I'm in Dhaka
Written by Antje on September 14th 2012 19:51
I’ve now been in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, for two days and the sudden change will take quite some getting used to.
The last few weeks in theNetherlandswere quite relaxed. I had time to visit my brothers and sister and some friends, could spend ample time with my parents and still had time to pack my things.
The commissioning service on September 9th was a beautiful, but also emotional service. It wasn’t until that moment that it really sunk in that I was really about to go and leave all of you behind.
My journey toDhakawent smoothly without any problems and I have been here since Wednesday morning. In the coming one and a half months I can stay with a friend inDhakaand this Sunday I start language school. The emphasis of the course will be on reading and writing.
I’m staying in a part of Dhaka that used to be the diplomatic area and was fairly quiet when I leftBangladesh12 years ago. Now almost all the detached homes have been replaced by apartment buildings and the roads are almost continually blocked by traffic jams. Mostly cars, but also CNGs (auto rickshaws - small three-wheel motorized taxis running on compressed natural gas) and bicycle rickshaws (a three-wheel vehicle with a bench in the back on which you can sit and enjoy someone else peddling the bike) thrown in. It has become a lot busier over the years. This is confirmed by statistics: in 1991 there were 6.5 million people inDhaka, but in 2011 there were 14.5 million!
The thing that hits me time and again is the contrast between poor and rich. In this relatively rich area there are people living on every bit of land that does not have a building on it. A lot of people sleep in their little store or in their rickshaw, often directly next to a large apartment building that has a guard in front of it.
I’ll try to take some pictures in the coming days and put them into this log.
Friday and Saturday are the weekend here so I will spend those days getting acquainted with some people inDhakaand recovering a little from the journey.