Power

I've been meaning to write this post for a while, and I have 2 other unfinished posts that I just couldn't quite find the motivation to complete, so here goes.  First, the easy part.  Power stateside is 110 volts and power here is generally around 220 volts.  The outlets look mostly like the photo below.  Both outlets are actually the same, but I have plugged in a travel adapter to the outlet on the right.

The travel adapter - I think it was a couple dollars - allows me to plug in anything that can take 220V.  You might or might not be surprised to learn that many of the things you use every day can take either 110 or 220 which is nice since we only have one pure 110 outlet in the house.  The outlets here are described as UK/Hong Kong style 3 prong.  I can only assume this is because - and I'm taking a real leap here - these outlets are common in both the UK and Hong Kong.  For most small appliances - lamps, phones, etc - we just plug things directly in to the wall outlet.

For larger, more sensitive (read expensive) items, we use a voltage regulator.  Seen at left, it plugs in to the wall and then has 2 output outlets on the back (in most cases one 220 and one 110).  The item on the right is commonly referred to as a "step down" and changes the power from 220 to 110 but without providing any voltage regulation.  We have common power fluctuations and the voltage regulators help counter these.

Power outages are fairly common here, and we have a large generator out back to assist with this.  On a bad day during the heat of summer, we could have as many as 8 or more outages lasting over an hour each.  Luckily, the generator will kick on after about a minute, so we're rarely truly incapacitated.  Most appliances even turn themselves back on, so really we have very little disruption.  One notable exception is the oven.  We have a gas stove, and the burners on top will continue to burn whether the power is on or not (they just need power to spark), but if the power goes out while I'm baking, the gas supply to the oven shuts off.  Now that cooler weather has arrived with the rainy season, we can actually go several days without experiencing an outage - which is a nice change.  On the advice of other world-weary travelers, we brought with us several battery powered clocks to hang on the walls so at least I don't have to reset all the clocks every time the power goes out!

Surviving a Bangladeshi Buffet - or International Etiquette

Not totally unexpectedly, I spend a lot of time at mixed social functions watching other people.  It's one of the easiest ways to make sure I don't do anything "wrong."  So, please read on for all of the insider hints in social functions in BG (since I'm sure all of you are eager to visit):

It all starts with the preparation - and by that, I'm mainly referring to dress code.  There is one basic rule of women's fashion here (but many sub-rules) - You can never be overdressed.  Ever.  Should you look like someone went crazy with a bedazzler in your general vicinity?  Absolutely.  At all times.  Well, most times.  And that's what makes it tough.  Often, you can figure out what will be most appropriate based on the men's dress code which is much more straight forward.  For social functions here (so far at least), they are either open collar or closed collar (with tie).  Common sense would say that closed collar would correspond to a more formal sari since a tie is more dressy than an open collar shirt.  But that's where you'd be wrong.  All "fancy" events I've been to so far have been open collar.  Less fancy saris are required for shirt and tie events.  Go figure.  So the dinner events - which start no earlier than 8pm and all include children (but not ours) - are open collar and therefore fancy sari events.  

Arrival at the dinner event is a carefully coordinated activity.  Everyone should arrive before the instructor and his family, but everyone should also be standing when they arrive, and at least one person and his spouse should be ready to greet them at the door and "escort" them to the table.  The reason no one can really sit until the instructor arrives is because he and his wife (who never sit at the same table - men at the men's table, women at the women's) are always the first to select seats and sit down.  So far, each of our large dinners has been a buffet-style meal, and this seems to be fairly common.  The women get their food first - the instructor's spouse is always first, generally I'm somewhere at the front of the line as well even when I try to let others go first.  I would not find it unusual for another spouse to accompany me through the line and fill my plate for me - always piled high with meat.  Last night, I was able to get all of my own food (Thai and Chinese) and was fairly pleased with the food selection.  There is no point in trying to put everything on your plate the first time through  as you are expected to return to the buffet table at least twice.  Anything less and you must not truly be enjoying the food.  

You can never fully empty your plate either or it will be assumed that you're still hungry.  A truly full person - little known fact - is actually so full that they just can't manage to eat that last bite of food.  So you leave it on your plate along with your fork and knife/spoon slightly crossed in the middle of your plate.

Then you proceed to the dessert table, but again, only in the prescribed order.  After dessert, the men will adjourn outside the restaurant (generally to a balcony or outdoor seating area of some sort) while the women either join them or not depending on what the instructor's wife prefers.  We all go as a group though.  After this (which can be anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes) there is generally some sort of photograph to commemorate the event - women only - and then the instructor and his family leave followed by everyone else.  Dinner usually concludes around 10:30.  

As a side note, generally the spouses do not speak in English - though many of them can - during the meal.  So while every now and then, someone will make conversation or explain to me the general topic that everyone else is discussing, it is not unusual to understand little to nothing of what is being discussed.  The men are required to speak English (it's part of the officer culture), so even at events outside the classroom, they tend to speak English - at least when their instructor is around.  This was probably the most difficult part of social functions at first, but I have found that everyone has been extremely friendly.  And really, even if they don't speak much English, their English is always invariably better than my Bangla, and I'm the visitor in their country.  So I try to keep things in perspective!  

Goodbye, Grandpa!

After a fun, relaxing week, I made a 0345 drive to the airport to drop off my dad Frida morning.  The kids had a blast hanging out with Grandpa all week, and it was nice to have an extra set of hands around while we all got settled into the house again.  We only managed to spend one day sight-seeing downtown because of Josh's school schedule, but even one day sitting in Dhaka traffic is more than enough ;)

We rounded out that day with a lunch at Captain's World near the old airport.  If you live here and haven't been yet, you really should go.  The food is ridiculously good, especially the garlic naan.  Yummy!

We also had a 4th of July celebration - Dhaka style.  There was a dinner buffet at the American club complete with arts and crafts, cotton candy, and monsoon rains.  Dinner was pulled pork, hot dogs, hamburgers, cole slaw, potato salad, baked beans, and fruit salad.  Great food, and "almost" like you'd get at home.  Almost.

--Break--

I wrote that first piece almost a week ago, but we've been having some technical difficulties on this end, so it has been sitting in my draft box gathering cyberdust.  It's been a bit of a long week here.  Josh has been involved in a week-long exercise here requiring additional time at work.  With Ramadan rapidly approaching, his classmates are trying to squeeze in all the social events they can, so we have Ladies Club, Social Night, and a Syndicate dinner all coming up this week.  Now, at the last minute, they've changed the schedule, and since I'd already finalized child care arrangements for all of the events, I'll end up missing out on 2 of them.  Is planning ahead really such a foreign (or domestic) concept?

I've wasted no time reacquainting myself with my friendly, neighborhood tailor.  They were pleased to show me all the new fabric they've gotten in since I last visited and were happy to hear that my relatives wanted to sample some of their work as well.  And so we have settled back in to some semblance of a routine.

The Joys of Travel

Well, we're back.  And as usual, things could have gone smoothly, you know, if the stars were aligned.  Somehow they never are where I'm concerned.  I was lucky enough to be bringing my dad home with me for the return flight, so at least I had a one-to-one ratio with the kids.  With a departure after 11 pm, I figured we'd have a short-ish wait at security.  I suppose we "might" have if they'd had more than one line open.  Thank you, Dulles, for continuing to NOT live up to my expectations.  And I would like to take a moment to mention that all of the people working there were wearing what appeared to be tuxedos.  It was a cross between movie theater attire, and ...  I don't really know what.  It was just strange.  Anyone else seen this recently?

Okay, so more on the trip.  We waited for almost 30 minutes at security, and naturally when we were about halfway through the line, not one, but both of my children decided they really needed to use the restroom.  Too bad we couldn't go back, and we couldn't go forward.  In the one moment we really need to breeze through security, I get pulled aside for a pat-down.  And strangely enough, they did just about everything they could to talk me out of it.  Would I like to take down my hair and put all of my hair clips through the X-ray machine?  Would I like to take off my waist pack (that contains no metal) and put that through the X-ray machine?  Would I like to just come back another day and try again?  Surely I would like a privacy screen.  No, no, no.  Just get on with it already.  And, oh by the way, they also needed to do an additional security screen on my purse (because of all those forbidden items I was trying to sneak through).  And since I couldn't leave, neither could my children to use the restroom.  Amazingly, neither had an accident and we were on our way.  Did I mention they found nothing remotely dangerous on me or in my purse?  Yeah, figures.

So we're sitting on the plane, getting ready to take off, and lo and behold we had a passenger who refused to board the aircraft.  First time for me with this one, but they had to have each and every passenger on the plane locate and identify all of their items in the overhead bins.  Nothing like a little last minute drama.  Oh yeah, and I'm not really a skittish flyer, but please tell me I'm not the only one who rethinks their travel plans (at least a little bit) when someone else doesn't want to fly on their plane?

The flight was great - 10 hours nonstop into Istanbul.  The kids slept for almost the entire flight and didn't even get up to eat.  Our gate-checked stroller failed to make an appearance however, so that required waiting in line at the transfer desk and having the stroller forwarded to Dhaka.  I was fairly confident the stroller would appear several days later (if at all).  I have to admit to being happily surprised to see it come out with our luggage upon arrival in Dhaka.  Naturally that flight was slightly delayed, late getting in, and baggage took just shy of an hour to appear.  But how nice did it feel to come home and take a nap in MY bed with MY pillow?  It's the little things.

The kids took Grandpa to the club this morning and a good time was had by all.  Looking forward to overcoming jet lag and getting back into the swing of things.