Back to work...

Ever since I reached Bangladesh, I have been trying to get out to the rural parts to get work done. Between Ramadan, hartals, political strife, and occasional rioting, my work got delayed quite a bit. Anyhow, FINALLY, after a long wait, my project is taking off. I have been working in Chakaria, Bangladesh. Its rural....very very rural out here. After two months of negotiating, coaxing, arguing, I finally got to administer my survey. It actually worked out well, because there was an existing project in Chakaria and they tacked my male survey onto their research plan. Without getting too much into the technicalities, my research is underway. I spend every other week in Chakaria. At first, I thought it was going to be pretty tough to be out there for a week at a time, but actually I have found it to be pretty peaceful. No phone or internet and the power is out for about 10-14 hours of the day. Makes you appreciate comforts of home that much more....

This is the center. Its essentially a huge brick building in the middle of a village. The facilities are actually quite nice here... For example, I thought my room was going to be a small hut in a field. It turns out, I get the comforts of home. A bed with a mosquito net....



We have a staff that prepares and served food three times a day...great guys except both of these two have asked me if I could get them a visa to the U.S. I changed the topic quickly by complimenting their food...


























Yes and even fresh clean water....
If you look closely, yes, the water is almost...well pretty much a muddy color. This is not mud. Actually the water in Chakaria is heavily enriched with iron. It tastes like huge freagin rods of metal have been immersed in the reservoir. Whats even worse is that the people in the villages drink this water w/o any filtration. They drink it in the mud form. DELICIOUS! Its very common here to find people with a great deal of hair loss, resulting from the heavy iron intake. I should change the project to "THE EFFECTS OF ROGAINE ON CHAKARIA RESIDENTS". Somehow, I don't think the thesis committee will accept that one. Anyhow, because there's huge amounts of iron in the water, they have to filter it at the center. Surprisingly, it tastes pretty good without any hint of iron. Moving on....

These are the guys we hired. I had to train them in survey-taking techniques. All in Bangla. That was an interesting challenge. Thankfully, I wasn't the only one doing the training... One thing I have noticed about people in Bangladesh is that noone likes to smile when they take pictures. Literally, they could be in the middle of the funniest conversation, but as soon as the camera rolls out, they will put on their most stoic faces. I told them all that I would get them visas to the US if they smiled.....now you know who wants to go and who doesn't.....Whats up with that?

The villages are actually very nice. IN a rustic, no electricity, running water, hut structures sort of way. There is another guy out here, who is a French Doc working on Ricketts. He lives has been living out here for the last 8 months. If you ever visit Chakaria, you would know how dedicated that is....its pretty rural. Anyhow, Guillaume Deauchamps (if you haven't guessed, he's French) and I have been going running in the mornings. The villages are absolutely beautiful then. I have to take some pics and post them, b/c it really is a whole another world that I have not seen before. Of course, people are pretty mesmerized by a dark brown man and a white guy running through the villages in the early morning hours, but hey...its fun that way!

Anyhow, all that's my life in a nutshell right now. I have so much more to say. I will be better about posting in the future. There is much left to do. I am looking forward to coming home in June, but until then....

ps. Saeed recently got to visit India. We were there for a few days together. I corrupted him. This is by far one of my favorite pictures since I have been here.....ahh Americana...how I love thee...I apologize in advance to all my public health friends working on obesity issues.

Back by popular demand....

Sorry all, its been a long time since my last post and I have gotten several emails from all of you for more...I feel the love and so here is the newest! So much has happened since Darjeeling..lets see Shannon came out. We had a fantastic time and it was Shannon's first time in Asia and she really soaked up the culture! First let me wish you all a Happy New Year!


Shannon enjoying her birthday cake! We went to Chiang Mai, Thailand and New Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, and Udaipur, India. Let me tell you, if you come to Inida, Udaipur is a must see! The Taj Mahal was great, but Udaipur is amazing!

If anyone out there has ever been to India, you know that cows are abundant. Walking around all over the place with little regard for traffic or really anything else for that matter. Shannon was bold enough to get really close to one. I chickened out...

Shannon had henna done on her hands. I don't know what was cooler, the actual henna art or the number of people who gathered around to watch the white girl get painted! These guys were stoked to be painting her hands. Most action they got that day....they prfulsel
We saw a HUGE wedding party that was literally halting traffic. The groom was on a horse. NO he cannot see. There was a guy leading the horse.
Then we came to Dhaka for an engagement party. It was fantastic. We set up a tent that was decorated with cool lights and about 70 people showed up for the event. Everyone was great and we really had a nice time together! We are very stoked about this coming August! The best part is, Shannon and I both realized that we travel great together! I would add more pics, but these are huge files and my connection isn't that fast. Shannon looked gorgeous! She always does ;-) I have a lot of great pics from our trip and the night of the party, so be prepared for repeated slide shows upon my return.... I love the pic on the right...