The First Ramble

I have a travel website, but the slow internet connection speed here in Dhaka makes it virtually impossible to upload photos to it. So then I opened up an account with an online photo album site. It's really easy to upload photos, but not very snazzy. Plus, it wouldn't let me write the long rambling updates that I tend to write. So here we are with my latest experiment.

Thursday was Shaheed Day, a huge national holiday here. It commemorates the death of 7 Dhaka University students that protested Urdu becoming the national language, way back when Bangladesh was still East Pakistan. People dress in black and white--black to signify mourning, white to signify the purity of the Bangla language. February 21 has in recent years become a UNESCO holiday, "International Language Day" to honor the languages spoken around the world. They chose that date in recognition of Shaheed Day, and the Bangladeshi people who protested, and later fought, to keep their native language alive.

What that meant for us was a 4 day weekend. I chose to stay at home and lounge rather than racing off to another country. I really needed the down time. Between organizing kids to make sets for the ES play, taking tabla (Indian drum) lessons, and joining up with a new play where I will be Audrey 2 (the plant puppet) in Little Shop of Horrors, oh yeah, and teaching, I've been running ragged. It's all fun, but exhausting.

It's been a marvelous 4 day weekend (I can't believe it's almost over). Believe it or not, I got all of my planning done at the beginning of the weekend, so I've been able to relax without any guilt or dread of a new school week. This in turn made me feel productive. I've been catching up on all kinds of organizing things, in addition to having fun. I got my hair cut, printed photos that I'm planning to enter in the faculty art show later in the spring, organized files (both paper and computer), worked on my photo album (both paper and online).

I even cooked! Don't worry, I have not been taken over by a race of pod people. I was inspired by SOUR CREAM! I have not had real sour cream since moving to Bangladesh. It was a pretty rare thing in Syria. So I've been sour cream deprived for close to 6 years. Having found sour cream, I had to make mexican food. I do have a cook. And he is good, but sometimes adds a Bangla flair to food. Often that's good. I simply couldn't risk the Bangla version of enchiladas though, not when sour cream was at stake. So I cooked. It was fun. It was tasty. It was topped with sour cream.

Of course the usual Wed night American Idol party and pirated DVDs were also part of the weekend. Bangladesh is a Muslim country, so night life venues are a bit sparse. We make fun where we can. And it is surprisingly fun to get catty about Paula Abdul and Idol hopefuls with a group of friends.

I think it's time to wrap up the weekend with a hunk of decadent chocolate cake and a glass of red wine. Yum!