Super Sister
You know Superman, Superwoman, Super Heroes of all sorts... But you haven't met Super Sister... To be exact, MY Super Sister...
Ever since she got here, she's swept up my room, my closet, my entire life!
She's tidied up my table so that I have room for my lappy and space for other things as well... Before that, I couldn't see the table top at all... And she managed to locate my two missing rolls of 400iso film... It was just on the table but I couldn't see them...
She came and did tons of washing... The washing I neglected because of my assignment... In my defence, I didn't let her do everything... While she went on a boat trip, I cleared out quite a bit of washing myself... She just came back and took over from where I left off...
She kept all my clothes neatly so that there's a system where I can see everything I own and not have to keep digging to see what clothes lie beneath... Mind you, there were some things that got buried so deep I forgot I brought them...
I brought her to Surovi yesterday... And because it would be too early to have breakfast at Pathshala, since Peter wasn't in yet, she got up early, and prepared hot drinks for me... As a kind of breakfast...
She did it again this morning... It's Friday so Peter's got a day off... She got up early and made instant noodles and eggs for breakfast before going for a day tour...
We went shopping together yesterday... And I got tons of new clothes... I got Two sets of Salwar Kameez (think my other sis is not gonna be surprised to hear that one of them is bright pink), two Salwar tops, a pale purple Rajshahi Silk Sari and lots of little souvenirs that my sis will bring home for me and keep in my loft... Silver things as usual... (Still can't find the sari for my sister's wedding though... Worrying...) We shopped from New Market to Aarong... Which is a very long stretch... I walked till my legs felt like they were going to break... But I'm very excited about my clothes...
It's been really nice having my sis around... Someone I can talk to at times... Other times, someone I can hug... (Even with her protesting)... Most of the time, I'm just watching her as she tidies my things, nags me like a real Mummy, and as she scuttles around making plans for herself and for me... I believe she'll make a fine Mum... Just like my Mum...
Think I'm gonna miss her so bad when she leaves... I can't even send her off because I have an appointment for my assignment... Argh! There is an upside though... After she leaves, it will only be a month more before I will go home to my other sister and the rest of my family... For a week... A Precious Whole Week... I can hardly wait!
Living Up Dhaka NightBird Style!
A Night Bird will always be a Night Bird no matter where that Night Bird might be… Why do I say that? I find myself always wanting to go out at night… Used to be easier with Mark & Ivan… I didn’t quite know where to go over here and what time places close… On top of that, there’s no car to get around in… Just a lot of rickshaws that never want to go where you want to go… Otherwise, they wouldn’t go there for the price that you want…
Despite that, I have found that it is possible to be a Night Bird in Dhaka… I started out by bringing along a trusty local who thinks everywhere is safe… Topu… And no wonder for him… He’s excellent at making snide or sarcastic remarks to people who pester him… while still smiling… Ouch… But you know, when someone dares to say that everywhere is safe, hanging out becomes a mission to see exactly how he keeps the muggers at bay… (useful talent)
We went to New Market to look around one night… I love all the stuff they sell… Stationery, toys, clothes, books, cutlery, household items… It’s like a gigantic open air shopping centre… I bought a lovely little something for my mother… I just know that she would love it…
Once the Norwegians had a party and we went over to their guesthouse… We had such a great time chatting that we didn’t leave until after one… Afterwhich, Jess, Topu, Mumit and I squeezed into one rickshaw to go back to Pathshala… The roads were very nice and peaceful…
On several other occasions, we just hired a rickshaw and went around sightseeing… I went to Old Dhaka and around Kalabagan area at night already… I remember seeing the stars in sky… There was so many of them… I leaned back on the rickshaw to look at them properly… The bumping of the rickshaw going over the bumps on the road just added to the whole mood…
But there's just something about going around on your own that doesn't quite cut it when you are out with other people... So Jess & I have started venturing out on our own too... We went to the book market last night and had a look around... Too bad we couldn't stay long because of a power cut...
In fact, I'm bringing my sister to New Market tonight! Think it's going to be very fun indeed... She promised to shop for clothes for me... Cos I don't have enough clothes and I don't have the time to get more...
I expect Jess & I will be going out on our own more often because it was so fun... Besides, Topu's perspective of Dhaka at night has rubbed off on us... And I'm sure the two of us can handle anything that might come our way... With our improved command of the language and our greater familiarity with the roads and back alleys...
I’m the most excited about it… It's real Nightbird activities… Once we find ways to fit drinking cha in...
Spring in Dhaka
The 13th of February was the first of Spring or First Falgun. The cold spell is finally over and all the lovely sweaters and long sleeved shirts that came in my parcel are officially unwearable. According to the Headmistress of Surovi, ladies wear bright yellow or orange saris on this day. Indeed, many of the ladies were wearing bright yellow and orange saris that day. Even Rayhana, Mothi’s wife. Really livened up the place.
But neither the scorching sun nor the bright yellow saris were any match for the one thing (or person rather) that arrived together with Spring… My sister… It’s very exciting when you see someone you love right in front of you… Especially when you haven’t seen her for the past one month… She arrived in her bright pinks and her warm smiles… The first thing she said to me was “Wow! I can’t tell if you you’ve gained or lost weight.” (It’s a good thing cos I have a wedding to attend in just over a month’s time…)
With her, came lots of perks. She brought me two pairs of slippers, one that I always wore back home and a new pair that my mother bought for me! She brought food, tons of food, my favourite white bag and some more clothes… Noyon got a nice stuffed toy too (Which he dirtied immediately)…Think I got too much stuff… Going to go down to Drik one day and give presents… There’s one thing I’m not sharing though… The box of homemade pineapple tarts that my mother freshly baked before my sister left… It is such a joy and comfort to have that to eat…
That was quite a nice start to Spring… Another nice start to Spring was the welcome I’d been getting at Surovi… I’d started visiting the home of Tumpa, one of the sweetest, and cleverest girls in class 8… Her mother thinks of me as a daughter! Haha! I’d been showered with food and snacks and flowers by the other kids in school… The teachers have been very friendly and invited me to have tea with them… My sister asked me to bring them down to the school cos she liked the pictures I took of them… We’re going tomorrow…
Jess & I also rediscovered Hopscotch yesterday… She got a sudden urge to play it… So we ran to buy chalk, asked Joseph for permission to draw on the floor, (promising with all our heart that Noyon would not get his hands on any chalk) and we started playing… It’s surprisingly fun! We made all sorts of silly rules to make it more difficult… It’s great exercise too!
There have been some unpleasant things though… I burnt a dustbin by accident… I’m not a smoker, no good with fire and had always listened to my teachers to not play with matches… Until curiosity got to me yesterday… I was absolutely guilt-stricken about the dustbin… Mothi was just pleasantly amused… Must have thought… “What was this silly Singaporean thinking??”… I made Jess take away my matches in case I burnt something else…
On V Day, someone at Drik professed his love for me… Which totally freaked me out… So disgusted that I don’t want to mention his name ever! I had absolutely no interest in that person or any other person here… Never will too… Don’t even know how he got the idea that I like him… I only talk to the guy at work… Never anywhere else… It’s not even like I knew him very long… What was that guy thinking???
And I’d started to see a side of the people here that I never saw before… People here have two faces and I’d only been seeing one… The other one is really not quite so pleasant… It’s their inner self… The complicated one with lots of weird ideas… The side that makes you realize that you can’t quite trust them…
I was quite upset to learn about such things… Very upset in fact… Jess & I were utterly disappointed… I’m very trusting by nature and I like to think that I can trust people… When even that is not possible, it just seems so upsetting… I don’t understand why people can’t be simple and honest and trustworthy… Call me naïve or idealistic… Simplicity is the easiest and most pleasant way to live…
Don’t worry… I’m ok now… Got over the initial shock and I’m learning to change the way I do things… It’s taught me not to take things at face value and to be very careful about people I meet and how I talk to them and treat them… I realized that this knowledge has started to make me a little more critical… (Not cynical though… I’d hate to be cynical at 22…) Critical in assessing the things people say and do and exploring possibilities of an alternate meaning or motive… Think that would come in handy wherever I go… I’ll bet people who are in the corporate world are just as two faced and complicated…
Even then, I think I still look out for a glimmer of hope… I read somewhere that hope is the denial of reality… Perhaps… But I think real hope comes when you have considered reality… Have I considered the reality of the people here? Yes… For a full week while this whisper was silenced… Do I still have hope? Yes… I refused to think that everything had hit rock bottom… I refused to believe that there was no person I could trust any longer… And that my friends could no longer be friends… That’s why this place was quiet… There was a battle within me between the depression of seeing the worst in people and the hope that wanted to come through…
Hope won… That’s why there’s life in this Heart again…
It’s not in people that I’m trusting now… It’s in Jesus… I don’t think I dare to trust anyone here for a while… So I’m trusting in Jesus to bring me through a place that no longer seems quite so friendly… Also learning to depend on myself… (I’m amazed by how independent I can be…)
Perhaps, after trusting in Him, I will find it easier to trust other people again… Within reason of cos… I don’t think I want to have another misunderstanding like that horrible one on V Day… Maybe I could start telling people I’m married and my husband is living with me in Dhaka… (Jessica’s saying that to strangers) Hmm... No… That would be lying… Maybe the next time before I come to Dhaka, I’ll make sure I’m married… Yup…
