Attack of the Shongskriti....

So my mom called me this morning. I woke to the sound of the theme to Star Wars, my mobile ring tone, blaring in my ear.... yes I will fight in the rebellion...... blehhh.... It was awesome to hear her voice as she has been having a hard time getting a hold of me here. I am fighting a chest cold and it made my day to talk to her. Anyway, we talked for a while and got caught up. During our conversation the subject of "what is it like over there" came up. I had to explain that things are VERY different and I know that people are curious. The Bangla word for Culture is "Shongskriti". It is used as a synonym for anything that does not work or is bad in this society. "Oh it is our Shongskriti".... "This is shongskriti you can do nothing..." etc..... I find this culturaly ingraned lack of responsibility EXTREMELY annoying. Here are some examples of why want to smack people on the back of the heads or just slam my head into some random wall. When Beetee learned of my friends head lice and saw how upset she was she just smiled and said in a very calm tone. " This is Bangladeshi shongskriti, and it is available in Bangladesh." Yeah well so is Dengue fever but I dont want no part of that shongskriti. You see my gentle readers the shongskriti often attacks in subtle and sneaky ways. One day when \i was having a bad tummy ache I decided to lay down and rest. I mean it is not suprising that I had a bad tummy ache in Bangladesh now is it? So I layed down on my bed (which I beat with a broom each day to ensure no bugs will sleep with me) , closed my eyes and settled into a comfortable position for a rest. Suddenly and quietly my host mother came into the room. My tummy must have been hurting so badly that I did not notice her lift up the front of my shirt and since there is no wind in Bangladesh and it is a million degrees I did not feel a temprature change as my bare skin became exposed to the air. All of a sudden I felt a sensation that I have not felt (nor will I for some time) on my tummy. The sensation of Freezing cold ice. My mother had gone to the freezer and got out a soda bottle that she puts water in and freezes for ice water and put it on my tummy!!! EEEEeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!! I screamed and flung the bottle off my tummy. My mother said to me , "Tomar pet gorom! Tumi tanda pani lagbo". Which is Bangla for , "Your stomach is hot! You will need cold water." No you crazy bitch it is not and I do not blehehehehehehh!!!!. Shongskriti!!! Gotcha again.
Another example of a sneak attack of the shongskriti happened to Seth, a fellow trainee. You can get anything made you want in the bazar. Similar to a medieval market there are tailors, cobblers and all other sorts of craftsmen that are there to make what you want. And since it is the 3rd world it is dirt cheap even for Peace Corps volunteers. So Seth decided to get a pair of leather mens dress shoes made for swearing in. He went to the cobbler, had his feet measured and picked out a style he liked. He came back a week later to pick up his new shoes and put them on to show us at the training site. He was proud of his new shoes until it was noticed that the buckles had little swastikas on them. The funny thing is that Seth is Jewish. Shongskriti! Gotcha again! He wears his shoes less now that he saw they had a swastika on them.

Other examples of shongskriti are: Spitting: Bangladeshis spit all the time because swallowing saliva is bad for health. But spitting where people walk barefoot is just fine and dandy. Nose picking: It is perfectly acceptable to pick your nose in public. And because all Bangladeshi women have pierced noses they always have one finger up there rooting around. My personal favorite is when my host mother is "digging for gold" right before she prepairs my dinner. Shongskriti... Gotcha!!!

Sigh.... anyway, I am almost out of here and \i am glad of it. We go to Dhaka on the 28th for shopping and fun. Then on the 30th we swear in at the American Embassy and we will be full fledge Peace Corps Volunteers! On the 31st we seperate and go to our various sites. I made it guys. I did it. One of the hardest parts of PEace Corps is over. There are other challenges but I made it this far. I took my final Bangla Language test today and \i am pretty sure \i passed. I passed the mock one so \i am sure \i did fine. Just a few days more and \i will be at site and getting down to buisness.

I will write again soon when \i can. I have sent out letters to some people so you should be getting those. Also my mom and \i are working on a Maya newsletter so people can get pictures of me here in Bangladesh. It may be a few more weeks but be on the look out for that. My mom will have the details.

Yes it is cooling down. I have been taking warm baths because the mornings are so cold(my temp is so screwed now that cold is like 75 degrees I am sure). A warm "bath" here is boiling water and mixing is with cool water and bathing er dumping warm water on my head. I like it a lot. Its the little things that matter.

M