In this world there are many different people...

"Eid Mubarak" - the Eid greeting. This past Saturday was Eid-al-Fitr, though no one knew for sure until last week that it would be that particular day, since it's a holiday based on lunar activity. I utilized my Bangla script and decorated an envelope to give the expected Eid gift to our apartment-building security guards, from the several of us teachers on the top floor. Every time we left he building for the past week, the guards reminded each of us that they were awaiting their money. We were each in turn tempted to say something about how we'd be more eager to give if they'd be more willing to stop giving our water-delivery men such grief about using the elevator. But Eid is not a time for bribery; it's a time to give.

It's hard to believe that I have neglected this blog for over two weeks. Apart from leaving friends and family quite out of the loop, my posting-absence now presents me with the problem-solving task of needing to sift through the recent happenings here in Chittagong and pull out the important details.

So, as temping as it is to publish last night's epic battle with 5 massive cockroaches, ending in the tragedy of my beloved coffee press shattering on my tile floor - (see picture of my pathetic improvisation this morning... Bodum or none, I need my coffee) - I'll back up to the first week of teaching, replacing my current sense of loss with the lovely memories of those eager faces on day 1 of class.

29 September:

6:00am - Went running with Alyssa (fellow-teacher/great-friend) I'm thankful for this blessed daily routine that helps keep us sane through long days sitting and standing and not moving much otherwise.

7:15am - Headed to AUW to prep my classroom

8:00am - Began class with "Silver group." We named the groups according to colors, because students here are quite concerned with rankings (in potentially unconstructive ways). So we don't want it to be too obvious who's in class #1 versus class #8. The class was small - only 9 of the 15 names on my roster were present. I found out later that the Palestinian and Chinese students on my list had decided not to attend AUW, and one Afghani student had left during orientation due to extreme homesickness. Understandable, as many of these girls had never left their village. My 3 Iranian students wandered in about 30 minutes late. It looks like they won't be staying at AUW. They explained to me that coming to Bangladesh has been quite a shock for them, and they do have other great educational opportunities in Tehran.

I dove into syllabi explanation with the rest of the Silver girls - mostly from Afghanistan, in addition to a few Bangladeshis. Another professor here (who spent the last few years teaching jaded undergrads in Iowa) aptly described how wonderful these AUW students are to have in class: "They're so motivated, and it seems to take so little to impress them... I know I'm not that funny, but they laugh at all my little jokes. It's great!" Of course, our job requires more than just impressing students, but having such eager, attentive young women in class is a great esteem-booster for teachers, nonetheless.

2:00pm - In the afternoon, I taught my second 2-hour course on reading and writing, this time to the "Orange" group, of 16 students. I'm sure I'll have many stories to come, regarding my classes. It's going to be a challenge to bring the English level of students up to the undergrad level - especially weeding out the endemic tendency to plagiarize. Students have been taught to memorize and regurgitate. They've also been taught to create "introduction sentences" that usually start with "In this world..." or "All human beings..." regardless of the topic. They also almost always include the words "there are many different," which explains why my students were excited to learn the word "various" from our syllabus on the first day. Anyway, we're working on main ideas and topic sentences this week, so hopefully we'll eventually see some more focused thesis sentences.

Many of my students were fasting during these long first days of classes. I'm sure there will be a notable difference after Eid in their energy in class work and discussions. After 7 days of class, we had our first holiday - a full week off! My next post will detail the adventures of my first vacation, and of my VERY special visitor, Tanja Cesh.

Everyone was out shopping the last week of Ramadan - just picture the shopping malls during Christmas week in the States... it's at least that busy, and lasts late into the night.

A neighbor dropped by a platter of Iftar food. I didn't pull my camera out until we had devoured half of it. Apparently the household which prepared this feast may have had a new bride or wife, and tradition deems that during Ramadan the husband's family gives food to the wife's family and neighbors. Though we've never met this family, I'm pretty darn happy to call myself their neighbor!