to the sea we went

I believe I have discovered my new favorite place in Bangladesh... Is it surprising that it involves an ocean?

Welcome to the Mermaid Eco Resort, located in the remote outskirts of Cox's Bazaar, on the "world's longest natural seabeach." The beach didn't quite make the cut for the "World's Seven Natural Wonders" a few years back, although it was in the running. For now that's alright, because it makes for less crowds, which suits Christa Thorpe. On the other hand, some well-planned eco-tourism could definitely benefit Bangladesh's economy. Could this be a potential career path for our AUW students?
The Mermaid stands apart from other Bangladeshi vacation spots that I've patroned so far, not because of any extraordinary luxuries or high-class bathrooms, but because of a little but significant thing called aesthetic. You arrive at the end of the loooong road that travels along the Bay of Bengal, southward from Cox's Bazaar town. Your little green CNG three-wheeler pulls into the "resort" and you see a group of thathed bungalows and catch your first close sniff of the tide.
Although the price feels steep for Bangladesh (the rate for a 6-person bungalow just doubled from $70 per night to $140!), I quickly realized that the plumeria flowers in the towels and the very clean white linens were a couple beautifying features that I felt willing to pay for, after several months in a city that's still a long way from Chiang Mai's trendy streets.
Furthermore, I appreciate what the place is doing in terms of trying to popularize the idea of earth-care. Even though I'm admittedly always a bit dubious of the purity of well-to-do resort-owner's intentions, I still breathed a sigh of nostalgic contentment when I saw the recycling cans below.... It had been so long since I'd seen a proper public trash can anywhere. And this was the first place in Bangladesh where i didn't see any trash on the ground for three days.
Although made from recylced natural materials, the decor was also very tasteful in almost all cases - especially in the dining area - though perhaps not including the aliens painted on the sides of a couple bungalows. We enjoyed some lovely meals in the dining area... again quite overpriced, but honestly worth it.
Also, there was coffee in the morning! Along with a gorgeous spread of coconut crepes, dal/veggies/paratha, and rice pudding our complimentary breakfast included fresh papaya juice. I should also mention that I'd been told ahead of time that I should take the chance to feel a little liberated from some of the strict clothing restrictions we women must hold to in the populated areas, even of vacation spots. The fact that we'd escaped to a resort that thus far only receives foreigners and higher-class Bangladeshis meant that I could manage some summer clothing without completely shocking anyone. That was really nice actually.

After the peaceful morning lounging, with stomachs still full, my friends (co-teachers) and I headed to the beach on a little boat that rowed us across the sound. There in the restless waves I experienced the healing effects of salty spray, sandy tumbles, and floating on the scintillating waters.

I didn't take my camera out to the beach because fishermen's children, as cute as they are, will not hesitate to make off with a foreigner's bag of goods that could be sold for some extra dowry cash.

Night transforms the Mermaid into a faerie-like world. Funky lanterns frequented by little lizards were beautiful accidents. I wonder if the lizards knew how we admired them moving around on the insides of the illuminated cloths.

The floating candles were a perfect choice, but I can't say the same thing for the music that the waiters were selecting to accompany our grilled fish dinners. It didn't take long before my friends and I had finally had enough of the explicit hip-hop remixes. I hopped up to grab my iPod from our bungalow and requested the waiters to allow Simon & Garfunkel to serenade us the rest of the evening.

I've got plenty more sunsets and flowers to throw on a facebook album (this really seems to be the land of sunsets and flowers, and I'm quite happy with that fact), but for now, I'll just leave one for my Hawaiian lass Ashley Hepburn: a plumeria that makes me think of your yard in Kailua and our unforgettable eight days there...

And here's a final one for Eunice Lee. Wherever there are sandy beaches and subsitence fishermen in Asia, there will be laughing children with salty hair and endless energy. Remember Bang Eit's kids that sunset evening in the Andaman Sea?

A $2 bus ticket and a five hour non-AC ride (that eventually got pretty hot and sticky) brought us back to Chittagong for our last few weeks of Term 2...
Well, this won't exactly be an uninterrupted 3 weeks in Chittagong. The Bandarbans hill tracts have been beckoning Alyssa and I to return to them for some time now. Next week is Easter, and a long weekend, so come nature, keep declaring your creator, so that I am without excuse not to give glory.

bow tie

One week in March, travelling by trains and buses from Chittagong to Bogra to Rajshahi to Dhaka to Srimongol and back to Chittagong, I made a bow tie over the map of Bangladesh.

My spring break a couple of weeks ago began with a trip to Bogra with AUW footing the bills. Alyssa and I had been asked to help administer the entrance exam and interview prospective students for next year's Access Academy. I'm estimating a total of 500 eligible applicants from Bangladesh have sat for the admission exam. These are the 500 whose original applications deemed them eligible. However, we can only accept 25 Bangladeshi students for the upcoming year in which we'll accept 100 new students from the 12 or so different countries represented at AUW. According to our charter under the Bangladeshi Parliament, at least 25% of our student body must be Bangladeshi.

So the interviews were meant to help us make the difficult decision of which 5% of Bangladeshi interviewees to accept. The Bogra site only had 38 students turn out to interview. I can't imagine having to see all 500 of the students at once and know how many of them will be turned away.

Seeing the type of school where my students are coming from was a great experience. It made me so grateful for our well lit classrooms, our circular seating, our white boards with multi-colored markers, and our fairly dependable technology.



From Bogra, the three of us - Alyssa, Tomomi (an Anthropology professor from AUW), and I - travelled up to Rajshahi for a very short night, at which point I got to see my parents' unfinished flat. Early the next morning we all took the Silk City train to Dhaka where one more colleague joined our growing company. The more the merrier they say. The next morning, Mom, Dad, Tomomi, Jim, Alyssa, and I went on from Dhaka up to the tea gardens in Srimangol, near Sylhet.

I won't go into description of those glorious few days in nature. The photos below cover the tea gardens and the wetlands of northeastern Bangladesh. I'll just say that for three days I was back in my natural habitat. Away from the city, breathing clean air, walking and walking, bicycling for the first time since last summer, blissing out with the birds and flowers and cows...

Nature is made to conspire with Spirit to emancipate us.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

...Well said, Ralph.

In sum, it was so good to get away, and no sooner had I arrived back at the Chittagong train station, than Alyssa and I were already planning the next long weekend escapes to the sea and the hills.

At the same time though, it was good to be back in this place that is daily becoming more familiar and endearing. Chittagong - Chotogram - translates as "little village." Well, I saw some nice little villages up north... even got lost in one, and Chittagong is anything but that. It's home, though. And I renewed my contract, so it'll be home till at least July 2012!