A Month of Reflection in Dhaka

We are a newly arrived expat family in Dhaka, Bangladesh.  I would say we are straight off the farm from small town America, but we actually moved here from Mexico City.  And even though we are from the Deep South in the U.S., we didn't grow up on farms.  That doesn't stop people from always asking us where we are from because they "detect an accent."  Our family is anything but conventional, but really, whose family is normal?  Maybe normal and conventional aren't synonymous.  And, besides, we are certainly not unique.  There are tons of other expat families from every country in the world living in every country in the world.

Arriving at Hazat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka.  Here we go!

The family unit is nothing more than two parents and two kids - two rambunctious boys, that is.  Sadly, no pets, save for a street dog named Lucy that we have inherited as a walking companion.  That story will come later.  The male parental unit is from Alabama (Roll Tide!) and the female parental unit is from Georgia (Go Dawgs!).  The boys, 13 and 10, are split as well, one claiming Alabama and one claiming Georgia.  My husband works with USAID, so we plan to be moving around the world, but we hope to have a long stint here, in Dhaka, after our two years in Mexico City.  Both of us love to travel and have a somewhat competitive edge to it: he's been to almost 40 countries and I'm only pushing 30 (he's older, though!!).

This blog is really for our family and friends, as a way for them to experience our lives with us, since we are so far away.  Mexico City was just a short 3 1/2 hour plane ride from Atlanta, but, due to the sensationalism of the violence in Mexico by the American media, no one apart from my parents and one friend already in Mexico came to visit us.  It's regrettable, really, what the media does for Mexico.  As I told people before when they said it was too dangerous to travel to Mexico City: it's like saying you aren't coming to Atlanta because Compton is infested with thugs.

We said goodbye to DF (like saying DC for Washington, DC) in June and headed to the States for six weeks of rest and relaxation visiting with family and friends (read: not a lot of relaxing, my head rested in 16 different places over the summer) before wheels up to Dhaka.  Along the way, we stopped for two days in Rome, Italy.  That was Asa's "lifelong dream" to go to Rome and see the Coliseum.  Asa is my 10-year-old.  I'll post later on Rome, but to sum, it was "awesome."

The plane touched down at Hazat Shajalal International Airport (formerly Zia International) in Dhaka at 5:30 in the morning on August 2;  eight days before my oldest baby turned 13!!!  Even when we flew out of DC (a night there visiting friends), I was struck by something strange.  It was the first time I've ever NOT been excited to travel overseas.  Not that I was dreading it, or not looking forward to it, on the contrary I thrive on new experiences.  But this time, there was no fluttering in the stomach, no giddy anticipation, just a feeling like, "Alright, let's see what this is all about."  Maybe it was all of the planning and anticipation that comes with moving to a new place and not just traveling there.

View of rice paddies, the river, and flooded fields just outside of Dhaka.

Coming in to Dhaka, the city

Asa in the airport - tired and in the jet lag zone

Our worldly possessions packed out of Mexico City about a month before we did and we've known we were moving to Dhaka since November/December 2011.  By the time we touched down on August 2, I'd seen loads of You Tube videos on street food, driving, and just life in Dhaka and Bangladesh.  Being so linked in to everything through the internet can really give you a feeling for the place.  Still, I have never been to the Arab world (except Egypt) and have never been to Asia at all.  We had a layover in Doha, Qatar between Rome and Dhaka.  The kids were almost silent as we moved through that airport with women covered head-to-toe and men all in white.  Sage was like, "Welcome to Bangladesh, Asa."  I had to reassure them that not everyone dresses that way and they wouldn't stand out quite so much.  The first part is correct.

We stand out like a flock of flamingos among the crowd.  It doesn't matter what your hair, skin, or eye coloring is, if you are a foreigner, you will be unabashedly stared at, at all times, in all places.

Squat and go, then use the water to wash.  Use your left hand NOT your right.

I had forgotten what it was like to go to the restroom and find a hole with porcelain feet fixtures :).  That was my first bathroom experience in Dhaka, at the airport.  Luckily, the foreigner's homes, are outfitted with toilets like we know them.  Our sponsors met us at the airport and took us to our new house.  We were so jet-lagged at this point, that driving to the new digs was seriously like being in a dreamworld.  All the new sights and sounds, the traffic, the rickshaws, the crazy crowded buses, and all the while you are staring and looking and thinking, wow.  We're home.

Now, five weeks later, we have really settled in.  School is going well for the boys, at least socially.  The American International School of Dhaka is a fabulous, wonderful school.  They have incredible support for the students and are well set up to handle issues that arise from moving place to place.  Our house is right across the street, making it easy for the kids to go back and forth and giving us a place to play after school.  It opens up as a community center after 5:00 pm and during the weekends, so I can go over and swim laps at the pool!

The American Recreation Association (ARA, also known as the American Club) has been invaluable for the kids in adjusting.  Our first full day, our sponsors took us there for breakfast and helped with our memberships.  The kids spent almost every day at the pool there for the 10 days before school started.  By the time they walked into school that first day, they both already had a couple of good buddies.

  

Facillities at the ARA

My husband likes his work, the kids like their school, we've had wonderful trips organized by the CLO (Community Liaison Office at the Embassy), have made lots of friends, and can say we are content with our lives in Dhaka.