Feliz_carolina's travel blogs:
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Am I a Drama Queen?
Entry 3 of 39 | show all | print this entry |
I have been here 3 full days now and every day has been awesome! The 2 day plane ride was long but I was incredibly lucky because the whole way there and I mean the whole way from Wpg to Toronto, Toronto to London and then London to Dhaka the middle seat was always empty! How crazy is that! I had lots of room to spread out and sleep! So as we were heading closer to Dhaka on the plane I was wondering where the heck we were going to land! It really is just a lot of water with some land here and there. I don't know how we landed but we did, maybe the Boeing 777 is also a boat plane! Not only did we land safely, but my entire luggage was there and I was picked up by MCCers! Hurray! I am glad all that went smoothly because it seems like the whole visa thing did not go very smoothly, so that was a good break. Oh ya, I also want to mention that after I got my visa on Tuesday Oct. 11th, I thought that was it, no more worrying, I was safe to leave, no more problems to deal with I could relax and pack. Little did I know I had one more problem to face. The next day Wednesday Oct. 12th, I got a call from MCC- oh not again! Guess what? It was NOT good news, again! My plane ticket was not electronic as they thought so I needed a paper ticket to get on the plane. Ops! I was leaving in one day and the ticket was in Akron, Penn. in the US!!! It had to be in my hands in one day! After I heard the news I just started laughing, what a silly situation I was in AGAIN! Once again I had to have the mindset of "I may or may not be leaving on Oct. 13th." So my ticket was sent off on Wed. and we all hoped and prayed that I would get it before my plane left the next day at 3:30pm. I woke up Oct. 13th, the day my flight was to leave and I wondered if I was going to be on that plane. Oh the drama! Oh the drama at the last minute! I woke up on Thursday excited to see if everything would work out and it did. I went to the Fed Ex office at 9am and my plane ticket was there! Then 4 hours later I boarded the plane and was off! What a relief!
The first day in B'desh I went shopping in Dhaka with a girl named Reba who is a MCCer (she arrived a couple of months ago and will be here for 2 years). We went to a market and boy was that cool. First getting to the market was cool. We took a CNG (Compressed Natural Gas), which is a mix between a taxi and a scooter. All CNGs are green and they are everywhere, hundreds are on the street along with Rickshaws, cars, trucks and bikes! Swerve and beep... swerve and beep... swerve and beep. Shall I continue or do you get it? Driving is like a rollercoaster ride at Valleyfair, one day I will video tape a ride so you can understand how crazy and awesome it is! So in B'desh they drive on the other side of the road which is a little weird but fine. However sometimes our CNG driver would drive on the wrong side of the road on purpose and there would be oncoming traffic! AHHHHH!!!!! We played chicken with so many vehicles. I can't believe we didn't die! It was hilarious!
The market was another good adventure. It's like the Labyrinth without David Bowie. Shops were small and colorful and people were everywhere. Seriously it was a sea of people and you just sort of went with the current. The shops were either material or jewelry shops. We went shopping because I need to wear Bangladeshi clothing called Shalwar Kameez. I found some awesome material, greens, oranges, and pinks, with the greatest patterns ever! Today I am going to find a tailor so he can turn the material into a Shalwar Kameez.
Now for where I live. You know how I said I thought I was living with Monks well I am not, bummer. Where am I living you ask? On a Korean farm of course! Isn't that as obscure as the Monk thing?!! A Christian Korean couple came to B'desh and set up a farm, the farm has cows, ducks, rice fields and fish ponds. There are 4 small houses and I live in one of them with the 2 MCC Country Reps, Jerry and Ethel Shank. The farm is about 4 hours North of Dhaka and it is by a small village called Muktagacha. So I will be living here till the end of Nov. when my language training is finished. Then I will move to Dhaka, continue learning Bangla and start my volunteer job.
I now know my host family, or at least my host father, Andrew. He is also my Bangla teacher! I have had 2 lessons already and boy is Bangla different. But Andrew is a good teacher and I hope to understand things and catch on fast. Andrew's wife's name is Rose and he has 2 daughter. And guess what one of his daughters names is? REA!! Isn't that bizzare! I have a sister named Rea, now I will have 2 sisters named Rea! CRAZY!!! Supposedly Rea is a very common name out here. Who knew?!!!!
So to sum it all up I love it here! Everything I have seen is so different yet so beautiful! I wish I had 2 brains to store all that I have seen!
It is really hot right now, but I can handle it, I think!
Well that is all for now! I can't believe I am going to be here for a year! What have I gotten myself into?! Sweeetttt!!!!
Love
Ck
PS- To all the people who know I don't like fish, guess what I just tried fish!!!! Can you believe it! I was so scared but I did it. It was scarier than being in the Dhaka airport and not knowing if I was gonna actually get picked up! And it pains me to say it but it was okay! It didn't taste fishy at all! Well everyone should be giving me a pat on the back, a high five or a standing ovation, because I deserve it!
Latest Comments (3)
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Hello from BC (reply)
Oct 17, 2005 18:45 EST by mdyck
Hey Carolyn! glad to hear you made it w/out any more crazy business going on! all i can say is that i am really jealous... it's gross and yucky in dear ol' abby....
have a fun time... and remember me when your looking at fabric again! =)
maria
ps... i didnt know you didnt like fish... well, maybe when i see you next... we can go out for sushi haha
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Hello (reply)
Oct 17, 2005 11:39 EST by mamalynda
Hi
I'm so glad to hear that you arrived safely.
I will continue to pray for you...good for you eating the fish..LOL...I'm going for Sushi today so when you get back I'm taking you.
Love Mama Lynda
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FISHY business!! (reply)
Oct 17, 2005 11:24 EST by rosemarie
Carolyn! I cannot believe that you ate fish! And I still can hardly believe that you are in Bangladesh--but the eating fish part is even more weird!
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