just an FYI --
i've realized recently that i haven't been receiving all my emails SO if you've sent me an email in the past few weeks and i haven't gotten back to you, it's probably not because i'm ignoring you. if you're suspicious...try sending it through again, or message me :)
i love hearing from everyone, please don't let this discourage you!
Monday, March 31, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
the 11th hour...
27.03.08
as of midnight the night before the students arrived, there were still construction workers in our building fixing things up. To be frank, it's 4 days later now, and there are still staff members running around like mad fixing everything in sight. However, considering the university only actually acquired access to the building in January, things are looking pretty slick.
how things are delivered, bangladeshi style
our shnazzy signboard
our computer lab!
30.03.08
Starting on Friday, our students arrived --- Bangladeshi, Nepalese, Sri Lankan and Pakistani on Friday, Cambodian on Saturday and Indian on Sunday. I led a few tours of the building, back to the glory days :), and was able to get to know the students and their families. I felt slightly like I was back at UVA in my RA role, and can already tell I'm going to have to consciously draw the line between being a pseudo-mom versus strictly being a teacher. The line blurs a bit since we're living, literally, among the students.
Speaking with a lot of parents on Friday was really really inspirational - to hear mothers and fathers speak so highly of the university's facilities (they ARE rather swank...) gave a whole new perspective on the University and its mission. We even had one dad ask if he could enroll at AUW...his wife turned to him and said, "it's for girls ONLY" - amazing.
Just to paint you a bit of a picture...all the bangladeshi families turned out in their best outfits with multiple extended family members. A few of the fathers of families from Dhaka ended up giving me their business cards, insisting that anytime I went to Dhaka i MUST call them and MUST visit them and MUST stay with them. It is a very cultural thing to give out business cards and network anywhere you go. The hospitality we've encountered thus far has been incredible.
Saturday and Sunday I accompanied some staff members to the airport to meet the Cambodian and Indian students, to have a friendly face and to document their arrival...the poor Indian students ended up spending two hours going through immigration because of special regulations for Pakistani and Indian students arriving in Bangladesh. and then 8 of them were missing luggage...i'm not so sure they've even gotten it yet. ps, if you are flying within SEAsia, especially on the subcontinent, don't fly GMG. apparently they have trouble delivering all baggage.
The girls, and their Country Coordinators, were probably my favorite people to speak with --- once the students got over their initial shyness, they were especially excited to finally GET to the Access Academy. granted, usually the first question i got was, "how old are you?"
We can't wait to start to get to know the students better, they all seem to have incredible stories. i'll make sure to keep everything a bit better updated from now on :)
a few extra random pics...
the view from my balcony :)
The volunteers (minus our last arrival, Jill), on the future site of the AUW -- veeery exciting!
as of midnight the night before the students arrived, there were still construction workers in our building fixing things up. To be frank, it's 4 days later now, and there are still staff members running around like mad fixing everything in sight. However, considering the university only actually acquired access to the building in January, things are looking pretty slick.
how things are delivered, bangladeshi style
our shnazzy signboard
our computer lab!
30.03.08
Starting on Friday, our students arrived --- Bangladeshi, Nepalese, Sri Lankan and Pakistani on Friday, Cambodian on Saturday and Indian on Sunday. I led a few tours of the building, back to the glory days :), and was able to get to know the students and their families. I felt slightly like I was back at UVA in my RA role, and can already tell I'm going to have to consciously draw the line between being a pseudo-mom versus strictly being a teacher. The line blurs a bit since we're living, literally, among the students.
Speaking with a lot of parents on Friday was really really inspirational - to hear mothers and fathers speak so highly of the university's facilities (they ARE rather swank...) gave a whole new perspective on the University and its mission. We even had one dad ask if he could enroll at AUW...his wife turned to him and said, "it's for girls ONLY" - amazing.
Just to paint you a bit of a picture...all the bangladeshi families turned out in their best outfits with multiple extended family members. A few of the fathers of families from Dhaka ended up giving me their business cards, insisting that anytime I went to Dhaka i MUST call them and MUST visit them and MUST stay with them. It is a very cultural thing to give out business cards and network anywhere you go. The hospitality we've encountered thus far has been incredible.
Saturday and Sunday I accompanied some staff members to the airport to meet the Cambodian and Indian students, to have a friendly face and to document their arrival...the poor Indian students ended up spending two hours going through immigration because of special regulations for Pakistani and Indian students arriving in Bangladesh. and then 8 of them were missing luggage...i'm not so sure they've even gotten it yet. ps, if you are flying within SEAsia, especially on the subcontinent, don't fly GMG. apparently they have trouble delivering all baggage.
The girls, and their Country Coordinators, were probably my favorite people to speak with --- once the students got over their initial shyness, they were especially excited to finally GET to the Access Academy. granted, usually the first question i got was, "how old are you?"
We can't wait to start to get to know the students better, they all seem to have incredible stories. i'll make sure to keep everything a bit better updated from now on :)
a few extra random pics...
the view from my balcony :)
The volunteers (minus our last arrival, Jill), on the future site of the AUW -- veeery exciting!
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Venturing outside the Academy Walls
25.03.08
Orientation has been...a little difficult. EXTERMELY, extremely helpful and informative buuut we were living in temporary housing for a week and a half and didn't really leave the apartment all that often (and as a result were going a bit stircrazy...), and even now that we're in our permanent digs, everything takes place in one building. Our building is simply AMAZING, but it does have certain unique quirks, like, um, locks ordered from China (thanks to our crazy landlord) that can't be copied in Bangladesh. Therefore we only have one key for every door. There are also three types of plugs found throughout the building, placed randomly throughout apartments and suites, so that having a converter doesn't necessarily mean that you'll be able to use your appliances. Oh, and did i mention half the lightbulbs in our buildings can't be found in chittagong - only dhaka? Oh, the joys of adjusting to the new accomodations and finding all the special features of the academy.
HOWEVER, Tuesday we got the opportunity to go visit a woman who has really dedicated her last decade to Bangladesh, and has made great strides in helping a local village community. Our (WorldTeach's) executive director met her previously and insisted we make time in our schedule to go visit Caroline and her school --- thank goodness we were able to, because i think we were all thoroughly impressed and inspired to start thinking creatively to solve the challenges we're about to take on. Caroline led us on a tour through a local village she fell in love with over a decade ago, and has now become a staple of the community. After settling down and building a small house within the village limits, she set to work on building a playground and, as she explains it, everything took off from there. Once they were building a playground, they wanted a one-room building to also lead classes or workshops or fun activities for the village kids. Then they were approached by BRAC to use their space for a school, so the building was expanded. Now there are daily programs the take place - 2 school sessions, computer classes, dance lessons, constant art workshops and a library where students can browse and take out books. And, of course, there's always the playground for any children to play on.
After we toured the village, Caroline's home and the Playpark/school building (not forgetting the fact that we stopped in a local village school and demonstrated the hokey pokey for the kids...which i think scared them more than we'd hoped), we went out to lunch at the GOLF COURSE right outside of Chittagong...yep. there's a golf course. it's owned and run by the military, has exercise facilities and a restaurant in addition to 18 holes, and of course there's a driving range too. Apparently Caroline and about 5 others comprise the total group of women who regularly play at the course, so she was hardcore trying to recruit us to take up golf.
Here are some pictures from the village. Most of my pictures, per usual, are of adorable young children...
my little friends who followed us around, with about...um...50 other children? At one point one of the boys ran up to me and pulled my scarf and then ran back to his friends who erupted in shrieking laughter. It was so awesome to be in that environment again.
schoolchildren at the local village school we visited...and sang the hokey pokey for. this was their reaction. fabulous, eh?
some of the village children
i absolutely adore this picture. a young girl had graciously demonstrated for us using the water pump, and then Caroline explained a bit more about the village...while the crowd was listening, these boys used the pump as a headrest...
Orientation has been...a little difficult. EXTERMELY, extremely helpful and informative buuut we were living in temporary housing for a week and a half and didn't really leave the apartment all that often (and as a result were going a bit stircrazy...), and even now that we're in our permanent digs, everything takes place in one building. Our building is simply AMAZING, but it does have certain unique quirks, like, um, locks ordered from China (thanks to our crazy landlord) that can't be copied in Bangladesh. Therefore we only have one key for every door. There are also three types of plugs found throughout the building, placed randomly throughout apartments and suites, so that having a converter doesn't necessarily mean that you'll be able to use your appliances. Oh, and did i mention half the lightbulbs in our buildings can't be found in chittagong - only dhaka? Oh, the joys of adjusting to the new accomodations and finding all the special features of the academy.
HOWEVER, Tuesday we got the opportunity to go visit a woman who has really dedicated her last decade to Bangladesh, and has made great strides in helping a local village community. Our (WorldTeach's) executive director met her previously and insisted we make time in our schedule to go visit Caroline and her school --- thank goodness we were able to, because i think we were all thoroughly impressed and inspired to start thinking creatively to solve the challenges we're about to take on. Caroline led us on a tour through a local village she fell in love with over a decade ago, and has now become a staple of the community. After settling down and building a small house within the village limits, she set to work on building a playground and, as she explains it, everything took off from there. Once they were building a playground, they wanted a one-room building to also lead classes or workshops or fun activities for the village kids. Then they were approached by BRAC to use their space for a school, so the building was expanded. Now there are daily programs the take place - 2 school sessions, computer classes, dance lessons, constant art workshops and a library where students can browse and take out books. And, of course, there's always the playground for any children to play on.
After we toured the village, Caroline's home and the Playpark/school building (not forgetting the fact that we stopped in a local village school and demonstrated the hokey pokey for the kids...which i think scared them more than we'd hoped), we went out to lunch at the GOLF COURSE right outside of Chittagong...yep. there's a golf course. it's owned and run by the military, has exercise facilities and a restaurant in addition to 18 holes, and of course there's a driving range too. Apparently Caroline and about 5 others comprise the total group of women who regularly play at the course, so she was hardcore trying to recruit us to take up golf.
Here are some pictures from the village. Most of my pictures, per usual, are of adorable young children...
my little friends who followed us around, with about...um...50 other children? At one point one of the boys ran up to me and pulled my scarf and then ran back to his friends who erupted in shrieking laughter. It was so awesome to be in that environment again.
schoolchildren at the local village school we visited...and sang the hokey pokey for. this was their reaction. fabulous, eh?
some of the village children
i absolutely adore this picture. a young girl had graciously demonstrated for us using the water pump, and then Caroline explained a bit more about the village...while the crowd was listening, these boys used the pump as a headrest...
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
RICKSHAWS!!!
16.03.08
unfortunately, still haven't ridden on one (we travel in a pack of 12, at least, so it'd be a bit hard to coordinate taking rickshaws anywhere...especially since our bangla is still minimal and pathetic at best and we don't really know the names of places. we're getting there, however), BUT as a perk to our orientation we were taken to see rickshaw artists hard at work.
The first thing you need to know about rickshaws is that there are about a gazillion in chittagong alone. maybe not a gazillion, but the streets are packed. The traffic is topic for another day...suffice it to say traffic laws couldn't be followed even if they were in place. Apparently, in Dhaka, one in every five people depend on a rickshaw for their daily income. Chittagong can't be much different.
(http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/climate-migration/ --> really interesting oped in the NYTimes about bangladesh, where i got that 1 in 5 statistic)
Rickshaws are one of the most public, and widespread, art forms. Each one is decorated with bengali designs, made out of pieces of plastic sewn together - the hood of the vehicle, as well as where you put your feet, are hand-painted. Designs vary between cities, whereas Dhaka's rickshaws are commonly seen with scenes from movies or popular pop culture figures, Chittagong rickshaw art tends to be a bit more conservative and traditional.
One example of a rickshaw
A common street scene
We were able to travel with a local art teacher who'd worked with one of the local artists on a project recently, so we were also able to get a close up view of the hand-painting, in addition to seeing the shops where rickshaw owners can go and buy parts and pieces to assemble and decorate their rickshaws. It was fascinating to walk into an alleyway and see all these sewing machines set up with men stitching together pieces of plastic with SUCH precision and grace --- really impressive.
granted, the highlight of the day was turning around after listening to the shop owners for a full 2 minutes and realizing that a crowd of about 30-40 people had amassed watching us and trying to figure out what we were up to. we're not necessarily the most inconspicuous bunch with 12 white girls and one huge white van...
enjoy the pictures - i'll keep y'all updated on whether we actually ride a rickshaw soon...
the inside of a local rickshaw parts stall
one of the shop owners showing off rickshaw art for us
local artist who handpaints rickshaw art. absolutely gorgeous stuff.
unfortunately, still haven't ridden on one (we travel in a pack of 12, at least, so it'd be a bit hard to coordinate taking rickshaws anywhere...especially since our bangla is still minimal and pathetic at best and we don't really know the names of places. we're getting there, however), BUT as a perk to our orientation we were taken to see rickshaw artists hard at work.
The first thing you need to know about rickshaws is that there are about a gazillion in chittagong alone. maybe not a gazillion, but the streets are packed. The traffic is topic for another day...suffice it to say traffic laws couldn't be followed even if they were in place. Apparently, in Dhaka, one in every five people depend on a rickshaw for their daily income. Chittagong can't be much different.
(http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/climate-migration/ --> really interesting oped in the NYTimes about bangladesh, where i got that 1 in 5 statistic)
Rickshaws are one of the most public, and widespread, art forms. Each one is decorated with bengali designs, made out of pieces of plastic sewn together - the hood of the vehicle, as well as where you put your feet, are hand-painted. Designs vary between cities, whereas Dhaka's rickshaws are commonly seen with scenes from movies or popular pop culture figures, Chittagong rickshaw art tends to be a bit more conservative and traditional.
One example of a rickshaw
A common street scene
We were able to travel with a local art teacher who'd worked with one of the local artists on a project recently, so we were also able to get a close up view of the hand-painting, in addition to seeing the shops where rickshaw owners can go and buy parts and pieces to assemble and decorate their rickshaws. It was fascinating to walk into an alleyway and see all these sewing machines set up with men stitching together pieces of plastic with SUCH precision and grace --- really impressive.
granted, the highlight of the day was turning around after listening to the shop owners for a full 2 minutes and realizing that a crowd of about 30-40 people had amassed watching us and trying to figure out what we were up to. we're not necessarily the most inconspicuous bunch with 12 white girls and one huge white van...
enjoy the pictures - i'll keep y'all updated on whether we actually ride a rickshaw soon...
the inside of a local rickshaw parts stall
one of the shop owners showing off rickshaw art for us
local artist who handpaints rickshaw art. absolutely gorgeous stuff.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
intro to bangladesh
9.03.08
Oh wow. It’s only been 4 days and I already feel like there’s too much to update y’all on…first, though – I made it safely to chittagong, Bangladesh – my new home for the next 18 months, last Wednesday!
While we were certainly sleep deprived, the rest of the volunteers and myself were all extremely excited to finally land in Bangladesh. For many of us, we’d been anticipating our arrival for months – I know I found out about my acceptance last May – so I’ve had a while to envision of what I was walking into (and, per usual in life, it’s very little what I expected…)
Anna, our field director, and a few other staff members met us at the airport. Thanks to some of the connections the staff members at AUW has, and the clout they have within the community (and, I’m convinced, the way they carry themselves – with a much-deserved self confidence), they actually met us at the terminal and were able to help us through immigration and customs. Immigration, which was a worry for everyone…we didn’t really know what to expect…went as smoothly as could have been expected and customs even smoother.
I think we all were wide-eyed and open-jawed as we drove from the airport into Chittagong…everything I’d heard about the city is true. Chittagong is a huge port, and there are shipyards full of gigantic tankers and container ships on the outskirts. Poverty is everywhere and rather abject. Beggar kids will come up to you, pull on your arms, bags and clothes trying to get your sympathy and money. The city itself is crazy busy – RIDICULOUS traffic – and rather dirty (the pollution may just be the death of me. Thank goodness for scarfs to use to cover our faces). Most of our group has started to feel the effects, sore throats and coughs that will last, apparently, until our bodies start to get used to the pollution that seems to be seeping into all that’s around us.
What has been the greatest treat thus far, for me, is finally getting to meet the WorldTeach and AUW staff that I’ve been speaking with for months – in person!
I think most people know my deal, but the quick 411 is as follows…
There’s this university called the Asian University for Women. It’s opening in 2009 and has an amazing cadre of people working for the betterment of women across South and Southeast Asia. The university, which has been in the works for over a decade, aims to provide higher education to women from all over the region, targeting that half their student population will be on scholarship, from rural, refugee and impoverished backgrounds.
The Access Academy is a program set up through the University that will provide the students from disadvantaged backgrounds with English, computer and math classes before they begin their university studies --- this is the school with which I’ll be teaching, and during this inaugural year we’ll be holding classes for 16 months before the students matriculate with the first class of the University proper (in the future, AUW hopes that this will constitute one-year of instruction, but things are very flexible right now). WorldTeach had been contacted about providing the instructors for the Access Academy, and that’s how I ended up in Bangladesh…obviously, it’s a real fairytale.
There are 11 other volunteers with me - 1 Canadian, 2 Australians and 8 other Americans, and we’re all the idealistic, “let’s save the world” types. Even in our sleep deprivation and jetlagged states we wanted to get to know each other right away.
Orientation has been planned for the next 3 weeks, and the students arrive on March 28th and 29th…classes begin April 6th…it’s all just so quickly falling into place. And, to be fair, I must mention that we’ve got a pretty sweet setup. We arrived, and we’re in temporary housing for the first half of orientation until our building is completed. Our temporary housing is a fully furnished 5-bedroom apartment and AUW actually wired the place before we arrived to make sure we’d have internet access here.
Our apartments – as we got to tour our future building (where we will be teaching, living, eating, sleeping and working out…10 floors. Possibility of going a bit stir-crazy…very good) – are AMAZING.
And to give the University their due, they’re doing a fantastic job in preparing for the first year of students and teachers. We’ve been supported thus far 110%, and their priority at the moment is to make sure we’re happy and comfortable. We’ve got a rather big task ahead of us…getting women to a university-level ability in English and math in just over a year…but we’re being set up for success. Our classrooms, which have between a 1:12 and 1:14 teacher to student ratio, are all air-conditioned and will be set up with multimedia capabilities. There will be a fully stocked library by the time we move in, a catered cafeteria, a computer lab, a floor dedicated entirely to space for our extracurricular activities, a gym and pretty swank accommodations compared to what we were all expecting. Our apartments looked amazing during our walk-through, and they hadn’t yet been completed. All the furniture is being constructed on-site, and looks beautiful, we’ll have internet in our apartments and air-conditioning in all the rooms…we all have spent a good amount of time in disbelief since arriving.
The view from our roof!
To quickly cover the highlights of orientation (which will give just a glimpse into the amazing culture I’ve thrown myself into), our second day we visited Foy’s Lake…which had been described in the Lonely Planet as a lake nearby our current location in Kulshi Hills, very scenic, you could rent a boat for a nice, leisurely ride, and walk to the top of a hill that overlooked all of chittagong…when we got to the gate, we were a bit surprised to see “FOY’S LAKE AMUSEMENT PARK” plastered above the entrance. Lonely Planet seems to have missed the amusement park aspect to Foy’s lake…although, in their defense, it could have been built up since 2004 when the Bangladesh guide was last published.
The first thing I noticed as I walked into the amusement park was the absence of beggar kids, who’d been harassing us since we pulled into the parking lot, and the immediate increase in women that were fully covered from head to toe. The entrance fee to Foy’s Lake wasn’t that expensive, I think around 100 taka (~70 taka = 1 USD), but obviously even that small amount means a large gap in socioeconomic standing and privilege. It was just a quick glimpse into the larger societal issues I’ll be fascinated with, I’m sure, for the next 18 months.
The entrance...
Saturday (by the way, Fridays here are holy days, so the weekends are Friday/Saturday…my classes every week will start on Sundays) we got to go shopping with one of the daughters of an AUW staff member who teaches English at an English-based school here in Chittagong. She was AWESOME in helping us pick out fabric for our new clothes. Being that Bangladesh is a muslim majority country, and that the standard of dress is very conservative, we’re all pretty keen on donning the local garb as soon as we can…it’s just more comfortable when we’re out in public to at least be in the accepted dress. The most common form of dress is the shalwar kameez – it’s a 3-piece outfit of pants, a long tunic and scarf. One of the first things we all noticed when we were driving into Chittagong was the absolutely gorgeous fashion of the women. The clothes are usually bright colors and patterns, and it seems like everyone has an eye for what will look great together and keeps up on the latest trends for necklines, embroidery, blockprinting, etc. So we were especially happy that once we bought our fabric we only had to wait a mere 18 hours before meeting with THE TAILOR…
searching through the fabric for patterns that catch the eye...
Oh, Bengali culture. There are some definite perks. For example, getting clothes made especially for you! The poor tailor showed up at 10:30, but had forgotten his books of examples and our choice of necklines…got back to the apartment around 12, and ended up staying past 5 to take the measurements and orders for 12 of us. Granted, the guy’s probably going to make a whole heck of a lot of money from getting 12 orders (about 3 outfits each) at once, but I still felt a little bad for him. The 20 minutes I spent with him laying out what I wanted, or think I want (probably more appropriate because we were all like, um, we don’t really know what’s going to look good or not…!?), gave me a very good idea of how personalized Bengali dress is – and might explain why we’ve seen many women really look other women up and down when they cross paths on the street…it’s not necessarily anything other than checking out their clothing, the pattern and decorations, and how it’s all put together. Apparently, I’m going to have to sharpen these skills while I’m here…
This is 'our' tailor, at least the only one we've been introduced to thus far and he's absolutely amazing and accomodating.
While he was still there we had our first BANGLA LESSON…we’re all feeling a bit overwhelmed with learning bangla (and luckily they’ve decided we’ll learn to speak first…write later, once we master the character alphabet down the road…waaaay down the road), but at least we’re all in it together. We also have a volunteer with us who’s originally from Bangladesh, so therefore she’s fluent in Bangla, and Mahmuda has been a lifeline thus far in translating for us.
Oh wow. It’s only been 4 days and I already feel like there’s too much to update y’all on…first, though – I made it safely to chittagong, Bangladesh – my new home for the next 18 months, last Wednesday!
While we were certainly sleep deprived, the rest of the volunteers and myself were all extremely excited to finally land in Bangladesh. For many of us, we’d been anticipating our arrival for months – I know I found out about my acceptance last May – so I’ve had a while to envision of what I was walking into (and, per usual in life, it’s very little what I expected…)
Anna, our field director, and a few other staff members met us at the airport. Thanks to some of the connections the staff members at AUW has, and the clout they have within the community (and, I’m convinced, the way they carry themselves – with a much-deserved self confidence), they actually met us at the terminal and were able to help us through immigration and customs. Immigration, which was a worry for everyone…we didn’t really know what to expect…went as smoothly as could have been expected and customs even smoother.
I think we all were wide-eyed and open-jawed as we drove from the airport into Chittagong…everything I’d heard about the city is true. Chittagong is a huge port, and there are shipyards full of gigantic tankers and container ships on the outskirts. Poverty is everywhere and rather abject. Beggar kids will come up to you, pull on your arms, bags and clothes trying to get your sympathy and money. The city itself is crazy busy – RIDICULOUS traffic – and rather dirty (the pollution may just be the death of me. Thank goodness for scarfs to use to cover our faces). Most of our group has started to feel the effects, sore throats and coughs that will last, apparently, until our bodies start to get used to the pollution that seems to be seeping into all that’s around us.
What has been the greatest treat thus far, for me, is finally getting to meet the WorldTeach and AUW staff that I’ve been speaking with for months – in person!
I think most people know my deal, but the quick 411 is as follows…
There’s this university called the Asian University for Women. It’s opening in 2009 and has an amazing cadre of people working for the betterment of women across South and Southeast Asia. The university, which has been in the works for over a decade, aims to provide higher education to women from all over the region, targeting that half their student population will be on scholarship, from rural, refugee and impoverished backgrounds.
The Access Academy is a program set up through the University that will provide the students from disadvantaged backgrounds with English, computer and math classes before they begin their university studies --- this is the school with which I’ll be teaching, and during this inaugural year we’ll be holding classes for 16 months before the students matriculate with the first class of the University proper (in the future, AUW hopes that this will constitute one-year of instruction, but things are very flexible right now). WorldTeach had been contacted about providing the instructors for the Access Academy, and that’s how I ended up in Bangladesh…obviously, it’s a real fairytale.
There are 11 other volunteers with me - 1 Canadian, 2 Australians and 8 other Americans, and we’re all the idealistic, “let’s save the world” types. Even in our sleep deprivation and jetlagged states we wanted to get to know each other right away.
Orientation has been planned for the next 3 weeks, and the students arrive on March 28th and 29th…classes begin April 6th…it’s all just so quickly falling into place. And, to be fair, I must mention that we’ve got a pretty sweet setup. We arrived, and we’re in temporary housing for the first half of orientation until our building is completed. Our temporary housing is a fully furnished 5-bedroom apartment and AUW actually wired the place before we arrived to make sure we’d have internet access here.
Our apartments – as we got to tour our future building (where we will be teaching, living, eating, sleeping and working out…10 floors. Possibility of going a bit stir-crazy…very good) – are AMAZING.
And to give the University their due, they’re doing a fantastic job in preparing for the first year of students and teachers. We’ve been supported thus far 110%, and their priority at the moment is to make sure we’re happy and comfortable. We’ve got a rather big task ahead of us…getting women to a university-level ability in English and math in just over a year…but we’re being set up for success. Our classrooms, which have between a 1:12 and 1:14 teacher to student ratio, are all air-conditioned and will be set up with multimedia capabilities. There will be a fully stocked library by the time we move in, a catered cafeteria, a computer lab, a floor dedicated entirely to space for our extracurricular activities, a gym and pretty swank accommodations compared to what we were all expecting. Our apartments looked amazing during our walk-through, and they hadn’t yet been completed. All the furniture is being constructed on-site, and looks beautiful, we’ll have internet in our apartments and air-conditioning in all the rooms…we all have spent a good amount of time in disbelief since arriving.
The view from our roof!
To quickly cover the highlights of orientation (which will give just a glimpse into the amazing culture I’ve thrown myself into), our second day we visited Foy’s Lake…which had been described in the Lonely Planet as a lake nearby our current location in Kulshi Hills, very scenic, you could rent a boat for a nice, leisurely ride, and walk to the top of a hill that overlooked all of chittagong…when we got to the gate, we were a bit surprised to see “FOY’S LAKE AMUSEMENT PARK” plastered above the entrance. Lonely Planet seems to have missed the amusement park aspect to Foy’s lake…although, in their defense, it could have been built up since 2004 when the Bangladesh guide was last published.
The first thing I noticed as I walked into the amusement park was the absence of beggar kids, who’d been harassing us since we pulled into the parking lot, and the immediate increase in women that were fully covered from head to toe. The entrance fee to Foy’s Lake wasn’t that expensive, I think around 100 taka (~70 taka = 1 USD), but obviously even that small amount means a large gap in socioeconomic standing and privilege. It was just a quick glimpse into the larger societal issues I’ll be fascinated with, I’m sure, for the next 18 months.
The entrance...
Saturday (by the way, Fridays here are holy days, so the weekends are Friday/Saturday…my classes every week will start on Sundays) we got to go shopping with one of the daughters of an AUW staff member who teaches English at an English-based school here in Chittagong. She was AWESOME in helping us pick out fabric for our new clothes. Being that Bangladesh is a muslim majority country, and that the standard of dress is very conservative, we’re all pretty keen on donning the local garb as soon as we can…it’s just more comfortable when we’re out in public to at least be in the accepted dress. The most common form of dress is the shalwar kameez – it’s a 3-piece outfit of pants, a long tunic and scarf. One of the first things we all noticed when we were driving into Chittagong was the absolutely gorgeous fashion of the women. The clothes are usually bright colors and patterns, and it seems like everyone has an eye for what will look great together and keeps up on the latest trends for necklines, embroidery, blockprinting, etc. So we were especially happy that once we bought our fabric we only had to wait a mere 18 hours before meeting with THE TAILOR…
searching through the fabric for patterns that catch the eye...
Oh, Bengali culture. There are some definite perks. For example, getting clothes made especially for you! The poor tailor showed up at 10:30, but had forgotten his books of examples and our choice of necklines…got back to the apartment around 12, and ended up staying past 5 to take the measurements and orders for 12 of us. Granted, the guy’s probably going to make a whole heck of a lot of money from getting 12 orders (about 3 outfits each) at once, but I still felt a little bad for him. The 20 minutes I spent with him laying out what I wanted, or think I want (probably more appropriate because we were all like, um, we don’t really know what’s going to look good or not…!?), gave me a very good idea of how personalized Bengali dress is – and might explain why we’ve seen many women really look other women up and down when they cross paths on the street…it’s not necessarily anything other than checking out their clothing, the pattern and decorations, and how it’s all put together. Apparently, I’m going to have to sharpen these skills while I’m here…
This is 'our' tailor, at least the only one we've been introduced to thus far and he's absolutely amazing and accomodating.
While he was still there we had our first BANGLA LESSON…we’re all feeling a bit overwhelmed with learning bangla (and luckily they’ve decided we’ll learn to speak first…write later, once we master the character alphabet down the road…waaaay down the road), but at least we’re all in it together. We also have a volunteer with us who’s originally from Bangladesh, so therefore she’s fluent in Bangla, and Mahmuda has been a lifeline thus far in translating for us.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Post-Heather, Pre-Bangla
Friday February 29 – Monday March 3
It’s crazy that I’m leaving for Bangladesh tomorrow. I found out that I’d gotten the position with WorldTeach last May, and finally I’m about to arrive in the country that’s going to be home for the next year and a half. And while the past two months have been enthralling and exciting and amazing, I’m definitely pumped to be able to get Chittagong in less than 48 and start our WorldTeach orientation (such a nerd, I know).
The past few days, however, have been a bit emotional unto themselves…Friday, Heather and I spent much of the day taking care of last-minute errands, mostly shopping needs, before she flew to India on Saturday. You know, the usual, mailing things home, picking up more toiletries, buying heather’s wedding band (traveling in India alone as a female isn’t necessarily advocated without a few items to protect against continual harassment).
The huge finds of the day, however, were Thai flags for Heather to hang back at home (she’s said, since day one, that she wanted these flags and we’d been unable to figure out WHERE the heck they can be purchased throughout our 4+ weeks in the country – apparently in stationary shops in Krabi Town, ps) AND another King shirt for me. This one, though, is a bit unique…it’s of the bowling shirt variety…and don’t think it’s not embroidered with “Long Live the King” in gold, on the back. The next time we go bowling at a silver bay reunion, for all of you out there who know what I’m talking about, I’ll be rocking the King Bowling Shirt. It’s hot.
Saturday was miserable – as Heather and I had to say goodbye. The past 8 weeks went by so quickly, and I’m really going to miss having her as my travel buddy…and I realized within hours how nice it was to have another person to travel with as all of a sudden everyone was asking me, “are you alone? No one to travel with?” language barriers don’t always allow for extended explanations, so sometimes a simple, “yes, alone” had to suffice.
I’ve done ok for myself, and the hostel I’m at has quickly taken me under their wing. There aren’t many of us staying here at the moment because the International Youth Hostel of Chalong, Phuket is a bit far from the beaches, so anytime I walk through the reception area I have a nice little conversation with one of the two regulars who work here. They endlessly supply me with ideas for things to do, or recommendations for beaches/markets to visit. They’re even letting me store my bags here tomorrow, free of charge, and told me they’ll let me use the shower before I leave tomorrow night – even though I check out in the morning. The group of us traveling had found Thailand to be overly welcoming and warm to travelers, helping us whenever we needed it, looking out for us in many cases, and staying in Chalong has only strengthened that view.
Today I continued to feed my new, minor-obsession with snorkeling and booked a day trip to the two most well-known islands south of Phuket – Raya and Coral Islands.
And oh, it was a TRIP, to say the least.
The dive boat was a fabulous experience because it was so gigantic and had great views. The boat I was on today, courtesy of the Chalong Siam Sea Adventure Tour Company, or a name along those lines, was a larger speedboat that comfortably fit the 25 people I was to spend the majority of my day with. We had a 40 minute ride to get to Raya Bay, our first stop, and it was honestly one of the worst boat rides I’ve ever been on. Think – returning from Black Mountain in the thick of a thunderstorm on my family’s 18-ft SeaRay (those that were with me for that eventful trip – ps, love you dad) – times 10. The driver looked about 17, and certainly didn’t take the waves lightly…the 5 older Italians who’d also braved the front with me and a young Japanese couple, looked like they wanted to either throw up, or hit the driver, anytime we came off a wave and slammed into the water below.
So we were rather happy when we arrived at Raya Bay. It had some of the whitest sand I’ve ever seen, complemented by ridiculously clear, turquoise water in the bay. Perfect for snorkeling, with loads of fish and coral everywhere, and I was fascinated by the 15-20 minutes I was actually able to snorkel – seems I’d been given faulty equipment. Oddly enough, even though it was advertised as a ‘snorkel day’, many of the people on the boat weren’t the slightest bit interested in snorkeling…didn’t even take a mask and snorkel when offered. More so than Railay, Krabi and Ao Nang, Phuket and its beaches are definitely built upon the tourist population that come to vacation here – and the tourists themselves, for the most part, are primarily concerned with getting in full days at the beach under the sun. It’s a different world than I’m used to.
After about 2 hours at Raya, we got back into the boat for another bumpy ride to Coral Bay, for 3 hours of lunch, snorkeling and sunbathing…a cute French family, from Paris, adopted me for lunch. Stephanie and her husband (didn’t catch his name, unfortunately) did an amazing job of understanding my disconnected French, and translating for their two daughters who were very surprised I was going to be an English teacher…they said I looked too young…and then asked if, because I am going to be a teacher, if I had any babies of my own. They were ADORABLE and for the rest of the afternoon they would point fish out to me as I snorkeled around the swimming area.
We arrived back at Chalong Harbor around 3:30 and Joey, our guide, wished us well. Obviously, I’ve spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in the “Amazon Café”, which happens to be attached to one of the 11 or so 7-11’s I’ve seen in a 2-mile radius, updating the blog…since they offer free wifi. For the price of a cup of tea, I can be online for as long as I want. It’s in these cases where I really see how ‘globalization’ has started to transform Thai society (as I’m sure is the same case for many other countries).
It’s a bittersweet night as I know I need to spend much of it repacking my bags to head to the airport tomorrow afternoon. Thailand’s definitely been good to me, as have Laos and Cambodia, but Chittagong awaits. The next time I write – it’ll be from “BAN-GA-LA-DEEEEEESH”…for those that have spoken to me in the past few months, you’ll recognize the pronunciation…one of my ESL students from the Fall was named Monowara, and she was originally from Bangladesh. Monowara wasn’t a stand-out student, unfortunately she had an incredibly difficult time picking up English. What she was good at, however, was pronunciation – and anything I said, she would repeat…including “Bangladesh”. And she would get so excited every time I referenced Bangladesh in class, she would hold her hands up in front of her and say, “BANG-GA-LAAA-DESHHHHHH”.
I’m really hoping that’s how the locals pronounce it. I’m doubting it, but I’ll let you know.
It’s crazy that I’m leaving for Bangladesh tomorrow. I found out that I’d gotten the position with WorldTeach last May, and finally I’m about to arrive in the country that’s going to be home for the next year and a half. And while the past two months have been enthralling and exciting and amazing, I’m definitely pumped to be able to get Chittagong in less than 48 and start our WorldTeach orientation (such a nerd, I know).
The past few days, however, have been a bit emotional unto themselves…Friday, Heather and I spent much of the day taking care of last-minute errands, mostly shopping needs, before she flew to India on Saturday. You know, the usual, mailing things home, picking up more toiletries, buying heather’s wedding band (traveling in India alone as a female isn’t necessarily advocated without a few items to protect against continual harassment).
The huge finds of the day, however, were Thai flags for Heather to hang back at home (she’s said, since day one, that she wanted these flags and we’d been unable to figure out WHERE the heck they can be purchased throughout our 4+ weeks in the country – apparently in stationary shops in Krabi Town, ps) AND another King shirt for me. This one, though, is a bit unique…it’s of the bowling shirt variety…and don’t think it’s not embroidered with “Long Live the King” in gold, on the back. The next time we go bowling at a silver bay reunion, for all of you out there who know what I’m talking about, I’ll be rocking the King Bowling Shirt. It’s hot.
Saturday was miserable – as Heather and I had to say goodbye. The past 8 weeks went by so quickly, and I’m really going to miss having her as my travel buddy…and I realized within hours how nice it was to have another person to travel with as all of a sudden everyone was asking me, “are you alone? No one to travel with?” language barriers don’t always allow for extended explanations, so sometimes a simple, “yes, alone” had to suffice.
I’ve done ok for myself, and the hostel I’m at has quickly taken me under their wing. There aren’t many of us staying here at the moment because the International Youth Hostel of Chalong, Phuket is a bit far from the beaches, so anytime I walk through the reception area I have a nice little conversation with one of the two regulars who work here. They endlessly supply me with ideas for things to do, or recommendations for beaches/markets to visit. They’re even letting me store my bags here tomorrow, free of charge, and told me they’ll let me use the shower before I leave tomorrow night – even though I check out in the morning. The group of us traveling had found Thailand to be overly welcoming and warm to travelers, helping us whenever we needed it, looking out for us in many cases, and staying in Chalong has only strengthened that view.
Today I continued to feed my new, minor-obsession with snorkeling and booked a day trip to the two most well-known islands south of Phuket – Raya and Coral Islands.
And oh, it was a TRIP, to say the least.
The dive boat was a fabulous experience because it was so gigantic and had great views. The boat I was on today, courtesy of the Chalong Siam Sea Adventure Tour Company, or a name along those lines, was a larger speedboat that comfortably fit the 25 people I was to spend the majority of my day with. We had a 40 minute ride to get to Raya Bay, our first stop, and it was honestly one of the worst boat rides I’ve ever been on. Think – returning from Black Mountain in the thick of a thunderstorm on my family’s 18-ft SeaRay (those that were with me for that eventful trip – ps, love you dad) – times 10. The driver looked about 17, and certainly didn’t take the waves lightly…the 5 older Italians who’d also braved the front with me and a young Japanese couple, looked like they wanted to either throw up, or hit the driver, anytime we came off a wave and slammed into the water below.
So we were rather happy when we arrived at Raya Bay. It had some of the whitest sand I’ve ever seen, complemented by ridiculously clear, turquoise water in the bay. Perfect for snorkeling, with loads of fish and coral everywhere, and I was fascinated by the 15-20 minutes I was actually able to snorkel – seems I’d been given faulty equipment. Oddly enough, even though it was advertised as a ‘snorkel day’, many of the people on the boat weren’t the slightest bit interested in snorkeling…didn’t even take a mask and snorkel when offered. More so than Railay, Krabi and Ao Nang, Phuket and its beaches are definitely built upon the tourist population that come to vacation here – and the tourists themselves, for the most part, are primarily concerned with getting in full days at the beach under the sun. It’s a different world than I’m used to.
After about 2 hours at Raya, we got back into the boat for another bumpy ride to Coral Bay, for 3 hours of lunch, snorkeling and sunbathing…a cute French family, from Paris, adopted me for lunch. Stephanie and her husband (didn’t catch his name, unfortunately) did an amazing job of understanding my disconnected French, and translating for their two daughters who were very surprised I was going to be an English teacher…they said I looked too young…and then asked if, because I am going to be a teacher, if I had any babies of my own. They were ADORABLE and for the rest of the afternoon they would point fish out to me as I snorkeled around the swimming area.
We arrived back at Chalong Harbor around 3:30 and Joey, our guide, wished us well. Obviously, I’ve spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in the “Amazon Café”, which happens to be attached to one of the 11 or so 7-11’s I’ve seen in a 2-mile radius, updating the blog…since they offer free wifi. For the price of a cup of tea, I can be online for as long as I want. It’s in these cases where I really see how ‘globalization’ has started to transform Thai society (as I’m sure is the same case for many other countries).
It’s a bittersweet night as I know I need to spend much of it repacking my bags to head to the airport tomorrow afternoon. Thailand’s definitely been good to me, as have Laos and Cambodia, but Chittagong awaits. The next time I write – it’ll be from “BAN-GA-LA-DEEEEEESH”…for those that have spoken to me in the past few months, you’ll recognize the pronunciation…one of my ESL students from the Fall was named Monowara, and she was originally from Bangladesh. Monowara wasn’t a stand-out student, unfortunately she had an incredibly difficult time picking up English. What she was good at, however, was pronunciation – and anything I said, she would repeat…including “Bangladesh”. And she would get so excited every time I referenced Bangladesh in class, she would hold her hands up in front of her and say, “BANG-GA-LAAA-DESHHHHHH”.
I’m really hoping that’s how the locals pronounce it. I’m doubting it, but I’ll let you know.
Finding Nemo (or trying to, in my case)
Thursday, February 28th
First, let me start off by saying that I did write the typical middle-school paper about wanting to be a marine biologist when I grew up (I think my ‘slant’ was that I wanted to work out in the ocean, not necessarily at a marine park, like SeaWorld). I will add the disclaimer, however, that since that time I’ve never been overly intrigued by marine life. Fish have always grossed me out a bit…living on lake george every summer, 95% of my interactions with them were either fishing off the arcady docks, and catching (and recatching) only sunnies, or being brushed up against by larger fish, probably bass, out in the deeper areas.
But Southern Thailand’s changed my perspective a bit…
So, Heather and Tom went diving one day and I’m neither certified, nor was I in a good state of health to try and dive (sinus problems…not so great for scuba diving…), so I stayed behind in Railay. Apparently, I could have gone with them and snorkeled, but we didn’t know that at the time.
This time around, when heather and I landed in Krabi Town, we knew better. Heather, having her open water certification for Scuba, and being a bit obsessed with marine life, didn’t want to leave the area without a few more dives under her belt. So while we were searching for our caveman on Tuesday, we also looked at dive/snorkel options.
Thursday was the day --- we were picked up at 7am, bright and early, and we were on our boat by 8. Again, it was an experience, especially since I’d never been on a dive boat before. After getting on board, we had a full meeting to go over the ‘rules’ (about climbing the ladders to the top deck and using the toilets), our day’s schedule – with 2 dives, lunch between around 12, and the refreshments on board (soda, fanta, tea and coffee – help yourself if no one’s behind the bar). It was pretty laid back, and when all the dive masters (the really certified divers who work for the dive companies and lead groups of usually no more than 4 divers a day) were finding their groups to introduce themselves and go over the more technical stuff, I was surprised to learn that even us snorkelers (aboard mainly for the pretty sites and lovely breeze and, you know, we jump in the water for a nice little look-see once the divers are all set 80m below the surface) had a divemaster assigned to us.
I asked my divemaster, Chris, an Austrian whose only in his first season working off Ao Nang (coming from a few seasons in Indonesia, apparently), what he’d done to get stuck with the snorkelers for the day…he replied he didn’t know and must remember to ask when we got back to the office. Apparently, dry sense of humor. Which didn’t really let up all day. But I got him to crack a few smiles along the way. And eventually I learned that the dive masters have to take one day a week, usually, and snorkel instead of dive. Hard lives they lead...
The dive culture was fascinating to me. One of the first passengers we met in the morning was a retired Brit, who’d started diving because his kids took it up on their vacations and, as he put it, “couldn’t be left behind, you know?” He’d done the first certification, and was currently working on his second. Later in the day we were sitting with him and another british couple, and just listening to the two older men and Heather talk about all the places they’d been, or wanted to go dive, was energizing. I also realized what an operation I’d unsuspectingly found myself thrown into.
Back to the changing my life bit…I was expecting to get in the water at the first stop (Maya Bay – from The Beach with Leonardo dicaprio…yea, THE beach…love my life) and see a few fish and swim around and enjoy myself. Instead, I was absolutely enthralled, saw more species of fish and clams and coral than I’ve ever seen in one place – other than planet earth dvds – in my life, and returned to the boat absolutely intoxicated. I was a little jealous of heather, as her group had seen a sea turtle, and multiple nemos…I had to settle for a few of his cousin species, as well as cousins to Dorit, because I was just snorkeling and apparently nemo’s live a bit deeper in the seas.
Our second stop was a bit more interesting, mainly because a thunderstorm hit us as the divers were suiting up…pretty much it meant nothing except for a bit of a rocky ride back for the divers, but for us snorkelers, it meant we couldn’t get to the backside of the island we were at because of the waves and currents that were absolutely hasseling us. Unfortunate, definitely, but at least we got to get in and see some of the coral reefs around the island. The storm also quickly condensed our group from 5 to 3, as the other two women swimming with an older Swiss traveler, our dive master and myself opted to stay dry and untaunted by the waves this go-round. I, on the other hand, loved snorkeling during the storm - it was awesome to be able to retreat to under the waves, knowing that above the surface craziness was taking place. It was also really cool to watch how the currents affected the fish, especially the smaller ones, who were getting quite the ride as a result. We were also still able to see a good amount of cool fish, coral and clams – and I even saw an eel this time around.
Suffice it to say, I’ve started thinking about potentially taking a dive course on one of my school breaks while I’m in this region of the world. Anyone want to come along? Nice little week vacation to a tropical paradise? Any takers – let me know.
First, let me start off by saying that I did write the typical middle-school paper about wanting to be a marine biologist when I grew up (I think my ‘slant’ was that I wanted to work out in the ocean, not necessarily at a marine park, like SeaWorld). I will add the disclaimer, however, that since that time I’ve never been overly intrigued by marine life. Fish have always grossed me out a bit…living on lake george every summer, 95% of my interactions with them were either fishing off the arcady docks, and catching (and recatching) only sunnies, or being brushed up against by larger fish, probably bass, out in the deeper areas.
But Southern Thailand’s changed my perspective a bit…
So, Heather and Tom went diving one day and I’m neither certified, nor was I in a good state of health to try and dive (sinus problems…not so great for scuba diving…), so I stayed behind in Railay. Apparently, I could have gone with them and snorkeled, but we didn’t know that at the time.
This time around, when heather and I landed in Krabi Town, we knew better. Heather, having her open water certification for Scuba, and being a bit obsessed with marine life, didn’t want to leave the area without a few more dives under her belt. So while we were searching for our caveman on Tuesday, we also looked at dive/snorkel options.
Thursday was the day --- we were picked up at 7am, bright and early, and we were on our boat by 8. Again, it was an experience, especially since I’d never been on a dive boat before. After getting on board, we had a full meeting to go over the ‘rules’ (about climbing the ladders to the top deck and using the toilets), our day’s schedule – with 2 dives, lunch between around 12, and the refreshments on board (soda, fanta, tea and coffee – help yourself if no one’s behind the bar). It was pretty laid back, and when all the dive masters (the really certified divers who work for the dive companies and lead groups of usually no more than 4 divers a day) were finding their groups to introduce themselves and go over the more technical stuff, I was surprised to learn that even us snorkelers (aboard mainly for the pretty sites and lovely breeze and, you know, we jump in the water for a nice little look-see once the divers are all set 80m below the surface) had a divemaster assigned to us.
I asked my divemaster, Chris, an Austrian whose only in his first season working off Ao Nang (coming from a few seasons in Indonesia, apparently), what he’d done to get stuck with the snorkelers for the day…he replied he didn’t know and must remember to ask when we got back to the office. Apparently, dry sense of humor. Which didn’t really let up all day. But I got him to crack a few smiles along the way. And eventually I learned that the dive masters have to take one day a week, usually, and snorkel instead of dive. Hard lives they lead...
The dive culture was fascinating to me. One of the first passengers we met in the morning was a retired Brit, who’d started diving because his kids took it up on their vacations and, as he put it, “couldn’t be left behind, you know?” He’d done the first certification, and was currently working on his second. Later in the day we were sitting with him and another british couple, and just listening to the two older men and Heather talk about all the places they’d been, or wanted to go dive, was energizing. I also realized what an operation I’d unsuspectingly found myself thrown into.
Back to the changing my life bit…I was expecting to get in the water at the first stop (Maya Bay – from The Beach with Leonardo dicaprio…yea, THE beach…love my life) and see a few fish and swim around and enjoy myself. Instead, I was absolutely enthralled, saw more species of fish and clams and coral than I’ve ever seen in one place – other than planet earth dvds – in my life, and returned to the boat absolutely intoxicated. I was a little jealous of heather, as her group had seen a sea turtle, and multiple nemos…I had to settle for a few of his cousin species, as well as cousins to Dorit, because I was just snorkeling and apparently nemo’s live a bit deeper in the seas.
Our second stop was a bit more interesting, mainly because a thunderstorm hit us as the divers were suiting up…pretty much it meant nothing except for a bit of a rocky ride back for the divers, but for us snorkelers, it meant we couldn’t get to the backside of the island we were at because of the waves and currents that were absolutely hasseling us. Unfortunate, definitely, but at least we got to get in and see some of the coral reefs around the island. The storm also quickly condensed our group from 5 to 3, as the other two women swimming with an older Swiss traveler, our dive master and myself opted to stay dry and untaunted by the waves this go-round. I, on the other hand, loved snorkeling during the storm - it was awesome to be able to retreat to under the waves, knowing that above the surface craziness was taking place. It was also really cool to watch how the currents affected the fish, especially the smaller ones, who were getting quite the ride as a result. We were also still able to see a good amount of cool fish, coral and clams – and I even saw an eel this time around.
Suffice it to say, I’ve started thinking about potentially taking a dive course on one of my school breaks while I’m in this region of the world. Anyone want to come along? Nice little week vacation to a tropical paradise? Any takers – let me know.
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