I have discovered the name of that lake which brought me so much comfort when I was homesick- it is called Banani Lake. Banani is a district in Dhaka city which is very close to where my friend lives, and it is the only body of water between Mirpur and Gulshan.
My newspapers only came for two days in a row, but I did get one while I was away so we'll see about tomorrow morning.
I am currently planning a trip to the Sundarban, which is a region in southwestern Bangladesh where the Bengal Tigers live and is also the world's largest mangrove forest. My Italian friend Marzia has gone on her village trip this week so I am taking it over for her so we can get good deals in advance hopefully. I am waiting for a call tomorrow morning from a tour guide man who is going to help me organize it, and whose name Marzia got from another group of interns who has worked with him. It looks really incredible, and one of the Muslim men who helped me on my first day in Bangladesh has kept in touch and he says it is the treasure of Bangladesh, and he is sad to not be there. He is going to send me information tonight about the things we should make sure to do. Woohoo! It feels really nice to finally be motivated to get out and do things, so I am confident I will get a good look at all Bangladesh has to offer in my time here.
I got emails back from my colleague's Mom here in Dhaka as well as the High Commission. Sharmini has invited me to the Canadian Club and since the wedding is only wednesday-friday I would love to go on Saturday night. I have to call her on Tuesday when she is back from Chittagong to see what we can arrange. She will also try to get me a short-term membership at the Canadian Club, and I will thus be connected to the Canadian expat community! The High Commission has also invited me to their International Women's Day celebration on March 3rd; I will get the invitation by courier next week which will be a great souvenir. I am happy to be invited, because I keep getting emails about all the millions of events taking place in Ottawa and at Carleton through the Women's and Gender Studies department over the course of a few weeks, so at least I will get to celebrate with some Canadians if not with my peers. That will also be at the Club- I definitely did not bring appropriate Western clothes for such a venue so I will wear my fancy Salwar Kamis the first time I go and assess the situation, and then maybe invest in something from Gulshan, which is where most of the Western stores are.
Tomorrow is the dress rehearsal for the wedding and I am picking up my blouse and petticoat which were custom-made for me to wear under my Sari; thankfully, I have coordinated the two I am borrowing from Sana and don't have to get another set made- what would I do with a formal belly shirt in Canada!?! I am also going to buy some small heels as that appears to be the formal standard here, yet another addition to my massive shoe collection. I am getting VERY excited for the wedding, probably paralleling Sana's current stress level. It's almost too bad for me that the wedding is this week, as there are only three working days so we would have been able to plan a larger trip were I not very happily previously engaged.
Is anyone actually reading all my posts? The blog was too big after two posts for me to open it so I'm sure it's a lot for you. Do keep in touch!
Love, Lesley
My newspapers only came for two days in a row, but I did get one while I was away so we'll see about tomorrow morning.
I am currently planning a trip to the Sundarban, which is a region in southwestern Bangladesh where the Bengal Tigers live and is also the world's largest mangrove forest. My Italian friend Marzia has gone on her village trip this week so I am taking it over for her so we can get good deals in advance hopefully. I am waiting for a call tomorrow morning from a tour guide man who is going to help me organize it, and whose name Marzia got from another group of interns who has worked with him. It looks really incredible, and one of the Muslim men who helped me on my first day in Bangladesh has kept in touch and he says it is the treasure of Bangladesh, and he is sad to not be there. He is going to send me information tonight about the things we should make sure to do. Woohoo! It feels really nice to finally be motivated to get out and do things, so I am confident I will get a good look at all Bangladesh has to offer in my time here.
I got emails back from my colleague's Mom here in Dhaka as well as the High Commission. Sharmini has invited me to the Canadian Club and since the wedding is only wednesday-friday I would love to go on Saturday night. I have to call her on Tuesday when she is back from Chittagong to see what we can arrange. She will also try to get me a short-term membership at the Canadian Club, and I will thus be connected to the Canadian expat community! The High Commission has also invited me to their International Women's Day celebration on March 3rd; I will get the invitation by courier next week which will be a great souvenir. I am happy to be invited, because I keep getting emails about all the millions of events taking place in Ottawa and at Carleton through the Women's and Gender Studies department over the course of a few weeks, so at least I will get to celebrate with some Canadians if not with my peers. That will also be at the Club- I definitely did not bring appropriate Western clothes for such a venue so I will wear my fancy Salwar Kamis the first time I go and assess the situation, and then maybe invest in something from Gulshan, which is where most of the Western stores are.
Tomorrow is the dress rehearsal for the wedding and I am picking up my blouse and petticoat which were custom-made for me to wear under my Sari; thankfully, I have coordinated the two I am borrowing from Sana and don't have to get another set made- what would I do with a formal belly shirt in Canada!?! I am also going to buy some small heels as that appears to be the formal standard here, yet another addition to my massive shoe collection. I am getting VERY excited for the wedding, probably paralleling Sana's current stress level. It's almost too bad for me that the wedding is this week, as there are only three working days so we would have been able to plan a larger trip were I not very happily previously engaged.
Is anyone actually reading all my posts? The blog was too big after two posts for me to open it so I'm sure it's a lot for you. Do keep in touch!
Love, Lesley
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