Things that make me laugh

There are many things to complain about in the "Desh". Part of it is that this is a really tough and gritty country to serve in. Part of it is that I find great release venting in prose. I am certainly not the same person I was 5 months ago. I put up with a lot less crap from people. My philosophy in the States was that everyone diserved a chance. Everyone deserved the benefit of the doubt. Its the opposite here. I assume you are a jerk unless you prove otherwise. You are guilty until proven innocent. I realize gentle readers that this new philosophy is quite anti-American, however; as the only white girl in my town its all about survival. That being said I don't want to be too negative. Yes I could complain all day about how things are just not right! But though my personal philosophy has changes my sense of opptimisim and humor have not. And sometimes when you are ready to kill someone because you have had one too many cat calls, one too many dumb ass questions and one too many random acts of stupidity you just have to laugh. And believe me when I say that I laugh REALLY loudly. Here are a few things that really make me laugh:

1. The kid who's bike has that extra "flair". Its hot pink with a glittery finish and has glittery disco tassles on the handle bars. The bike seat (which is gold) has a logo that says something like " SUPER GOLD STAR FIGHTER POWER". The kid also managed to glue CD's to the front to give it that extra flash! And just to make sure EVERYONE knows he is coming he has a little battery operated music box that plays this really annoying mechanical techno ditty, over and over and over...... I laugh every time I see him. He always rides by me really slow so I can take in his hot pink super gold star fighter power magnificence. I am sure that if he rode that bike in America even the nerdiest kids would band together to beat him up for such an afront to manhood.

2. Fashion: Um where do I even begin. Well lets start with the young male gender of this country. I am going to pick on them because they pick on me. First of all every one is stuck in the 80's and not the cool 80's no we are talking "new wave" fashion nightmare 80's. And believe me when I tell you that the young men LOVE to strut their stuff. For who they are strutting is anyone's guess as the women are all under lock and key and the male, female ratio on the streets is like 8 to 1. Super tight jeans stone washed with patches are a favorite, as are glittery disco shirts (slightly unbuttoned to accentuate the manly chest hair of course). Purple cargo pants, shirts with ruffles and sweaters with random useless zippers also add to the fashon disaster. If you are new to the desh such outlandish outfits and the blatent hand holding and arm linking would leave a Westerner to believe that the "Desh's" big secret is that all men are gay. But no my narrow minded friends but your homophobia aside because that is even more taboo here than back home. Nope its just fashion gone horribly wrong.

3. Traffic accidents caused by me:
Yes I can say that I have caused various traffic accedents by my mere presence. Rickshaws running into eachother as they stare at me is nothing new and I am finding that it is starting to lose its humour. Though, the other day a mom and her kid were walking and when they saw me they turned to stare but kept walking. Since they were watching me and not where they were going they smacked right into the back side of a rather large cow. Suffice to say the cow had just finished going to the toilet and well they found it a bit slippery. (heh heh heh... I love moments like those). I have also had cars wreck because they were checking me out in their rear view mirror.

4. My host niece Nazia's sketchbook.
Nazia is by far my favorite person in Bangladesh. She is a total rebel and always getting in trouble. I of course am always rewarding her for her insolence and she makes me laugh all the time. Nazia likes to draw and sometimes we draw together. One day I asked to see her sketch book and upon flipping through its pages I noticed that there were drawing after drawing of goats with little goat pellets coming out of their rear ends. Our conversation went something like this:

"Uhh Nazia?"
"Yes Maya Auntie?"
"Why do you have all these drawings of goats going to the toilet?"
"Because that is what they DO all the time Auntie! Don't you know anything?!"
"Aparently not."
"Nazia you still did not answer the question. Why do you have goats going to the toilet?"
"Auntie do not ask these questions to me"
"Umm ok........"

She also likes to draw princesses and they thanks be to Allah are not using the toilet.


So what else is new in the Desh? Well for one I am starting my spoken English class today and I am really excited to get to work and dive into teaching. I am also in the process of moving into my apartment and getting everything that I need. I payed the rent and now am just buying what I need and furnishing it which is not easy AT ALL. There is no one stop shop like Wal-Mart and there is no such thing as a "fixed price". Its gonna take some time but its fine. Lief and John also are in their own places too and they are LOVING it. Space.... must... have.... privacy..... blehhhh.... I will write more later.

M