ABBY's hardworking RA, Tania.
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
Wo/men
I have not quite got the rules of how men and women should or should not interact here but the gender lines are much more bold than at home. Greg and I attended a wedding and we followed our female friends blindly into the wedding hall when all of a sudden I realised Greg was the only non-Punjabi-pyjama-clad-male in a room of sharee-shining-sisters. With wide eyes and urgency in my voice, Greg quickly too realised that he had to get out and get out fast. I didn't see him until 2 hours later when I found him outside the hall waiting for me, passing the time watching a crate of chickens meat a halal kill in preparation for feeding the next round of guests. We then informed the eachother about the the groom and bride according to our own respective genders.
A few weeks later, Greg and I were invited to a friend of a friend's lovely home in Moulvibazar as part of an informal reunion among college friends. We arrived and followed our hosts into the grand living room and the men walked to the right, the women to the left of the room intentionally decorated with two separate sofa, coffee table sets-- one for men and one for women. The men sat and conversed, the women huddled and chatted, husbands and wives separated. It felt odd and Greg and I probably overcompensated by not speaking to eachother and sheepishly avoiding eachother's eye contact the rest of the day. In fact later one when the other guests went to pray during the Friday afternoon prayertime, we maintained these rules by sitting on separate sofas. A man came in and laughed and said "you can sit together now!"
Assimilating to another culture's gender rules, allows one to reflect on the gender patterns she is most familiar with. It got me thinking is this really that different from Anglo-American family gatherings with women in the kitchen and men in the den?
A few weeks later, Greg and I were invited to a friend of a friend's lovely home in Moulvibazar as part of an informal reunion among college friends. We arrived and followed our hosts into the grand living room and the men walked to the right, the women to the left of the room intentionally decorated with two separate sofa, coffee table sets-- one for men and one for women. The men sat and conversed, the women huddled and chatted, husbands and wives separated. It felt odd and Greg and I probably overcompensated by not speaking to eachother and sheepishly avoiding eachother's eye contact the rest of the day. In fact later one when the other guests went to pray during the Friday afternoon prayertime, we maintained these rules by sitting on separate sofas. A man came in and laughed and said "you can sit together now!"
Assimilating to another culture's gender rules, allows one to reflect on the gender patterns she is most familiar with. It got me thinking is this really that different from Anglo-American family gatherings with women in the kitchen and men in the den?
Urinary Analysis Preparation
ABBY's number one research assistant/ lab technician preparing urine specimens for deep freeze storage. These samples will be couriered on dry ice to the US for analysis. The National Cancer Institute will be measuring the concentrations of estrogen and androgen hormones to asses andrenarcheal and pubertal status among Bangladeshi and British girls.
Bangladeshi road sled
A Bangladeshi road sled, created and patented by my neighbours Farhan and Farhim! Made from all natural fibers and 100% organic. No batteries required (as long as your brother is around and willing to pull).
Oops!
Today I locked the keys to the lab and toilet inside the toilet and
had to seek the help of the entire medical college to retrieve the
keys from the toilet. A man had to climb up and over a wall, along
the rafters and then drop down into the toilet and throw the keys back
to me on the other side of the door.
Party!
83 collected (more than half way) and so the RAs deserve a party complete with a Mexicana meal cooked by none other than Chef Greg!
Shaheed Minar
February 21st marked Bangladeshi national language day. At first this may sound like another one of those nationally declared homage days that you only know about if you read the small print on a Hallmark calendar but here in Bangladesh it is a very special, very symbolic day. Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan (which was formerly India and at one time under British rule) gained its Independence from Pakistan in 1971. The fight for liberation started with the fight for a people's mother tongue. When Pakistan declared Urdu the national language, Bengalis protested insisting that they be able officially to speak, learn and communicate in Bangla. This fight led to blood shed and many lost their lives in the name of the Bangla language. Therefore, annually people bow their heads and lay flowers at the foot of the monuments or Shaheed Minars that pay tribute to the blood lost for Bangla the language, Bengalis the people and Bangladesh the nation.
This year we were fortunate enough to participate in the midnight ceremony at the Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College where administrators, professors, doctors, nurses, students and clerical workers all silently walked in demarcated groups to the red and white sculpture, removed their shoes and lay wreathes of orange, yellow red and white flowers. It was a short, succinct, simple ceremony. On the way home, a sense of peace and hope hung in the air.
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