Today, our team went back to the office for some Bangla lessons as well as to discuss culture and what we can expect from our home stays and project work when we leave for the north tomorrow. Our general take-away was that we will just have to see it when we get there, accept it will be an experience and work to make it successful.
After this we were taken to the Old Dhaka city which is more or less south of where we are staying - the original downtown with the fast growing city developing around it. Getting there meant more traffic experiences and non-stop variety of vehicles on the road.
After a lunch in a restaurant, we continued on to see more of the area and this was really an eye opener for me. I have not witnessed a city like this ever before. On other travels, you might see a few difficult areas but this continued on for a long time and with the standing water that has no where to go, rough road conditions and the traffic it provided the chance for us to take in our surroundings and think about how well our lives truly are. Our driver wouldn't stop to let us out, and honestly I wasn't prepared to get out if he had. It was hard to believe we were in the downtown core of a city at times.
Tommorrow we fly north and start the process of being introduced to our host families and getting set up in our area to begin data collection. I think from here on out it will be possible internet on the weekends when we are back in the town of Rangpur, so I will try to upload some stories when I am able.
I think what you guys are learning is that Capacity Building at its very core is a process! No idea if you're starting at the right place or if you're headed in the right direction, but along the way so long as there is dialogue and learning from all sides of the system then you're probably getting close to where you want to be! Love you for doing this honey!
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