Day 5 Update

Last night, I took my first rickshaw ride through the streets of Dhaka; you really get a sense of the city from the seat of the rickshaw. The sights, the sounds, and the smells (which are unique) really bring out the atmosphere of the city. The rickshawallah, the driver was wonderful and even taught me a little Bengali. “Kemon Acho Rayan, Dhanyabad for the presentation. Today, we took a 7-½ hour train ride from Dhaka, the capital city, to the seaport of Chittagong. Along the way we saw the rice feeds of Bangladesh along with the palm, jackfruit, banana, and bamboo trees. The fields were very lush and green and it reminded me of the wheat fields back home. It was very interesting to compare the busy streets of Dhaka to the quiet villages of Comilla and Feni. The city of Chittagong is a busy steel and industry seaport located along the Bay of Bengal that reminds me of my college trip to San Diego. It’s not as hectic as Dhaka, but it is still very busy. After checking in at the hotel we then went to Pahartali Girls’ High School. This is the school that I have been working with over the past year. There to meet me was the headmaster, my partner teacher Manumul and one of last year’s
exchange student Jannatul. It was wonderful to see familiar faces and the young ladies at the school were very polite and ask very inquisitive questions. They also sang us the Bengali national anthem and smiled and laughed at our comments to the questions. I am hoping that my students will embrace this wonderful opportunity to expand their culture.
The internet connection in Chittagong is very limited, so be patience with my blog responses.