Hello Anyone and Everyone who is reading this blog!
I was unsure of how I was going to update people while here, and figured I would just decide when I got here what ever seemed to happen naturally. I think I will try and send out official email updates and things, and I do have access to Facebook, which will be the most immediate updates. But this way I think I can post some of the movies I make and some general stories over the next few months that I might want to share with those who are most interested, rather than spamming everyone!
I have been in Bangladesh a little over 24 hours now! I landed at 8 am on Wednesday the 16th, which was weird since I left the US on the 14th. Its always sad to loose a day like that to travel. The trip was pretty simple, and uneventful, and nothing too crazy went wrong. I almost left my phone in the car before getting on the plane, but after a sudden decision to hang out a little longer, my Dad turned around and came back! That was my little blessing in the trip to get my phone (and hence my music player) back! Plus I can use it here for internet and things still, so it is nice to have it! I was telling him that was the mixup of the trip that we got it out of the way nice and early on, and nothing else would go wrong, and I was right! The flights were a blurry mix of lots of movies and sleeping. I got caught up on all the movies I had missed out on the last semester of crazy at school, so that was nice.
It was hard to leave the US, I would like to say I was the brave, independent person I like to pretend I am sometimes. I was not so nervous about the traveling or even settling into the culture or anything, I think I was most unsettled that I will be able to perform academically at the level I need to while here. But that is yet to be determined! It was also hard too just to be leaving my home. It was a rough, long semester at Emory, and I was so excited for those few days back home in CA with my family. It flew by so quick however, and It felt like I was getting back on a plane in no time whatsoever! The though of being gone for a full 3 months as well started getting to me. It is a long time to be completely removed from everyone and everything, and just setting off alone. I knew once I arrived however I would feel a lot better about things, and sure enough, I do! Not saying these next few weeks will go by with no homesickness or feelings of inadequacy, but now that I'm here, I have been reminded of how exciting it is to be someplace new, and how much I am excited for my project and what I will be doing.
So I have arrived and my first day has been pretty chill. I set up a phone and exchanged some money while in the airport. Pretty easy, the man who came to pick me up helped me with all of it, and was a very nice, friendly man, who spoke English and Bangla, so made that easier! I was met with a pretty extreme awakening when I walked outside the airport though. It was 34C (93F) and probably the most humidity I have ever felt in my life. I was immediately dripping with moisture, and no way it was just my sweat. Its like all the moisture in the air just clings and coagulates onto you. The traffic is very much like Yemen, so nothing im not too used to. Crazy drivers zipping in and out of everywhere, no lanes, and definitely no semblance of order to the chaos. Im glad I will not ever have to drive myself here. My apartment is I think the 6th or 7th floor of an apartment complex ( I lost count while trying to hoist my 50 lb bag up all the stairs in the sticky heat). My first item on the agenda when I finally arrived was to shower (it has never felt so good), then after a little bit of organization, I decided I desperately needed a "little" nap. 3 hours later I woke up, and thought it might be fun to go exploring and try and find food. I was pretty starving, but then by the time I got ready it had started pouring down rain, so I decided to stay in. My room mates got home soon after that however, and it was nice to be able to meet them.
There are 4 interns for the organization living here, which is nice to have company, and I think we will all get along nicely. We have a common area and a kitchen we all share, but then we all have our own rooms and bathrooms as well. We also have a maid who comes every day and does our laundry and cooks us dinner, so its a pretty swank setup! Plus we have airconditioning, which makes me happy, although even with it, im pretty sure I'll just be sticky for the next 3 months.
That evening I mostly just talked to my room mates and got some information about Dhaka, and the ICDDRB (which I will now refer to here on out as the Center, since that is what they call it here). But then decided to call it a night around 9pm, and I was pretty proud I had made it that long. I slept pretty much the whole night, I woke up briefly around 1:30 am and was unsure if I would be able to fall back asleep again, but then managed to sleep till 6:30, so hopefully jetlag wont be as hard to adjust to as I had worried it would be. I was supposed to go in to work today to meet my supervisor and just start orientation and everything. But unfortunately yesterday there were some arrests for the political opposition party, and today there are strikes (which are called hartells here) all around the city and we aren't aloud to really go out and around (although I think me and one of my room mates is going to go around the corner to the market a little later, so ill get to do SOME exploring!). I guess these are pretty common here, like almost one a week, or every other week, so it makes it difficult to get work done I guess. Im a little bummed out about it though, because today was the last day of the week, before the weekend( Friday/ Saturday here). And my supervisor goes on a 2 week leave of absence after today. So now I wont be able to meet here until June 17th or something ridiculous like that, and Ill just kind of have to figure out the project on my own until then. Hopefully there will be someone I can talk to though for some guidance.
That is all for now, I'm sure I will have a lot more to say once I get out and can do some exploring and everything! Here is a picture of my room (I get TWO beds!) Ill share more of the whole apt later!
I was unsure of how I was going to update people while here, and figured I would just decide when I got here what ever seemed to happen naturally. I think I will try and send out official email updates and things, and I do have access to Facebook, which will be the most immediate updates. But this way I think I can post some of the movies I make and some general stories over the next few months that I might want to share with those who are most interested, rather than spamming everyone!
I have been in Bangladesh a little over 24 hours now! I landed at 8 am on Wednesday the 16th, which was weird since I left the US on the 14th. Its always sad to loose a day like that to travel. The trip was pretty simple, and uneventful, and nothing too crazy went wrong. I almost left my phone in the car before getting on the plane, but after a sudden decision to hang out a little longer, my Dad turned around and came back! That was my little blessing in the trip to get my phone (and hence my music player) back! Plus I can use it here for internet and things still, so it is nice to have it! I was telling him that was the mixup of the trip that we got it out of the way nice and early on, and nothing else would go wrong, and I was right! The flights were a blurry mix of lots of movies and sleeping. I got caught up on all the movies I had missed out on the last semester of crazy at school, so that was nice.
It was hard to leave the US, I would like to say I was the brave, independent person I like to pretend I am sometimes. I was not so nervous about the traveling or even settling into the culture or anything, I think I was most unsettled that I will be able to perform academically at the level I need to while here. But that is yet to be determined! It was also hard too just to be leaving my home. It was a rough, long semester at Emory, and I was so excited for those few days back home in CA with my family. It flew by so quick however, and It felt like I was getting back on a plane in no time whatsoever! The though of being gone for a full 3 months as well started getting to me. It is a long time to be completely removed from everyone and everything, and just setting off alone. I knew once I arrived however I would feel a lot better about things, and sure enough, I do! Not saying these next few weeks will go by with no homesickness or feelings of inadequacy, but now that I'm here, I have been reminded of how exciting it is to be someplace new, and how much I am excited for my project and what I will be doing.
So I have arrived and my first day has been pretty chill. I set up a phone and exchanged some money while in the airport. Pretty easy, the man who came to pick me up helped me with all of it, and was a very nice, friendly man, who spoke English and Bangla, so made that easier! I was met with a pretty extreme awakening when I walked outside the airport though. It was 34C (93F) and probably the most humidity I have ever felt in my life. I was immediately dripping with moisture, and no way it was just my sweat. Its like all the moisture in the air just clings and coagulates onto you. The traffic is very much like Yemen, so nothing im not too used to. Crazy drivers zipping in and out of everywhere, no lanes, and definitely no semblance of order to the chaos. Im glad I will not ever have to drive myself here. My apartment is I think the 6th or 7th floor of an apartment complex ( I lost count while trying to hoist my 50 lb bag up all the stairs in the sticky heat). My first item on the agenda when I finally arrived was to shower (it has never felt so good), then after a little bit of organization, I decided I desperately needed a "little" nap. 3 hours later I woke up, and thought it might be fun to go exploring and try and find food. I was pretty starving, but then by the time I got ready it had started pouring down rain, so I decided to stay in. My room mates got home soon after that however, and it was nice to be able to meet them.
There are 4 interns for the organization living here, which is nice to have company, and I think we will all get along nicely. We have a common area and a kitchen we all share, but then we all have our own rooms and bathrooms as well. We also have a maid who comes every day and does our laundry and cooks us dinner, so its a pretty swank setup! Plus we have airconditioning, which makes me happy, although even with it, im pretty sure I'll just be sticky for the next 3 months.
That evening I mostly just talked to my room mates and got some information about Dhaka, and the ICDDRB (which I will now refer to here on out as the Center, since that is what they call it here). But then decided to call it a night around 9pm, and I was pretty proud I had made it that long. I slept pretty much the whole night, I woke up briefly around 1:30 am and was unsure if I would be able to fall back asleep again, but then managed to sleep till 6:30, so hopefully jetlag wont be as hard to adjust to as I had worried it would be. I was supposed to go in to work today to meet my supervisor and just start orientation and everything. But unfortunately yesterday there were some arrests for the political opposition party, and today there are strikes (which are called hartells here) all around the city and we aren't aloud to really go out and around (although I think me and one of my room mates is going to go around the corner to the market a little later, so ill get to do SOME exploring!). I guess these are pretty common here, like almost one a week, or every other week, so it makes it difficult to get work done I guess. Im a little bummed out about it though, because today was the last day of the week, before the weekend( Friday/ Saturday here). And my supervisor goes on a 2 week leave of absence after today. So now I wont be able to meet here until June 17th or something ridiculous like that, and Ill just kind of have to figure out the project on my own until then. Hopefully there will be someone I can talk to though for some guidance.
That is all for now, I'm sure I will have a lot more to say once I get out and can do some exploring and everything! Here is a picture of my room (I get TWO beds!) Ill share more of the whole apt later!
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