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We made sure to get all the movies ready, food supplies stocked, and water bottles lined up. Like a good Boy Scout, we were prepared for anything! We had heard about the supposed “carnage” of Eid. In fact, most teachers made sure to leave the country before the day and advised us to do the same. Call us courageous or maybe curious, or even cuckoo, I don’t know.
Rumor had it that the sacrifices would commence at around 8:00 or 9:00 am. Kaya of course woke up well before this and was ready to begin “movie day” at around 6:00am. I was actually pretty excited for the day. Granted, I did feel sorry for the three cows and three goats taking up temporary residence in our garage, but come on, when do you ever get to devote an entire day to viewing movies?! Celebrating Eid was going to be fun!
Our movie lineup included: Cars, Toy Story and Shark Tale. (I also had the Star Wars movie, The Clone Wars) Being a big kid at heart, I was super stoked to watch these fine animated films. One side note, we have a fine selection of movies courtesy of the local DVD store. Anything you want for around a $1.50 each! They don’t always work and we have managed to miss a few endings, but seriously this is Bangladesh and you can’t beat the price.
Back to Eid. Sheela had no interest in looking outside and thanks to excellent planning with the volume way up, Kaya had not clue as to what was really going on. In his mind, the field trip was about to end for those animals. I guess, in a way it did.
I didn’t want Kaya to be scarred for life because of dying animals all over the place so I too was a bit concerned. In all honesty though, Eid was a bit underwhelming. We heard no crying animals and only saw a limited amount of blood. Not that I was looking forward to any of it.
The people were quite efficient with the whole process. I looked out at one point and saw a dead cow in the neighbor’s driveway. About a half an hour later it was gutted and people were removing various body parts, disassembling the beast. One hour later there was no evidence of any slaughter. This wasn’t true for every house though. I went out later that day and did see a few pools of diluted blood in the streets. It really was amazing that just hours before there had been probably a herd of cattle throughout our neighborhood and now there was nothing. The animals did not go to waste. I was informed that all of the meat was consumed and the various innards were consumed or made into shirts and shoes for Nike.
Unfortunately the slaughter wasn’t quite finished. Goats and camels were still to come. Yes, I wrote camels. They didn’t have any camels in our garage, but Kaya and I went for a run two days later and came across a pair in front of a mansion. In my opinion it was a waste, an ostentatious display of wealth and power that we so often see here in Dhaka. The poor beasts were clearly starved and no real meat could be taken from them. A simple case of showing off.
It was kind of crazy though, Kaya and I were just running along and suddenly he says, “Daddy, look, camels.” He said it like seeing camels was an every day occurrence. Monkeys, elephants, and camels… we’ve seen it all!
As you have already probably figured out from previous knowledge or by our blog posts, Bangladesh is poor. Up until this point we hadn’t see a healthy looking creature around. Sure, we would see goats, chickens and cows running free in the streets, but they were mere inklings of what they could be with some food. But now, where on Earth were all these amazing cows and goats coming from?
The answer, as I am told, is India. The irony of that is, in India cows are sacred and can roam freely where ever they please. People don’t tie them up, they just do their thing. Hindus selling them to Muslims for slaughter?! Talk about bad karma. Apparently, these cows somehow made it across the border with India and to the streets of Dhaka for sale and slaughter. In a country where corruption is ever-present, I dare say, “something fishy is going on here!” I guess it doesn’t matter where you are or what religion you practice, money talks.
When it was all said and done, Sheela and I debated whether or not the whole sacrifice/slaughter was a good thing. I argued that the animals were being used to their fullest and meat was distributed to the poor. She claimed that the people purchasing cows could better help the poor by either giving them the money directly or putting money into various local programs. Touché.
Interesting times here on the other side of the world. It’s not every day you see cows slaughtered right before your eyes. Well, I guess Kevin Lee might say otherwise. Have a great day and stay tuned!
Friday, December 12, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
Eid Mubarak, again.
Tomorrow* is Eid al-Adha, or Korbani Eid as it is known in Bangladesh. It is the festival of sacrifice, in which any family with the means to do so is expected to sacrifice an animal. The animal is then divided into thirds: one third for the poor, one third for extended family and neighbors, and one third for the family itself. Apparently the history behind the holiday comes from the story of Abraham, in which he was prepared to sacrifice his son as an act of devotion, but God provided a lamb to sacrifice instead.
Following tradition, the typical sacrifice in the Muslim world is a goat or a lamb, and there are plenty of those around. (Today I saw a sheep riding in a rickshaw. Really, never a dull moment.) However, Bangladesh being Bangladesh, they diverge a bit from tradition here: instead of goats and lambs, the animals being sacrificed mostly seem to be cows. There are cows everywhere. Walking down the streets, tied to trees, riding in trucks, everywhere. Every house seems to have at least one cow somewhere on the property. We have three of them in our garage, along with several goats. It's a veritable mooing, bleating farmland idyll down there.
There is even somewhat of a festival atmosphere, at least more so than during Eid ul-Fitr, which was just eerily quiet. Many of the cows are adorned with garlands of flowers and shiny decorativeness, and there was even a small band playing in the street today.
Kaya thinks the whole thing is fantastic, but that's because he doesn't really know what comes next. He has been told that the animals are on a field trip to the city and that they will be going back to their farms tomorrow. (Yes, by his mother.) He also knows that, coincidentally enough, tomorrow is movie day! This means that we get to stay inside the whole day and sit on the couch and watch as many movies as he wants, at very high volume to drown out any unpleasant sounds from outside! We have stocked up on groceries, made cookies, and otherwise ensured that there will be no need to step outdoors at any point tomorrow. Wish us luck.....
* Wikipedia says that Eid was supposed to be today. However, Bangladesh celebrated Eid ul-Fitr several days after the rest of the Muslim world last October, so clearly we are on our own timetable here.
Following tradition, the typical sacrifice in the Muslim world is a goat or a lamb, and there are plenty of those around. (Today I saw a sheep riding in a rickshaw. Really, never a dull moment.) However, Bangladesh being Bangladesh, they diverge a bit from tradition here: instead of goats and lambs, the animals being sacrificed mostly seem to be cows. There are cows everywhere. Walking down the streets, tied to trees, riding in trucks, everywhere. Every house seems to have at least one cow somewhere on the property. We have three of them in our garage, along with several goats. It's a veritable mooing, bleating farmland idyll down there.
There is even somewhat of a festival atmosphere, at least more so than during Eid ul-Fitr, which was just eerily quiet. Many of the cows are adorned with garlands of flowers and shiny decorativeness, and there was even a small band playing in the street today.
Kaya thinks the whole thing is fantastic, but that's because he doesn't really know what comes next. He has been told that the animals are on a field trip to the city and that they will be going back to their farms tomorrow. (Yes, by his mother.) He also knows that, coincidentally enough, tomorrow is movie day! This means that we get to stay inside the whole day and sit on the couch and watch as many movies as he wants, at very high volume to drown out any unpleasant sounds from outside! We have stocked up on groceries, made cookies, and otherwise ensured that there will be no need to step outdoors at any point tomorrow. Wish us luck.....
* Wikipedia says that Eid was supposed to be today. However, Bangladesh celebrated Eid ul-Fitr several days after the rest of the Muslim world last October, so clearly we are on our own timetable here.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Professional Development
Tokyo....the city that never sleeps. No, nevermind, that was us that didn't sleep....
A Peace Corps friend once told me that you could tell if you really loved a place by the return flight. At the time, he had just returned to Belize from the States and he wasn’t quite sold on his new country just yet. Last weekend I went to Tokyo for a professional development conference and it was upon my return that I remembered Ed Worrell’s words of wisdom. I was definitely excited to come back to see my family, but after an amazing trip to new lands, Dhaka didn’t seem as exciting as when I first arrived.
I have been so fortunate to go on two overseas trips from Dhaka thus far. Many teachers will not even get to go on one. (I still haven’t written about Malaysia yet, but that will come as soon as things cool down here. I will confess as to why I have been so busy in the latter part of this entry.) The school sent four of us teachers to Tokyo to learn more about the Middle Years Program for IB. My part of the workshop had to do with PE and secondary school. I am quite enjoying teaching high school. Although I will admit that I am a much better primary school PE teacher. Anyhow, I learned a bunch about the MYP program and what is expected from the PE end of things.
One of the great things about the workshop was the networking. I met almost thirty other PE teachers from various countries and it was very interesting to hear what they had to say about teaching, their schools, life abroad, etc… I will say though, I was one of very few Americans. One of my colleagues asked me why I thought so few Americans seemed to be in the international teaching scene, and I really couldn’t say why. Who knows, maybe after reading this blog people might change their minds and jump ship!? I enjoy talking to other PEers because they always have a different spin on things and quite often you learn either new ideas or new approaches to teaching.
Let’s backtrack a bit here. I mentioned that I went to Tokyo with three other teachers. Lorinda, aka Kate from Australia, Sholu, aka Monique from the U.K and Tahsina from Bangladesh. Then of course me, Cool Papa aka Larry from the U.S. or Canada depending on what part of the night you talked to me. We made sure to work very hard during the day so that we could enjoy the evenings to their fullest! I was actually quite surprised as to the enthusiastic nature in which my counterparts wanted to partake in local activities or some might say, paint the town. Another great thing about the trip is that it gave me a chance to really get to know a couple of my colleagues outside the school setting. Kate and Monnie were a riot, instant fun, just add those two. At one point I told the ladies I might have to come out of retirement just to show them how it’s done. Fortunately I am still retired, but I still managed to stay up way past my bedtime!
So where do I begin? I guess I will start this story by saying what happens in Tokyo stays in Tokyo. Kidding. No, actually I have never been to Japan and I really didn’t know what to expect. I had seen the movie Lost in Translation so I didn’t know if what I was expecting was going to be real or not. I was expecting to end up on the streets of Tokyo late night in a colorful camouflage shirt after some karaoke. Some of that happened, but not quite like the movie. Confession: I did pose for a picture with the owner of a bar as Matthew Mcconaughey.
The evenings usually began quite tranquil. We did a bunch of shopping since real shopping is nonexistent in Bangladesh. Tokyo was crazy!!! It reminded me of a super clean NYC. They had all these super high-end shops everywhere. I think the that I only saw one homeless person the entire time I was there, granted we didn’t go everywhere, (but it sure did seem like it). Kate’s step-Grandmother is Japanese and so for the earlier part of the evenings we had a personal tour guide. Medori helped us navigate through the labyrinth called the Tokyo subway system (http://www.tokyometro.jp/rosen/rosenzu/pdf/rosen_eng.pdf ). I couldn’t believe how many lines this subway system had on it.
Instead of writing about the evenings, I will just post some photos and you can make up your own story. The bottom line was, the workshop was amazing. I feel more relaxed about my job now that I know what the heck is going on. I am also feeling more inspired to teach, not just teach, but be one of those Dead Poet Society kind of teachers. I am feeling very fortunate to be in the situation that I am in and I can’t wait for the next adventure. Which will hopefully be India in December. Oh by the way, I have from December 4th to January 4th off.
Inspired, overwhelmed, tired, ready, curious, rejuvenated, feeling a bit of wanderlust
Please enjoy the pictures. Sometimes pictures tell a better story than words.....
Japanese Anime was everywhere. Old, young, male, female...playing watching, dressing up as...
This lad is Kenichi Ito, the other two cats are Ben and Sholu.
I saw quite a few "Kenichis" out during our time in Tokyo.
I don't know how, but somehow we managed to have fun.
A Peace Corps friend once told me that you could tell if you really loved a place by the return flight. At the time, he had just returned to Belize from the States and he wasn’t quite sold on his new country just yet. Last weekend I went to Tokyo for a professional development conference and it was upon my return that I remembered Ed Worrell’s words of wisdom. I was definitely excited to come back to see my family, but after an amazing trip to new lands, Dhaka didn’t seem as exciting as when I first arrived.
I have been so fortunate to go on two overseas trips from Dhaka thus far. Many teachers will not even get to go on one. (I still haven’t written about Malaysia yet, but that will come as soon as things cool down here. I will confess as to why I have been so busy in the latter part of this entry.) The school sent four of us teachers to Tokyo to learn more about the Middle Years Program for IB. My part of the workshop had to do with PE and secondary school. I am quite enjoying teaching high school. Although I will admit that I am a much better primary school PE teacher. Anyhow, I learned a bunch about the MYP program and what is expected from the PE end of things.
One of the great things about the workshop was the networking. I met almost thirty other PE teachers from various countries and it was very interesting to hear what they had to say about teaching, their schools, life abroad, etc… I will say though, I was one of very few Americans. One of my colleagues asked me why I thought so few Americans seemed to be in the international teaching scene, and I really couldn’t say why. Who knows, maybe after reading this blog people might change their minds and jump ship!? I enjoy talking to other PEers because they always have a different spin on things and quite often you learn either new ideas or new approaches to teaching.
Let’s backtrack a bit here. I mentioned that I went to Tokyo with three other teachers. Lorinda, aka Kate from Australia, Sholu, aka Monique from the U.K and Tahsina from Bangladesh. Then of course me, Cool Papa aka Larry from the U.S. or Canada depending on what part of the night you talked to me. We made sure to work very hard during the day so that we could enjoy the evenings to their fullest! I was actually quite surprised as to the enthusiastic nature in which my counterparts wanted to partake in local activities or some might say, paint the town. Another great thing about the trip is that it gave me a chance to really get to know a couple of my colleagues outside the school setting. Kate and Monnie were a riot, instant fun, just add those two. At one point I told the ladies I might have to come out of retirement just to show them how it’s done. Fortunately I am still retired, but I still managed to stay up way past my bedtime!
So where do I begin? I guess I will start this story by saying what happens in Tokyo stays in Tokyo. Kidding. No, actually I have never been to Japan and I really didn’t know what to expect. I had seen the movie Lost in Translation so I didn’t know if what I was expecting was going to be real or not. I was expecting to end up on the streets of Tokyo late night in a colorful camouflage shirt after some karaoke. Some of that happened, but not quite like the movie. Confession: I did pose for a picture with the owner of a bar as Matthew Mcconaughey.
The evenings usually began quite tranquil. We did a bunch of shopping since real shopping is nonexistent in Bangladesh. Tokyo was crazy!!! It reminded me of a super clean NYC. They had all these super high-end shops everywhere. I think the that I only saw one homeless person the entire time I was there, granted we didn’t go everywhere, (but it sure did seem like it). Kate’s step-Grandmother is Japanese and so for the earlier part of the evenings we had a personal tour guide. Medori helped us navigate through the labyrinth called the Tokyo subway system (http://www.tokyometro.jp/rosen/rosenzu/pdf/rosen_eng.pdf ). I couldn’t believe how many lines this subway system had on it.
Instead of writing about the evenings, I will just post some photos and you can make up your own story. The bottom line was, the workshop was amazing. I feel more relaxed about my job now that I know what the heck is going on. I am also feeling more inspired to teach, not just teach, but be one of those Dead Poet Society kind of teachers. I am feeling very fortunate to be in the situation that I am in and I can’t wait for the next adventure. Which will hopefully be India in December. Oh by the way, I have from December 4th to January 4th off.
Inspired, overwhelmed, tired, ready, curious, rejuvenated, feeling a bit of wanderlust
Please enjoy the pictures. Sometimes pictures tell a better story than words.....
Japanese Anime was everywhere. Old, young, male, female...playing watching, dressing up as...
This lad is Kenichi Ito, the other two cats are Ben and Sholu.I saw quite a few "Kenichis" out during our time in Tokyo.
I don't know how, but somehow we managed to have fun.
Fitting in wasn't a problem either....
Professional Development continued...
Here are some more pictures for your viewing pleasure. "Messy" my alter-ego did NOT come out to spend all of my money. (line taken from good ole Kevin Lee)
These two gents were more than happy to pose for a picture!
Sholu and Larry on the dance floor! (just for clarification, we are not bumping and grinding)
I had to include the toilet because they were amazing! Notice the buttons on the right side of the seat. You can push various buttons that make certain noises and therefore make it seem as if you were going to the bathroom. Number one or number two. Crazy huh!?
The Imperial Palace
All the workshop participants! See I was there for professional development....in so many ways.
These two gents were more than happy to pose for a picture!
Sholu and Larry on the dance floor! (just for clarification, we are not bumping and grinding)
I had to include the toilet because they were amazing! Notice the buttons on the right side of the seat. You can push various buttons that make certain noises and therefore make it seem as if you were going to the bathroom. Number one or number two. Crazy huh!?
The Imperial Palace 
All the workshop participants! See I was there for professional development....in so many ways. I am so professionally developed right about now....
Tokyo wouldn't be complete without some karaoke (Kate and Larry.)
Larry Foo Fighting with Dave Grohl
This is just another good example of a very typical scene in Tokyo. At least for the places we ventured to.
Not everything in Tokyo is expensive!
Not sure what is going on here. Looks interesting though.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Report from the Kaya front, by mama
I am beginning to think that Kaya is headed towards a career in journalism, most likely at a tabloid magazine or similarly sensationalistic outlet. Case in point: he has begun combining peoples' names, à la Bennifer and Brangelina. His friends downstairs are named Nathan and Sebastian, but he recently discovered that he could combine their names and just call them SebastiaNath. Also, our maid and nanny are named Kimbole and Mrithika, but Kaya now sometimes refers to them together as MrithiKimbol. I find this slightly mortifying, but luckily, Kimbole and Mrithika find everything Kaya does to be completely hilarious, and they do not seem to mind the loss of their individual identities.
Another sign of Kaya's future as a journalist -- most likely at Fox News -- is his deeply patriotic opposition to anything French. I am not sure where this comes from, since he has several French-speaking friends whom he loves. However, he informed me last week that we would have to stop having French toast for breakfast, because we are "becoming too French." Then, after learning about different instruments in music class, he told me yesterday that he would not be playing the French horn, because he is not French. So apparently that has been decided. I won't be mourning the French horn, but I do like French toast. Freedom toast, anyone?
Finally, in a sign that maybe I should have been a journalist, I am in love with the New York Times' After Deadline blog. How did I not discover this earlier?? Grammar is, as we Americans say, awesome.
Another sign of Kaya's future as a journalist -- most likely at Fox News -- is his deeply patriotic opposition to anything French. I am not sure where this comes from, since he has several French-speaking friends whom he loves. However, he informed me last week that we would have to stop having French toast for breakfast, because we are "becoming too French." Then, after learning about different instruments in music class, he told me yesterday that he would not be playing the French horn, because he is not French. So apparently that has been decided. I won't be mourning the French horn, but I do like French toast. Freedom toast, anyone?
Finally, in a sign that maybe I should have been a journalist, I am in love with the New York Times' After Deadline blog. How did I not discover this earlier?? Grammar is, as we Americans say, awesome.
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