...it certainly does! While it definitely doesn't feel like I got here yesterday, I feel like I woke up this morning and realized unexpectedly that I have under 2 weeks left! I seem to have posted a lot less than anticipated -- mostly because as it has turned out, most of the discussions and things I want to share about life in Dhaka are better left to personal conversation than online writing.
Anyway, there are some cool things planned for the rest of my time here. This weekend, some friends and I are going to spend some time in one of the biggest bazaars in the city -- that video in my Picasa album was taken on the outskirts of one bazaar down by the seaport and Ahsan Manzil (the pink palace in the pictures), but New Market is apparently... even bigger and crazier. By crazy, I mean... you sort of float along or are stuck at a standstill among throngs of people surrounded by unimaginable noise (by U.S. standards). Should be exciting! While it's pretty awkward to take photos in Dhaka, I'll try to snap a few while picking up cool gifts... hopefully some beautiful textiles, as that's one of the most fantastic items to be had here. We're actually tagging along to the bazaar with the family of a girl who's interning at ICDDR,B (they live here in Dhaka); having a local connection to sort of navigate us should help in not getting completely lost. The last two times I was down in Puran Dhaka (Old Dhaka).. yeah. Totally lost. It doesn't help that the rickshaw wallahs and CNG drivers don't know the streets either (in Gulshan, you typically get on and kind of guide them to where you're going, if it's more than a couple streets away and not a major road/traffic circle).
On Saturday, one of my advisors from the U.S. is popping into town for a day! He happens to be in Nepal at the moment, and is stopping by Dhaka to visit ICDDR,B and check on projects while on this side of the world. I'm really excited, as we've actually never met; he is the U.S. PI of the project, but is a collaborator of my Emory advisor and is based in Cincinnati.
On Sunday and Monday, I'm arranging a field visit out to one of the ICDDR,B research sites at Kamalapur. There are two buildings/clinics at Kamalapur, and much of the research going on there focuses on respiratory diseases (such as studies of flu and pneumococcal vaccines). The research is right up my alley, so I'm curious to see everything from the clinic facilities to the slums where they are based to observing some home visits with field research assistants. One of my roommates conveniently works out there (not on a respiratory disease study), so I'm going to swing out there with her and then connect with a few of the staff out there.
In other news, it's Ramadan here, so we leave work at 3 pm every day now. For those of you not familiar, Ramadan is the Muslim month of fasting; the fast lasts from sunrise to sunset, and the fast is broken with prayers and iftar. In Dhaka, the tone of the city is quieter in the mornings now and much, much louder around 3 pm on to right before iftar (when again, the streets are quiet during the breaking of the fast). I've noticed that it's much more common to hear prayers and music over the loudspeakers that can be heard in the streets, and I hear them around noon in my office at ICDDR,B much more distinctly than before. Might just be me noticing more, but I think they are louder, and people more noticeably step out to pray. All the non-fasters at the center are discrete about eating and drinking during this month; the cantines are still open, but MUCH less crowded than normal -- mostly westerners and Hindu Bangladeshis. One interesting thing about iftar time during Ramadan... it's much more dangerous to be on the streets than normal -- not in terms of any real physical danger, but due to higher theft. Two roommates of mine have had their purses snatched -- one off a rickshaw (three of us were riding in the dark to a friend's apartment), and one while walking around iftar time. Both were stolen by men sticking their arms out of white sedan windows -- the M.O. for this specific type of crime is for cars to suddenly pull over beside you, and someone sticks his arms out and grabs the visible bag. The worst part of this, besides the disconcerting idea of being targeted and followed as a "rich" westerner, is the chance to be knocked down and possibly dragged if you have your bag over your shoulder. In recent weeks, I've been staying home after dark when possible -- an unfortunate reality of life in Dhaka, especially as a woman.
On that note... onward! I hope you're all well in the U.S.A. Please start practicing your stares so you can make me feel at home in two weeks!
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