More Thoughts on Bangladesh
November 24- December 31, 2019
ULAB
World Academy for the Future of Women
Dhaka, Bangladesh
I am here for five weeks to teach global leadership skills to women at the University of Liberal Arts-Bangladesh. Here are some of my random observations:
- I can not get over how Westernized my students are. They know our culture and slang and foul language. They are more worldly than I had imagined.
- There is call to prayer on a regular basis. When the call is announced during my teaching, we stop what we are doing and remain silent. Some of the students leave the room and go to the prayer room. Others just pray in their seats. Some of the women cover their hears with a scarf. I sit silently in my chair and wait for the nod from one of the students to continue.
- There is a favored drink of yogurt, honey and cumin. it is an acquired taste. It's bitter, spicy and has to be sipped. it's not refreshing.
- My students are hungry to take on the world and make change for the better. I am excited to see this enthusiasm.
- I handed out menstrual cups to my students and they turned in to feminist pro-menstrual, anti-menstrual shaming Nazis right before my eyes. I loved it.
- I have never seen so many rickshaws as I have seen here. It is the primary mode of transportation. The drivers all look so damn skinny and weak. But they must be strong as hell.
- Many people have drivers for their cars. these drivers sit all day and wait for their employers to finish their business. I asked my one student what his driver does all day while he waits. "He plays cards." That must be a boring existence.
- I went to a Bengali movie last night. It was 2 1/2 hours and had an intermission after an hour. This is the preferred time for movie goers to run out and get food. The movie was based on a true story of a woman who spent her life being beaten first by her older brother and then by her husband. But then she prevailed, got divorced from her husband and her awful mother-n-law and she married her true love. This is the story of millions of women around the world. The story must be unique because she finally married for love.
- I went to the food store and found foods I have never seen before. I wonder how many varieties of food there are in this world.
- I have never seen so many live chickens just waiting to be slaughtered on demand. I wonder what is the chicken population at this exact moment. And I wonder how many chickens we would need if we all ate a more plant based diet.
- My students asked me if they could address me just by my first name, "Bridget". Or should they call me "Bridget ma'am". I told them I prefer "Your Royal Highness" and they seemed to like this idea.
- There are lots of beggars on the street. They beg to everyone. But it appears to me as if they perk up when they see me, an old, white woman. There appears to be a glimmer of hope in their eyes. And so they abandoned the person they just approached and they make a quick movement in my direction.
- On Fridays, hundreds of men gather together for the noon prayer. the attendance is so high that they spill out in the streets and stop traffic and everyone waits patiently for the prayer to end.
- I just heard from another former student of mine from Philadelphia whose parents will be here in two weeks and we may get together. that would be fun.
- December 16 is national Victory Day. Everything is closed for the day. And there are a few fireworks in the distance.
- I can have a driver take me home from classes but I have started to enjoy walking home in the evening. I like the hustle and bustle of the streets. The roads are packed with rickshaws and buses. And the sidewalks are equally backed with pedestrians. I like to watch everyone hurry to their destinations.
- I've reduced most of my diet to dumplings. It's the easiest food for me to eat and I know they've been cooked enough to be safe to eat.
- It doesn't appear as if many of my students date and many of the females tell me that they do not want to get married.
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