Last night was another one for the books. This whole week has been a little rough on my bod (I have been fever-ey and exhausted but super busy), so I slept in as much as I could and went to the American Club. Azim had called me right when I fell asleep the night before and also at 8am to make sure I wanted to spend the day with him. Thing about that is: I was sleeping. And loving it. And when he woke me up I thought he was another one of the men who got my phone number from the flexiload station on road #18. All these things together made me a smidgen bitchy on the phone. I really hadn't slept or worked out all week and wanted to treat my body good, so I made sure I worked out. I ran as hard as I have the whole time Ive been here and then took a nice hot (woop woop!) shower. My shower at home is still pumping colored water. Brown-colored, to be specific.
Debrah and I needed to get our blouses from Pink City Shopping Centre so we could pair them with the saris (formal South Asian dresses) that Bilkis (the lovely woman from the 18th floor at work) was going to give us. The process of getting clothes made for you is ridiculous here. Ready-made garments are not available anywhere, so one day prior, I had to go to the mall, find a blouse to match the sari I was going to wear, and then have it fitted to my body. The pre-existing ready-made blouse that still needed to be sized is what they call "ready-made," but the mall mostly had fabric available for you to choose designs for and have the tailors there create something for you. I really should have gone a few days before then though because the mall was closed for Friday (weekly holiday). Luckily, the lady who owned her store arranged for Debrah and I to pick up our blouses in front of the mall gates the next day from "her guy". Debrah met me at the American Club, we ate a light lunch, and headed out into towards the city. I think my ipod's 80's selection (Thanks Mike!) screwed Debrah for the walk... I repeatedly sang "We built this city!...We built this city on rooockk andddd roolllllllllllll" the whole way to the Pink City. She hated it.
The whole sari operation is a bit difficult. Even after getting the blouses, Debrah and I had a lot of work to do to figure out how to take one huge rectangular piece of fabric and turning it into a classic dress. While at the American Club the day before, we had one of the waitresses show us what was up, video taped the whole shenanigan, and had just that video to figure things out then. Azim wanted us to meet up with him immediately, so we went back to my house (Saleha extended her stay in Sylett one extra day) to figure it all out. A big mess if you ask me. We played the video in slow-mo, pinned and primped, and still it took over an hour for either of us to look acceptable.
We walked to coffee world to meet Azim and Evan (who was wearing a Punjabi, the traditional longsleeved, knee-length shirt for men). From there, we took a CNG to the huge parliament building, did a little sight-seeing, and continued (in super-heels)down a main road to take another CNG to a little winding mini-city within Dhaka. I felt like I was in the movie Aladdin. The roads were alleys between relatively tall buildings and there were people everywhere. Little produce shops lined the streets... and everyone stared at Debrah and I in our traditional dresses. Pretty sure it was the Western look. We stopped at a little restaurant, but since we couldn't really take food from outside the home, we drank tea. They showed us to a "couples room" because there weren't any open tables. It was a small green closet with patio furniture inside. Why did we try to fit five people in it? I'm not sure. Why, when they told me the room was for couples, did I ask if they were left alone so they could make out? God knows. I thought we were in the circle.
On the way to the wedding, we stopped at two houses, the bride-groom's and the bride's. At the groom's house, the bed was decorated beautifully with flowers and petals that drew "S + P" and hearts. We all wondered if the family would stay anywhere that night. Yeah, they'd stay in the room next door. When we asked Azim what would happen that night, and if the couple would get the house to themselves, he said they wouldn't. Then he said that when he got married he would definitely want the house to himself, and that he and his wife would run around and be crazy with the whole family gone. Really? You are allowed to have sex without major social stigma for the first time, on your wedding night no less, and you're going to run laps through the kitchen? Next stop: bride's house. She was beautiful. There, we just took pictures with her in her room and saw the whole process of getting ready. She had so much makeup on I thought she was wearing a mask. Her hands were painted with henna and gold adornments were everywhere: cuff bracelets, hanging ornaments in her hair, barrettes, ... everything.
Finally, we went to Azim's friend's house, where we ate sweets (a cup of corn syrup with some solidified sugary snack soaking inside. Edible, but crazily sweet). I awkwardly agreed that I must have to go to the bathroom since they offered, and then I saw a HUGE roach on the ground. That sucked, but whatever. Debrah's outfit was malfunctioning so I followed her into the bedroom and helped with pinning. Soonafter, Evan and the crowd of people who had been waiting at this friend's house came in to show us pictures of trips to Everest and places in Asia. They gave me a big bag of tea that looked strikingly like weed, but was definitely tea, as a gift. I don't even think I am going to try to get this in the states. "Oh, returning from Bangkok and Tokyo after months of conservative lifestyle? And you've got a slightly-larger-than-sandwich-bag satchel of dried greenery? Glad to have you back, move along". Can't see it happening.
We walked from the friend's house through the winding town within Dhaka to a community center where the wedding reception was going down. The room was very white, with clothed patio furniture and tons of people inside. Before entering for a meal with the guests, we were greeted by the couple's family. We said our hellos and walked to the table. On our way, kids pointed and whispered. I didn't quite get the language there, but I assume it went a little something like "what the hell is that blonde girl doing here?" The reception wasn't as exciting as the events leading up to it, but it was a nice end to the night with Azim. We met a bunch of his friends, who told us they party with Absolut Vodka, and we all left to smoke (not me). I was trying to establish who I could talk to, asking "You all speak English? All of you?" and they all thought I said "I love you" instead of "All of you". That turned awkward quickly. And we left haha.
The four of us piled into a smaller-than-normal CNG after we couldn't find any cabs or larger CNGs to take us. I was on laps, Azim was on laps, and we were all crammed into the cage barrier like animals. My knees still hurt and we nearly were run over by a number of busses as the engine repeatedly stopped of exhertion while moving uphill on a bridge. That sucked. Ouch. I can't even describe how badly I wanted to get home and just go to bed, and finally, in the midst of being semi-lost, I spotted the flexiload famous for giving my phone number away and we got out and walked the rest of the way. PHEWWWWWWW> long breath. Sick of typing, the day was great, Saleha's back.
Debrah and I needed to get our blouses from Pink City Shopping Centre so we could pair them with the saris (formal South Asian dresses) that Bilkis (the lovely woman from the 18th floor at work) was going to give us. The process of getting clothes made for you is ridiculous here. Ready-made garments are not available anywhere, so one day prior, I had to go to the mall, find a blouse to match the sari I was going to wear, and then have it fitted to my body. The pre-existing ready-made blouse that still needed to be sized is what they call "ready-made," but the mall mostly had fabric available for you to choose designs for and have the tailors there create something for you. I really should have gone a few days before then though because the mall was closed for Friday (weekly holiday). Luckily, the lady who owned her store arranged for Debrah and I to pick up our blouses in front of the mall gates the next day from "her guy". Debrah met me at the American Club, we ate a light lunch, and headed out into towards the city. I think my ipod's 80's selection (Thanks Mike!) screwed Debrah for the walk... I repeatedly sang "We built this city!...We built this city on rooockk andddd roolllllllllllll" the whole way to the Pink City. She hated it.
The whole sari operation is a bit difficult. Even after getting the blouses, Debrah and I had a lot of work to do to figure out how to take one huge rectangular piece of fabric and turning it into a classic dress. While at the American Club the day before, we had one of the waitresses show us what was up, video taped the whole shenanigan, and had just that video to figure things out then. Azim wanted us to meet up with him immediately, so we went back to my house (Saleha extended her stay in Sylett one extra day) to figure it all out. A big mess if you ask me. We played the video in slow-mo, pinned and primped, and still it took over an hour for either of us to look acceptable.
We walked to coffee world to meet Azim and Evan (who was wearing a Punjabi, the traditional longsleeved, knee-length shirt for men). From there, we took a CNG to the huge parliament building, did a little sight-seeing, and continued (in super-heels)down a main road to take another CNG to a little winding mini-city within Dhaka. I felt like I was in the movie Aladdin. The roads were alleys between relatively tall buildings and there were people everywhere. Little produce shops lined the streets... and everyone stared at Debrah and I in our traditional dresses. Pretty sure it was the Western look. We stopped at a little restaurant, but since we couldn't really take food from outside the home, we drank tea. They showed us to a "couples room" because there weren't any open tables. It was a small green closet with patio furniture inside. Why did we try to fit five people in it? I'm not sure. Why, when they told me the room was for couples, did I ask if they were left alone so they could make out? God knows. I thought we were in the circle.
On the way to the wedding, we stopped at two houses, the bride-groom's and the bride's. At the groom's house, the bed was decorated beautifully with flowers and petals that drew "S + P" and hearts. We all wondered if the family would stay anywhere that night. Yeah, they'd stay in the room next door. When we asked Azim what would happen that night, and if the couple would get the house to themselves, he said they wouldn't. Then he said that when he got married he would definitely want the house to himself, and that he and his wife would run around and be crazy with the whole family gone. Really? You are allowed to have sex without major social stigma for the first time, on your wedding night no less, and you're going to run laps through the kitchen? Next stop: bride's house. She was beautiful. There, we just took pictures with her in her room and saw the whole process of getting ready. She had so much makeup on I thought she was wearing a mask. Her hands were painted with henna and gold adornments were everywhere: cuff bracelets, hanging ornaments in her hair, barrettes, ... everything.
Finally, we went to Azim's friend's house, where we ate sweets (a cup of corn syrup with some solidified sugary snack soaking inside. Edible, but crazily sweet). I awkwardly agreed that I must have to go to the bathroom since they offered, and then I saw a HUGE roach on the ground. That sucked, but whatever. Debrah's outfit was malfunctioning so I followed her into the bedroom and helped with pinning. Soonafter, Evan and the crowd of people who had been waiting at this friend's house came in to show us pictures of trips to Everest and places in Asia. They gave me a big bag of tea that looked strikingly like weed, but was definitely tea, as a gift. I don't even think I am going to try to get this in the states. "Oh, returning from Bangkok and Tokyo after months of conservative lifestyle? And you've got a slightly-larger-than-sandwich-bag satchel of dried greenery? Glad to have you back, move along". Can't see it happening.
We walked from the friend's house through the winding town within Dhaka to a community center where the wedding reception was going down. The room was very white, with clothed patio furniture and tons of people inside. Before entering for a meal with the guests, we were greeted by the couple's family. We said our hellos and walked to the table. On our way, kids pointed and whispered. I didn't quite get the language there, but I assume it went a little something like "what the hell is that blonde girl doing here?" The reception wasn't as exciting as the events leading up to it, but it was a nice end to the night with Azim. We met a bunch of his friends, who told us they party with Absolut Vodka, and we all left to smoke (not me). I was trying to establish who I could talk to, asking "You all speak English? All of you?" and they all thought I said "I love you" instead of "All of you". That turned awkward quickly. And we left haha.
The four of us piled into a smaller-than-normal CNG after we couldn't find any cabs or larger CNGs to take us. I was on laps, Azim was on laps, and we were all crammed into the cage barrier like animals. My knees still hurt and we nearly were run over by a number of busses as the engine repeatedly stopped of exhertion while moving uphill on a bridge. That sucked. Ouch. I can't even describe how badly I wanted to get home and just go to bed, and finally, in the midst of being semi-lost, I spotted the flexiload famous for giving my phone number away and we got out and walked the rest of the way. PHEWWWWWWW> long breath. Sick of typing, the day was great, Saleha's back.
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