negative part- food

Before I get to the negative part I will let you know that I am in Sylhet. I am sure I am one of the first people to ever say this: Sylhet has been heavenly. What I was seeking in Srimangal, I have found here in Sylhet: peace and calm. It is clean by Bangladeshi standards and it seems rather chill. No god-awful buses spewing smoke, nor taxis. Most of the vehichles are rickshaws. There is a lazy river that goes through town. Amazingly, they have a nice little waterfront area in one part of the city. They actually have nice sidewalks here too. But enough of that, let's get to the bad stuff!

You're probably thinking I don't like the food due to the subject heading. No, that is far from the case. Here is my issues with food here:

1. Variety and Bangla food will never be in the same sentence unless "no" or "lack of" come in front of variety. I have had curry nearly every day I've been here. All the food seems to have the same type of spices. While it does taste good (20 times better than Yemeni food), it just gets tedious after awhile. I'm bored with it all.

Now had I just eaten in restaurants, I would think, "hmm, the good stuff is at home" like it is in many poor countries. Yemen was like that. Alas, I have been to numerous homes and had meals in them. Quite good, but same food I've had in restaurants. Blah.

Oh, and they love fried chicken just like the rest of the world. Fried chicken is the one universal food of the world. You might not find any western food in a country but it'll have fried chicken. Well except Japan for some reason. I don't recall seeing much fried chicken there (minus KFC).

2. Eating with the hands. Honestly, I don't mind. In fact, in the privacy of my hotel room last night, I had silverware but I said screw this, I'm eating with my hands. seemed weird doing it other wise. What is the problem then? Apparently I don't know how to do it. My first meal here, a kid laughed, shook his head and told me to give up. I'm not joking. While others have been kinder, the results have been similar. Come on people, does it really matter?

Consequently, my meals usually go as thus: I start with my right hand. The above happens, so they bring out a spoon. I try that. Or the reverse happens: i start with a spoon, but pulling the meat or fish off the bone becomes a real pain in the ass, and I revert to my hand. Things get messy and people smile, etc. Fun times.

3. That leads me to: the stares. People stare at me while I eat. I'm like, "yes people, I look silly eating with my hands. I don't grip it right, I know." And if it is a restaurant, it isn't just the person I am with. It is the waiter, the bus boy, and the people sitting nearby. I just play it off and whatnot, but it gets tiresome after awhile.

4. The unhygenic practices. I will just provide an example. I had lunch with some men. They washed the dishes by pouring water over them, then scrubbing the dishes with their right hands. Soap? Yeah right. What had their right hands been up to that morning? i really don't want to know. And I know that is normal and not an exception. So it goes.

This post is dedicated to Chris H. He asked me before I left, "what are you going to eat there??" He was refering to India, but I think he was also wondering about Bangladesh. Well chris, I eat curry, rice, bread, and dal. Oh, and fried chicken of course.

After this, I am going to try a chinese restaurant. Chinese restaurants in Bangladesh cook some weird ass shit, I'll just leave it at that.