I was trying to figure out the name of the shirt I wore during the Bangla new year and came across this website – hijabman.com/store.
I never did figure out the name of my shirt, but I wish I was Muslim so I could pull off this hijabman shirt that says: “Frisk me, I’m Muslim.”…
Happy New Year if you are Bengali, happy Saturday if you aren’t.
My day started at 4am. I am beat. I’ll write more later, including how my “White Boy” fame nearly started a riot at a rock concert. This day was so, so very long. For now here’s me and Bibi on her rockin’ truck of Bangla beats…
How are you spending your Bangla New Year?…
I gotta go.
The night bus rolls on and I make a pact with my bladder: The next stop, I’ll let him go.
I’m in the twilight that comes with sleeping, not so much because you need to but because you don’t want to see what rules of the road and physics the bus driver is trying to break, and don’t notice the bus has stopped. Finally, I awake and step off the bus. A shanty town bus station. I ask a lonely ticket saleslady where the toilet is. She points around to the back of the buildings.
“Hey boss. You need toilet? I show you.” Says the bus attendant.
I’m led around the corner of the building.
“It’s in there?” I point to dark…
In Wednesday’s “The Independent” (Dhaka) the lead story was about an anti-sweatshop bill in the US Senate.
Read it to get the Bangladeshi perspective on this issue. I really can’t weigh in on any of this at present time, but would like to hear some of your thoughts.
I love reading the newspapers wherever I travel. I’m sure this story was reported much differently in the USA….
My brother, Kyle, introduced me to Kurt Vonnegut. I’ve only read 3 or 4 of his books, but enough to know that I enjoy being inside of his head for a few hundred pages at a time.
He may have died, but I look forward to getting to know him further through his work. He was from Indiana and loved Indiana. Any writer from the Midwest is a hero of mine, especially when they are as funny as Vonnegut.
Vonnegut flatulated my all-time favorite quote:
I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don’t let anybody tell you different.
Speaking of which, a random thought…
Bangladesh is the most densely populated country in the world. What would happen if its 150 million people…
The entire time I’ve been thinking and planning this quest, I’ve only thought about the garment factories and not the production of the textiles from which they are sewn.
The city of Narsingdi is Bangladesh’s cloth capital. Rickshaws are heaped with colorful cloth and trucks carry so much that they won’t fit under power lines. I was welcomed with open arms, cookies, and tea to 3 separate plants. I could ask any questions I wanted and take any photograph, even if it was of underage kids working (Bangladesh requires a minimum age of 18). I explained my quest to each of the owners and they were more than happy to walk me through their factories.
They were all sweatshops, possibly in the…
No Bengal tiger hunting for me. Due to a complete lack of tourists, my tight schedule, and my stubbornness to never, ever call ahead to try and arrange things, the Sundarbans are a “no go.” Instead I’ll be heading to Kuakata beach on the Bay of Bengal.
My main reason for going on this excursion south of Dhaka is to explore the delta region’s extreme susceptibility to sea-level rise. A few feet rise would displace millions. Bangladesh is the world’s most densely populated country. Any loss of land would be devastating.
I traveled to Khulna via an 80-year-old paddle boat. The farther south we got the more flooding we saw. Houses were islands, fields were ponds, and walking paths were bridges.
Parts of my head feel like they are going to implode and others explode. Must be that fresh Bangladesh air. I’m taking a sick day today, which means I’m trying to get some writing done, but actually watching movies like this…
Yes that’s a talking head on a plate. It speaks Thai, if you were wondering….
I’ve yet to get on a boat without someone asking me, “Can you swim?”
Today I’m heading from Dhaka to Khulna by steamer. The trip takes 27 hours so I’m going to be incommunicado for a bit.
And if you were wondering…yes I can swim, let’s just hope I don’t have to….
It’s a 100-degrees Fahrenheit. Wear shorts!
In honor of the Bangladeshi “no shorts” fashion preference, I’ve been wearing pants every day. They’re hot and sticky and make me feel claustrophobic.
I may need counseling….
