Experiencing Bangladesh

Today, Saturday, is the last day of the weekend here. We didn't have any adoption work to do, so Hasan's family took us to the mall. I thought I'd use today to talk about Bangladesh. First of all, the mall experience is totally different from back home! We had to ride on a rickshaw ("rickety-shaw" in my opinion) to get there. I held on for dear life, although the people here ride along casually. We took the back roads primarily which meant just rickshaws, motorized scooters, and pedestrians. Whenever the rickshaw driver turned, I thought I would go flying off the bike! The drivers ring their bells constantly, and vehicles beep their horns constantly, so it's a noisy journey! The mall is very crowded year round. There are several malls in Dhaka; this was the largest. This mall has about 6 levels, each with one type of item such as shoes, clothing, etc. It's like an outdoor bazaar except you're inside. It's hot inside. Most "stalls" have fans, and in some stores you sit down while the workers bring you shoes and clothes to examine. The stores are very tiny, maybe the size of a dry cleaner's front area at home. In the shoe store, there was a storage area above the store. The worker would yell through a hole in the ceiling, and the worker above would drop the shoes down! Most stores allow you to bargain. Very few take credit cards. American money is totally useless here.
The women all wear traditional clothing. I'm actually wearing it in the pictures, but you may not be able to see it clearly. By the way, very few women dress like I did in court. Sometimes the women wrap their long scarves around and over their heads, but they don't have to. The men wear whatever they want. Nadeem has worn shorts, blue jeans, and shirts. Small children dress like American kids. Around 12years old, the girls start dressing like their mothers. There are many stores that just sell fabric so you can have a tailor make your clothes. A tailor is supposed to make me an outfit soon. No woman wears American clothes. Finally today I saw some teen girls in blue jeans. Some women wear the dots on their foreheads for fashion. They either paint them on with nail polish or purchase stick-on dots in many colors and styles. Bracelets (bangles) are very popular. Usually women wear many.
This is a third world country. Electricity and running water are unreliable, even in nice places. We have lost running water here several times, and the orphanage lost power while we were there. Praise God that we've had Internet access, although it's unbelievably slow-worse than dial up at home. We've heard that in storms there is no Internet.
So far the weather has been sunny or gray and hazy. Our first night here we experienced a huge thunderstorm. Nadeem and I practically shot out of the bed! It is hot here. It wouldn't be too bad except there is little air conditioning. Because of the situation here, the government has to ration use of it. The malls now have to close 2 hours earlier so that others can have some AC. Most places just use AC room units with fans. Even that is limited. You don't just keep a room cool all day. Most homes seem to have one fancy living room for entertaining guests. The floors are tile. When guests come, you turn on the air and serve tea and sweeets. Guests tend to visit around 9 p.m.! In Hasan's family's flat, there are also AC room units in the bedrooms which we use at night. Each home has servants. Hasan's family has 2 ladies who cook and clean and one driver. One of the servants, a young girl, lives here. She sleeps on the floor of the living room.
Nobody has pets here. For the first time today, I saw some adorable cats and one dog on the streets.
Tonight we ate dinner at the Pizza Hut. Can you believe it? There's a Pizza Hut here! The pizza to me tastes just like at home. I haven't had pizza in 10 years, so my memory might be bad! They told us that it's fresher here. (Fresh pizza?? Maybe an oxymoron!) They import ingredients but still can't get the same sauce and spices. I had very hot wings (no such thing as mild here) and the salad bar which is sort of like at home but with mint yogurt and some more Bangladeshi type items. It felt weird to look around and see all Bangladeshi people. At home there's usually more of a blend.
Right now it's Ramadan, a religious holiday that lasts 30 days. We have been eating out at night, when families are allowed to eat. Mainly we've had buffets with Bangladeshi food. We arrive at the restaurant around 5:30 and get a plate of food and some water and lemonade (standard drink). Then we wait for the signal that it's time to eat-usually around 6:10. It depends on when the sun sets. It's not dark then, just not as light. The traditional meal that people eat at that time is not pizza! It's called "iftar" which means "fast break." It consists of many special foods that they only eat at this time of the year. One is sort of like an onion ring. One is sweet sort of like a honey bun only curled like a small pretzel. After eating this meal, they usually eat again much later in the evening. People like to stay up late here.
I, however, go to bed earlier! In fact, I'll sign off now since it's getting late (for me) here. Thanks again so much for following our blog, praying, and sending words of encrouagement. Nadeem and I read everything you write, and we feel your prayers. Good night (or for you, good morning!).