And now the guide book speaks truth

Yesterday was amazing, as Fridays always are, though due to very different experiences this time. I will touch on that in a bit. First, the experience of tonight.

We had read about it in both guide books, but were not concerned. We don't stay out late, and it usually occurs in the expat areas. Plus, I feel really comfortable in Savar Bazaar. We go there so regularly that the guy at the misty shop gives us the friendship price and the people at the fried chicken place clear a table for us every time we show up, even if that means rushing out a barely finished diner or two. This is our Bazaar now.

Eid arrives on Monday. Eid is one of the biggest Muslim festivals of the year. Everyone has it as a holiday (expect rickshaw wallahs of course, this holiday means more work, of which they are thankful). As a result it is even more insanely busy. Going to the bazaar is like entering a mosh pit. For the first time I had my bum grabbed by some unseen passerby. I turned around and yelled, but in that crowd I have no idea who it could be. I thought, you conservative Muslim hypocrit. How dare you grab me.

As Joy and I were hailing a rickshaw we were contemplating this grabbing incident. The ride home was finally taking us away from the worst of the crowd. Out of nowhere a car pulls up along side us with a man half out the back window. He grabbed Joy's purse. Because her purse was slung around her shoulder she was yanked forward. I thought for sure she was going to fall out of the rickshaw and be dragged by the car. I grabbed her, though I don't believe I impacted the situation at all. Her purse strap broke, and I think the force of this was what threw her body back in the seat. She had her hands on the purse and was able to rip it free of its captor.  Her purse strap is ripped, but her wallet remained, and she was not badly maimed by a car dragging. We faired well. With adrenalin whizzing about us, we made it back to CRP safely.

Yesterday went much better. I went to Old Dhaka by myself. I saw Lalbagh (Red Fort) an ancient Muslim mosque finished by Shaista Khan, then rickshawed to Hindu Street. Hindu Street is a narrow winding street with loads of little shops selling instruments and bracelets, stickers and sweets. Here I met up with Sumanta (pronounced  Shimanto). He is an OT from Dhaka. He toured me around before taking me to the infamous Saderghat harbour. This is not a picturesque harbour, it's a working harbour. It's filthy, although this does not stop the various crewman from washing in the water (sick, they must have unbelievable immune systems). And it's really really busy. It's also full to the brim with people, pick poskets and aggressive beggars. Sounds lovely eh? But it's Dhaka, and not to be missed. Because I was with a local, I was left alone far more than if I'd been by myself. I am so thankful for Sumanta's company!

We rented a little boat and toured around the harbour with our boat man for 30min. Here we avoided steamers loaded to the gills with sand for brick making and clay, coconut fibres for mattress innards, pop bottles and garbage. It was pretty interesting to see. Well worth the trip.

After Saderghat we toured around the Pink Palace, which was the residence of the last Nawab of Bangladesh. This was not the serene exerience it oculd have been due to the sheer number of people also viewing the pink palace for the afternoon. Still, interesting none the less.

After we were all toured out we headed to Sumanta's uncles for some lunch and then off the Banani in baby taxi to Fazul and Baby's house (the two fabulous characters from the Sundarbans ship). They, in true Bangali style treated us like kings. We ate far too much (this is the theme of my whole trip). There were 4 kinds of meat dishes, two kinds of misty, multiple rice dishes and several vegetable options. Unreal. Following dinner Baby proceeded to show me some of her artwork. She is a gifted designer who creates hand painted works on furniture, bottles, lampshades and most beautifully: Sari's. She handed me a scotch bottle that she had created an intricate henna design using gold paint. Beautiful. She told me, it's for you. When I tride to protest she laughed and insisted. She then dissappeared and returned with a beautiful Salvar Kameez and forced me to take it as well. It has the most delicate beadwork. The gifts were a little too much for me, and I found myself gushing and wondering how I would ever repay their kindness. I was handed a tissue. Poor Sumanta had to sit through all of this.

As I was leaving she gave me the full jar of juice crystals for the juice I particularly liked during dinner! It was starting to worry that I would be handed everything I complimented!

The generosity and kindness I have experienced here is second to none. I did not mention that my full day tour with Sumanto was not pre arranged. It just happened we were both in Old Dhaka at the same time. I then took up his entire day. I am a guest of all of Bangladesh. This is how we Bideshis (foreigner) are treated. Yes, we had an attemped robbery. This person was clearly a shit head, part of a group of shit heads. But the Bangladeshi people outside of the shit heads have shown me a level of kindness and generosity I have not once deserved.

Lindsay