Zucchini (courgette) flowers make it all look pretty.
A local market in Gulshan (warning: some of the photos may be “raw” to some people) is hidden down an alley. One of my friends took me there knowing that this place provides blogworthy photo opportunities. Someone told me that if the fish do not have flies on them, then you should be worried because those are the fish that are soaked in formaldehyde to keep them “fresh” looking…
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
While the market provided some really glamorous photo-ops, it also was a place where you do not want to wear low-dragging slacks, bellbottoms, or skirt. Also, this is not the place for those sensitive to “market” smells. The prices at the market can be good ($2 for a bunch of lettuce) and the variety is fairly similar to some places in the US, the shopping basket is very different (large and carried on head by your errand boy). Make sure to pay him. This is his workplace too.
Our errand boy carried our groceries around on his head.
Now that I wrote about the “realities” of life in Dhaka, I’ll tell you some of the “good realities” of life here in Dhaka.
Flower wallah.
Industriousness: Everywhere. Every time the car slows down, three or four hawkers will come tap on the window and try to get you to buy their wares. Some of the most common items for sale are poster-size laminated maps of Dhaka, the counties, and Bangladesh… flowers, and plastic food containers. Everywhere you look, you will see people doing something. Of course, there are beggars lying on the side of the road, but mostly, you’ll feel the hum and buzz of millions of boys, girls, and adults trying to sell you something. When you park your car, there will be someone there “guarding” your car — sometimes a boy trying to earn 20 Taka (25 cents).
Help: Household help is inexpensive. A full-time nanny costs $100-200 (per month). People are eager to work and they specialize in their field so some families employ the following specialized employees: cook, nanny (ayah), cleaner, bearer (someone who bears/carries things like tea), driver, gardener, and an assortment of combinations of these.
Commerce: Tailor-made clothing is easily at hand. $7 for a shirt. There are tailors all over. Some even come to your house. You can get manicures and massages in the convenience of your own home for very little money. Art supplies like oil paint cost about a fifth of the price in the US. Canvasses (which can be made to order) for painting are a tenth of the price ($5 for a large canvas that costs $50 in the US). Local fruits and vegetables are inexpensive if you shop where the locals shop and haggle like a local.
City life: I’m eating my way through the restaurants of Dhaka. There are many. This is a mega-city in a surge of rapid growth. If you like cities, dirty warts and all, then this is for you.
Adrenaline junkies: Driving in Dhaka is like being in a video game.
Bloggers and National Geographic types: At any moment something will happen that your audience might find a photo-worthy moment. I try to sit with my camera in my lap on almost every car ride. There are no dull days here. Today, I saw a small fluffy dog being walked from a rickshaw… if only I’d had my camera out then…
Mirror on Rickshaw.
Smiles: There are 15 million people in Dhaka so you might get 500 smiles a day. Not everyone smiles, but if you smile at them… they might smile at you.
Flaky, buttery, doughy, stretchy bread makes me happy… and today I found my European-style bread source in Dhaka.
Buttery and flaky pastries aglow in King's Confectionery.
King’s Confectionery is on Road 11 in Banani. Once a day at 7:30 in the morning, the bread truck arrives and delivers freshly baked French bread… and so much more. When you go inside, you take a round teak tray and tongs to choose your baked goods. You can take the croissants, breads, quiches, etc. home or eat it here. There is a seating area inside (spare and sparse) and a pleasant looking garden courtyard. They serve fresh brewed espresso (we’ll try that another time). I was so excited by the smells and array that I started taking photos… until I was told that no photography was allowed… so enjoy the photos (or go to the store yourself)!
The number one item to buy in Dhaka is fresh water pearls.
Checking to see how the pearl necklace "falls."
I paid 1,800 Taka ($21) for five strands of pearls. Apparently, you can test if they are real by rubbing the pearl against your tooth to feel for sandy texture. Or you can set flame to he pearl. I did neither of these things. I figure that it looked nice, the salesman was good at his job, and he strung those pearls up in a flash. You can ask for a knot to be tied between each pearl if you want them to be more secure (the end of the string is melted into the clasp), but you have to ask.
Bangla is still a mystery to me but I’ve learned that “Dhaka” actually means “cover” and I’m beginning to see why I might cover my head when I go out and about in Dhaka.
Open sewer, tree, dirt road, chicken bone...
The other day, I went walking to market. I walked up a busy road so I stuck to the side of the road (most of the residential roads are not that busy so I walk down the middle navigating around the potholes and moist patches). In my neighborhood (which is the wealthy area), the sides of the roads sometimes have a few stretches of sidewalk but mostly, there are piles of dust and dirt where it’s been swept into piles.
This particular day, I was walking along a road with trees on the left side (yes, I should walk on the other side so that I can face oncoming traffic. Sorry, parents!) because I figured that I could scuttle from tree to tree and be slightly protected. It should be said that when I go out, I usually wear some form of shawl or scarf. I recently bought an out-size one and I like that it can cover almost all of me (both from dust and stares). So I set out with my newly washed hair flowing behind me. Suddenly, something dropped on my head! I tentatively tapped my head to feel for viscous guano (wet bird poop) and felt nothing. That was more worrying but I saw that an electrical cable had come loose and hit me on the head on it’s way down a tree. Just one of those things. I don’t know what crud had accumulated on that cable but I wish I’d had my head covered.
Then I continued down the street and… plop! I hear the sound of something hitting the ground. Right next to me, next to the cement foot for a metal pole and a tree… is a chicken bone… imagine if that had hit my head? I look up to see what is causing this commotion above my head. I see a black crow watching me giving me a territorial stare. Or maybe he was telling me to cover my head!
After the Holud on another moonlit night, another wedding ceremony takes place.
Closeup of Bride's henna...
This ceremony is much less intimate with 1,000 guests invited. They come by SUV, white car with tinted windows, black car with tinted windows, and rickshaw. The groom and his family haggle to gain entrance and to cut the red ribbon held by the bride’s family. The bargaining and trash talking is done with good cheer. Once the groom enters, the couple sit through many photos up on a decorated stage. The bride wears red. The groom and many of the male guests wear business suits. After many photos, the 1,000 guests find tables to sit at. They are fed pilau (rice), chicken curry, goat, potatoes, and salad. The drink available is “burrhanee” – a spiced yogurt drink made of cumin and other spices plus black salt (which gives the drink its sulfuric aroma).
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
After a few hours, the bridal party moves to their table to eat. A cooked and decorated kid is brought to them a a special food. Then, the bridal couple return to the stage to exchange flower garlands and to do the mirror ceremony. During this, they look into a mirror and say what they see. He said, “I see a princess…” and she said, “I see my everything.”
A Bangladeshi wedding consists of several ceremonies. There is hand painting with mendi and other ceremonies which I have not been to yet. But, I got invited to my first Bangladeshi “holud” or pre-wedding party.
The bridal couple on the stage at the Holud.
The Holud can last five or more hours depending on the venue’s closing times. The purpose of the Holud is to celebrate and bless the bridal couple. The bride is often sad on this occasion because this is the evening that she will be leaving her childhood home. A Holud (which is the word for “yellow” in Bangla so I am told) is supposedly the “fun” part of the wedding celebrations. The ladies tend to wear sarees for the Holud. The fashion is often to have one designer design all the clothes for the wedding. For this Holud, the bride’s family were in green, the groom’s family in red, and the bride in yellow. This creates the effect of the colors of the Bangladeshi flag surrounding a shining gold center.
The guests arrive over the course of two hours, eat appetizers (like phoushka – cracked fried dough shells with chickpea filling and chutney), greet family, and find good seats. Then the groom is escorted out onto the stage by his family. The bride is escorted by her family. Then there are songs and speeches (including PowerPoint photo montages). The bridal couple sit on the stage while guests line up in queues on either side. The guests go up on the stage, use the turmeric paste to bless the couple (married people can also then put the paste on their own faces) and feed the couple. Photos are welcome at any point during the evening and are encouraged.
Mild chaos reigns. Families come up. Colleagues come up. Friends come up. Everywhere photo flashes are blitzing and the temperature rises from the press of 300 bodies smiling, photographing, eating, dancing, and celebrating. At some point, the rehearsed dances are performed and dinner is served but mostly people are concerned with going up on the stage, getting their blessings in, and their photos taken. A general feeling of family and love is thick in the air.
During the cooler months here in Bangladesh, it is wedding season. According to one’s wallet, the houses and sometimes the streets are decorated to celebrate the nuptials. But, it’s not just the weddings that cause the light decorations. Lights can be a sign of any festive occasion from the birth of a child to the birth of the new year.
A whole building festooned in chill lights
Paper lanterns and string lights add a mysterious atmosphere
Today I received many gifts… in many splendid colors. I went to explore the market near the good banana salesman.
Paints of many colors and a brush of inditerminate bristles.
It’s near Rickshaw Road. This time, I went to more of the shops and I will go back to capture more of the photo-ops… like the saree salesman with a foot pedal sewing machine, but mostly, because there is so much more to explore! Today, I got some good shopping done and I completely forgot to haggle. Mostly, I’m overly joyed to have found a shop selling paint. It was like receiving a Christmas gift! Now I just need canvas or jute paper to paint on.
The red teflon wok with lid on the mesh grocery bag... these mesh bags are typical here.
I bought the paints for around 120 Taka a can ($1.25 per espresso cup size can). I got a red wok for 1,200 Taka ($15) and I’m pleased with the hearty red color. I may go back and buy the rest of the set once the salesman has more pots and pans in red. I also found some touristy mugs. I liked the smaller size and I will go back and buy more since they appear to be made in Bangladesh. The bigger ones are made in China… I will send them as gifts but I actually like the smaller ones better (and they only cost $0.95). The squat ones seem to have more sass.
The squat mug was better made and not chipped.
NOTE: The shawl in the photo is actually Pakistani and not typical of here.
“Did you see the elephant walking down the street?” We were driving speedily through the streets (for once) and I was looking at the rickshaws and decorated houses, soaking it all in like the newcomer that I am. My friend had not noticed. She didn’t notice it until we had whizzed past. I asked if we could go back. It’s not every day that you see an elephant strolling down the streets of Dhaka (in the exotic imaginings perhaps, but in the honking traffic jams rarely). Quickly, she yanked the car around and we darted down the street after the photo-op.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
December 16 was Victory Day in Bangladesh so it was a special day. I should have expected something special… The Bangladeshis celebrate. They put flags up. They ride elephants.That’s how they do it here in Bangladesh.
I went for a walk in the park… and enjoyed these signs… I’ve heard them called “ground nut” but what is “muri?” I shall have to ask someone. Is it candy?
They take their tennis seriously here in Dhaka. Before coming to Bangladesh, everyone told me that I would be taking up tennis as it was one of the few sports to participate in here (and the lessons only cost $1.25 per lesson). But with 99 percent humidity, I did not plan on playing tennis. Then I got here. In every office, I saw brightly colored tennis rackets lying about. In every home, I saw tennis rackets. Wow, I thought. I was impressed with this level of dedication. Nay, obsession. Then, the other day I too began playing — and here’s why — Despite having had fourteen shots injected into me to protect me from various diseases, I still get bitten by mosquitoes every day. Every day. Every day. Every morning, I wake up, crawl out from under my princess-like mosquito net, sit down with a cup of coffee to read my emails and blog… and the itch starts… then another… and then I look down to see a mosquito happily sticking me!
Then, I go out my door, lock my door… and get bitten again. I go down to carpool and two or three mosquitoes buzz about in the car. I go to the office followed by an entourage of mosquitoes buzzing like fawning groupies. Once inside the office, I am back to one or two stalking me.
So the solution?
Mosquito Tennis!
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
I had to get one. So I paid the foreigner price and bought mine for 465 Taka ($6.50). These neon electrified rackets are fully equipped with a light, a wrist band (are you dangling a two foot racket off your hand?), and two prongs for re-charging… in China. Ha! These are made in China (surprise?) and need an adapter. But because of their size, it’s hard to find a place to plug them in.
To deal with the mosquitoes, I spray my feet and ankles with Off “deep woods” spray every morning when I put on my shoes. I also have 98 percent Deet which I intend to use (liberally). I have a Deet cream bug repellent to slather on. Just haven’t done it yet. I don’t like icky sticky gunk on my skin… but, I’ll do it eventually if I can remember it. They say that the mosquitoes at night give you dengue and the ones during the day give you malaria… or is it the other way round?
Sadly, yesterday was a day of note because I managed to not get bitten all day long! Put a star in the calendar, mommy!
A word on technique: You can swing at them but I have yet to hear that satisfying sizzle and crackle as the little suckers get zapped. But I’ve seen really experienced zappers do a sort of gentle scooping technique, a sort of underhand, with great effect.
