First Ride in a Rickshaw - from Sept. 2013

Ride in a Rickshaw

        With the reassurance of my teammate, Tom – today, my tour guide – I clamber up into the seat of a colorful rickshaw. Our driver, a young man of 20-odd, is wearing a “lungi” (a large loop of cloth which is gathered and tucked in the front, looking like a skirt) and a button-down shirt. I notice that most of the rickshaw “wallas” are young. And then I learn why! As the seemingly-fragile metal carriage/bicycle combo gains speed, Tom shares with me that the average rickshaw is about 400 lbs, without passengers. The calves of our driver bulge as he pedals, often having to put his entire weight on one pedal to get us moving again. If he can get some speed up, the ride is bumpy, but our driver can relax a bit. But in the “bumper-to-bumper” traffic of Chittagong, he spends most of his time braking and waiting for traffic to start moving again, braking to avoid the larger vehicle that just pulled in front of us, braking to avoid the pedestrian who holds his hand out to stop the tide of traffic, or turning this way and that to maneuver between the hundreds of other rickshaws, etc. that clog the roadway.

        I am reminded of a waterway in a storm. The water swirls around and over and between whatever obstacle it finds, somehow always moving, despite everything. The traffic here is like that. One is thankful for the rare police officer who directs the traffic of a major intersection. But sometimes, when no officer is there, some man will abandon his vehicle (whatever type it happens to be), and direct traffic himself until the snag is fixed and flowing again. The trick here is to, quite literally, “hold on for the ride”!!

One of the most amazing things about living overseas is what becomes normal.

When I was in Africa, I remember realizing that it was no longer shocking to hear friends talking about their co-wife -- that two women lived next-door to each other, sharing a husband and household responsibilities, became normal. Teenage girls took it for granted that they would probably have/be a co-wife... and I took it for granted for them.

Here, the list of what was exotic a mere six months ago, but has now become "normal" extends every day. Here are a few things that come to mind:

* Rickshaw rides -- I love rickshaws! But the advent of "motor-rickshaws" in Chittagong traffic provides a ride that I can only compare to an old, wooden rollercoaster... without safety bars!
* Not making eye-contact with men -- While probably less than 20% of the women here wear burquas, I heard someone describe how a woman must walk down the street here as "wearing a mental burqua". In this culture, making eye-contact with a man sends a social signal that you are interested. So you quickly learn to walk purposefully, but looking at people only with your peripheral vision. Actually, I love wearing my sunglasses -- they let me keep facing ahead, and yet be staring at something slightly to the side. What's weird now is trying to talk to AMERICAN men and to remember that I need to make eye contact!
* Stomach-bugs & Exotic diseases -- Living in the tropics provides the opportunity to experience diseases you've only HEARD of in the US. Things like malaria and typhoid, cholera and mumps. Things that completely justify the hundreds of dollars of vaccines that we get before we head out. Any given stomach bug might just be "food-poisoning" that you picked up along the way, or it might be something "fun"! The rule of thumb is to drink ORS and wait 3 days before freaking out. Ahhhh, I wonder what exciting disease I will catch first?
* Drinking only boiled/bottled water -- The best way to avoid the aforementioned stomach-bugs is to be VERY  careful what water you drink. Especially as a foreigner, our stomachs aren't used to the "bugs" in the water here. Plus, I tend to not want to leave home if I'm sick...
* Interesting clothes -- Here in Bangladesh, the culturally appropriate thing for women to wear is either a shari (you turn 18 feet of fabric into a dress -- check it out on Youtube) or what is called a shalwar-kamiz. The latter consists of loose-fitting pants and a tunic-length top. Within a few short months, I've adapted enough that I feel indecent if the top does not reach my knees when I'm standing!! Also, ladies do not go out without an orna, a lightweight scarf that is used to ... well, conceal the curves. Within a month or two, I found myself reaching for my orna whenever I headed out the door, or even when our cook showed up.
* Having a cook -- More on this later, but having a cook/housekeeper is AMAZING! He was out of town for a week a few months ago, and we got to do it all ourselves. Granted, it's just food and laundry, and cleaning a small apartment, but it was amazing how much time it takes here. At first it was weird, especially having a man in the apartment. But days like today -- when I forgot that we had signed up to provide snacks for a class at the school -- it was so nice and so very convenient to have him make cookies and then deliver them. OK, so it's still a little weird...
* Staring -- While in the US, we're taught from a very young age "Don't stare - it's rude", that is not the case here. Many things are considered bad manners here -- touching someone with your foot, handing something with your left hand, being "familiar" by using the wrong form of address. But staring at someone is not considered rude. And we stand out. So we get stared at. Some days, it gets on your nerves. But on the up-side, it's not rude to stare at them either!
* Electricity woes -- Due to the rapidly exploding population of Chittagong, electricity is cut off to different part of the city sporadically. And I mean, it's completely unpredictable, other than I think it's more frequent during the hotter seasons. The electricity can go off at any time of the day or night. It can stay off for a few minutes, a few hours, or all day. Those who can afford it have a generator or battery backup to keep some lights and fans working in the building. Those who can't "deal with it".

Well, that's a brief glimpse at a few things that are different here in Bangladesh. God has made us wonderfully adaptable, for which I am so thankful. At the same time, there are days when one small thing that has hardly bothered me for months suddenly drives me crazy!!! So keep me (and anyone else you know working overseas) in your prayers.