My first day in Bangladesh was filled with one misadventure after another. Originally the plan was to have Azad's father (Azad is the Bangladeshi who is a consultant with UM and helped put together the program) pick us up at the airport. We were supposed to call him when we landed, Azad having given us a Bangladeshi cell phone with money on it before we left America. Having someone pick you up at the airport was very important (as I had been told by multiple people) because as foreigners (especially white foreigners) we cannot take taxis at all, as there is a strong possibility we will get robbed. There is also no real public transportation that we could use, so having a ride is crucial...
First problem: The cell phone didn't work. We went through customs and decided to collect our bags and hope that he was waiting for us in the arrivals section, and he would be able to spot two lost looking white people (we were among a handful of white people on the 400 person plane). We got through customs with no problem (it of course took forever but patience is definitely crucial here, and I am definitely working on it successfully)
Second Problem: One of my bags was missing. Under the best of circumstances this is a huge and annoying ordeal. When arriving in a developing country where you don't speak the language, are jet lagged and exhausted from getting about 6 hours of sleep in the span of 48 hours it is near disastrous. After talking to multiple people I finally found someone who had me fill out a form with all my contact information and promised he would call as soon as he found out where it was.
Third Problem: We couldn't find Azad's Dad. I started asking the people at the little stores if I could use their phone, they all refused, and there were no pay phones. (Also we had just gotten money out of the ATM and had only very big bills.) Finally, I ran into a young 20-something looking woman in a military outfit and asked her if she knew where I could use a phone. She graciously offered me her cell phone and I was able to call the dad, got in touch with him and found out where he was waiting for us. We walked out to his car with him and his driver. We were immediately surrounded by beggars: one particularly insistent woman and a few children. As we were loading the car they kept touching my hands trying to get me to give them money. I refused.
The drive from the airport to the apartment was one of the most surreal experiences of my life. Everything I had read about in the guidebook was true:
a) there are no traffic rules whatsoever, people do whatever they want, swerve in and out of lanes, nearly hit each other, use the horn constantly
b) the streets are not just filled with cars, but everything you can imagine including bicycle rickshaws, very old buses completely packed with people, trucks with people filling the back etc
c)saying traffic is horrendous is an understatement
d) beggars and people selling stuff (like strings of popcorn) walk in and out of the streets (including the really busy ones) and the car stops will approach the window trying to get money
We finally arrived at our apartment which is in Gulshan 2, one of the nicest areas of the city. Since I have not been anywhere else but Gulshan yet I have a hard time imagining if this is the nice, diplomatic enclave what the rest of the city is like (honestly). The area is very safe though as every house / apartment building is guarded at all times. The French ambassador lives a few doors down. The apartment itself is pretty nice, definitely nothing luxurious or fancy, but pretty clean, very spacious, has great AC and is very secure. We each have our own fairly large bedroom and bathroom as well.
We met the landlord, Mr. Dhar, and all his numerous helpers who went around trying to set things up for us. We told him we wanted to hire a cook (someone who goes to the market, cooks breakfast and dinner, cleans and does laundry). We agreed on 10,000 taka salary per month (which is about $140.00, slightly more than I had been told, but I wasn't in the mood to haggle). He said the cook would come by that day (as the only food we had was the bread, mangoes and hardboiled eggs that Azad's family had generously given us).
We then went with one Mr. Dhar's men to the market nearby to get the phone working. This was also surreal and overwhelming (although I think a lot of it was that I was so exhausted at this point). We got the phone working.
Mr. Dhar and Azad's father then sat with us for the next few hours as the men ran in and out of the apartment. At this point the guy from the airport called and told me my bag would be coming on the flight that night that was arriving at 8:30pm. Azad's father offered to take us, as we have no way of getting there otherwise. (I honestly don't know what we would have done if he hadn't been there, he was so nice.) Eventually he and Mr. Dhar left to let us rest for a bit. I tried to sleep but was still wired from everything, and after nodding off slightly I awoke to a knocking on the door.
Problem 4: At the door were 2 of Mr. Dhar's men and a third man I didn't recognize. They introduced him as the cook. I got a really weird vibe from him. We discussed a few things, then he brought up that his salary would be 15,000tk. I told him that I had been told 10,000. He said that was impossible. I refused to pay the 15,000, he told me his wife would work for 10,000tk. I told him I needed to talk to Mr. Dhar and they finally left. This meant we now had no cook and no food.
Problem 5: Our kitchen has ants that into the bread which then had to be thrown out.
Later, Azad's Dad came to pick us up to take us to the airport. Getting my bag was an ordeal (I had to go talk to 4 separate people and get paperwork from them before they would let me go to the lost and found and talk to the person who actually had the bag) but all is water under the bridge as I did get it, which was honestly unexpected.
When we arrived back at the apartment (around 10:00 pm) we decided to forgo dinner and just go to bed. Heading out to a restaurant seemed too overwhelming (it isn't really a good idea to walk around after dark, even in Gulshan).
I finally fell asleep.
All in all it was a crazy and hectic day. I am proud of myself for getting through it without crying and without wanting to go home. It made me realize that I could have no preconceived notions about how my life for the next 2 months would unfold because in so many ways living here is like living in a different world (and I don't mean this in a negative way it is just very very different from anything I have ever experienced). Life here is more intense in almost every way, and made even more intense with a severe lack of sleep.
A cook!
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