in the question library. I opened quizzes with all the restrictions and dates and times, and forgot to add in the questions. fortunately someone tried the quizzes first thing in the morning (7pm here) and immediately told me that the syllabus quiz worked fine (not a new quiz) but the other one she tried had no questions. got that fixed. in spite of being in the dark, no electricity. there are always more outages when it's reallly hot.

lost my watch. I know it was between 4 and 5pm. apparently I look at my watch quite a bit. mostly I need it to remind me I've put the water on to boil or I'd completely forget to turn it off. I do 30 minutes of water boiling every morning.

that's about it. tomorrow I'll be at BRAC and say good-bye there. tomorrow night the new cello owner will come to pick it up. Wed the apartment gets cleaned and we'll do the walk through. Wed and Thursday I'll have a lot to do with my online classes with their first deadlines. Wed night we'll get together with friends. working on the packing a bit each day.

long day.

June days

2010-06-05T14:34:00.010+07:00

A pretty random walk through my last week or so...

The parent advisory committee at the American International School - Dhaka (AIS-D) for this year. I was one of the 10th grade parent reps even though I pretty much knew only one tenth grade student when I started. I learned a lot about parenting in Dhaka and what the issues in an international high school are. Met a lot of people that I wouldn't have known otherwise.

Took me a long time, but all of the laundry issues were eventually resolved, including ironing. Some folks in a little nook down the street iron our clean laundry and return it in tightly compressed packages.

Good-bye to the seniors. What a sense of community when there are kids from pre-K to 12th grade all in one place!

Fruits of the week: mangos, pineapple and lychee! Ok, 10 mangos in a milkshake are not good for one's tummy. And 200 lychees are too many to peel before they start to go bad.

And the best part of the last few weeks: having both of my kids here with me! Shaked and I did get to spend quite a few nice afternoons (in between the frequent downpours) at the pool.

And this is Matan before his second prom...

Now I have to figure out how to pack everything we want to take into 4 suitcases and not go too much over the very tight weight limit. By this time next week, we'll be in Chicago.

a very long time ago

2010-06-02T22:18:00.006+07:00

and it seems, in a remote universe, there were list-servs that seemed to function as today's social networking systems do. one of these was parent-l out of a university in Australia. I don't know when I joined that group, but it was sometime between 1991 and 1994 since I know I was not connected for Shaked's first year and I was when Matan was born. so this group of mamas (way before mama-blogging) was pretty much into attachment parenting and I found support there day and night. since I lived in Israel, it was truly helpful to find people in my time zone more or less. not everyone lived in north america. there are still traces -- we made a quilt for Bonnie who died in 1997, there were t-shirts and photo albums. but this week I was caught off guard since I hadn't really kept up with anyone from the group, to see that Katie Granju's son Henry died. reading through the comments there are, of course, many many people I don't know, but there are also traces: dawn h-s and petra and aimee and others.

not sure where I'm going with this. it was ironic that facebook was banned for now, but the earliest internet connections are still somehow viable. added to the sadness of Henry's death was that there was a second student suicide this week at Matan and Shaked's high school in MN. while they're currently somewhat cutoff from info, I'm hearing about it through the parent information emails that I get from the school.

main point: I need to hug those kids and talk to them and listen to them. I think I told Shaked every hour how glad I was to see her here with me. now she can picture where Matan and I have been and got a little bit of the experience.

we may not have spent as much time poolside as we thought we'd get, but I think her experience was incredibly rich for having the internship that she did. stressful, true, but she saw so much and was able to contribute to the project with the data she gathered on those site visits.

ok, I'll open a different post to catch up this week.

no Facebook connection

2010-06-02T09:37:00.003+07:00

It's a very disconcerting feeling -- not to be able to link to an article in the NYT and share it with folks on Facebook (the article I wanted to share was Amos Oz's article on the Israeli raid on the flotilla). We're cut off from the outside world and from our friends here. The newspaper today says the Bangladeshi government office is waiting for a reply from Facebook to its request to remove offensive pages. Looks like this could be a long wait. It's certainly a learning experience.

live-blogging, poolside

2010-06-01T16:31:00.002+07:00

Have to capture some of the wonder! Sun, breeze, water, fruit bowl with pineapple and mango, cold coffee, wireless... jumping in the water occasionally. two online classes opened today, just for the students to have a look. class won't officially start until next Monday. waiting for Shaked to make her way here from a site visit that she didn't know was going to be on-her-own! so she texts for some directions...

low key day -- got the wash done and 22 pieces sent out to be ironed (for 88 taka, about $1.25). the kids are getting used to having t-shirts ironed. finished more quizzes for the new class. went to the commissary for the last purchases and closed out the account. will have to pick up the deposit check sometime next week. picked up some pants Shaked had shortened and found Bangladesh t-shirts, maybe for presents? Matan was debating getting a "I heart Dhaka" t-shirt. Maybe too late, they've been on sale at the school, but it might be done. The other t-shirts just say Bangladesh or spring celebration -- less of a commitment, I think.

Can't believe Shaked is leaving Friday night already. Or that we'll be in Chicago next Saturday night! Since we aren't planning to go out of town, it's actually pretty low stress. I'll start packing when Shaked's stuff is all out of the little room! Oh she just called for more directions. She should be here soon. Signing off.
Cheers!

closing down

2010-05-31T11:38:00.002+07:00

The desk is cleared at work, but I'll probably return next week for a final good-bye. Just couldn't quite do it yesterday.

It's raining, just like when we arrived in August. No real reason to go out this morning. Have to work on packing, on writing quizzes for the online classes opening tomorrow. Shaked's site visit for today was cancelled. Matan went off to school on his bike in a raincoat and with plastic bags lining his knapsack. We'll meet him at school for a banquet tonight celebrating extra-curricular activity participation.

Feeling pretty cutoff about Facebook. Turns out that it's more about the current prime minister getting pissed off about cartoons about her government, than anything about Mohammad. I suspect she's just lost the young base in the country -- there were protests at the universities yesterday. So much for a liberal, modern, secular and digital Bangladesh!

Cheers!

Facebook apparently banned in Bangladesh

2010-05-30T07:51:00.003+07:00

Access disappeared last night so if you're used to seeing me there, that would be why I'm not showing up. Odd to me how I've gotten used to contacting and connecting with local folks on plans. No official word, but rumours on google have two leading causes -- one, the caricature contest with cartoons of the prophet Mohammad, and the other that a hacker was arrested recently (not sure how this would result in the national shutdown).

Very disturbing to feel cut off.

Other news -- mostly spending time with Shaked -- lots of it at the pool at the American club. Nice to just relax with her. Sometimes we even see a lot of the people that I'd like to be seeing before we leave! She has several site visits this week and a report to write before she leaves on Friday.

Matan is mostly involved with school at this point. His first exam starts today, but other than that one, they'll be starting Thurs and going through next Tues. I think he enjoyed prom very much.

I'm working on the Century courses. I think the new one is in good shape. Just quizzes to write now. Today I'm going in to finish clearing the office. Last week I was just too sick (yup, again), to complete the task. Finished the teaching and I think it went well. Put together some work on peer review that I'll be able to use in the future, esp as soon as I get back to regular access to a scanner.

Last night we were invited to my officemate's family's for dinner. Both of the kids came with me, though Matan had been sneezing all day and finally fell asleep there for most of the evening. The hospitality was awesome, the welcome really wonderful, the food fabulous. I would love to have spent more time there and really get to know his family. Shaked is going with his younger sister to a street theater production tonight. Yes, the transportation is difficult (I just got a cab for the evening -- it's what I said I would do occasionally when we didn't rent a car, but our earlier experiences with cabs pretty much put us off this option). Tonight his sister is going to come by CNG to pick Shaked up at our apartment and then accompany her to the park where the play is being performed. And then back again -- so she'll be spending hours on the road. Mabye Shaked will bring some pictures! Anyway, I was just so glad to meet them and be welcomed into their home.

Haven't really started packing yet, but got the suitcases out. Gave most of the books I brought to the English Dept library and most of the linens, etc, will just stay here. They're pretty much used up. Not sure what to do with the clothes I've outgrown -- don't really want to bring them all back!

Amanda wrote a great list on her blog about what she will miss. Maybe I need to start my list, too!

filling in potholes

2010-05-26T09:29:00.003+07:00

As I was going through the market by rickshaw...

bubbles and brainstorming

2010-05-24T12:00:00.001+07:00

Ok, this I'm posting so I remember where to find it in the future. Working with students who were brainstorming to write about Mary Oliver poems. This site was fun for showing them how to have thesis, topics and evidence to support their claims. I think it will work well in my online composition class.

mantra in 11 words

2010-05-24T11:47:00.001+07:00

from Penelope:

One thing at a time. Most important thing first. Start now.

(not endorsing the rest of her post, but crediting this part).

out of town

2010-05-24T07:57:00.003+07:00

Shaked has gone to Jessore by bus. About 6-8 hours west towards Kalkuta. She called from a ferry on a river and when she got to the seminar hotel that is hosting them. I'm glad she's not travelling alone.

Wish I'd gotten out to see more of Bangladesh countryside. Yet trying to remember that most weeks I was not very energetic by the time we got to the weekend.

Finishing teaching this week. Last parent-advisory committee meeting today at Matan's school. Thinking about packing and stuff to leave behind.

Here's a good article on digital Bangladesh.

catching up

2010-05-21T09:05:00.015+07:00

So far behind on the posting. Mother's Day -- lovely dinner at Tracey's house with other women from the American community and many teenaged kids! Flowers from the hostess to the guests!

Then there was a very, very hot week that I worked mostly at home since I wasn't feeling very well. By Wed, I went back to work at the office and was getting very excited about Shaked's arrival. We would go out to lunches as long as we weren't teaching...

(short elevator lines while students are still on break!)

Shaked arrived late last Friday night (no pictures!) and we had Saturday before her internship really started. Saturday, she wasn't ready to wake up and come to water aerobics at 8am...

She and Matan and I went to the American club for lunch, and some keeping her awake time, and then came back to the apartment. We went over a notebook I have of first impressions and information since she was really in shock about the heat, crowding, just the different place that Dhaka is! She found an introduction from a book I have, maybe I'll add it later.

However, in going over this notebook, we realized she needed to get a vaccination that Matan and I had before coming here. So that became the priority. The travellers' clinic wasn't doing vaccinations this week, so my public health guru, Tracey, recommended a doctor who took us Sunday morning and got her caught up. Later that day she had her first meeting with the people from the company where she's interning. They have prepared an intensive itinerary for her including meetings with IT folks from different NGOs, a visit to Jessore (a six hour bus ride from Dhaka), report writing and interviewing. She's really been immersed from the start!

(maybe even our 5 flights of stairs get a little overwhelming!)

I also started the summer semester of teaching here this week. New students, new classroom, but a familiar syllabus. It's kind of fun to hand out the assignment sheet for the first major essay and know that I'll be done with this two-week stint filling in for their regular teacher before the grading comes up! Also a chance to meet and connect names with a cohort of students I've seen around, but not ever taught. Two of my new students have already seen Shaked and me riding a rickshaw and waved and yelled "Is that your daughter?" because, of course, I told them she had just arrived!

At Dhaba, a restaurant on Road 11, Banani, where I love the fuska. Ok, I pretty much love fuska anyplace.

We ate at Sajna twice this week -- once I asked my embassy contact people, the ones who have taken care of me this year, Shaheen and Katie, to join us to meet Shaked. Didn't know that the department was planning the farewell luncheon for there later in the week!

Raining today which will make getting the laundry dry a challenge. Wouldn't matter much except that Shaked needs to take the clothes when she leaves tomorrow... Mangos on the roof. Must take pictures of the lychees.

sigh.

2010-05-08T17:32:00.002+07:00

We're getting more ready to leave. I'm deep in the preps for classes that will be taking place in Minnesota, not in Bangladesh. Even though there is a little more than a month left in our stay here, I'm solving problems that will come up in June and July, and answering student emails from those future classes.

Next week, Shaked will be here! She still has a final and a paper, so she's not quite ready to think about packing up. She took her dorm room apart and sent the contents to a storage unit, so she's down to the suitcase and mr. bunny. She'll leave on Wed afternoon and it will take nearly 2 days to get here. She'll spend almost a day in Singapore on the way.

A Dhaka newspaper ran an article today on the Children's Literature conference. If you use a magnifying glass and know what I look like, you can see me in the picture.

Another link to an article on global warming and the threat in particular in Bangladesh.

Looking ahead -- I'll be teaching next week for two weeks as the new semester opens here. Hoping to travel with Shaked outside of Dhaka as I haven't seen much of the countryside. I suppose I should have taken each of those professor's business cards and called and visited and thus met far more people. I'm trying to go easy on myself and remember that many days were just exhausting to get to work by rickshaw and home again. Dealing with laundry and cooking and trying to pay attention to Matan's progress, as well. But now I do wish I'd done so much more.

Returning to MN as program chair in Women and Gender Studies -- it's official! Kind of exciting to think about what I'll need to learn and do.

Not sure what the summer will bring as we re-integrate. On the one hand, I do very much like this feeling of living outside the familiar, and yet, learning that I don't do it easily or push myself beyond a certain comfort zone.

happy working on Century's online class prep

2010-05-05T14:50:00.002+07:00

Working at home every other day or so. Get more done here at home - and bonus today - no construction noises from above. Would be happier not having a cold, but I can't have everything.

Juggling three syllabi. Two are pretty much ready to go and have run well before. The third is new to me and I'm trying to think about the best way to get this material online. Also trying to make it work out so that I'm not ever grading all 30 + 35 + 17 students' work the same week.

Then I might have a situation like in Dhaka -- today's headline was about the university cracking down on "laggard professors" who still haven't turned in grades seven months later. At Century there is currently debate about 24 hours being cut off of the grading deadline at the end of this spring semester. But it's down from 72 hours, not leaving much time for real evaluation of student work.

Looking forward to Shaked's arrival next week, so I have my own deadline for getting these classes prepared. Want to be free to spend as much time as we can together! She's going to be volunteering at an NGO and getting some micro-finance research experience out in the villages. Pretty exciting adventure, I think.

water, water

2010-05-03T08:59:00.002+07:00

Starting to rain regularly here - every other day. So the heat is less, and the electricity is on more regularly. Here's hoping that the drinking water supplies improve, too. Our boiled-and-filtered water recently tested as contaminated and we're not sure what the next step is going to be. Maybe boiling and filtering bottled water?

Good article about ORS -- includes BRAC and ICDDR,B.

spring in Dhaka

2010-05-01T13:27:00.007+07:00

I almost skipped Bangla class on Sunday (maybe because I didn't have papers graded?), and then when I got there, to my surprise, there was a festive program set up exactly during my 9-10am timeslot!

Singing, music playing, poems, food -- an introduction of all of the current students, at least the morning ones. I admit I didn't learn to speak much Bangla, but HEED language center continues to show me aspects of living in Bangladesh that I might otherwise have missed out on.

Susan and Sultana

The spring celebration is connected to the new calendar year and also to the onset of the rains. So far, most of the downpours have been conveniently at night, and they really clean up the dusty air and streets. All of the trees look green again. So during this week's lessons I learned the words to the songs that had been sung at the Sunday program and then my teacher went over the facebook entries that were in Bangla -- some I understand, some I completely didn't get! Since I'm getting individual tutoring, I get to choose what I'd like to learn in the lessons!

Last weekend there was a festival at Matan's school with one of the service learning programs. All of the high school students contribute 20 hours (I think) to a project. Matan's has been tutoring English at an orphanage. The festival was put together by a group that works with street kids. Lots of paintings and crafts for sale at the school.

rotunda at the American International School - Dhaka

Finally, pictures of jackfruits. Haven't been here when they're ripe, but I think the time is coming soon. They are huge! Mango season now!

I've turned in grades for the spring semester and have a bit of a break now. I'm preparing the summer semester at BRAC for my TA who will be taking over as the teacher. She's on a medical leave until June 1, so I'll teach the first 2 weeks of that semester, May 15-30. In addition, in the next 2 weeks, I've got to get the Century summer classes posted. They're all online and will start June 6th. Shaked will be here from May 14 - June 4, so the more I get done before she arrives, the more free time I'll have with her!

Today is a low-key Saturday. Get the wash done and out to be ironed (this I will miss in MN!). Water aerobics and breakfast at the club. Later, Tracey and I are going to take our boys to the tailor to get suits made. Not sure if this is for prom or not, but Matan will need a black suit for orchestra next year in any case.

And last, but not least, the cello has found a new home in Dhaka.

looking for the keys by the street light?

2010-04-28T22:14:00.002+07:00

old joke about someone looking for keys by the street light. someone asks him where he lost the keys. well, maybe not by the street light, but at least there's light there.

so, bingo. I finally asked the right person about finding a home for the cello. I can ask for a month, but if it's the wrong people, uh, no takers. today at the pool, I asked someone who grew up here, who has many local friends, and she sent out a text to 10 people and before we left the pool, 3 people said yes. so now we'll have to figure out how to give the cello to one of them.

like asking about getting a new retainer. I kept asking people who recommended orthos in Bangkok and Singapore and we weren't going there. finally asked someone local, not ex-pat, and got an address down the street from Matan's school.

I guess it's healthy to keep learning not to look for the keys where you'd like them to be.

trying

2010-04-28T09:34:00.003+07:00

more short notes:

* I had been feeling well for nearly two weeks. Not so well this morning.

* nice evening at the club last night -- mostly teachers from Matan's school at a buffet at the pool.

* construction work continues at the apartment: building the 6th floor above us. This week: no hot water, no washing machine, and coming home to -- surprise, surprise -- pipes in the dining room, all the upper closets in Matan's room opened up (hmmm, maybe the bat was disturbed?), balcony screen door left open (hmmm, so let's invite the bats in?), back door left open. not happy here.

* cello saga - looks like we have answers from all of the shipping components. it's do-able. still wouldn't mind finding a home for it here and just letting it go.

* especially since Matan's orchestra teacher placed him in the lower orchestra. he didn't wait for the audition tape that he said Matan could send. discouraging to me. I guess it's a logical consequence and Matan seems more understanding of it than I am.

* bike/car accident last night -- no one hurt. cars and bikes, ok, too. I was two minutes behind him as I came home from the club by rickshaw. he'd passed me on his bike. and then, up ahead, the traffic jam was him, a car, and a crowd starting to form. we've been warned (many times) not to hang around, but just to get out of there in case of an accident. so Matan hit the car when the car stopped suddenly, and then as Matan was biking around the stopped car, the car hit him. yes. so that pissed Matan off. when I got there, I checked to see that Matan was ok, and told him to stop trying to get the driver to get out of the car, and go home. I talked to the driver who just said Matan hit him first. my rickshaw driver (who knows me and Matan) was telling me, driver is bad man, and basically, I should do what I told Matan to do: get out of there. you don't want the crowd to start deciding about some street justice. that driver had no reason to get out of the car, and in fact every reason to drive away as fast as he could. so I'm a bit shaky here.

* what else? grading, tax forms for Shaked's financial aid, syllabus for the summer at Century and now at BRAC, too.

think I should go back to bed and start this day over in a couple of hours. hope the construction people don't start ringing the doorbell.

short notes

2010-04-27T09:05:00.002+07:00

* sunrises have been beautiful lately. love my east window, even if it's 5:30am when the light streams in.

* will be teaching for 2 weeks in May since my colleague who is replacing me for one of the classes is very sick and on leave until June. not going to be full-time, just going in twice a week for 2 hours.

* we had a bat last night that got hit by the fan in the dining room. I thought it was a giant bug and sprayed it. poor thing limped to the kitchen and I pushed it out onto the balconey with the broom. it died in Matan's lunchbox which was full of water and bleach since it had come home with very very old banana in it.

* still no final decision on the cello shipping. after 20+ emails from Singapore Air we have a price and an agreement appended to Shaked's ticket LA-Dhaka. now we need an answer from our airline from Dhaka to Chicago. they've been promising an answer since last week. Case has to be sent from MN to LA very very soon, if it's going to go.

* If anyone in Dhaka wants a cello, please let me know! I've tried my contacts and haven't found any takers.

* Shaked will be here soon! Looking forward to showing her many sights, and discovering new things that I haven't had time for yet.

That's about all for today. Cheers!

six weekends left in Bangladesh

2010-04-24T21:46:00.002+07:00

that doesn't seem like much time left at all. better figure out everything I want to do -- while Shaked's here, before she gets here.

I think the last time I counted how many weeks were left, there were about 40. hmmmm.

cello cello

2010-04-23T10:30:00.006+07:00

One of the more difficult aspects for me is the setback that cello playing has been for Matan. I think he's learned that music is a very social activity for him. This week we've been working on his re-enrollment (re-registration in the school district he's been in since first grade!). Tons of forms. I pleaded for mercy and got it reduced to 5 pages. But getting him back into the symphony orchestra is not simple. He will be auditioning from here in about two weeks. We'll upload a video or send it by email. His cello teacher here stopped coming in January. no notice. said we'd talk. never called back or answered emails. sigh. so Matan's progress has been limited.

In addition, we've had this nagging issue of what do we do with this cello now that we have it? When we bought it in India, we got a seat for it on the plane since that was a pretty inexpensive option for travel. That will not be true going to MN! We have a flight case in MN that, if all goes well, will be coming with Shaked in May. But that is not yet final. If I thought that we'd find someone to buy it or adopt it here, I'd be fine with leaving it here. But so far, no one's been interested (not even the teacher: he didn't respond to that email either). There have been moments when I thought we'll just take it carry-on and see how far we get with it, but after we couldn't even carry-on an umbrella in Nepal, I suspect the cello would stick out a bit more.

So I've been talking to the airlines. Our travel agent took the measurements of the case and came back to me and said, no, it can't go on a plane. what's a cello? (so how exactly did you investigate without knowing what this even is?!).

I went on directly to our airline (dang it, the electricity just went out and the laundry was almost done. now it will take another hour, at least. so much for getting up early and getting it done). The airline we're flying on from here took the measurements and said they'd get back to me. Didn't hear from them for 10 days so I called them back. They said, looks like you can take it on, no oversize fee if it's one of your 2 bags, just let me double check at one of the other locations it will have to pass through. Then he asked, by the way, how is it getting here? I said Singapore Air, and he said, so, how did they handle it?

Well, Singapore Air and I have been corresponding for awhile. first they said talk to the airport, but that's not really Shaked's priority in LA these days. So I kept emailing and they finally answered - what are the dimensions? I repeated the dimensions. The next day, will it have a cello in it? A curious question, I thought, but you know what, for that segment, no. The next day, what does it weigh? I write to MN and get a weight and send it on to them. No word today.

So the only answer we currently have is MN-LA by Fed Ex, around $50. LA-Dhaka -- still looking into it (probably just a oversize bag fee, if anything). Dhaka -- Chicago, here's hoping he was right yesterday and it's good to go. No fee. But since there was that one NO at the beginning, I have to have exact answers (with email letters printed out!) before we set the case in motion from MN. It's way too expensive to lose it at some random check-in clerk who decides it would not be ok today.

(as for the wash, the electricity is out again, but meanwhile the landlord's father said he needs the water supply for the construction work that's going on overhead. so not only did the load get stopped midway through [women's work, I can hear him...] but the pounding on the construction makes me want to be somewhere else all day. so I finished that load by hand, dang, it would have to be sheets and towels, and no wash for the next two days). such is life.

when classes are over

2010-04-23T09:29:00.006+07:00

we teachers can go out to lunch at the same time. and so we did quite a few days this week!

of course, some of us went a little further afield, and didn't quite make it back after lunch. but I did grade. I love outdoor swimming pools. I admit, now that I'm done teaching, I intend to spend most of May at this pool. it's got wifi and I've got work to do online for classes that open in early June, so I think this will be perfect. not to mention cold drinks delivered to the table next to me. hmmmm. and it's less than a 10 minute rickshaw ride from our apartment.

I've invited my colleagues to join me, but there seem to be some cultural qualms - one asked me if there are men present (uh, yes) and another wondered if Bengalis would be allowed in (definitely yes). so maybe tomorrow Ruhksana will bring her daughter to swim and have lunch with me there before her daughter's French lesson nearby. Still haven't convinced anyone to bring a swimsuit to work and join me for a long lunch there on a school day. I suppose I'm a very bad influence.

track meet

2010-04-19T22:10:00.004+07:00

His body has really changed shape and size this year. I'm so proud of him for trying out so many new things: volleyball, badminton, wall-climbing, track! As much as they are used to high school boys' bodies changing rapidly, I think his wrestling coaches are going to be taken aback when they see him in June!

playing hooky at the pool

2010-04-19T21:28:00.001+07:00

when I feel great, I can do anything. I was falling asleep grading at school today, so I packed up and went to the pool. after a few laps, I continued with the grading. after a few more laps and lunch, I got even more grading done. I had the pool to myself from 1:30 until 4:30. amazing. even took a short nap. and brought home carrot cake for dessert tonight. a very nice day.

end of term: 301

2010-04-16T15:25:00.007+07:00

Nine students in this Research Methodology class. Sabreena is the TA (she's sitting in the top picture). what a great class. I think that the response papers were key: but they did the readings, thought about the questions and we didn't have a lot of quizzes. Their papers are due this week and I think they'll be fine.

end of term: 201

2010-04-16T14:53:00.003+07:00

We had 18 folks in this class (parallels the 1022 at Century) - a composition from literature class. The ones who did well in this class are really ready for 301 next term. We read Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street, along with Anne Bradstreet's poetry, Mary Oliver's poetry, and short stories by Alice Walker and Hisaye Yamamoto. Very different from their primarily British focus.

Nepal, continued

2010-04-08T20:01:00.043+07:00

Got back to Kathmandu, not only in time for the seder, but to have pizza on the way back to the hotel. And to get Matan some new running shoes. Not easy to find size 45. However, since he's on the track team this year (!), I think he should have good shoes.

sorry about the fuzzy pictures - you get the idea, we dressed up for the seder.

There were probably 700-800 people at the seder. The enthusiasm was high, while young trekkers were certainly the majority, there were lots of tourists, too, and the food was surprising (vegetables and fish and matzoh). We kept watching the kitchen to see if they were going to bring kneidelach... at our table - Gil, who was born in Israel but moved with her family to the US when she was 9. she did medical school in Beer Sheva and is now volunteering in Nepal for a month. Also a couple from Eilat who have been all over the world. Moved to Eilat in 1964 -- I can hardly imagine how many people would have been there then. And two guys from Nepal who knew the couple's son -- from when he had come to Nepal many years ago.

Next morning we got on the bus to Pokhara. This ride usually takes about 7 hours. Unfortunately there were some gas containers that needed to be reloaded on a truck (?) and the road was backed-up for hours with only one lane going through at a time. we sort of dozed in the sun on the bus. got to the breakfast stop at noon after being on the bus since 7am. the last time we did that bus ride, that stop came by 9am. Then the afternoon got darker and cloudier and it rained most of the rest of the way with a spectacular hail storm as we entered Pokhara at about 5pm.

We didn't seem to have much of a view from our hotel room, the lake was on the other side of the building. But in the morning, when I opened the curtains, there were the mountains. By the end of the week, I would just check at sunrise, without getting out of bed, to see if there was a good view!

Breakfast?

Good food. This was probably the second night? I'm thinking spinach/mushroom lasagne. The first night we didn't take pictures, but the momos were too spicy to eat. We have pretty high spice tolerances, and we'd gotten cheese/potato ones, not something usually very spicy! We didn't want to leave a whole plate, so we took them with us.

The next day we rented motorbikes. Matan got one on his own for two days, while I rented one with a driver/guide for two hours. I did try driving it when we were way out of town, but I didn't get the hang of it enough to have fun with it.

So I saw waterfalls and a wedding (the red clothes). Went through a Tibetan refugee camp, but the carpet workshop was closed.

This is my guide.

We didn't go paragliding. The second picture isn't very clear, but there's a paragliding traffic jam up above!

Rice paddies.

This is our hotel from the side. Up above are all of the white towels hanging out to dry.

Didn't see much of this kid when he had the cycle. That's ok, he was really happy to be out on his own.

Views from just outside our room, on the balconey. Very nice part of the lake.

The last night we were in Pokhara, we went to a restaurant. Wish I'd taken a picture of that -- it was like parents' visiting day at summer camp. Of the four tables next to us, all were speaking in Hebrew. It looked like "mom and dad come to visit the kids who are out trekking and over break they could meet up in Nepal". There were two other tables in the restaurant that were not close enough to hear, but this was 20 out of 25 people in the place spoke Hebrew!

We left Pokhhara on Saturday, had an easy trip back to Kathmandu and an upgrade to a room with a bathtub waiting for us at the hotel. We went out with Rhoman who I met in Dhaka in Bangla classes. He is working with a mission in Nepal (and playing soccer) and occasionally going back and forth to Bangladesh.

Nepal nightlife. Closes down pretty early, actually.

The last morning I went to the "monkey" temple, not far from our hotel (about a half hour walk if you don't get lost, I took a cab since I was not feeling so great).

Take a deep breath!

I saw more dogs than monkeys, but I've heard there are many monkeys there and that they're pretty aggressive!

About midway up, looking up.

About midway up, looking down.

Mantras that get spun, one after another, as a prayer.

Very old statues.

Praying.

And that was the end. Internet site said the flight wasn't going to leave until 5pm, but the airport insisted it was leaving as scheduled at 2pm. Get to the airport at noon and they say, no, no point in going in since there's no check-in now since the flight has been delayed. What, we're going to go back to the city? We kind of insist on going in to the airport, Matan finds some electricity for his computer science homework, and I keep reading A House for Mr. Biswas. Got to Dhaka by 6:30pm and to the apartment, unbelievably, by 7:30pm. The heat and humidity managed to surprise me.

tent hospital

2010-04-08T18:33:00.004+07:00

Went to the clinic near BRAC today and, on the way out, as I was hit with the steam heat outside, I saw the tent that is housing so many of the people who are very sick, mostly from the deteriorating water supplies. Over one thousand people admitted yesterday. Rows and rows and rows of cots. Seems impossible to imagine getting well in that heat.

I'm getting more tests done. Meanwhile this is now the fourth course of antibiotics in 2010. drinking lots of gatorade since I know that's got clean water in it, imported. My department head said she was shocked to hear that we weren't boiling our water, but our orientation last fall said that bottled water was fine. I think there's a problem here if I'm not getting this "obvious" information. Maybe the embassy could update? maybe the landlord could inquire? maybe the host department could check up? maybe it's all mine to figure out? I probably need to be talking more to other people finding out how things are done in their homes, sharing what I'm doing. I think Matan's school is probably my main source of information, so I wonder how others are getting it. I just hope we get the water filter this weekend.

not a lot of weekend plans. probably a good thing. oh well.

hardly unique

2010-04-07T19:44:00.003+07:00

So I'm in good company with this stomach sickness... water shortage is acute right now.

But look: solar power! Still the conclusions seem to drift back to natural gas which is just inadequate. Only 45% of the people have access to electricity. And the rest of us get about 60-70% coverage.

Nepal in the spring

2010-04-06T18:35:00.013+07:00

This visit to Nepal was longer and we had some ideas about what we wanted. We were both kind of stomach sick as we left Dhaka and were going to take it easy, if necessary. We didn't get the hotel we wanted, the Ganesh Himal, but knew to ask for rooms next door, if they couldn't accommodate us for all of the nights we'd be in Kathmandu. So we had access to its wonderful gardens, tv room, books, internet, and the people who take good care of the tourists. I spent much of Saturday reading in the garden (Lev Grossman's The Magicians, just a random book I picked up from the hotel's bookcase). So we stayed in the hotel next door for two nights -- it really was a cheaper option at $8/night, but by the end, we would have preferred to pay the other hotel its $14/night to have more hot water and electricity, and just nicer rooms!

(view from Ganesh Himal garden toward the hotel we were staying in)

(view from Ganesh Himal garden toward the GH hotel)

(one more direction from the garden)

Meanwhile we were figuring out where we wanted to go. We decided on a short visit to Nagarkot -- if the skies are clear, the views are fabulous -- all the way to Everest. We got a car with a driver to take us to a wonderful point way high up in the hills. Went through villages and forests to the top.

We saw the sunset and had dinner in a nearly empty restaurant. Matan said I shouldn't have told the Israelis "hag samaeh" (happy holiday), if they came this far to get away from everything. But if there are only 4 tables of people, I just hear the Hebrew. I didn't pull up a chair and join them!

View from our balcony towards the central part of the hotel.

Sunrise didn't yield the mountain peaks, but beautiful nonetheless. Come back in November, they said.

The way home had some problems with Maoist strikes shutting down the city entrances for 3 hours. Our driver would run ahead and say "tourists! tourists" to clear the road so he could get through the barricades. Seemed to be about equal numbers of strikers and riot-gear wearing police officers. One barricade wouldn't let us through. They had an ice cream stand set up, so I'm wondering if they were more serious or less? So we went around to another entrance. Got to see more of the city this way. We did need to get back to the city for the Passover seder, but we still had time.

(to be continued)

catching up

2010-04-06T09:13:00.006+07:00

I am back in Dhaka and catching up in my classes. only TWO teaching days left, but many papers to grade.

Guess I hadn't posted the pictures from the Children's Lit conference in late March. We had academic talks on Thursday with some of the top scholars in Bangladesh. I gave the keynote on reading children's literature as adults, using fairy tales mostly as my sources. Some of the other presentations had to do academic aspects and some with the production of children's media, including Sisimpur, the Bengladeshi Sesame Street. On Saturday groups of 9 and 10 year-olds were invited to workshops facilitated by professionals in creative writing and other media to produce stories of their own.

my talk and then on Saturday, in my office.

my officemate, Mahmadul Haque, and department chair, Firdous Azim.

most of the conference organizing fell on Tabassum's shoulders, especially with Ruhksana sick (as many of us were in March!). Lots of students volunteered to help and so many people were involved in this amazing production.

(I know there were pictures of the kids' part of the program, I'll have to look around for them).

Matan in Bhutan

2010-03-25T22:49:00.002+07:00

picture from the conference

2010-03-25T22:43:00.002+07:00

so, how many hours a day can a refrigerator be off electricity before the food goes bad?

2010-03-25T19:01:00.004+07:00

I wonder if we're up to 50:50 on and off. We know the milk goes bad. Maybe everything else is slowly deteriorating, too?

Didn't go in to work today, but am finishing up grading. Went to my bangla class and to the American Center to get mail and the guards told me I was done with my Fulbright and no longer on the list of people to get in. Though there are days when it feels like that, I did say we were here until June. It seems to be straightened out. It's true the documents do say until May when our semester ends, but Matan's school is through June 10th, so we will be in Dhaka until then!

Then I went to the American Club and had a gentle breakfast and looked over the mail: a comp text for the summer class. Have to make a decision soon. I was really pleased that it got here even though the size and shape made it too big for the diplomatic pouch.

And finally, home, where I could nap, work, and have close access to the bathroom. I even cleaned, though the ironing did not get done between papers to grade and electrical outages.

Matan's at a track event. It's so odd that I can see (online) that he was late this morning and wonder if he had a detention and how that worked out with track. Yup, he was pushing it this morning, leaving at the last minute and his bike has another puncture so he was relying on rickshaws. It was probably faster for him to walk parts of it.

Tomorrow we're off to Nepal. Hope this goes well. I'm looking forward to the seder and the vacation.

conference and feeling great, for awhile

2010-03-24T19:28:00.004+07:00

So the conference was wonderful -- the keynote really well crafted if I do say so myself. Many compliments. And the rest of the day very interesting, though much of it was in Bangla and I really wished that I would have understood more.
(One of my students, Josephine, took this picture. I was apparently concentrating and didn't notice!)

I had Friday off and did very little. some days are just recovering from everything. Saturday we had the second half of the conference and I was late and supposed to be welcoming the many 9 and 10 year olds who had come to workshops on writing! It was fascinating to see the different facilitators from creative writing, Sesame Street and other places working with these young folks. I also got a chance to talk to their teachers on the subject of English/Bangla, something that really interests me as the students study in such very different schools.

(Also got a lot of prep work done while I was in the office all day long!).

Sunday I got back to Bangla lessons, and water aerobics, and brought home pizza from the American club. feeling great. not even hearing all of the traffic noises.

Have to encourage Matan to study since this is the last week of the quarter and he's on the edge of so many grades, both up and down. I wish I knew better how to help him remember -- he does the work and then it's out of his mind before it gets to the teacher. Or that he has actually some homework in a different class. I know the answer is probably using the planner, but we've gone over that so many times and it just isn't working for him. Any ideas?

So I'm caught up in my teaching and most of my grading, and then, of course, it's been about 10 days of feeling well, and boom, yesterday morning, stomach upset again.

I went through the day quite gingerly: the generator was out at school, so we'd have electricity for an hour, and then none. Usually the generator picks up the computers, fans, lights, AND the elevators. So we don't notice that we're off the grid until it starts getting warm since the air conditioner doesn't run on generator. Yesterday we had none of the above. I just stayed up on the 13th floor. Good thing I brought peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and banana bread.

But today I couldn't move. Could not leave the apartment this morning with my stomach as upset as it was. Got an appointment at the clinic (the only one they had open for today) and said, yup it's me again. Sent out more samples. Got antibiotics -- if it doesn't clear up in a day or two. But at least we'll be in Nepal with the antibiotics in hand. And the questions seemed to be focused on the water now. Bottled water is not 100% certain, especially in the dry season when all of the water becomes worse. So I'll get water from only one particular company. No more brushing teeth with tap water -- it might have been ok when we got here, but that's just it, things change. After we get back from Nepal, I'll get a filter and boil and filter water to have confidence in the quality control. sigh. meanwhile, it's so hard to be upbeat and energetic.

Did get hotel reservations in Nepal, I think. After many email requests came back with everything full, and the orbitz not having anything either, I started to get a bit nervous. So I made some phone calls and if they understood me, and I understood them, we have 3 different hotels for the 10 days. 2 in Kathmandu and 1 in Pokhara. As I said, not very energetic here, and just hoping that it's a good trip.

Hope to take more good pictures and to put some up of the conference!

writing

2010-03-17T16:54:00.002+07:00

very interesting that writing the talk on children's lit has provoked so much discomfort in me. writing is always challenging, but this time I'm pushing myself to think about teaching and researching. most of my presentations, in the last 5 years, I'd say, have been about teaching -- pedagogical aspects of online learning or women's studies and community, or even autobiography in the comp classroom. but it's been a long time since I've worked more on the research aspect and tried to wean myself away from how I see everything as a teacher. interesting. I think I had to come away from my comfort zone in a teaching institution and re-situate in a department with a research component in order to figure out how this fits for me.

I'm sure that I had to do laundry and make hamburger buns while I was writing in order to push through the challenge. :-)

chicken soup cooking

2010-03-14T17:44:00.003+07:00

also started antibiotics for something that is apparently bacterial gi infection.

if one doesn't work, I figure the other will.

did go to work today, but fell asleep on the desk. helped students with drafts. uh, when I was awake. I do not do that in my sleep.

first time I went to the Commissary on a Sunday. oops. it's not open on Sundays.

so, not operating at full speed, but hoping to do better soon.

yes, I felt that earthquake

2010-03-13T11:34:00.001+07:00

this morning at about 5:15am.

rolled over and went back to sleep.

modem is fried.
hotel is full in Kathmandu.
my stomach will not calm down.
sigh.

some days.

so I thought I was almost better on Tuesday

2010-03-12T15:51:00.004+07:00

but the worst was still ahead.

Wednesday I did teach. good thing it was pretty much all prepared in advance. Thursday I stayed home and it was actually the worst day. One of those food poisonings or stomach upsets that leaves me wanting to eat nothing but bottled water and toast for the rest of my life. ok, the rest of my stay here. Ironically I did see the doctor on Monday, seemed to be fine, just a fever, and then, the following days, it was like getting hit by a tornado. Maybe the fever was the warning before all hell broke loose.

So. still working on the keynote. thought about it a lot as I slept this week.

Also booked the tickets for the spring break in Nepal. Seder in Kathmandu.

And Shaked got accepted to her summer program in France so we can now book her tickets -- she's coming to Dhaka in May before France. We'll see how the tickets go to see whether she returns to the States or continues on from here.

and the computer expert is coming over and I'm hoping my computer will connect to the internet again.

and, quite possibly, the tax situation will be somewhat less onerous than it seemed. not a lot, but some.

Matan's group in Bhutan

what a day

2010-03-09T19:31:00.003+07:00

Still home with a pretty upset gastro system. But the fever's down and I should be back to work tomorrow. Writing most of today.

at least there's this to listen to: Kris Kristofferson on "Pilgrim's Progress".

Am I young enough to believe in revolution
Am I strong enough to get down on my knees and pray
Am I high enough on the chain of evolution
To respect myself, and my brother and my sister
And perfect myself in my own peculiar way

I get lazy, and forget my obligations
I’d go crazy, if I paid attention all the time
And I want justice, but I’ll settle for some mercy
On this Holy Road through the Universal Mind

I got lucky, I got everything I wanted
I got happy, there wasn’t nothing else to do
And I’d be crazy not to wonder if I’m worthy
Of the part I play in this dream that’s coming true

Am I young enough to believe in revolution
Am I strong enough to get down on my knees and pray
Am I high enough on the chain of evolution
To respect myself, and my brother and my sister
And perfect myself in my own peculiar way

Thanks to Matan for reminding me it was on the old MP3 player. I know it's missing on the new one.

vacation on-site

2010-03-06T14:51:00.004+07:00

Looking back, this week has had quite a lot of ups-and-downs, and yet it hasn't been a bad week. I have been at the American club more than usual, since I started taking my swim suit bag to work and have gotten dropped off to swim around 5pm. It's in the 90s here during the day (32-33C), so the pool has gotten warm enough to be a pleasure.

I realize this is an island in the city; maybe I need some time on the island.

I'm here at the club again this Sat morning since internet isn't working for me at home. Matan's computer works, but he wants it! So I left after I got the load of laundry hung, and came over here to work. Lots of people I know here, fulbrighters, families, friends, Matan's teachers. I'll go swimming when the sun isn't quite so high overhead.

Matan got back from Bhutan on Thursday. He said the trekking was very challenging but that he was able to keep up. Some of the kids got left behind for some city touring since they clearly were not up to 5-6 hours a day of hiking. I suppose it's better that way, I don't think they could wait for people who couldn't get to the day's destination. I'll see if he'll let me post some of his pictures or if the teachers have some that he might be in! His camera screen was broken so he was guessing -- still he took 50 pictures and I got some commentary.

The challenges this week had to do with plagiarism and reconsidering how the course has to be taught. It's not enough to have them figure out how the parenthetical citations should look in their papers (there pretty much aren't any citations); I'll have to show them how they look in papers done correctly. It's not a revision issue, it's brand new to them. Or so they say. But intellectual property is just not the same concept here: our textbook is photocopied.

Other than that, the tax stuff is disturbing, but we'll be ok.

Only three more months to get everything done. Shaked is planning to come in May, so she'll get that urgent final opportunity/drive to see all of the sites I haven't seen yet!

Finally, I'm working on a keynote speech for a conference in two weeks. On Children's Literature. More to come. This weekend I read Mirror Mirror, a take-off on Snow White. Warming up for writing.

Meanwhile, better finish the grading...

one last ornery note

2010-03-03T19:10:00.002+07:00

even the little reece's peanut butter cups were cruddy. don't think it was mold -- they didn't smell bad or taste wrong, but they had grown or morphed little bumps on the top, and I just don't appreciate them looking that way. I'm willing to try lots of new things and risk occasional upset stomach, but the old things, they should look the way I'm used to.

and the doctor asked yesterday if I was deliberately losing weight. I said no. but have I ever tossed out 95% of a bag of Reeces?

another way to think about the Fulbright

2010-03-03T18:32:00.003+07:00

It's been an ornery day.

Before 6am, I found 2 plagiarized papers. I am particularly pissed because I want to read with trust -- to believe my students have come up with these ideas and this prose. I don't want to suddenly think, oops, another sentence I'd better run by google.

Gave midterms today. Didn't get papers graded to give back. Takes a whole lot longer when I have to run so many of them through google.

And my home computer is no longer connecting to the internet. Modem seems to be dead. Matan's computer is still good, but I suspect he'll want to use it occasionally when he gets back tomorrow.

What else? Narrowing down our spring break plans to Nepal pretty much as everything else costs over $1000 for two people for airfare. I'm fine with trekking and Nepal is beautiful. Need to stop comparing others' choices. Ok, yes, Bali and Malaysia and Thailand.

Must write keynote speech. Children's Literature conference in 2 weeks.

finally, we could think about fulbright funding as our choice to come for a year, and we chose to bring Matan, and that was expensive. financially, yes, it would have been far wiser to come alone for one semester and find a room, rather than an apartment. But that would have been such a different experience and Matan wouldn't have been able to come for just one semester (at least that's what we thought at the time. I think now we could have, just wouldn't have gotten any funding. even without funding and with Matan, one semester would have been less expensive). but very different.

anyway. going out again tonight. and I've been swimming most days this week.

Are you sure you can afford that Fulbright grant?

2010-03-03T09:10:00.003+07:00

If our preliminary tax preparation doesn't change by much, it looks like we owe over one-third of the Fulbright grant back in increased income taxes. Taking into consideration the tuition we paid for Matan's international high school (even with the generous subsidy, also highly taxed), that means that the grant covered exactly the taxes and tuition. Therefore, Peleg family, MN, paid the flights, the visas, the extra health insurance for dependents, the rent, the food, the transportation, the classes, the clothes, ... stop me here, I don't know if I really want to come out of denial yet.

Not to mention any consequences for our daughter seeking financial aid at college since it looks like there was an increase in income. Not sure subsequent return in income tax payments shows through quite as clearly.

OUCH.

writing center

2010-02-28T22:16:00.005+07:00

One of the undertakings I've been involved with in the last six months has been establishing a writing center. I think I functioned mostly as a sounding board while Lisa organized. I did sit in on the hiring committee and we hired Sammara who has been doing most of the work since then. The space is lovely, the mentors are trained and slowly the students are trickling in for writing help. We had the inauguration ceremony today on the last day the Vice-Chancellor was working before the new one took his place.

book fair

2010-02-27T10:10:00.016+07:00

Yesterday I went to the book fair with my friends Lisa and Mahmud (my officemate). It goes on for the whole month of February, celebrating language, literacy and mother language days.

We met at the central public library and national museum. The banners were interesting. There was also a small public demonstration about recent violence in the more remote provinces.

I don't remember what this banner said, but the pointy thing is a musical instrument, not a sword.

This one definitely had an anti-imperialist (esp American) message.

Then we walked through a handwriting contest. Hundreds of kids were copying out a passage in their best script.

Some are more religiously observant, or at least dressed that way.

We walked along the Dhaka University campus. This was work the art students had done.

(someone should tell me to straighten my shirt and collar!).

Mahmud.

I'll probably never read Bangla at the level of The Little Prince, so I decided a picture was easier to carry than a book.

Inside the book fair. It was enormous -- went on and on.

Bubble-blowing!

Face painting and hand painting -- the messages are about Mother Language Day and the Bengladeshi flag.

Lisa and Flat Stanley -- someone who travels with her and is eventually returned to her nieces and nephews.

Books in English...

more books in English...

and a few books in Bangla, some rhymes I know, but phonetically, not in Bangla script. Well, it gives me something to work on!

off to swim.
a good Shabbat -- 3 loads of wash done, grocery shopping and some brownies (too dense) made. need a better recipe.

have to decide soon about Matan's spring break -- over pesach -- maybe a seder in Kathmandu? or a beach in Thailand. not sure.

moWmachi moWmachi

2010-02-23T19:41:00.004+07:00

moWmachi moWmachi
kotha jaW naci naci
daRaW na Ekbar bhay
oy phul phoTe bone
jay modhu ahorOne
daRabar SOmOYto nay

the bee, the bee
where are you going dancing?
please stop once brother
that flower blooms in the forest
I go to collect for the honey
no time to stay.

choTo pakhi choTo pakhi
kicimici Daki Daki
kotha jaW, bole jaW Suni
Ekhon na kobo kOtha
aniYachi trino Lota
apOnar baSa age buni.

little bird, little bird
where are you going, chirping?
where do you go, tell me and I'll hear.
I will not talk to you now
I brought twigs
First I build my house.

pipilika, pipilika
dOl bOl chiRi Eka
kotha jaW, jaW bhay boli.
Siter SOncOY cay
khaddo khujitechi tay
chOY paYe pil pil coli

ant, ant
your group left you alone
where are you going?
tell me, then go.
I want a winter reserve,
therefore I am searching for food,
with my six legs moving moving I go.

Since I'm not making much progress on conversation, I'm learning nursery rhymes. There's a book launch tomorrow about Bangla rhymes, but it's across town about 30 minutes after I finish teaching, so I'm hoping to get a copy of the book without going. Might yet get to the book fair before it ends at the end of February.

otherwise in the news, quiet day at school. grading, writing center (no students yet), baking these not-very-kosher biscuits. without the onions since Matan doesn't like onions. wish he was home. I still get nervous after dark, though he's usually not home before dark. sigh. of course, no electricity makes it seem all the darker.

rickshaw numbers today

2010-02-22T20:16:00.004+07:00

the first one grumbled about 30 taka even though he agreed on the price before I got in.

the CNG driver (1) said 100 to the campus, I said fine, and we went 3 blocks before the CNG broke down.

the second CNG driver said 50 to campus, I said fine, and we zoomed off. I think this is where my appetite goes -- I'm not really frightened, but my stomach stays about 3 kilometers behind and never really catches up.

after school, going to look for the swiss army knife, the rickshaw driver agreed to 30 taka, and then at the end, gave me correct change for 50 and smiled.

the next rickshaw driver, going about 1/2 the distance of the previous one, agreed to 30 before I got in, and then upon arrival wouldn't give me change for 50, wanted more, I scrounged and came up with 30 in small bills and walked away even though he was still strongly disagreeing.

the last rickshaw driver agreed to 30 taka before I got in, but when I got home wouldn't give me more than 10 taka change for 50. I no longer had small enough change. so I said fine.

I need to take it all more in stride.

Lest you think that I could just easily pay more, it's true, I could. But what Matan and I have discovered, time and time again, if we offer 50, they assume that we have no clue about anything, and then say 100. Or, as happened last week, 500. So we're learning that we have to enter into the negotiations, in order to preserve some sanity. I tried that "offer more" route. It backfired every time. But over time, yes, I just prefer to walk if possible. Which, of course, then deprives people of their livelihoods.

when they don't read

2010-02-22T20:07:00.002+07:00

So a couple of weeks ago I dismissed a class when it seemed like only one person had read the assignment. Most of the folks didn't even have a copy yet.

They were surprised. That worked once.

Today when the reading quiz results were dismal, the answer was not to say, ok, bye, but to ask how many had a copy of the short story with them. About half. I started thinking of alternatives.

OH. Writing. Indeed. So they had an in-class essay about plot and characters and pov, etc, that they had gone over in tutorial (those who came) and they could use the essay they should have read (much better if they do, since the next essay will be built on this story), or, if they don't have it, there's a handy short story in the text. In any case, I'm not discussing the elements of the short story with a bunch of people who haven't read it yet.

So they wrote. Or they read. Many of them read. Such is life.

elsewhere in the news:
the largest and fastest elevator was not working at school today. it's easier to go up many flights than to go down, at least in my knees' opinion. I just didn't even go back up after the second class.

got the swiss army knife for Matan's trip. huge sigh of relief. only went to two more stores today.

have to write some midterms. can hardly believe we're there already next week.

many skype conversations about fafsa and taxes and financial aid and summer plans. hard to believe we're there already, too.

measured

2010-02-21T13:45:00.003+07:00

Most days I think this adventure was a good idea.

On the days that the folks in the States struggle with the complications of taxes and FAFSAs, and if those same days it particularly seems like they didn't really need an extra English teacher, and the rickshaw drivers have decided that I am a walking atm funding person, then I take a deep breath, and say, overall I think this will have been a good idea.

language martyrs - Shaheed Minar

2010-02-21T12:51:00.008+07:00

While I didn't go to the memorial site today, I did get this small memorial banner yesterday. Most of the salesclerks were wearing them, so I asked for one. They were surprised, but one went off and got one, brought it back and pinned it on me.

Issues of language use started soon after the partition, with Pakistan legislating Urdu as the state language. In the early 1950s, language was one of the significant issues of the emerging nationalism.

Now Feb 21 is a worldwide holiday: International Mother Language Day. So even as we celebrate here, I certainly have qualms that my kids do not read and write very well in their own mother language. hmmm.

Otherwise this week -- Matan and I spent the first half of the week getting better. Lots of sleep. I went back to the clinic Tues and Thurs and it seems that the tests are fine. Back to classes, and even a make-up class for one I missed while sick. Still have prep and papers to grade for next week, but it seems more possible now.

Back to cooking, cleaning and laundry, and feeling better about being caught up. AND I even went out yesterday to buy some clothes. I'd postponed this as long as I could since the last time I went to this store, nothing fit. But the weather is warm (over 30C -- in the 80sF) and jeans are not necessary to keep warm anymore, so it was time to try again. This time I had many choices and had to pick and choose! What colorful options there are: purples and greens and oranges!

Finally, even though I'm cooking for fun, I think I'll never really cook seriously here as long as I can call and get this wonderful, spicy fish surrounded by vegetables, delivered. sigh.

better

2010-02-20T11:56:00.003+07:00

feeling better, better weather (air is clearer), classes going pretty well.
Matan is back to school, but only for a week, then his class trip trekking in Bhutan.
I'll write more later.

history re-written

2010-02-16T22:42:00.002+07:00

DHAKA: Bangladesh will rename all government institutions named after "illegal autocratic ruler" Ziaur Rahman, a former president, a day after it rechristened the Dhaka international airport named after him, sparking strong protest from the opposition BNP.

A cabinet meeting last night renamed the airport Hazrat Shahjalal, after a great Muslim saint when it also decided to change the names of other establishments after Rahman, the general-turned-politician who had founded the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) currently being led by his wife Khaleda Zia.

"According to the cabinet decision no structures or institutions will bear name of illegal autocratic ruler Ziaur Rahman following the High Court verdict regarding cancellation of the Fifth Amendment," prime minister Sheikh Hasina's press
secretary Abul Kalam Azad told reporters during a post meet briefing last night.

He added that the cabinet also decided to change the name of Shaheed Ziaur Rahman University, Barisal to Barisal University.

Referring to an earlier civil aviation ministry proposed Azad said the renaming of ZIA was justified also as all other major airports were named after great Islamic Sufi saints who shaped the peoples mind with their liberal outlook.

But in an instant reaction BNP said the government would have "pay severely" for the decision saying a countrywide movement would be launched as a protest.

------------------------------------------------------------

If I understand correctly:
The Fifth Amendment had legalized the Rahman government. Now the Supremee Court has declared it retroactively illegal. I think.

The opposition party, the BNP, (headed by Rahman's widow), had just this week, returned to Parliament after boycotting it for months. What a welcome.

-------------------------------------------------------------

So I talk to Matan about how history is written, about signs of legitimacy, and sometimes about Monty Python.

-------------------------------------------------------------

The History Teacher
Billy Collins

Trying to protect his students' innocence
he told them the Ice Age was really just
the Chilly Age, a period of a million years
when everyone had to wear sweaters.

And the Stone Age became the Gravel Age,
named after the long driveways of the time.

The Spanish Inquisition was nothing more
than an outbreak of questions such as
"How far is it from here to Madrid?"
"What do you call the matador's hat?"

The War of the Roses took place in a garden,
and the Enola Gay dropped one tiny atom
on Japan.

The children would leave his classroom
for the playground to torment the weak
and the smart,
mussing up their hair and breaking their glasses,

while he gathered up his notes and walked them home
past flower beds and white picket fences,
wondering if they would believe that soldiers
in the Boer War told long, rambling stories
designed to make the enemy nod off.

(thanks to Kelly for sending me this book).

borrowed mantra

2010-02-15T21:43:00.004+07:00

I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.
--Theodore Roethke

via New Kid

for days when I feel like I'm really not taking advantage of all of the opportunities here.

and then Matan says I'm getting old.
and short.
but those are not bad things, he adds.

hoping for renewed energy and wonder.

and where did you come from in January

2010-02-14T18:31:00.004+07:00

that since then you have been feeling cruddy? what a great perspective on the doctor's part, because, you know, she's right. I was pretty fine for months. and then I went away and when I came back, I just haven't been feeling quite right. so while we've pretty much rejected malaria since the spikes in the fever are really mild (but there will be blood tests for this and dengue and everything), but did I look at Jordan as carefully as I considered Bangladesh before deciding whether we needed malaria pills? (not necessary in either case). interesting, indeed.

so I'm on antibiotics because there is definitely "noise" in my chest and whether it's more about breathing or more about sinuses, it doesn't really matter, the antibiotics will work their thing. I've done the productive coughing for the past week!

but the rickshaw driver just really chose the wrong time to give me a nasty speech. I didn't understand the words, but I know that what I was offering to get from the American School to United Hospital (for their pharmacy), was twice what he'd charge a Bangladeshi. I'm used to that. but I wasn't up for paying three times it and get scolded, too. so I paid him more than he was asking, said no to the change, and said that I wouldn't go with him again. not that he necessarily understood me anymore than I understood him. but he's one of 3-4 rickshaw wallahs at the school and I can choose not to go with him. Matan says they ask him for money whenever he goes by (on his bike). I know, I know, we have so much more money than they do, but I'm exhausted. Sometimes the whole ride is dragged out to twice as long as need be while I hear the stories of the children and the brothers and how it would just make all the difference if I'd give them 1000 taka. (I don't always have 1000 taka, but they're sure I do). This for a 20 taka ride. I get why Matan prefers his bike.

Nonetheless, it is a beautiful ride. I just don't always have the energy.

blog silence

2010-02-12T18:27:00.007+07:00

I'm sure I will feel better. sooner or later. meanwhile, I'll go to the clinic on Sunday since the fever is going up, not down. no Ball for me tonight, nor Book Fair tomorrow.

some pictures to remind me that it's been a busy week. I haven't slept it all away, though the last 48 hours have been pretty much sleep.

the flowers in Jan and Feb here are fabulous and the weather (except the dusty air and the mosquitoes) is perfect. Last weekend, I went to Matan's school's International Fair and worked at the American booth.

We had a commencement ceremony on Sunday with the President of Bangladesh speaking. On Saturday we had to have a rehearsal -- in a different location, so it was sort limited in its effectiveness. But I did get to go out with my colleagues for fasika (I think that's what it was called - have to check). (uh, the small person in front is not in my department but people like to get their pictures taken here!).

and the night of the commencement, yes, I remember it clearly, Sabreena brought over a mosquito net for my bed and I've slept well ever since!

classes are going ok - up and down with one class, to the extent that I sent them packing about a week ago when it seemed that noone had done the reading. Sabreena, the TA, is helping the students understand what I'm expecting, and helping me understand what they need. She did the tutorial yesterday on her own when I stayed home sick.

Matan is working hard at school and I'm impressed that he hasn't missed an assignment since we got back from Israel. He's doing his registration for next year for Mounds View already. Also getting many emails from colleges since he did the PSAT a year early (they do it both sophomore and junior years here).

I really feel like I've been fine most days, and then boom, I get a bad cough or cold or stomach upset, so that the last 6 weeks have been pretty off. not sure how to help organize a conference a month from now -- all of my energy has gone into classes since I've tried to take advantage of the days I feel fine.

One question I haven't answered: why Bangladesh? It was pretty much a matter of things falling into place. I wanted a sabbatical that would take me out of the States. I was pretty much open to the whole world, but definitely had a preference for Asia. The Fulbright people at a women's studies conference suggested that I use their search function to see which countries were looking for what. I plugged in community college teachers (many countries actually prefer teachers who are used to pretty heavy teaching loads and little time for research) and women's studies. I also did a cc teachers/American lit search. Well, the answers come up alphabetical so Bangladesh was at the top of both lists. Lots of the options removed themselves: much of Africa wanted French competency, South America Spanish, and Arab countries Arabic. (not all, but enough that when it came down to specifics like teaching American Lit in Jordan, there was an Arabic langugage knowledge preference, if I remember correctly). Then there were different variations in English subject matter -- like Viet Nam wanted someone to teach journalism. I think it came down to about 10 that would work, I only remember the 3 that I put as my top choices: Bangladesh, Hungary and Trinidad and Tobago.

Next -- at that same conference -- I sat by someone at supper who had been to Dhaka (though her Fulbright had been somewhere else in Asia) who could connect me to the dept head at BRAC. The dept head asked for my resume and wrote a letter of invitation that looked like I was the person they wanted. Since it's so competitive, I think that was probably very helpful.

I really wanted to come to some place that I might not otherwise get to. I thought maybe that a semester might have been adequate, but then Matan wouldn't have had the same option to join me (at least not with 1/2 of his tuition being paid). It's true there were moments (here) that I thought one semester might have been enough, but this second semester -- except for being sick -- has been very different so far. We know more people, we spend less energy on logistics, and while I hardly feel I'll be any kind of expert on Bangladesh, I am asking better questions now than I would have known to ask six months ago.

more crud

2010-02-04T18:46:00.002+07:00

so as Matan says, it's more than every other week. this is the third time since we got back from Israel that I'm just not feeling well. sleeping enough at night, mild sore throat, no fever, just not zooming.

and folks, usually I do zoom a bit more than this. maybe it's the 5 flights of stairs and the 15-20 liters of water? they seem to be getting heavier, instead of lighter. hmmmm.

but we have plans -- this weekend is the International Fair at Matan's school (must make chocolate chip cookies by noon tomorrow), and then the rehearsal for the convocation on Saturday afternoon, and the convocation itself on Sunday. hope to make aerobics Sunday 4pm, but not sure that I'll be back in the area by then.

next weekend I'm going to a ball. I've never been to a ball. and the next day, to the national book fair with a university group.

so we do stay busy, what with teaching and some cooking (lasagna in the oven tonight)and lots of reading and some writing.

we have tickets home

2010-02-03T09:47:00.003+07:00

it's an odd feeling. there's a deadline now (June 12th) to see and do everything I haven't gotten to yet.

not feeling well (again), but I slept many hours last night and hope to nip whatever it is.

big weekend ahead with graduation ceremonies, rehearsals, dinners, and the inevitable traffic jam and logistic considerations. the president of Bangladesh will be at the ceremony on Sunday so no bags, cameras, phones (?), etc. it will be interesting.

reading, writing, thinking

2010-01-31T09:50:00.004+07:00

Good books this weekend: Mary Oliver's Rules for Dance (thanks Kelly!) and Wiillem Van Schendel's A History of Bangladesh.

Matan wanted to know why Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the "Father of the Country," was assassinated in 1975, and, you know, none of the newspapers talk about the situation in the country before the overthrow. Perhaps this is because the current government is so closely related to the one overthrown and history is now being written in this direction. Anyway, I was ready to read and this book was one that I'd started before. Turns out that, as I tell my students, I could read just the sections I was interested in that day, and went backwards and forwards as my interests lead me.

Good conversations, esp with Lendy and Tom, about our expectations and work here as fulbrighters. Maybe having the tickets back to the States (June 12th) now sets a very real deadline for anything else I want to see and do.

So, it's time to get to work. Lots to do before teaching tomorrow. Classes are challenging as I strive to find the middle ground between expecting too much and too little, explaining too much or too little, and listening carefully to what the students are saying and not saying.

Bangla nursery rhymes, Poe, and a children's film festival

2010-01-30T12:51:00.001+07:00

Reconstructing a week's worth of outings... feeling wonderfully included in the happenings that the folks in my department know about. also Sabreena is a neighbor, and offers me a ride back at night, immensely widening my horizons. I'm so grateful!

Last Saturday the British Council was the venue for a talk "Bangla Nursery Rhymes: An International Perpspective" by Prof. Afia Dil.

She spoke about Bengali culture as an amalgamation of cultures and noted that the Benagli face is the most beautiful in the world since it is a combination of all faces! This mixture of cultures is revealed in the nursery rhymes. She talked about the role of nursery rhymes in teaching language and said that every fruit, flower, and color is included in a Bengali rhyme. However, in too many rhymes, the girls are still debased, as she said, though that is changing. Other changes include cultural changes, political changes and a reflection of communal identities. One example that particularly spoke to me was her explanation of the lack of the word "thank you" (there is a word, but not used often). The expression is more facial acknowledgement, but actually not using the word is explained by "thank you" being inadequate. That would conclude the transaction and, in fact, mean you were even. More often, not having thanks at the end means quite frankly, yes, you are still beholden and, no, two words will not do it! The discussion was primarily in Bangla so I did not follow it (though Sabreena helped keep me from being completely lost!). One interesting issue was the idea of natural calamaties as part of a philosophical approach, but I did not understand if there were rhymes that reflect this. One universal aspect of the rhymes is the moon, obviously seen all over the world. She suggests that its change, renewal, newness, is something that, yes, we see in our children. They are always new.

On the panel: Prof. Shamshad Murtaza (he studied at Arizona around the same time I was there), Prof. Firdous Azim (my dept head at BRAC), Prof. Afia Dil and Prof. Wahil Ahmed.

(in the middle of this week, we also went to a lecture at IUB about Edgar Allan Poe)

And then Thursday night a group of students and faculty went to the children's film festival. Piled into cars, getting through lots of traffic, (now I understand better why Matan's cello teacher finds it difficult to get to our house -- it's probably 2 hours each way during the afternoon and evening), and finally getting to Alliance Francaise.

Tapan Sinha (1924 - 2009) directed the film we saw. "Golpo Holo Satti is a satirical film on how a heaven-sent servant (played by Robi Ghosh) brings order and peace to a quarreling disorganised family. Bhanu Banerji and some lesser-known actors (with the exceptions of Bharati and Chaya Devi) comprise the cast. This was remade in Hindi by Hrishikesh Mukherji as Bawarchi, with Rajesh Khanna in the lead role" (Wikipedia).

I wish I had the names for everyone in this picture. For the most part, the faculty are behind the students...

We also tried to get to a poetry reading after the movie. If the movie ended at 6:30pm and the reading was at 7:30 pm and the distance was probably 5 miles? no, by 8pm we were apparently not even near yet. so we gave up and came home. Could have been interesting: an Italian professor reading Urdu poetry in which language? I never know if I'm going to understand or not. Fortunately the movie had subtitles in English. YEA!

in the news

2010-01-29T17:51:00.005+07:00

didn't hear the news about the hangings in the night until later in the day Thursday. the newspaper didn't come on time in the morning (and when we got it, it was a 2nd edition). did see mild protests in the streets. the article in the NYTimes doesn't mention that the head of the country who was assassinated in 1975 was the current prime minister's father.

and in an article about honor killings:

"The news from Bangladesh is that a teenage girl was recently punished with 101 lashes after she was raped and impregnated. Village elders apparently decide such matters in rural Bangladesh where Sharia law prevails. The girl's family quickly married her off but when the pregnancy emerged her husband demanded a divorce and reparations. So the elders issued a series of fatwas against the girl's family, fining the father and expelling the family from the village. Oh, and they pardoned the rapist."

sigh. Sharia Law does not prevail in most of Bangladesh, and, in fact, several political parties have recently had their charters revoked based on their demands for more rigid implementation of Islamic laws. but the rural areas are apparently quite different. learning every day.

another class completed at HEED language center

2010-01-29T17:17:00.004+07:00

The center is moving down the street for those who might come back looking for it. My phonetics II class consists of two nuns, Sr Helen and Sr Mallow, from the Phillipines, one retired fellow, Murray, from New Zealand (here long-term) and one Australian, Leah, who recently married a Bengali guy. Our teachers were Sultana and Jean.

Murray and his wife have purchased this rickshaw for the guy who drives it. He's independent most of the week and then on the weekends works for them for a salary. That's Murray's wedding picture (I think) on the back of the rickshaw.

I'm going to continue next month with private tutoring, one hour a day, three days a week. On the days I don't teach, since I found it really difficult to get to the Bangla classes when I was thinking more about upcoming classes.

over the counter

2010-01-29T15:52:00.009+07:00

oral rehydration therapy. yup. kind of like gatorade but about 5 cents a packet. should have had this handy, they told us in orientation, but until you really need it, you don't look for it. there was even a dialogue about it in our Bangla book. apparently it's one of those really important concepts here...

So according to Wikipedia, ORS (oral rehydration solutions) are available from UNICEF and mentions Bangladesh as an example of significant success with this fairly simple product.

And while I was at the pharmacy, I got some medicine for a burn that hadn't healed. No prescriptions necessary here.

rooftop party

2010-01-29T14:20:00.012+07:00

Last Thursday night we were invited to a rooftop party. I promised pictures. Here they are -- thanks John and Samantha, who live next door to us here.

So, as I said, it was our landlord's 32nd birthday party, but also the opportunity to have a party for his wife who is 7 months pregnant. She sat, surrounded by sweets, as each person came and sat next to her to feed her something and to receive a sweet in return. (The colorful backgrounds are sheets that were hung around the edges of the roof. I think it might have been chilly otherwise, and certainly less festive!).

This is her mother-in-law.

Her father-in-law.

Her husband.

And, of course, you knew this was coming: me!

The Importance of Elsewhere

2010-01-29T13:15:00.004+07:00

by Philip Larkin

Lonely in Ireland, since it was not home,
Strangeness made sense. The salt rebuff of speech,
Insisting so on difference, made me welcome:
Once that was recognised, we were in touch

Their draughty streets, end-on to hills, the faint
Archaic smell of dockland, like a stable,
The herring-hawker’s cry, dwindling, went
To prove me separate, not unworkable.

Living in England has no such excuse:
These are my customs and establishments
It would be much more serious to refuse.
Here no elsewhere underwrites my existence.

via Sharon Gerald. works for me.

technical difficulties

2010-01-29T12:11:00.002+07:00

quite possibly I should not have uninstalled the modem on my computer. even though it's been telling me to do so for quite some time (different versions, apparently).

so now it does not connect anymore. I'm using Matan's computer for this. all of my pictures are on the other machine. I've been trying to upload them for the last week. that's part of the reason I finally uninstalled. that and it would throw me out about once an hour.

I may take my computer over to the American club and hope it works there. they would also bring me food and drinks. just have to wait for the wash to finish and get it hung on this beautiful sunny day.

birthdays and parties

2010-01-23T10:12:00.010+07:00

This week we went out! YEA!
But first we had a quiet birthday for Matan on Sunday. His mom got him a silly metal sculpture of a rickshaw.

Colorful, though, eh? Sometimes he'd rather not arrive to a destination by rickshaw when everyone else has drivers. And sometimes he'd rather not arrive with his mom. OK, definitely his 16th birthday.

On Tuesday night, we went to a friend's birthday party in a nearby neighborhood. They have three boys so Matan was very happy to be there.

On the way we saw a building lit up for a wedding. There are weddings nearly every night during the winter. The parties are up on the roof.

On Wednesday, the whole department interrupted a professor's class to wish him a happy birthday and have some cake!

On Thursday our landlord called and said that we were invited to a party on the roof that night! I'm so glad we didn't have plans since it was a real treat. I'll add pictures of it later (when I saw that my neighbor had a camera, I asked if he'd send me pictures). Turns out that not only was it his 32nd birthday, but a chance to celebrate his wife's 7th month of pregnancy. Here the pregnant woman gets new (and in this case) very sparkly clothes and sits surrounded by sweets. Each person comes up and sits nexts to her and feeds her a sweet. She, in return, feeds that person. Lovely ceremony. And then everyone eats all of the sweets. Then birthday cake. Then a huge dinner. All up on the roof.

It was the first time, in nearly six months, that I met the women of the family.

I wasn't feeling well at all so I really couldn't eat anything. What a shame. I had some kind of stomach flu or food poisoning from Thurs through Sat. Finally feeling better. We've been pretty fortunate not to have had any serious gastro problems, but there are days that we have to go easy because something's disagreed with our systems.

I also got a present this week:

Odd that I didn't realize how much I needed a desk. Maybe working in bed is not efficient? I know that I don't like doing work at the dining room table here. So now I have this very nice desk in my study corner of my room, surrounded by windows facing east with great morning sun. (Ok one direction faces south into another building [site] with concrete views. we'll ignore that one, there are curtains).

the washing machine, the roof, and somewhat at sea

2010-01-15T14:02:00.011+07:00

Warm and sunny makes all the difference in my mood.

It's been an awkward return. I, once again, feel like I am the introvert at the party among the folks I see. It's so hard to talk. Need to call some of the people I know and meet for coffee or an evening meal. Today I did meet Lisa for brunch and we're going to see Invictus at red shift later this afternoon.

So this week:

Sunday I just felt socially inept. period. I was back at HEED and felt like I'm a remedial language learner (and socially, too, as well...six months in the country and I'm back at step one. meet new people since the ones I met in August are now gone...). Walked to the PTA meeting and met a few more new folks, but started to feel as though I'm here very temporarily and the end is clearly in sight. One of the people talked about vegetable gardens on the roof, but that's really only for people planning ahead over the next few seasons. I realized that the cooking lessons they were talking about were for their cooks (to learn things like lasagna). I'd like to find lessons in how to go to market and cook what's here.

Took a rickshaw to work, but he went in such a round-about manner that I could have gotten there faster walking. Finally, worked on syllabi, felt quite lump-like as everyone else was swept up into the chaos of advising -- loud, lots of people, lots of running about -- and then suddenly all of my colleagues were gone. I think they went to lunch and probably thought I had a ride at 4pm (since the next day they asked me, maybe as an afterthought?). anyway. I just took my stuff and started walking home.

Was that the day I went to the American club? It's all sort of blending together in my mind. I think it was. Met up with Alex and met his wife, Bridget, and their new baby. Met Rebecca and Andrew. When I poke my head in, I usually see people I know.

Monday I think I worked with Sabreena a bit -- she's going to be the TA for my class of 7 people in research methodology. Tuesday I went out to Savar (wrote about that already). Wednesday - think I should have stayed home sick, but wanted to get to the Bangla class since I missed it Tuesday.

At work it seems like I'm changing about 75% of the class materials, so while I'm teaching the same two classes, they have very different lesson plans. Of course, having some of the same people repeat the class encourages me to think about presenting the material in a different manner (they didn't get it the first time) and maybe I can choose more accessible materials. I did get my evals and they were fine. In the research class they were even excellent.

Thursday was the end of advising and the result was that one of my colleagues didn't have enough students in her class. So she was going to have to teach mine. This was quite a shock. She was no happier than I was. Apparently I prefer to teach more than to be relieved of a class (!), but I think it also seemed to come at a moment that I was feeling particularly far from home and kind of questioning whether all this upheaval is actually contributing something. In any case, her class made -- with 5 students -- by the deadline on Thursday afternoon and she and I were both pleased. The dept head texted me later that she was glad it worked out; she's happy that the students are getting me for a teacher as much as possible.

So that's this week. Except Thursday evening when both of us were home by 7pm and retired to our rooms with books and computers and seemed like the most anti-social or unsocial beings around. Wish I was modeling "friend-making" better for Matan. It's definitely not one of my strong points. I'm pretty good in the long term (so I don't feel sorry for myself), but in light of this characteristic, I kind of wonder if short term opportunities like this might not be better utilized by more outgoing folks.

And now, for something completely different: a washing machine! YEA! and our roof-top drying space. Along with views of Dhaka from the roof. Yes -- buildings in every direction. But, lots of green poking up between the buildings on every possible piece of land. So today is sunny and warm and one load of laundry is dry already, and another hung. Unlike one of the days this week when Matan's gym clothes took 3 days to dry (he has a spare set, usually that's enough)!

another cold

2010-01-12T19:15:00.002+07:00

knocks me out a bit. even the out-of-town beauty of the Savar campus was not enough to make me feel better. the commute was just more than it was worth. left the house at 7:30am to get there by 10am? I think it's barely 10 miles up the road. The return trip in the afternoon, with terrible traffic (I mean the kind that the driver thought was so bad that he got off the main road and cut through a market...), took less than an hour to get home. hmmm. less than an hour to go 10 miles and that's good?

can we say comfort food? bread pudding cooking. glad that the humous was already made. ready to curl up under the blankets.

I'll catch up another time.

struggling with the syllabi

2010-01-09T16:08:00.002+07:00

I asked the dept head for feedback as I prepare the new syllabi. She said maybe a little less intimidating? (and didn't give me the evaluations.... hmmm).

Thinking more about the ones who didn't pass and those who struggled. Changing lots of content, but today, as I was reading blogs in between writing, over at Bardiac's there was a comment offering the article by Mano Singham "Death to the Syllabus." sigh. I also go back and forth, from the less constructed to the highly detailed. I'm more comfortable with the details, but since my students usually don't read them, I do wonder what's the point? In my online classes there's a syllabus quiz. I supposed I should do that in my f2f classes as well.

I do like to keep the schedule on one page. Easy to move chunks when we don't finish something as fast as I thought. Easy to see where the deadlines are. But I tend to have a lengthy document, too. So what I need to do is adjust this document to avoid the pitfalls that Singham describes:

What such syllabi often omit is any mention of learning. They list the assigned readings but not reasons why the subject is worth studying or important or interesting or deep, or the learning strategies that will be used in the course. The typical syllabus gives little indication that the students and teacher are embarking on an exciting learning adventure together, and its tone is more akin to something that might be handed to a prisoner on the first day of incarceration.

Why this is an exciting endeavor. I can do that, right?

folks

2010-01-09T12:28:00.004+07:00

So, we're back now almost 5 days and we've learned new things about no gas and no water, and how cold it can get in Dhaka. But I think we're fine, for the most part.

I'd say the real challenge is to remember to take advantage of this different place, that we only have 5 months left here. Yes, you might think I'm a bit crazy to look at it this way, but really, when I look at a call for papers for a conference in November, in the States, and want to submit something about women and gender studies here, I draw a blank. Well, I'd better get going if I want to learn something in this direction. It's not coming to me in my lovely 5th floor apartment, full of sunshine, and computer access to Pioneer Woman. (oh what wonderful recipes, we had the chicken part of the chicken parmigiana last night). I got totally distracted in the last 48 hours by politics in the States (catching up, since I certainly wasn't following along while surrounded by family in Israel), and new blogs that I'm not sure I really need to add to my days. On the other hand, I was intrigued by this post about interesting lives vs. happy lives here, and I don't think that one precludes the other, but there are moments when I need to think about what motivates me and what makes me (and others dear to me) happy.

So, today, I think I need to help Matan pull himself out of the internet and into his homework, his cello and getting a new swimsuit. I need to get myself set with all those assignments I brought home, sure that with my few weekend plans, I'd be getting through all of the books. Spent some time yesterday friending (on Facebook) some folks I know are in Dhaka, but haven't made enough efforts to get in touch with them. Signed up for more language classes since the tutoring plan did not speak to me enough to get me there: the best part of the studying at HEED was meeting other people and learning together. So I'm going to backtrack to phonetics II since I've forgotten too much to go forward at this point.

That's the plan. I still have a week before classes start. I'm thrilled that some of my 201 students will be in my 301 class. Looking forward to getting started once again.

So it's not the lack of water or gas or being cold that has made this week a bit difficult, but the sudden withdrawal from 10-15-20 people at the supper table on Gvulot. Or even 5-6 people in Beer Sheva. I think I speak for Matan here, as well, we miss you folks.

Gas rationing

2010-01-07T10:40:00.002+07:00

Apparently the lack of gas in Dhaka will be alleviated by a plan to ration among the industrial users. Seems to be a problem related to the relatively cold weather. We had gas this morning AND hot water for showers!

one day at a time

2010-01-06T12:17:00.005+07:00

writing syllabi. working with the new thumb drive which is firmly attached to my keys with one of those plastic loops (that don't release once placed -- what are they called?). too many thumb drives lost, shared and laundered in the past couple of months.

washing upstairs with the new machine. this could be good. meanwhile there seems to be only a trickle of water going in and while it said 55 minutes to go, 20 minutes ago, it now says 52 minutes. hmmm. not in a hurry today.

as for getting the bike fixed, one suggestion was to ask the guards downstairs. maybe my approach about doing things myself is quite inappropriate. and indeed, within an hour the bike was fixed. hmmm.

still only a trickle of gas, and only sometimes. not enough to boil water or cook an egg. no hot water. not sure how this gets solved since the landlord said it's a supply issue. interesting. I think it's probably going to be more of a challenge than the intermittent electricity.

otherwise, settling back in. still no 10 taka notes at the bank. got some warmer bed covers. will get buckets for showers (and Matan took a towel to school so I expect he'll be extra motivated to work out today). (I can go to the American club).

I still have 10 days before I start teaching. Re-reading The House on Mango Street and plan to use it in my lit-based comp class. I suspect they'll like it better than The House of Seven Gables which I'm also re-reading. What was it about houses when I ordered these books?

some pictures from Israel and pictures not taken

2010-01-05T09:44:00.013+07:00

Even though there are over 100 pictures, I wish, as usual, that I'd taken more. Why don't I have a picture of Chava and Yehuda's house on the kibbutz? Or Dinah's house in Beer Sheva? We spent about 90% of our time in those two places but, of course, those are not pictures we took. Probably should have taken a picture of the neon green car we had, too, but it didn't occur to me.

This is a picture of the taxi ride from Amman to the border crossing at Beit Shean in Israel. The landscape seems like a mirror image of Israel: travel from the elevated city down to the valley and across the Jordan river.

We spent the first few days on Gvulot and in Beer Sheva. I finished grading papers, Hanuka ended. There were some sandstorms and cloudy days at first, and then only sunshine. We didn't even have rain in the south (while it was pouring up in Tel Aviv). After the folks from the US joined us Sunday night, we had more days of relaxing. We went swimming on Gvulot and out to eat in Beer Sheva. Some shopping for nice clothes. My friend Marva's daughter got married on Thursday in Ashdod so we saw many people we hadn't seen in years.

On Friday, the Gvulot Pelegs arranged a desert outing to Avdat. We were joined by cousins from the north. This is in the tourist center before we saw a short movie. We looked around for Matan and realized I'd locked him in the back seat of the car (parents aren't supposed to forget kids in cars, and this is a particularly big kid to have forgotten!).

Some pictures (Chava and Kris):

Matan, Hovav, Ronit and Karni are the big people, the two kids are Ronit and Hovav's Omar and Hila on Hovav's shoulders.

We were probably about 25 people with Chava and Yehuda, the MN Pelegs, Karni and Marcelo and their 3 kids (Lior, Noga and Lital), Ronit and Hovav and their 2 kids (Omer and Hila), Gil and Yoav, Doron, and the cousins from up north (another 5 people).

After Avdat, we went to a vineyard and had a tour and wine tasting there.

Lots of discussions about agriculture and politics. Land use in Israel is complicated since private farms, at least remote ones, are not usually authorized by the government. I guess the reasons are both historical (security) and economic (water). Then we went to Park Golda for a huge picnic.

We had a huge Friday night dinner at Chava and Yehuda's with lots of talking well into the night. Saturday morning was easy going between the different houses and lunch was catered at the moadon (meeting room) with lots of slides of the trip that Yehuda had taken all of his kids to Romania last spring.

We heard stories of that trip and more stories about the family. It was great to see with all of the people present so there was a lot of talking! Naps and more visiting finished out that Shabbat.

It's kind of hard to remember what we did day-to-day! We went out walking in the desert, we hung out at cousins and on kibbutz, we visited friends who lived relatively close to Beer Sheva (Michal and Lilac).
Went out to eat in Beer Sheva -- this was at Arabica:

Saw a documentary film on Gvulot that featured one of the people I knew when I lived on Gvulot. Discussion afterwards was particularly interesting about people growing up on kibbutz and leaving for cities, and other countries.

We did go up to Jerusalem on New Year's Eve and saw Jon and his sisters who were touring Israel. We stayed at Noa and Jackie's house and went to Ein Kerem for breakfast, as we have done for 3 of the past 4 years (!), but the resturant that we wanted to show the kids was closed for repairs. So we had brunch at a different place. Good thing there was no hurry since they took 2 hours to serve us!

We went to the ceramic place and had fun before going back to kibbutz. Friday night was Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak's 60th birthday party and the bnei kibbutz (kibbutz kids) came in from all over Israel, so we got to see most of the people we know! Shaked stayed on to go to out with her cousin, Shir.

Saturday was one last trip to Beer Sheva. Aliza and Elisha came down for lunch at Dinah's. Some last minute SuperPharm purchases before going back to the kibbutz and one last big family dinner. It's hard to write about it -- not quite ready for it all to be over for this time.

Shaked, Noga and Omer... Jan 2010.

28 hours to go 4 time zones

2010-01-05T09:29:00.000+07:00

The question was how it took so long to get here? Left kibbutz in southern Israel at 5am Sunday. Jordanian border in northern Israel was supposed to open at 6:30am, wasn't open until 9am because of the FOG (!?!?!?). Takes about 1 hour to go between the borders with lines, fees, bus, lines, fees, taxi and then 2 hours by taxi to Amman. Plane actually left 15 minutes early. Got to Bahrain at 6pm with less than 8 hours scheduled before our next flight (so no hotel provided by airline). Flight delayed, so we did get to stay in airport more than 8 hours (3:15am takeoff) and then --- the best part -- upgraded to business for a solid 4 hour sleep. Arrive Dhaka 11am. Leave the airport at 1pm -- one hour in immigration, one hour --- after that -- still waiting for suitcases. = 28 hours.

vacation

2009-12-29T21:17:00.003+07:00

in Israel. very quiet. sometimes I hear birds. usually not even that. walking in the desert this morning, I just couldn't believe how quiet it is. I'm saving that up for next week.

also how spacious the negev is. also saving up those views.

everyone got here by Sunday night. We've just been hanging out. some talking, some swimming, some walking, lots of eating. some shopping, some movies, a wedding, a family gathering (over 25 people), and then some more eating and hanging out.

almost time to leave. we haven't visited anyone north of Ashkelon. yikes. I suspect we're not going to make it to visit many people this trip. sorry. we really needed to see each other. usually we come together after having been away from here, this time we've come separately and need to see our family. another time -- we'll be back.

in Israel

2009-12-20T12:29:00.002+07:00

Matan and I have been here for a few days now (Wed-Sun), mostly on the kibbutz. The first few days had sandstorms, but yesterday was brilliant. Even Friday afternoon had cleared enough to go picking oranges. I've been grading off and on (really, with 16 papers, how can I even sit down more than once to do them?!) and will be done before the others arrive from the States.

When? who knows. They've been re-routed because of the snowstorm on the east coast. If they arrived in Newark, their new flight is scheduled to take off shortly. So, no, they're not arriving here Sun am. Earliest is now Sun 6pm.

So we're in Beer Sheva. Matan went rappeling yesterday with Doron -- pretty much all day. I'm being pampered with the best food ever, both on kibbutz and here. Hot bath. The quiet is a pleasure. So peaceful and sunny.

In a while I'll go get the rental car. May even try to solve the Bituah Leumi (national insurance) issues, though for some reason, they want us to come to their Ashkelon office(?). Still haven't made many plans, waiting for everyone to be here together.

Hope everyone is safe and warm!

journey to Israel

2009-12-17T16:10:00.006+07:00

Finished teaching for the semester. Collected most of the papers and went home on Tuesday to finish packing. Some bulky presents, but not a lot. Some warm clothes, but not nearly enough (the MN folks will bring us some warmer clothes!).

On the way home from the university, I asked the driver to arrange a cab to take us to the airport at 6:30pm for our 9pm flight. We stopped at a taxi stand and he talked to a driver -- arranged the price, told him where we live, all in Bangla so there wouldn't be any confusion.

Home and packing. Cooked lovely paratha with corn and mozzarella cheese, saved half for later, but the ants got it first. I hate little ants.

We finished and were ready to go on time. Go downstairs and at about 6:35 call the cab driver who says there's a big traffic jam and it will take him a few more miniutes. Go back upstairs to get mosquito spray since sitting downstairs we are just big tasty targets. Call the cab driver every 10 minutes and he keeps saying "big traffic jam" and that he'll be there in 10 minutes. I have other people, one of the other renter's drivers call to clarify in Bangla that the driver is indeed on his way. By 7:15, I'm really scared. We are only about 10-15 minutes from the airport, but everything in Dhaka depends on traffic. If there's a "jam" on the way to the airport, we have to leave early, accordingly.

We walk out to the bigger street to see if we can find a CNG or cab. Of course not. We'd have to go back towards the center -- where the jam is much worse -- to find one. I am so scared that we'll miss our flight that now my brain is working on last resorts. Oh yes, friend at the Radisson, they might have cabs there -- so I call her. She says she'll have one sent immediately. We walk back to our apartment building since 19 rickshaw drivers have offered to take us, even though they are not allowed on the main road to the airport.

At the apartment building the driver-who-didn't-show calls to say he is not in the right neighborhood. I give my phone to the (latest new) apartment manager and ask him to tell the driver that he doesn't need to come. (actually I think much nastier things to tell the driver who had, at that point, over 3 hours to find our apartment building since we arranged for him at 4pm to pick us up at 6:30pm, but I refrain). I start to cry very softly. Waiting for the Radisson guy to come. Now it's 7:45 and our plane leaves in one hour and fifteen minutes. The guard, the other renter's driver, the apartment manager all stand there. Finally they say, here, go in this renter's car and we'll work it out. We get all loaded into that car and the Radisson car comes around the corner. Yes, there had been a train and that blocked traffic for 5-10-15 minutes around here. So we get in the Radisson car and start on our way.

We're at the airport by 8pm (it really is very very close to our apartment), and then race through the lines. The check-in people say we're very lucky since the hold is being closed but they call down to hold it for our suitcase. In this chaos, I lose the book Matan was reading. Pretty sure it stayed at one of those three counters that we were shifted around there. Immigration -- we totally cut the line since our flight was boarding. People were not happy with us.

Boarding as we get there. They separate the men and women but I insist that Matan boards with me. Then we discover the book is missing and I turn around and go back -- but only as far as immigration, can't go out to the ticket counter. No book. Good food, good movie, good sleep -- what more can we ask for? Ok, so getting up at 3am in Bahrain is not ideal, but it's before midnight there. Very orderly procedure for getting to hotel (including transit visa), but squeezed into a van with a few too many people. Nice talk with a woman from Dhaka who is at a different university. Hotel is fine, we go to sleep, I had a nice shower, but no hot water for Matan! Have a buffet breakfast and a beautiful ride back to the airport. What a different city that was. Traffic is orderly, streets are clean, there are sidewalks. Buildings are built. The airport was loaded with things to buy buy buy that you had to walk through to get to your gate. Changed a bit of money and bought someone some fast food...

(not my picture)

Next flight to Amman was pretty quiet. More cosmopolitan than the flight from Dhaka. Also not 98% male.

In Amman we have to change money for the taxi to Israel, and, it turns out, for single-entry visas. So they are $15 each, and once we leave the country (in 2 hours), have to get new ones next time. Still, everything seems to work well. We get the cab and set out. Looks so much like Jerusalem. Zoom through the urban areas and then have stunning views (I'll try to upload the pictures) before we drop below sea level coming into the Jordan valley. Agriculture rules! We also saw a few too many sheep hanging in the meat market. I'd prefer future food to not have heads attached. I got a little green. Matan was also getting carsick from the speed and the sharp curves. By 3pm we were at the border, and then there was a process of walking, cab, walking, bus, walking, through the different stations. They wanted an exit tax from Jordan but I guess my weary objection worked -- we'd only been in the country 2 hours!

Then we waited in the bus for another half hour until we were driven over to the Israeli side. Took awhile to get through immigration -- I don't remember them even asking for the "other" passport before -- usually we just arrive and hand over the Israeli passport as though we've landed from outer space. Nothing since our last exit from Israel. I suppose our American passports are starting to get interesting: visas from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Bahrain and Jordan in the last six months...

Finally we get out and look around and don't see anyone waiting and someone says, go that way, your parents are just outside the gate! And indeed we could see Chava and Yehuda from there! We start to walk toward them and someone yells (in Hebrew of course), no, you have to go back and walk around a different way, and so we do, finally getting out to where we were met.

Lots of hugs -- it's been nearly 2 years since I've been here, and Matan grew 4-5 inches since he was here in July (!) -- and then we get on our way. Stop for shwarma, the boy has been dreaming of this -- and we have wonderful salads. The route to Gvulot is only 3.5 hours now, even with a food stop, on road 6, and we're at a huge family gathering with new nieces I've never met and so many other people who have grown in the last two years.

Slept well, woke up to a sand storm and am glad to be here.

bike buying

2009-12-15T08:16:00.005+07:00

before this fades...
We did go to buy the bike on Saturday. I try to think of an equivalent journey -- it's not like taking off for some unknown neighborhood in Chicago on a gulf cart, but that's about as close as I can come.
We went at 1pm so we'd have lots of daylight -- it wasn't clear if this was going to take 2 or 4 or 6 hours, so I said if we don't leave by 1, we're not going. We walk out to our main road and look for a CNG - that's the 3-wheeled motorized transport. It's allowed on all the main roads. They're not always available and they have been known to charge high fares. OK, so we found one right away but the guy did not seem to understand "Bongshal" and I wasn't sure enough of my pronunciation and/or whether it was a street or a neighborhood. So I look around and yes, already, two or three people are pausing to see if they can help. I describe Bongshal as bikes? and the guy behind me nods and starts to tell the driver. Two more people chime in and a discussion ensues in Bangla. OK, so he's got the idea where we want to go and I make sure that all of the 7-8 people now gathered agree this is the bike street. Yes, yes. Then I ask the driver what the fare will be and he answers (but it's not a number, or at least not one that I understand). I look around again, and my lovely cohort starts negotiating. They tell me he's agreed to 200 taka. I'm surprised (it's 100 to work and that's about 25-30 minutes. I thought this would be at least 500 taka (about $7).

Great -- we're on our way. We ride through the neighborhoods we know, go through the neighborhoods we've seen once or twice (the tour or on a bus) and then we get into unknown territory. I take out the map and the driver tells me where we are. Right direction. Then we go very slowly on some crowded main roads where we are between buses and trucks and can't see much of anything. The popcorn vendors offer us some popcorn. We make slow progress. Going on 2pm. I ask if this is Ramna Park, and yes, then he shows us the Supreme Court. OK. More traffic. More city. The city goes on and on.

Then he says, here we are. No bikes in sight. I ask at the nearest market vendor about bikes. He says other direction. At this point traffic is so thick that we get out to walk and thank the CNG driver very much. We walk across the street and start to see bike stores. These are open market stores -- everything is accessible from the street. Matan starts to ask prices. Too many flashy bikes, mountain bikes, multiple gear bikes.... I wonder if I brought enough money.

We keep walking. There must be 100 stores. Just on this street (we don't realize that it goes on and on beyond, in fact the used bike stores are a whole additional area). Matan finds the bike he wants. Still too much. We keep going. He finds another one like it. This time the price is better. We get ushered into the back of the shop and seated. Don't understand. Are they getting the bike out for him to look at? They want me to pay before he tries it out? No, they're sending someone to bring the bike from storage. They don't actually pull the bike out of the 20 on display (good thing since there was rust on the display bikes). We wait and look around at all the locks and bells, etc. The bike comes. Matan likes it. We pay for it. They start making adjustments. He brings it back to have the seat raised. We ask how to get it home (crucial and unsettling question since we are now many miles from home). They said to walk about 10 minutes to the edge of the market where the motorized traffic starts up again and there to find a CNG and put it on the roof.

We start walking. People ask us how much did it cost? We find the edge of the market but turn to start looking for a cab or CNG and find nothing. This part is a bit unsettling. We ask a rickshaw/flatbed driver, but really it's way too far to go by bike. However, once we start asking questions, lots of people have suggestions. They send a 10 or 12 year-old boy with us back in the direction we came from. He's been told to find us a CNG, help get the bike on the roof and set the price. And he did it! It took about 4 CNGs until one agreed to take us (this uncertainty is challenging) and then he started looking for twine on the street to tie the bike on the top. It worked. He set the price (same 200 taka!) and we were on our way. This driver went a different route, but actually got us back in less than an hour. I think part of the argument at the beginning was whether to take this faster route or not, and the first driver wasn't sure enough about it. So. Here's a picture of the bike upstairs in our living room on the first night and then there's a picture of our morning fog and if you look very carefully, you'll see Matan on his way to school. He looks distant, but that's because I'm taking the picture from the 5th floor. By now he's gone to school 3 days with the bike and is really happy with it. We'll get him a helmet next week when we're in Israel.

bike buying and yesterday's conference

2009-12-14T07:38:00.001+07:00

will be described in a future post.
have to get to school.
flying out tomorrow night.

Happy Hanukah!

2009-12-12T10:17:00.004+07:00

I think we lit candles before anyone else I know! of course, we needed YouTube to help us sing Maoz Tsur! Looking forward to soufganiot and holiday celebrations in Israel next week.

meanwhile, my week in dhaka...

finishing up classes. students are finishing up papers. racing to get them to me by Tuesday, when we leave town. there are still 2 weeks left for them in the semester -- a week of prep for finals (no classes) and then finals from the 24-31 of Dec. Since both of my classes are writing classes, a final paper is ok instead of a final exam.

this morning it would have been nice to know that water aerobics was cancelled but I guess they just figured everyone knew there was a school event today, so the pool wouldn't be available. got a good 30 minute walk home instead. I'm so kvetchy about getting beeped at -- I know the drivers use the horn instead of the brakes when they approach corners. this even makes sense to me for rickshaw drivers: who wants to lose the momentum with an unnecessary stop at an intersection? but cars, they don't have to push those pedals so hard to move from gas to brake. also the cars who approach me from behind, I guess they really want to make sure I don't make any sudden moves, like dashing into the middle of the road from walking on the side, so they beep 3 or 4 times as they approach. just me walking on the side, and them driving down the middle. it's not a conversation.

today's plan: go to Bangshal and find a bike. I'm starting to wonder if we shouldn't just get the *local* too fancy bike for $150 -- since this jaunt is going to be 1-2 hours by cab and who knows what we're going to find there. I think I'm getting less adventurous. certainly less interested in seeing new neighborhoods when the cost is hours and hours and hours in traffic jams.

also today - Matan has to try on hiking boots so that we know whether to get them here or in Israel. If they are very expensive here, we'll get them there. In any case, we'll see what's here and wait to see what's there.

there's a party tonight at HEED that I should go to, but I feel very awkward since I haven't been back to the language center since the end of the script class. I was going to have tutoring, but never did call since it's been a pretty overwhelming last 3 weeks or so. I guess it's also that the people I studied with are not there anymore, so it's mostly people I don't know.

conference tomorrow on being Bengali in the outside world. should be interesting. skipped 2 days of conferences yesterday and today -- feeling a bit lax about not going, but also just needing a weekend.

anyway -- doing pretty well. seem to have reduced the bug issue, the washing machine is ready for us to use when we return, and I'm feeling fine. didn't do much cooking this week (one pizza? bacon cheeseburgers? brownies? is that really it???), so it's a good thing we eat meals at school. and take away from the American club... sometimes...

I lose the details when I don't write often

2009-12-11T14:48:00.002+07:00

Maybe it's the details I'd rather not remember -- seems petty, like bugs, but while not dangerous, the annoying factor takes up much energy.

Starting to recognize that I need occasional days where it's ok not to go out and deal with the noise and crowds.

I'll come back to these: parent meetings, department meetings, student conferences (no wonder, um, there's a theme here of intense interpersonal contact this week!). Downtime at home in the evenings seems like hiding out, but maybe it's essential?

And now, in spite of thinking maybe I'll just stay in on Friday, I had breakfast with a friend, and need to go out if I'm going to bring any presents to folks in Israel, and I do want to see the play at Matan's school. AND I worked on the syllabus for next semester for the comp from lit class (which I'll be doing at Century in the summer online, so I really want to set it up for the future versions, as well).

Hard to believe we're leaving on Tuesday!

learning, still learning

2009-12-08T19:32:00.007+07:00

pretty nice day overall. went to school late. still no 10 taka bills to be found.

working around it, like everyone else. worked on next semester's readings for the course that I'll be teaching both at BRAC and next summer at Century. reading articles (yes, I am thrilled to be able to spend time reading academic articles...). worked with one student who needs access so her computer can read the articles to her and two of the pdf files didn't work. so we tried again. still no success, so I helped her figure out which parts of the articles would be helpful in her paper.

the department had lunch with the provost and heard about plans for teacher development across the university. interesting meeting after he left, too. it's a hugely different environment when faculty are not unionized.

water aerobics are great. next semester it's not going to work quite so well since one of the days is a teaching day and the distance is just a bit too far to be able to finish in one place and get to the other.

finally -- stopped on the way home to look for solutions to eliminate the mosquitos. It is not a particularly risky or dangerous situation, just annoying. there are chemical/electrical things that get plugged in at twilight in each room.

Usually there are mosquito nets -- this I will deal with when we return in January. Duct tape on windows (and doors) that don't get used.
Even got an electric zapper that looks like a badminton racquet that I imagine Matan will have fun with once it's charged.

overall, a pretty good Tuesday.

another queasy morning

2009-12-08T06:44:00.002+07:00

no, I don't think I'm dehydrated. my officemate is astounded by how much water I drink every day. maybe the water makes me queasy?!
too many mosquitoes. finally set up the "good knight" anti-mosquito systems. combination of electric and chemical gadget that runs all night. still 3 mosquitoes over my bed this morning when I woke up. earplugs help not to hear them all night.
not sure though if the bites are even mosquitoes. maybe more bedbugs? looks like I have measles.
good thing the grading is temporarily caught up. I can go out on the mission for 10 taka notes once again on the way to work this morning. Matan keeps needing all the ones I come up with in change.
cheerful, eh?

nope, no 10 taka notes, not today

2009-12-06T21:23:00.003+07:00

maybe day after tomorrow. really. that's what they said in the bank. no 20s either. I got a bunch of 50s. they work for most of our jaunts.

pretty good day. almost caught up on the grading. walked from the university to Matan's school for a parent meeting. it's about an hour walk. not all of it is pretty and some of it literally stinks, but I need to walk a bit.

Matan's school trip in Feb is to Bhutan. what an opportunity!

10 taka notes

2009-12-06T09:14:00.003+07:00

I can't believe I'm going to work 2 hours late so that I can stop by the bank on the way and maybe get 1000 taka worth of 10 taka notes. The last 3 days I've had to keep track of whether I have enough change for the rickshaws. Matan always needs at least 30, if not 60, taka in 10s. Last week I stopped at the market just to change a 500 taka note (less than $10 and no, they would not do it at the grocery store for a small purchase).

wish me luck.

thanksgiving trip to nepal

2009-12-04T11:58:00.039+07:00

We got to Nepal late on Thursday, maybe the delay was meant to be as we saw gorgeous mountain peaks as the sun was setting and we were landing. If we'd gotten there during the afternoon, we might not have had that spectacular view. As I said earlier, were met by someone from our hotel at the airport, but our room was actually at a different hotel. So the first night was pretty minimal. On the other hand, we went out for steak and enjoyed that very much.

Huge steaks. Warm blankets at the hotel. And a wonderful host (from the hotel we eventually stayed at on Sunday night) who went and got our tickets to Pokhara for the next morning, 6:30am.

In the morning, we got a taxi to the pickup point (200 rupees was twice what it cost us to take a taxi back upon return, so that hotel manager seemed less reliable... he also asked for 300, but when I didn't have enough small change, went back to 200. hmmm).

Bus trip -- took a long time to get out of Kathmandu. So we saw quite a bit of the city in the early morning light. On the way we stopped for breakfast and lunch.

Lunch with Podhar (if I'm not mauling the name). He was returning to Pokhara from working in England. Has brothers and sisters in Pokhara (not a big city) and his parents live "up in the hills". Their farm was washed out in a mudslide -- all of the cultivating is done on terraced sides of the hills (or mountains). He offered to take us up to the farm, but it would take a couple of days to travel and we weren't going to be in Pokhara that long.

We continued until 2:30pm on the bus. As for the local stops, Matan's new philosophy: I used to hope there would be toilet paper, now I wonder if there will be a toilet...

Lots of almost dry riverbeds with huge bridges over small rivers. Some of it is seasonal, some is climate change. Pictures didn't seem to come out. Not sure why. We did see kayaking and river rafting in some of the bigger river areas.

Heading west, away from the Mt Everest mountain area, but near to the Anapurna range. That's approximately a 20 day trek, with Pokhara one of the main starting places. So there are lots of stores with trekking gear and folks getting ready to go or returning. Day or week treks were leaving all the time. We walked from the bus drop off place towards the lake front since we kind of knew that's where our hotel was located. We stopped and asked questions and changed more money. Matan wanted to know mostly about renting a motorcyle... less than $10 a day, not many questions asked!
Our hotel:

First we tried to rent a motorcycle, and the hotel called someone and he brought it over. The owner and Matan went out for a spin and to fill up the gas, but it was a big bike and had manual gears, so the owner said he was reluctant to rent it to Matan. That was ok with me, and we decided to postpone that project until the next day. We also postponed the dawn visit to the lookout points until Sunday, even if it was going to be cutting it close with our 7:30am bus ride back to Kathmandu.

We had dinner up on the patio, and, well, didn't go out for the evening. What tired folks we were! Lots of reading which I dearly love on vacations.

In the morning I did wake up for the sunrise and went up to the patio to wait. What I could see before the sun rose was the neighborhood just under the hotel. People obviously didn't have electricity, they came out with flashlights to the outhouses, they started fires in the backyards for cooking. Kids got dressed to go to school. (This picture is better if you click to enlarge it).

After breakfast I went out and walked around. I found a motorcycle rental place around the corner and talked to the owner about having someone give Matan a quick lesson before he went out on his own. We agreed on a price (less than $10 for lesson and 2 hours) and I went back to tell Matan. He was ready!

I was pretty nervous, but sometimes I just have to let go a bit. Walked to the lake. Talked to women who were selling handicrafts from Tibet. Couldn't afford anything they had to sell anyway. They were pretty aggressive and just didn't seem to believe that, no, I don't have that kind of money. Eventually I shook them. It's an awkward feeling, but it was also really hard just to walk along the lake without a crowd. I walked in each direction - found the Chabad house, found bookstores, found lots of Hebrew! - even menus and letters of recommendation!

Later I just waited in a coffee shop and Matan eventually came back from the hills. We went to lunch and I wanted details!!

More great food, easy going Norah Jones music, and he told me about his adventures. He didn't get too lost, didn't have a cell phone (at least not with a SIM that worked in Nepal) but the owner gave him his card so if he had any problems, someone would have helped him call in. All in all, he was happy. I thought I was going to rent a motorcycle, too, but in the end, I decided that I would rather not. oh well.

The day was clear and the mountains visible (the dawn had been cloudy, so I was really glad I didn't do the trek up to the observation point that day).

We hung out, read, walked, and eventually went out for supper. This time it was Italian with music from the 80s. Lots of older tourist trekkers (ok, my age), not only the post-army kids from Israel!

The next morning I did go up to the observation point. The car stalled about four times on the way up (it's 40 years old, they said)

but I had a clear sky to see the mountain peaks.

We had to hurry to get to the bus and back to Kathmandu. Another beautiful day. Lunch -- lots of rice -- what more could Matan want?!

Long time getting into the city, but by about 3pm we were at our hotel. It was amazing. Just lovely. If we ever want to go deluxe, it would be $18/night instead of $14, and then there's a bathtub and balconey, too! The downstairs area was welcoming and folks sat around -- sofas and guitars, some computers (and wireless for those who were carrying laptops -- which we were not!), a beautiful garden with a hammock.

We went out to the most famous pizza place in Kathmandu (though our hotel clerk said maybe we wanted Pizza Hut -- it had just opened that week. we said no!). Fire and Ice. We played chess and enjoyed the food.

Found out there was no exit tax to be paid (there is, but now it's included in the price of the airfare), so we had a bit of money to spend. The credit card may have given me a bit of security, but it was not useful when it came down to buying say, good walking boots for Matan. oh well. we managed on the cash reserves, just so folks aren't expecting a lot of presents!

Flight back was uneventful. We'd brought another pizza with us for the airport... it's kind of odd to know a few people on the flights, like Matan's school principal or one of the high school seniors traveling on his own to see someone in Nepal. I'd sure like to spend a few weeks there the next time!

back to work

2009-12-02T05:44:00.003+07:00

deep in grading and class preps for the last two weeks before winter break. our semester here continues until the end of December with finals, so my students do not yet sense the urgency of getting everything in before I leave on the 15th.

will post more about Nepal soon.

bought jeans and a fleece jacket yesterday in Dhaka. what a great feeling to know where to get something I really needed. hope Matan gets over there too since he could really use some jeans that fit better.

ok, back to work.

everywhere in Nepal:

a very short visit to Nepal

2009-11-30T21:41:00.006+07:00

we left Thursday much later in the day than we were supposed to -- the flight was delayed from about 2 until 5pm. got there in the dark, the hotel came to pick us up, but had given away our room. they did, to their credit, find us another room at the hotel next door. the guy who met us also asked what else we needed and then arranged bus tickets for the 7am bus the next morning to Pokhara. we went out to eat at a steakhouse nearby, leading Matan to say when we got back to the hotel, that it seems like we're really going to splurge on this vacation! this in a hotel which (at the time) had no electricity, no elevator, no heat, no hot water, the toilet didn't flush, the tv didn't work (and didn't even before the electricity went out), but it did have heavy warm blankets, so we slept well that night.

I'll write more tomorrow, but don't worry, the hotel rooms improved and the picture I'm posting is from the hammock at the hotel this morning.

We had a good break, went way out of urban areas into very rural villages, by bus. there were stunning views next to houses with no electricity or running water. lots to think about.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T11:11:00.003+07:00

Happy day to all who celebrate and safe travels to all who are journeying.
Thanks for your support, cheers, questions and concern throughout this amazing adventure we are having.
Off line for the next couple of days. Must say I'm looking forward to that, too!

ps the amex appears to have authorized so I think we're good to go!

so will the amex card work?

2009-11-26T09:43:00.002+07:00

trying to be grateful that the IPASS ran out and the credit card (one of the stolen and cancelled ones) was rejected. IPASS notified me and I changed the card to amex. unfortunately, amex has not yet authorized the transaction, nor the replenishment. makes me really nervous to travel today with a credit card that might not be working from abroad. working on getting it verified in the States that there might be charges from Bangladesh, Nepal, Bahrain, Jordan....!

ready for something a little more quiet

2009-11-25T19:50:00.005+07:00

I'll have to get a picture of the new sign at the entrance to our neighborhood: "no horns in ----" since it seems that horns are usually connected directly to the gas pedal. or the brake. or both. There are traffic signs with a big circle over a horn symbol to show folks that this is a no horn zone. Matan says it just reminds folks that they have horns. I find myself jumping lately when a car driver honks over and over and we're all equally stuck in traffic, but I'm on a rickshaw and getting the full benefit of his blast. No car windows to buffer it a bit.

Guess I'm to the point where I'd like a little quiet. The planes go right over our apartment building, pretty darn low. And trains, I usually like them. There's a guard or police officer that blows a whistle at hourly intervals throughout the night. I think. I still like the roosters. They seem to blend in.

The rest of the week was challenging, as well. Monday I got some grocery shopping done, but not much else after work. Tuesday I went to swimming and then thought I could get to the commissary between 5 and 7pm and back to Matan's school for an award ceremony. No. traffic was miserable and after about an hour on a rickshaw, I just said let's go back to the school. With the groceries. sigh.

Today the students in the first course continued to say they could not read an autobiography, but now, since they were supposed to bring it with them to class today, I have very little patience for this. There are 30 autobiographies in the library. I don't care if 20 of them are by Nelson Mandela. It does not matter that there is no internet connection in their village over the holiday. They got the assignment 2 weeks ago. And yes, the book has to be read by next Wednesday even if there is no school for the next 5 days. And yes, there will be an in-class essay on the make-up class day on Saturday next week (lest we think we have 5 whole days off, there are make-up days here when there's a holiday bridge over what should have been a class day....). I think maybe one person had read the articles for today so that quiz didn't go very well either. Is the frustration coming out of my ears?

At least when all of my powerpoint presentations were lost on the thumb drive today, I could replace everything (I think) since I actually write them on computers and save them on the drive only to move from computer to classroom. Of course, if anything was really lost I won't know until I look for it sometime in the future.

So. yes. that kind of week. Looking forward to the weekend vacation. Two days in Kathmandu and two days in Phokhara. No computer.

mostly better

2009-11-23T22:24:00.002+07:00

The bank was not helpful. They are a separate entity from the American and online version where my account was established. They tried to help but it would take a very long time to get the money out.

Cancelling the atm card took a 7 minute phone call to the states. the person in the office next door laughed out loud when I got off, I guess my patience was obviously strained...so I went over and talked to her about the whole thing.

Worked on replacing other local cards. Realized my phone was out when it went dead while I was talking to my embassy contact. My computer was also out at the time so I was getting a bit frazzled. IT came up and figured out what connection was loose on the computer. The phone got some minutes added. Good thing I wasn't trying to grade or teach or anything like that. Reading for a lecture for Wed was about all I could do. I had done quite a lot of prep while procrastinating last week on the presentation(!).

Made plans to see a friend who is leaving next week. Decided to get new photographs since all progress in getting new documents in Dhaka depends on having photographs. Every office wants photographs. So instead of having the driver take me home, I went to a commercial center, got the pictures and with 10 minutes to spare got to the American club before the office closed. New document granted. Slept poolside while waiting for my friend. Glorious to talk to her. I miss seeing her everyday at language class. Turns out she can also help with my lack of local currency. Brought supper home for Matan. And just felt like it was going to be ok.

This morning was cold so I wore a long sleeved shirt and went directly to campus by rickshaw. It's a little longer than 30 minutes and that was chilly so I was very glad for time enough for hot tea. I like the paratha and egg too. Wonder what exactly makes it spicy!

Soon after I got to my office I got a call from my landlord that someone called him and said he had my documents. I had sent an email to the landlord Sat night just to let him know that his card was in my wallet and if anyone came around, that would be the source of the information. My suspicious side was concerned that someone knew where we lived and wanted more; my better side thought if anyone found it, that would be a logical place to return it. And indeed, a cab driver found the pile of cards, no wallet or money, stuffed into the back seat cushion of the cab. He hadn't had the car for the last 2 days and found the documents when he got the car back and was cleaning it out. So I got the number from the landlord and our English department coordinator did all the talking. Arranged for the driver to come to BRAC and I left my phone with him so if he came when I was in class, the coordinator could meet him.

Most all of the contents were returned. I was especially glad to see my driver's license and our insurance cards. The credit cards and atm card are cancelled so they're not much use. All those wonderful business cards from contacts here. Wonder what they can do with the purchase data about my modem SIM -- that's gone, too.

So teaching today was somewhat distracted (I know). Did my presentation for the theory class and asked them for feedback, esp since the conference people do want it written up into a formal essay by the end of January and I am interested particularly in the applications in Bangladesh. My students can help me see the project of online learning from a wider perspective.

Lots of really helpful and concerned people around me.
I'll write about Ibsen some other time. Hard to remember that was this past weekend too. And we're off to Nepal on Thursday.

mostly very frightened

2009-11-22T07:59:00.003+07:00

I hope that the local bank will be able to replace the atm card. Don't really want to list everything we have and don't have. Feeling very vulnerable.

Haven't slept enough to cope properly.

Need to get new photographs urgently: for local cards and on-the-spot visas in Nepal.

better get up and get going again. the cynical me wonders how much weight I lose on this one. during the first two months of anxiety, I lost over 10 kilos.

Matan places 3rd -- both individual and his team -- in math competition

2009-11-21T23:06:00.004+07:00

Three days of math! Hosting kids from India, Pakistan, Nepal. Some field trips (they had math problems to solve!), some pizza outings, but mostly math and more math. Long tie-breaker for the individual scoring.

wallet stolen at conference

2009-11-21T22:52:00.002+07:00

sure took all the fun out of that presentation.
5 minutes before I went on. while I was working on the computer setup.
less than 5 feet away from me.

with a trip this week, I admit, I'm just sad and scared.

the cluelessness

2009-11-20T22:35:00.003+07:00

I just want to know --

how do I know when not to schedule Thursday conferences?
clue: when classes have been cancelled because admission tests will be held on campus. no student can get in without admission test ticket.your students will not have admission test tickets.

how do I know when I get billed for internet?
clue: when there is a box that says messages as the program comes up. try to open it. you'll see messages from the last month and a half that say when you filled the SIM and when it was billed. not random at all.

how do I know that you can look for people on Facebook by year at high school or university?
clue: it says so there. ok. I figured it out. eventually.

how do I know there's a final exam at the end of Bangla class?
clue: there's been one every time the session ends? how did this come as a complete surprise?

hmmm. when I write them down, it doesn't seem quite so infinite. It was a week though of too often feeling very dense and not very perceptive.

So I got to read the English essays on the admission tests that day that classes were cancelled. And I haven't missed any internet payments -- the threat of being dropped from the unlimited package kept me in line! And new friends on facebook -- people I haven't seen in many, many years. Others I didn't even know were in my "class" at Hebrew U since they were in different divisions! Finally, I just got pictures of the last class in Bangla and went to work. I was not ready to take an exam in script yet.

I'll catch up more tomorrow. It's been a pretty good week, though a hard one with starting out behind (sleeping through last weekend) and having a conference presentation tomorrow that's kept me working steadily all week. I think it's ready. Not ready enough for me to go to water aerobics 2 hours before the talk, but ready enough to sleep well tonight.

the little ants

2009-11-20T22:31:00.002+07:00

size and color of my freckles will eventually drive me crazy. they are so tiny that I usually don't think I'm really feeling them. like a hair in a breeze or a drop of water on my arm. and next thing I scratch and yes, that was an ant. they come up off the tablecloth onto the computer screen or the keys or my arms. they leap from the sink when I do dishes. but the worst worst worst is finding them (occasionally) in bed.

I'm truly less disturbed by a once-a-week cockroach than these constant little nasties.

a bit about teaching

2009-11-16T18:48:00.003+07:00

Last week I had a class that I went into knowing that I didn't want to do what I had planned for the second half. Did*not*want*to*do*it. By the midpoint I had figured out what to do (gee, they had said "more practical applications, please" very clearly in the midterm evaluations I asked them to fill out), and there it was. In the text was a story we all had read - Alice Walker's "Everyday Use" - and this theory book, probably because it's American, didn't have much of a Marxist analysis section. So that sample essay hadn't been evaluated in that light. I took Peter Barry's "Intro to Theory" (British) and went to his section on "What Marxist Critics Do" and said now let's apply it to this story. I did it as well and since I really didn't have a prepared outcome, was good to see what they all came up with. It worked really well.

The next class was less successful -- it was me trying to tell them everything I knew about feminist theory and trying to manage the three texts we had, plus an article by Annette Kolodny. That was the class with the either/or on the ppt or internet, and other equally unsuccessful items.

Today was supposed to be about post-colonial theory. They had too much to read. I had their annotated bibliographies. So I decided to have them choose one of the readings, to take Peter Barry's question about the version of the theories he presented and to answer his ponderings based on the authors/texts they had. And to assume the others hadn't read them (loud approval here from the group). They will present these on Wed and had time to work on them today. Meanwhile, I sat with each person individually on the annotated bibliographies. Some were great, others needed additional ideas. I think this was the most productive use of time even if we finished early. Also in one case it seemed like I did magic since he was describing a source that he couldn't find and I knew I had read it recently. Probably after reading his research proposal. AND I was pretty sure I had printed it out, so somewhere it was accessible. Indeed, I found it in my office and gave it to him. I love that I have time to look through people's proposals and wander a bit through the sources.

On the other front, the class with drafts that needed comments. Well, I skipped Bangla class this morning to finish those and decided that they needed far more revision than from Mon to Wed (the deadline had previously been Mon, so I would have been giving drafts back on Wed with more revision time). I told them we were moving on, starting the next unit, but that I was taking advantage of the tutorial day - no classes on Thursdays, just TA groups or extra sessions. So I want to see every one of them on Thursday with a revision (and a worksheet that I gave them to evaluate their thesis, topics and supporting evidence) since most had not yet developed a thesis. They were not thrilled since it had seemed that the end had been in sight. On the other hand, the papers were not ready for final revisions.

So why was I still behind this morning? Well, I got distracted on the paper that I'm writing for the conference on Saturday. A really cool screenshot application that I can add arrows and boxes is fun to play with and really, really, helpful so that I will not have to rely on internet access for my presentation. YEA! Thanks again, Paul!

Notes from Dhaka

home again, my friends

post #200 from Dhaka

June days

a very long time ago

no Facebook connection

live-blogging, poolside

closing down

Facebook apparently banned in Bangladesh

filling in potholes

bubbles and brainstorming

mantra in 11 words

out of town

catching up

sigh.

happy working on Century's online class prep

water, water

spring in Dhaka

looking for the keys by the street light?

trying

short notes

six weekends left in Bangladesh

cello cello

when classes are over

track meet

playing hooky at the pool

end of term: 301

end of term: 201

Nepal, continued

tent hospital

hardly unique

Nepal in the spring

catching up

Matan in Bhutan

picture from the conference

so, how many hours a day can a refrigerator be off electricity before the food goes bad?

conference and feeling great, for awhile

writing

chicken soup cooking

yes, I felt that earthquake

so I thought I was almost better on Tuesday

what a day

vacation on-site

one last ornery note

another way to think about the Fulbright

Are you sure you can afford that Fulbright grant?

writing center

book fair

moWmachi moWmachi

rickshaw numbers today

when they don't read

measured

language martyrs - Shaheed Minar

better

history re-written

borrowed mantra

and where did you come *from* in January

blog silence

more crud

we have tickets home

reading, writing, thinking

Bangla nursery rhymes, Poe, and a children's film festival

in the news

another class completed at HEED language center

over the counter

rooftop party

The Importance of Elsewhere

technical difficulties

birthdays and parties

the washing machine, the roof, and somewhat at sea

another cold

struggling with the syllabi

folks

Gas rationing

one day at a time

some pictures from Israel and pictures not taken

28 hours to go 4 time zones

vacation

in Israel

journey to Israel

and where did you come from in January