Off to Bangladesh! I have been waiting for this day sooooooo long! Not sure what to expect, but now I get to find out how other people live. I haven't ever been outside the United States (grrrrrrrrr my sister has), so now I finally get out! My Dad and I are going to Bangladesh so he can teach public health and I can work with the students and the people of Bangladesh. My Dad said they are working on water projects, tuberculosis, and babies that die from diseases.
With 12 hours on the flight from NYC and another 6 to Dhaka (after 4 hours in the airport waaaaaaaaaaaaiting), we were 27 hours in airports and airplanes. If it weren't for the TV, I would have died of boredom.The flight wasn't full so we had plenty of room, but my Dad moved to my row, which he regretted later when I could sleep but he couldn't! He gave up a FOUR SEAT EMPTY ROW. Major fail.
When we were in the airport in Dubai, I was surprised how clean the airport was and I didn't see how anybody could think the country was poor because of all the stuff you could buy and how awesom the people were dressed. We were in the airport but still I thought I would see all these people who were poor. All have clothes of seemingly good quality (both men and women). I did see lots of different cultures with the food and what people were buying (lots of designer stuff at the shops and LOTS of shops), but a lot of the men's clothes looked like American clothes. There were a lot of women dressed in traditional Muslim clothes.
Sooooooooooo excited there is a Starbuckssss. Fail. None of the drinks I like just the coffee and hot tea, which sucks because I thought Starbucks was the same everywhere.So, I hung my head the rest of the time we were there. Dad bought frappachinos, but that wasn't the same and I didn't drink mine (I still owe him for it since I didn't drink it).
Dhaka? It is kinda smelly and filled with mosquitos at the airport. No bag for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dad's bag came, but mine was missing. It took us forever just to get someone to say yes ur bag is missing. So they said they would send it IF they found it.
When we went outside, where it was kinda hot and really humid, many people asked if we needed a taxi, and we said no thank you a billion times since we already had a ride. Horror, Horror, more Horror and aaaaaaaauuuuuuuuugggggggghhhhhhhh! The ride from the airport was the scariest driving experience ever in my life ever, even with my Dad's driving. Cars everywhere. People ignored that there were three lanes marked and just drove anyway they wanted sometimes there were four lines of cars in three lanes and sometimes five!!!!!!! No lights to stop traffic and people just darting out between the traffic!
Honking and honking and honking and our driver did it ALL THE WAY two hours to Savar, even in the rural areas where the roads are so narrow only one car can go and everyone walks on it. Oh yeah and the rickshaws and the CNG (like covered motorcycles that run on compressed natural gas) that hogged the road and almost got run over always.
Cars were flooded around each other and people flooded around the cars, and basically all you could see outside the car in the dark were headlights getting bigger and bigger toward you, and the shrill sound of honking hornes, TERRIFYING!!! It was night when we got to the dorms, not as bad as I thought because we had a bathroom and air conditioning. After all that, all we did was pass out.
