Jeni as a Bangladeshi

I promise to update with a real post soon, but in the meantime, I just have to share a link that makes me laugh:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38bLXqQNR4I&NR=1 

Traffic in this city is amusing, to say the least. I don’t think the video is of Dhaka, but it is more or less identical to the conditions here. Being able to cross the street is a skill requiring much practice. My tried-and-true New York pedestrian techniques have proved to be of little value. I’ve been advised to just look straight and walk at a steady pace.

I have yet to take the advice.

The work week in Bangladesh is Sunday to Thursday, which conveniently gives me two days to familiarize myself with my new neighborhood. But since my client counterpart will be gone on business travel in the upcoming week, we decided to have a quick introductory meeting to provide background. Our office is at the headquarters of the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), which was one of the first in the world to pioneer the concept of an NGO, and currently remains as the world’s largest - at over 97,000+ employees.

The meeting was brief but productive; the project aims to tackle the issue of a growing gap between a rapidly growing mobile telecom market  (estimated to grow another 17% in 2007 alone) and a limited workforce with qualified skills to support this trend. The objective is to create a sustainable workforce skills-development model that uses an innovative approach involving 3 key areas: government for support and initial funding, academia for knowledge resources, and the private sector for design and execution. I foresee this project to be tough but loaded with potential value, especially because my colleague, its acting executive director, seems extremely competent, passionate about his work, and most importantly, open to innovative approaches.

Okay, okay, no more dry details.

In the afternoon, I met another ADP colleague for lunch. He is from the Paris office, and here in Bangladesh for a similar 6 month project. We had Japanese (…and I had sushi. Yes, I know, I know. I’ll deal with it later if I have to!). He’s become quite the local here; all the rickshaw drivers recognize him and hurry over when we pass by. We walked around to some of the main streets, which he said are pretty empty today because Friday is ‘prayer’ day, so most people stay in. While walking around, I also noticed that there were hardly any women in the streets, and the ones I saw were with their families. Hmm.

He showed me around to some of the local necessities - namely, the grocery store, and the pirated DVD shop. Then, at my request, we went to the ‘best’ bakery, and ‘best’ ice cream shop. At the store I bought myself a huge bag of tasty rice cakes, which were 17 Takas ($1 = 68 Taka, you do the math)

Before you get too carried away with visualizing the city, I want to point out that I live in an area where all the Embassies are located, so it caters to the expats here. Even so, it’s impossible to ignore the poverty all around.

The streets are littered with sewage and full of homeless children. The nearby lake is a disturbing shade of bright green, and yet families live on lakeside shacks and bathe in the water. 

It’s all quite disturbing, until you walk a bit closer, and notice that most people are smiling, laughing, and content.

Okay, it is now 1:30 in the morning here, and I should at least make an attempt to overcome my jetlag before the next call to prayer in a few hours. Tomorrow, my friend will be showing me more of the city and helping me get a mobile phone, which reminds me:

If you called me and got a ‘disconnected’ message, please don’t erase my number! I’ve had Verizon Wireless temporarily suspend my phone for the next 6 months, but I will be keeping the same number when I get back.  

Last night I had set my alarm to 6am. But it’s now 4:30 in the morning in local Dhaka time, and I’m sitting here wide awake. You might guess that it’s the jetlag - not really. the night before my flight I was way too anxious to fall asleep, and during the next 24 hours of my total commute time (3 flights, 2 stopovers), I was, well, again too anxious to fall asleep. So by the time I checked into the guest house and overcame normal arrival jitters, I promptly fell asleep around 11pm local(9am est), while thinking about how upon initial impression, things here were pretty similar to back home - The airport exit process was the same; a car picked me up at the terminal; almost everyone at the guest house spoke English; my room was large, well decorated, equipped with AC, and to my delight - connected to the internet.

At around 4 in the morning, I was awakened by the sound of birds, barking dogs, and an extremely loud quacking duck. As I thought about the peculiarity of this (normally animals begin waking up closer to sunrise, right?), I suddenly heard singing. It was loud, clear, and right outside my window. Admittedly I was a bit startled.  It was in a language I couldn’t understand, and the only thing I could make out was the name "Allah." Then it occurred to me - according to Lonely Planet, Bangladesh is 83% Muslim. This must be the wake-up call to begin the first of their five daily Salahs (Islamic prayers). It lasted a few minutes; afterwards, I pictured families climbing out of bed, washing their hands and faces, beginning their routine prayers.

The animals must have been in prayer too - following the singing there was a brief period of silence.
Then the darn duck started quacking again, and the silence was broken.

I am finally here

During these past few days, I began each morning by reviewing my list of pre-departure to-dos. As that list gradually shrinks, it is counterbalanced by a slight but growing sense of anxiety. I think the reality of how my life will be for the next few months is starting to settle in as the final countdown begins. Although, as from past experience, I don’t expect it to fully hit me until I take that first step out of Zia International Airport, Dhaka.

Some of you are already quite aware of my semi-neurotic addiction to task-lists, schedules, and spreadsheets.  Similarly, for this trip I’ve created a rather extensive checklist and found it to be quite helpful during my preparation. While some are the usual dos and don’ts, others are great suggestions from travel-guru friends. Let me know if you’d like me to send you a copy, as some of you may be preparing for similar trips.

So, in between doing research on my project, finalizing logistics, and nursing a low-grade form of Hep-A, B, or Typhoid (your pick), I am grateful for having great friends to help keep everything sane. Thanks for the send-off dinners, gifts, calls, and extra-strong celebratory shots. Oh yes, and thanks for serenading me with that pleasantly off-key rendition of KC & the Sunshine Band’s Please Don’t Go at the karaoke bar.

Friends and colleagues have also helped me connect with others who have either lived in BD, or are currently there. I’ve been prepped on the local customs, cultural differences, summer monsoons, transportation options, and most importantly - locations of great food. I’m pretty sure that by now I’ve accumulated enough useful information to take on Lonely Planet. Any day. 

Next week, I’m looking forward to a 2-day ADP Pre-Departure Training course with several other ADP folks before I head out on my flight Wednesday morning. But for now, I’m contently sipping on what may be one of my last cups of Starbucks Americanos for a long while. Oh Starbucks, your stocks are breaking my heart.

As I officially begin this blog, I’m celebrating this historical moment with a plate of kung pao chicken and an episode of South Park. I don’t watch South Park. I also don’t eat meat. This may seem a bit off, but sitting here in my parents’ basement in suburban Maryland, with all my belongings from the past three years of living in New York City neatly packaged in boxes around me, nothing else really strikes me as all that odd.

No, I did not find myself out of a job and moving into my parents’ basement. Actually, quite the opposite. In a week, I will be embarking on an exciting project opportunity, offered by one of my company’s key corporate citizenship initiatives - Accenture Development Partnerships (ADP). In a nutshell, ADP uses a profit-neutral model to offer consulting expertise to nonprofit organizations in developing countries. Although only a few years old, ADP has gained quite a bit of recognition and press for its innovative operating strategy, broad reach, and successful project delivery.

I heard about the program years ago, and applied immediately after I’ve met all the qualifications. And now, after a couple weeks of applications, assessments, and scheduling limbo, I was fortunate to land myself a great project - I will be spending 6 months in Bangladesh, working with the GSM Association to design and launch a Skills Development Center to provide industry-relevant training programs for the entering workforce.

Of course, staying true to the nature of most great opportunities, this one came rather suddenly, and with an expectation that I’d begin within two weeks. So unsurprisingly, the past few days have been a crazy blur of last minute appointments, travel visas, vaccinations, and the biggest headache to all New Yorkers - breaking out of my lease and moving out of the apartment. Thank goodness for an extremely understanding roommate, for supportive family and friends, and of course, for craigslist. 

And now that the pain’s over and the fun’s about to start, I’m doing some last minute preparations. Namely, I am:

1. starting a blog to share with friends and family members on what I anticipate will be an incredible experience.

2. watching an episode of South Park on TV, because no matter how much I’ve rolled my eyes when friends make me watch this show,  I do admit that it is mildly entertaining, and there is a chance I might miss it.

3. training my stomach to eat meat. I can only pack so many bottles of Imodium before airport security will begin giving me queer looks.

Anyway, I will do my best to write often. Seeing that Bangladesh is relatively weak in tourism and sparse in international coverage, I’d like to use this as a venue to share what I learn of its people and culture. Feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, and/or requests.

Until next time!

(ps - I’ve eaten all pieces of celery, peanuts, and carrots surrounding the chicken pieces. #3  may have to wait until tomorrow. One can only be so ambitious in a day!)

It’s easy to take for granted that which is right in front of us. People. Places. Things. Places, especially. As I box together and tape shut traces of my last three years here, I think about all that makes this city special. Humid subway stations in the summer. Freezing winter winds at every intersection. Blaring sirens and angry confrontations. Eight million people searching for beauty, for significance, and for a connection that at times may turn into $15 martinis on Saturday nights and headaches on Sunday mornings. And yet, we get back up, grab Sunday brunch with all-you-can-drink mimosas, and begin again with that same vigor. And that energy permeates through to everything that comes our way. Through the blackout, the mass-transit strike, and countless others. We learn to deal. And while we deal, we learn to make things extraordinary.

At the end of the day what makes the most lasting of impressions is not the good or the bad; it’s the intensity. They say New Yorkers are intense. Well, we have a right to be.

Goodbye, New York. I’ll see you in a blink.

Okay, I think this works.

Good. This could be the start of something great.