Well this is my first posting from Kurigram, I am adjusting fairly well to the new city. In the beginning it is always more difficult because I have to introduce myself to all the new people. It will probably take about a month or a month and a half to feel comfortable. The people here are much nicer than the people in Gazipur, they are much friendlier. I am not sure why that is but it sure is nice. I am not saying that everyone is great but the people are just much mellower here. For the first few weeks I will be meeting all the important people of the city, such as the mayor and the chief of police. They all want me to come play tennis with them; I am not so good at tennis so maybe they will feel good beating an American. As it turns out the military installation here (Bangladesh Rifles Border Security) has a basketball team that is supposed to be fairly competitive. They play other military bases around the country. They have requested that I work out with them, I guess they suppose since I am tall that I must be able to play basketball. That should be quite the experience; they seem to be nice people. I am not sure what the PEACE Corps in Dhaka will think about me playing for a MILITARY team, oh well, I will play anyways. There are a lot of things going on here; there are a lot of NGOs that are looking for help. I have been doing a little work with a Swiss NGO called Chinamukul Bangladesh. It is really neat place; they do flood relief, education and many other good things. It is nice to finally start doing some work and seeing some tangible results. I have been asked to write/ edit their annual report; we will see how that works out.

I really don’t know what is going to happen to this country. It seems to be spiraling out of control politically and socially. These factors are coming to head; I am not sure how long it can hold out. There is a massive radical Islamic surge in the rural areas and is moving into the cities. They are beginning to gain influence in all levels of the society. It is making me a little nervous, mainly because I hear about it from the people themselves. Just the other day suicide bombers killed two judges; it has sparked massive demonstrations throughout the country. Most of the demonstrations end in violence, they consist basically of two crowds that converge on each other and then hurl insults at until it turns physical. The other day I was riding my bike, when I turned left onto the main street there was a massive crowd coming my way. They were all yelling and wearing yellow sashes and headscarves, signifying their party allegiance. I quickly turned and went to the right to escape, because I sure didn’t want to be in their way. About one hundred meters down the road I came across another crowd coming from the opposite direction. They were all wearing red scarves. The two groups were marching towards each other, god only knows why. So I quickly turned down the only possible street, I went down that street a little ways. After about two hundred meters there was the RAB (Rapid Action Battalion) and riot police coming to get in between the converging crowds. So there I was stuck in the middle of this demonstration. I figured that it was safest to try and pass the police and take the long way home. I stopped on the side of the road and tried to look as inconspicuous as possible (I am a freaking giant and white), they passed carrying their crowd control sticks and pump action shotguns, as a matter of fact they smiled at me as they passed. This place is freaking nuts! This is taking place in Kurigram, one of the smallest places in Bangladesh; I don’t even want to know what the big cities are like. Tomorrow in Dhaka there is a massive Awami League (opposition party) rally to contest the current government’s policy. Last year at this rally there were 5 high ranking officials killed by grenade attacks and two hundred injured, that wasn’t even an election year. The ruling party has conducted raids to arrest members of the opposition party so they cannot contest the BNP (ruling party), and they have called for a nation wide transportation hartal (strike). Then we have the Bangladesh Mujahadeen (Fundamentalist Islamic Party) who hates every one and wants to establish an Islamic state, they have vowed to assassinate anyone who opposes them. These are the suicide bombers, that just great we have suicide bombers that makes me feel REAL secure. These are the guys who are killing the judges and threatening to cause problems at the rallies. For the longest time I thought we had problems in the states with our political system, ha, as you can guess my opinion has since changed. I am not saying we don’t have problems, but our problems are a lot different than here. My personal safety doesn’t really feel threatened, they like me here for the most part (as long as I am for Clinton and not Bush). They really hate that guy here; Bush is really causing problems for Americans abroad. When people hear American they immediately think Bush. It is the same as meeting a German and asking them if they support Hitler and his actions. Americans are becoming synonymous with Bush; some people have a hard time differentiating between Bush and me. Which makes for some really difficult conversations, usually I just claim I don’t speak Bangla even though I can. So I guess I will see what happens in the coming months leading up to the election. .

It is unbelievable how many kids there are running around this place, they are everywhere. The little ones that run around naked are the funniest; they wear little strings around their waist, which means they are not homeless or parentless. For the longest time I thought they were leashes or collars or something. But they really mean that they are someone’s child and not just an abandoned orphan. I see a lot of children that don’t have anything around their waist, which is really sad. You can also tell the economic status of a child’s family by their hair. If the child has a shaved head it means that they are really poor. They do this because the lice is really bad in the poor areas, the more hair they have the better off their family is. When I say poor I mean really, really poor, their father probably a rickshaw Walla and he might only make a dollar a day, and that is on a good day. The other day gave a rickshaw Walla a week’s salary after he gave me a ride. I felt so bad having all this money in my pocket (a few dollars) and he probably couldn’t feed his family. He broke down and gave me a big hug, and then he said a prayer for me. My family scolded me for doing this because they said he was of the lower class. I told them that I should have given him more, if I would have given him more if I had it in my pocket. Now every time I leave the house in the morning he is their waiting for me to give me a ride. He charges me the same as all the other Bangladeshis, he doesn’t ask for more than the ride is worth. Every now and then I drive him around in his rickshaw, it kills all the other Bangladeshis to see me (an upper class person) driving a rickshaw. I love the look on their face when I go by, but the look on the Walla’s face as an American is driving him around is worth a million dollars. I love smashing those ideas that they have of us (Americans). They think that we are high and mighty people, that we rule the world (which we do). I am one of the only Americans that they will ever meet, so now hopefully when they think of an American they will think of me instead of George Bush. I like showing the Bangladeshis that we are human and really not any better than they are. It is the little things like that that make it worth being here.

Eid Mubarak
Well I just returned from the Eid celebration, it was the most amazing experience I have had yet. Not the actual celebration but the events surrounding it. Or better said the strange situations that I found myself in. First I must lay some ground work, Eid is the largest Muslim holiday by far and away. It is the close of Ramadan, which makes it an incredibly important day. I was invited to my families home village, let me stress the word "village." This place is well beyond the beaten path, for Bangladesh that is pretty remote. It is probably safe to say that as many as 70% of the people have never left the village, as for the women it is probably closer to 95%. So most of these peoples only access to the outside world/information comes from two places: the state run media and word of mouth. It is safe to say that 98% of the people in the village have never met a white foriegner in person. So now that some ground work has been laid I can tell my story.
My uncle Dhali (who is the rich person in the family) sent his personal car and driver to take us out to the village. After about an hour of some of the craziest driving I have ever experienced we turned off the pavement..........when I say we turned off the pavement I mean we turned off the cart path. So we turned onto this little dirt path, you know like a hiking trail. I felt like I was surveying out in the most remote part of Madison county. We drove down that trail for about ten or fifteen kilometers. Then we arrived in the village, as we were going through the village people started to crowd along the side of the path to see the Bideshi. When the car stopped because it was not feesible to go another inch, the people started to really crowd around the car. All the men over forty had long beards and all the women had their heads covered. Everyone was staring at me in disbelief while I was still sitting in the car, and then it happened, I got out of the car and stood up. All I heard was oohs and aahs, I was by far and away the biggest person any of them had ever seen. I kept hearing "gacher moto, boro gach," this means "like a tree, huge tree." I couldnt help but laugh, which was good because it let them see that I was actually human. So anyways after a little crowd control by my family went to my room, which I got all to myself. My family then proceeded to explain that I was the first foriegner that any of these people had ever seen, so please dont feel uncomfortable if people ask some strange questions, or just act strange all together. I recieved an invitation to go take tea in the Bazaar ( one tea stall, a pharmacy and a pirated movie store, you know the essentials). So we went down to the tea stall, there were probably about sixty or seventy people there to meet me. I was ushered to the front of the crowd and they sat me down, I was promptly served some of the best milk tea I have ever had. They broke out the private stash of tea for me. At this point the leaders of the village came to me with prepared questions, I cant help but feel like I am in Star Wars and meeting the Ewoks (about the same size ratio). First question: Are you married? -No, Second Question: When will you marry? -I dont know, Third Question: Are you interested to marry one of our Bangladeshi women? -No, Fourth Question: So why did you come here then?............... They sure know how make you feel akward in a hurry. On Eid day it was pretty cool, it is kind of like Christmas. All the parents give cloths and presents to their children, and the parents recieve nothing from the kids. I recieved a new shirt and a Panjabi, the Panjabi is really cool. It is made with some really nice fabrics. On the actual day the people wake up in the morning and eat shamai (fried vermacelli, coconut, sugar and milk) which is reeeally good. After that everyone has a bucket bath, a kind of ritual cleaning. After that everyone puts on their new clothes and the men go to the Eid Ga, which is a large field where everyone gathers and prays. I didnt actually go out there in the field but they (the entire village) asked me to come observe. It was about two thousand men all dressed in white listening to the Imam sing verses from the Koran, it was really interesting to see. After that it turned into a sort of trick or treating type of thing. Everyone goes around and eats food at everyone elses house, usually sweet breads then rice and beef then rice and chicken and then shamai in that order every time. So we did that about six times, it blew hometown buffet out of the water. I was stuffed by about four oclock, so then we went home to eat more. It is the custom to serve food to people even if they dont want it. They will actually pile the food on your plate even though your hand is covering it. It is crazy! I must say I really enjoyed it thoroughly, it was one of the cooler experiences I have had yet.
This are just a few examples of what it is like to visit a small Bangladeshi village. A number of other things happened but it would take forever to explain. It is impossible to put something into words, it just seems to lose its luster.
I am going to Kurigram tommorrow. My time is Gazipur is over, it is kind of sad, I know my host family is really depressed. Every where I go with them now I am introduced as a member of the family and not a guest. It is pretty neat and a little strange at the same time. The ask me everyday how I will be able to survive without them, it is kind of humorous. Now I have to start all over with a new host family that I have met only one time, they were nice people but they were really strange. I am sure it will be okay, it is only for three months. If the past three months were any indicator then it will go by really fast. Besides now I get to start doing what I came here for, although I get a one month vacation. Not that I will be traveling, but it is just time to relax and get accustomed to the new place. So it should give me a chance to hone some of my Bangla and just take it easy, something that I have not been able to do since I arrived. Sorry about the length this blog, it is just that I am not sure when a I will post again. I have a new saying to leave you with, "I know this, you Americans are maximum large, I know this, Americans are also heavy sexy, I know this is because of your good weather." I definately have my work cut out for me. Anyways, signing off from the Far side of the World,