Expat events: Aussie Glitterball and German Oktoberfest

The expat community in Dhaka is small, but good at partying!
Said to be the expat event of the year, the Australian (and NZ) Glitterball was a good example of expat crazies... It was a fancy-dress ball, and all the other Aussie volunteers went as Aussie Icons. We got tickets at the very last minute, so were constume-less, but it was so much fun!



Flatmate Bridge was a beer fairy...

and there was a crazy koala popping up all of the time, who went by the name of Rich...













Yes, this is a giant Foster's kangaroo (!) with the 'Aussie icons'... things get a little over-patriotic when overseas...it is fabulous!

This koala just keeps turning up in all the photos!

This is Boony (aka Andy), the time he drank (insert ridiculous number here) of beers on a quantas flight(complete with lovely hostie, Nat) between London and Australia... oh how my cricket knowledge is improving in Bangladesh!
The ball started at 7, and people were on the dance-floor by 5 past... that's what happens when you are denied dancing fun for most of the year! And so is this....











All high commisioners processed into the ball as a Bangladeshi wedding. Douggie, the high commissioner for Aus is in there wearing a green turban.. And then there were the acts - these people are dressed as cats, but I can't remember for the life of me why!

In keeping with the theme of cross-cultural sensitivity, Oktoberfest was held (on Deshi time) in November in Dhaka... No so culturally sensitive were all the German pork products that were served, or the steins of beer, come to think of it, but it was so good - real beer! The acts were pretty good too - really good examples of German humour....


Nat and Andy (aka Boony and his Quantas stewardess) and Erin, Sarah, me and Shelley.
Yes, these are German men in tutus...Gotta love the expat events!

Bangladesh Blockades and booze

As the political situation in Bangladesh continues to worsen, so too does our tolerance for being housebound. Let me explain...

It is election time soon in Bangladesh, and the political climate is not so good. Political agitation here happens through hartarls (a city- or country-wide strike that is called the day before, which means no cars on the streets, no CNGs, no work for many people and no shops open) or blockades (road blocks are set up all over the city, and no vehicles are allowed through. These are often violent, and combined with riots, marches and sit-ins).

To ensure free and fair elections, three months before the election is due to be held, a caretaker government is appointed who are supposed to be neutral. This time around, one of the major parties (Awami League) wasn't happy with the chosen head of the caretaker government, because they didn't think he was neutral (hartal (strike) number 1; 2 days long), then the president stepped in and took over the caretaker government, which also didn't make them happy, and they were also agitating for reforms to the electoral commission (blockade number 1; 4 days long). The president didn't seem too phased about the whole thing, so AL called another blockade (number 2, 5 days long). Now the chief electoral commissioner has been sent on leave, and some other reforms are happening, AL thought everything might be okay... but.... not so! Now the electoral commission is trying to use outdated/dodgy voter lists, so blockade number 3 is looming....

For us, the political situation means hours and hours of time inside, under lockdown... We are not allowed to go to work, and often it is not safe to go outside on the street (Bridge got stuck is a rally when she went across the road to get coke supplies), so, it is inside for us! What do we do? Well.... The week usually starts off a bit like this:

And ends up a bit like this....

the faces of old dhaka...and the crazy chicken man...

The old dhaka family...

While we were at Divali, Erin made friends with a boy, who became our tour guide-extraordinaire for the night. He took us to a great local restaurant, where we were the only Bideshis and some of very few women. He took us back to his house in the Hindu part of Old Dhaka to meet his family. We sat in a bedroom with his mother and father, his brother, brother's wife and another relative, and the boy from downstairs and watched the cricket (possibly the first cricket match I have ever watched)... until the power went out! Then we ate mishti (sweets) by candlelight with them, and our friend's neighbour gave us some of the paintings that he had done. It was so lovely to be invited into someone's home and share food with them...

Bicycle St, Old Dhaka by daylight...

Bicycle Street is where all things rickshaw can be found, including the famous rickshaw art, and vans carrying tiny replica rickshaws... or plastic tricycles, as they are usually known in Australia.
Old Dhaka is also home to the meat man, the metal clasp man, and lots of gorgeous children! Once again, the camera was the best way to make friends with people - everyone wanted to talk to us ('your country madam?'... 'Apa, husband ache?') and have their photos taken....

We got trapped in a mass migration of people leaving for the Eid holidays in their villages.It seemed as though everyone in Dhaka was walking down the road carrying suitcases on their heads, and the cars and CNGs were all a complete standstill. A lovely man came to our rescue (?) and took us through the backstreets to find a CNG to take us back to Dhanmondi!

Old Dhaka

Old Dhaka is fabulous! We went to Hindu Street in Old Dhaka a few weeks ago for Divali, the best Hindi festival of the year. Insence, dancing, drumming and heaps of great (and bizarre) statues filled the street. We were mobbed by heaps of people who thought us Bideshis were hilarious and followed by streams of kids wanting their photos taken!Much to the delight of our crowd, Erin and Danielle braved the dodgy-looking ferris wheel...

Rajshahi and the Eid moon

Our first exciting trip for the year was to Rajshahi for Eid (the Muslim version of Christmas) at the end of October. It taught us a lot about Bangladesh (and ourselves), including:
- patience is required in Bangladesh: the Eid holiday was not confirmed until the night before Eid, when the moon-sighting commitee convened to search for the moon. This caused much confusion for the entire population, who were all heading back to their villages for the holiday. The moon-sighting commitee didn't see the moon until a day after the predicted date, throwing everything into dissaray...
- it is all about managing expectations: we went to Rajshahi to visit an AYAD friend who lives with her boss, a conservative Muslim man, and his family. As a result, all hopes of a week of intense sightseeing, village visiting, roadside cha stalls and boating on the Ganges were dashed, as we were prevented from leaving the house without a male escort...
We did, however, manage to see the Ganges (it is called the Padma on the Bangladesh side of the river) and catch sight of india across the other side...
We visited a silk factory, full of saris and ornas and ties. We didn't get to see any silk worms - they all went back to their villages for the Eid holidays...






We even caught sight of the famous Eid moon that the official government moon-sighting commitee (complete with official moon-sighting aircraft, which is very controversial) was waiting for.... beautiful! They were worried about missing it because of the smog in Dhaka, so were were lucky to be in the country to see it!




Despite the delay, our Eid day turned out to be great. We all dressed up in our Eid-day finery, and went to Svet's boss's brother's house for a sumptuous Bangladeshi meal, in which we all sat around a big table, and the family watched us eat and pressed more and more and more food on us... Then we were treated to mehendi (henna painting) on our hands... good fun!









Our last day was great - we managed to sneak out for a coconut water and chat with the locals, and visit a sleepy little market.On our way back to Dhaka, we stopped at
a Hindu ruin in a nearby town. The peaceful setting of the temple was contrasted with a nearby music promotion stand, playing modern Bangla pop... very strange, but exellent, of course!
Back in Dhaka, we were confronted with burning buses and riots as the protests against the caretaker government began! Oh for more village life!