Hi Cyberworld. Meredith here.
After more than 42 hours of travel, I figure I might as well give this blogging thing a try.
We finally arrived in Bangladesh through Kuwait and Bahrain. The cultural diversity of the Kuwait and Bahrain airports coupled with the excitement of returning to Southeast Asia and visiting a new country seemed to counter balance the lack of sleep and time travel.
Of our four flights, the short flight from Kuwait to Bahrain was definitely the most interesting. The plane was full of American military contractors, dozens of Shiite women on a pilgrimage tour covered in black from head to toe and us. When our plane pulled away from the gate the women all prayed out loud in unison. They prayed again when we began to take off and again when we landed. Even though I could not understand a word of what they were singing / chanting, it was beautiful and made you stop and take notice of the moment. I spent the flight jabbering in broken English with two unwed sisters from Bahrain who were part of the pilgrimage. We shared food and laughs, even though we didn’t really understand what each other were saying. I did understand that they had chosen to be single because marriage was too much work with all the cooking, cleaning, men and makeup.
In Bangladesh, I am staying with a wonderful family, Khaliq and Shikha Zaman, in a huge apartment all too myself. The third story of their house is a guest apartment surrounded by a very large patio and a gorgeous garden. It is much nicer than my apartment at home, honestly! They have been immensely gracious and generous, as has all of Bangladesh. If the first night is any indication, they are a very big, loving and extremely funny family. This month is sure to be full of a lot of laughs in their house.
As I sit and listen to the birds, the traffic, the horns, the construction, the kids playing, the servants working, the calls for prayers, the planes, the tv – the chaos of Bangladesh – from the oasis of “my apartment”, I am reminded of why I love this part of the world so much. The counter-intuitive, harmonious dance of contradictory opposites enthralls me. I love being somewhere that is so overflowing with life that it assaults all of your senses at the same time without relent. Once you let go of your conditioned thoughts of order and right and wrong, you are immersed in an amazingly rich culture with deep traditions. Eventually, the chaos starts to make sense and an odd sense of order immerges.
A few photos....
The Kuwait airport
My seat companions from Kuwait to Bahrain.
Our arrival in Dhaka.
My amazing abode.
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