friday night on the town

friday nights are, normally, not a popular night to go out in Chittagong.  in the few places where beer or alcohol is available, friday nights are the only night they will not serve you in a bar, and even some restaurants (as it's the holy day).  most shops, if they are open at all, will not open until early afternoon.  it's a nice, forced relaxation in a way. 

however, 4 of the other teachers and i took the opportunity to try some more of the local fare for dinner and went to a small restaurant, dhaba, that we see everytime we drive away from our building.  we had a lot of fun crossing the major road of traffic, almost getting hit by several rickshaws, CNGs and cars along the way, but were well rewarded for our efforts by the food.  it was really fantastic - amazing nan (tandoori oven baked bread...delicious!) and other traditional dishes (a traditional potato/yoghurt/spices entree is featured below) and had an atmosphere similar to a small, hole-in-the-wall, lively pizza kitchen in nyc...complete with some countertop seating in front of a huge mirror.  can't seem to get away from that setup anywhere. 

after dinner we were attempting to cross the street back and heard music and announcements in bangla being blasted from a speaker...behind the speaker were thousands of white lights directing people to an entrance.  we, of course, thought it was the entrance to a wedding party (which we've been informed are completely crash-able and that we would be welcomed wedding crashers, given our 'foreign status').  we wandered over, thinking we might have the gall to crash a wedding if it was indeed a reception, but alas - no weddings were to be crashed this evening.  however there was a small, month-long outdoor fabric market, apparently in place for a month, until june 17th this year, and we spent a good amount of time wandering through, examining the fabrics and other wares for sale (honey, shoes, sparkly jewelry, etc.).  i was able to find a replacement pair of sunglasses for mine that broke while i was traveling in thailand...i've been wearing them with a gigantic crack in the lens and frame for the past three months.  when i showed selena, one of the other teachers, she said, "finally. you won't have to wear your broken glasses anymore," hinting that maybe i should have chucked them a while ago... 

it feels really good that we're starting to get to know our local neighborhood a little better. it's taking some time, just because we don't get out that much with everything that's already planned for us (plus that whole teaching/work thing)...but i'm sure in the next few months we're going to learn much more about mehedibag (name of our neighborhood). and eventually i'll find a wedding or two to crash. 

aloo tikki (traditional pototo/yoghurt/spices dish)...normally would be eaten with hands only, so obviously this restaurant was a bit more upscale than others...

outdoor fabric market. there were stalls upon stalls upon stalls upon stalls. it could potentially take you days to go through everything.