I've been adopted

Here is something I believe falls under the category of irony: so many more events and happenings have occurred here in Bangladesh than anywhere else in my travels yet I find it so hard to write. Before arriving here, I could daily write 2-3 pages about my travels in my journal. Now? If I write more than 1, I've done one hell of a job. On a couple of occassions I have forced myself to write down notes so I do not forget about some of what has happened to me here.

Now why is this the case? I think I am just overwhelmed. That is the easiest explanation. My mind is just dead after a day out and about. when I return to my room, i need to decompress and have my brain shut down for the remainder of the evening. Writing simply takes more energy than I have in myself.

So what have I been up to? Kicking it in Dhaka. Had you told me at the beginning of my trip, or even while I was on my flight here that I would spend 10 full days in Dhaka, I would have either said, "get off the crack rock" or "who am I going to fall in love with?"

Alas, it was neither, although the 2nd answer has a bit of truth in it. There are a variety of reasons, but they're boring and tedious, so I won't go into it. Now what is this love I've hinted at? well you could say I now have relatives in Dhaka. perhaps love is too strong a word, but the bond I have developed with this family has been a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

who is this family? A (lower?) middle class (by Dhaka standards) family that owns a little- and I do mean LITTLE- store around the corner from the infamous hotel yeameni. I went there to buy water about 3 days after arriving in Dhaka. the shopkeeper spoke a bit of english, which totally shocked me. The hotel employees barely spoke english, a dude going for his master's in english lit spoke rather poorly, yet here was this random shop owner who spoke clear english.

Anyway, 2 days later I returned to once again buy water. This time he was more out-going and asked if I would sit down with him and have some tea. I did. By the end of the night (it was only about an hour later), he told me that he didn't work the next day since it was Friday, and was wondering if we could hang out. i said sure, why not. so we did.

We wandered around old dhaka. We checked out a couple churches and the asitra (star) mosque. He then asked if i would like to stop by his sister's place to meet his wife and two daughters. once again: sure, why not, so we did. His daughters were quite shy but very cute (I think 8 and 11 yrs old).

from that point on, I would stop by his shop on a daily basis and go walk with him when he wasn't at his store. I met all 4 of his sisters, 2 of his brothers, who knows how many nieces and nephews. He bought me at least 25 cups of tea. It might as even be as high as 50, I really can't say.

The last 5-6 days in dhaka, I don't believe I bought a single meal. All my money went towards my hotel and phone cards. Transportation costs? I walked everywhere with this man except for an excursion to his friend's house in the suburb of Mirpur. His friend was as generous as he was and insisted on paying for our bus fares to and from his place.

I'll end this entry with this: I have never, and i mean NEVER encountered such warmth and hospitality. this family treated me like I was a relative while I have only known them for about a week now. Words cannot describe the looks in their faces and the genuine smiles they gave me while I was with them. I am a bit bewildered by it all since the only one I could really communicate with was the shop owner. that being said, I was touched by the fact that when I first met them, none of the women or girls would try to speak english (minus his wife, who tried a little) but my last night there they were much more "daring" for a lack of a better word.

If any of you happen to go to Dhaka (which I highly doubt, but you never know) please tell me and I will give you the phone number of Shafiullah. He would love to meet other foreigners and I guarantee you will have an experience like no other.

Anyway, I'm now in srimangal, the first place I've gone outside the dhaka area. It isn't as nice as Lonely Planet made it out to be. C'est la vie. Not to end this entry on a down-note or anything.