Exiting Dhaka

I am finally on my way out! Report cards are done. Student files are up to date. My room is mostly packed up. Only 7 more days of school! Hallelujah!!!

Today the shipping company came to survey my apartment and give an estimate. Apparently I am the last teacher to ship out…go figure! You would think that shipping would be very clear-cut. We have a weight allowance. However movers figure cost using cubic meters. Rumi tells me that I will be slightly over my allowance, but depending on what their estimate is I may not have to pay for the excess because the school will actually look at the bottom line dollar amount rather than weight or cubic meters. It’s all very confusing and somehow very Bangladeshi. I just have to remember to stay in my happy zen place. It’ll all be fine. 

It’s kind of weird walking around your apartment pointing out things that will stay or go. It makes the move finally seem real. I’m moving to Alaska. 

This past weekend I went to Bangla Bazaar with some friends. Bangla Bazaar is the ultimate in Dhaka shopping…dark corridors with teeny tiny shops piled to the ceiling with clothing. Bangladesh’s main export is garments. There are tons of garment factories here. Bangla Bazaar is stocked with overruns (some legal, some not so legal) and clothing that is not quite up to export quality.

I went in search of winter clothing. It was quite the experience to shop for winter gear in 100+ degree weather, in shops without air conditioning. I brought a hand fan with me, but it really didn’t do a whole lot of good. The guys in the fleece shop were fascinated by it though. They all had to try it out several times, giggling at times, very seriously at others. Wow! Technology! Ancient Chinese technology, but technology none the less. Elaine taught me some tricks so that I didn’t have to try on the fleece track suit. That was good. I did have to try on the winter coats though. That was horrible…worse than putting on a foam plant suit. The guys in the coat shop insisted on zipping and buttoning up every coat for me as well as putting up the hoods. After a few coats, my arms were so sweaty that it was nearly impossible to get them into the sleeves. In typical “lost in translation” fashion, they kept telling me I had gum on my arms. I finally found two very cute coats.

Then the bargaining began. This is where it gets really weird. I’ve haggled a lot, and am not especially good at it. But I told the guy how much I was willing to spend (certainly more than I needed to). He wouldn’t come down in price. So I tried to leave the store. Dude totally blocked my way and got all up in my face. That’s never happened to me in 7 years of shopping in similar markets. It was a bit scary. I was ready to try out some kickboxing moves on the guy because he simply would not let me out of the store. Finally he agreed to my price, sort of. As I was paying him he kept asking for more taka (the currency here). It was such a bizarre experience. Then as we were leaving the store, he came chasing after us to give us all business cards. Again, weird. But I have my coats, so I’m happy.