Back to Dhaka

Power lines and traffic in my neighborhood

And I'm back...back to overcrowded streets and honking horns, back to overwhelming heat and humidity, back to power outages multiple times a day, back to rotting garbage seeping out of overflowing bins and heaped in piles on the street, back to air thickened with smog, back to cockroaches hiding behind shampoo bottles in my apartment, back to Dhaka.

Outside the vegetable market sits trash and livestock

Each and every time I leave Dhaka, it gets harder and harder to come back. Nepal was so serene and Dhaka is just chaos. But I only have 8 weeks left before I being the long journey home, and this time, I don't ever have to come back.

I've been thinking about this past year and all the things that I've learned from living in Dhaka. I've learned how to cross the street and navigate traffic, which my parents now understand is no easy task! I've learned to be assertive and stand up for myself, I've learned to kill a cockroach without screaming, I've learned how to change my lesson on the spot when the power goes out, I've learned that wearing a Salwar Kameez is actually the most comfortable thing to wear in the heat, I've learned that I actually like teaching big kids too.

I feel like after surviving Dhaka...I can conquer any task set before me if I set my mind to it.

Sunrise over the Annapurna Mountains in Nepal

A short story:
One of the ayas at the school came into my room at the end of the first day back from Spring break and asked, "Mother, Father, go?"
I said, "Yes, they are back home in Canada."
She asks, "You? Canada go?"
"Yes, in June, school finish, I go home to Canada"
"Return?"
"No, return no."
"Return no?!" She gives me the most disapproving look I have ever seen her give. Then proceeds to list the teachers that are also not returning who she will miss and I am now added to this list.
"Come to Canada!" I joke cheerfully.
"Taka nai" she says, making a money gesture with her hands.
"It's ok, you can come in my bag." I say, pointing to my backpack.
She laughs at this and says it's too small. I say, "No, I'll get a BORO bag" (Boro=big)
This is even more hilarious to her, and as another aya walks in she recounts our entire conversation to her and now they are both laughing and the new aya tells me in Bangla that I need 4 large bags because there are 4 ayas. I laugh too and nod emphatically.
And I can't help but think, how different our lives would be if we were born somewhere else in the world, and how lucky those of us are, who are born in Canada and have the resources to leave and return as we please.

Showing the ayas how to take a "selfie"

Namaste from Nepal

"You have to go to Nepal" is the answer I got from every backpacker I asked this summer on where to travel in Asia, and now I would have to agree. The Himalayas are a spectacular sight, resting behind what Canadians call mountains but Nepalis simply call hills. We trekked the "hills" of the Annapurna region for 3 days, the shortest trek one can do. It started with stone stairs, lots of them, about 2000 I believe on the first day, and it ended with stairs. If you think going downhill is easier than going up, think again, and see the wounds incurred by unsure footing on the way down.

My mother showing off her wounds from the trek

My father descending the many steps on the trek

Oh that's right, MY PARENTS CAME TO VISIT!

They flew into Dhaka on April 9 and spent the evening touring my neighborhood, being followed by a crowd of beggars fascinated with my dad's height, experiencing their first rickshaw ride and near brush with death in Dhaka traffic, and finally enjoying a delightful dinner with some of my friends. The next day, they came to school with me and got to see the first ever CTS Talent show organized by myself and a few other teachers. It was a lot of fun and included such acts as several Grade 2 girls dressing in princess gowns and singing "Let it Go" from Disney's Frozen, Grade 4 boys accidentally breaking ceiling tiles with their soccer skills, and students singing songs by Bruno Mars and One Direction. Myself, Mr. Tam, and Ms. Matharoo decided to put on a little tribute to Boy Bands and choreographed a little dance to "I want it that Way" by the Backstreet Boys. The crowd went wild! And then we topped it off with "That's what makes you Beautiful" by One Direction which happens to be a CTS favorite. One moment I will never forget is when I said, "Everyone stand up and sing with us!" and the entire school, Kindergarten to Grade 12, jumped to their feet and sang and danced the entire song, even when our accompaniment cut out. It was incredible; we may be a small school, we may have ridiculous Dhaka problems that you would never come across anywhere else, but we are a family, we are a community, and that itself is also pretty hard to find.

In typical Dhaka fashion, our Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight was delayed 5 hours and we were 2 hours early for our flight...7 hours at the Dhaka airport is a little much. The next day we were delayed 3 hours for our Kathmandu to Pokhara flight due to weather. Not the greatest start to the trip but nonetheless, we made it in one piece.

The other draw that Nepal has going for it, other than the spectacular sights, are the people. Our trekking guide, Narayan, not only told us all about the country's geography, but also the culture, the religion, his family, his views, and all with his laid back sense of humor. After the trek, he invited us to his home in Kathmandu for supper. We were excited to meet his family and eat his wife's Dhal Bhat, sitting on the floor, "Nepali style" as Narayan called it. As with most of the country, electricity comes on in his building at 11 pm until about 7 or 8 am. There is one bathroom for the 6 families that live in the building and running water comes for a few hours every 10 days. It's one thing to say, yeah, I know I take running water and electricity for granted. It's a another thing to be completely humbled by someone who opens their home to you so hospitably...and how many times do we open our homes to people we've known for 3 days?

Meeting Narayan's wife and daughter looking after the water shop

Dinner time!

Trying out the self-timer to get a family picture with Narayan

What a change from Dhaka, everywhere I walk in Nepal, people smile, greet me with a "Namaste," and pay no attention to what I'm wearing. Even bartering in Nepal is friendly and calm and you usually get such a good deal to start with that there is no need to go any lower. The kids in the villages along the trek route would shout "Namaste" followed by "Give me sweets!" or "Give me chocolate!" but when I turned around and asked them to give me some sweets, they giggled and ran away. Can't blame them for trying, must have worked at some point, getting treats from the tourists that pass by.

Some stories are better told in person, so I will save the close encounter with the wild tigers and rhinos of Chitwan National Park for another time.

It's strange, as soon as I saw my parents, it felt just normal, like why wouldn't they be here? The whole trip I thought we would have so much to catch up on, and yet, we spent a lot of time just enjoying the moment. Whether it was the spectacular sunrise over the Himilayas, the stark white snow capped peaks contrasting against the star spangled night sky, canoeing around Fewa Lake, riding through the jungle on an elephant, listening to the guides at the hotel bring in the Nepali New Year with song and dance, or falling asleep most nights listening to an episode of "The Debaters" that my dad downloaded onto his iPad. The moment they left, that feeling of being at home and back in my comfort zone left too. I'm just so happy that they were able to come all the way out here and travel in a way they never have before. And while I can't go home with them now, I'll see them in two short months along with all my friends and family in Brandon. For now, I'm pretty excited for all my Dhaka friends to get back from their Spring Breaks and to see my students tomorrow.

Sarangot: Standing on a "hill" with the Himalayan backdrop

Life is strange, life is hard, life is beautiful, life is a gift, live it well.