Goodbye Bangladesh

And good riddance. My India visa application was rejected. I'm a tourist! I'm not looking for a job in India! What a douche. I tried calling the foreign visa officer personally and he hangs up on me, not willing to hear me out. The US embassy can't help me because they have a week holiday until Sunday. I'm not waiting anymore.

I could have gone to the Banderbans, the border of Burma, which sounds amazing where there are Burmese tribes. But I couldn't go because of this stupid visa issue. It was either apply for the India visa and wait 3 days to get it and bone out to India right away, or buy a tour package to the Banderbans and wait for my permit (required) in 4 days, and then I'm allowed to enter the Banderbans for an extra few days. But the India visa was more important so I waited out for the visa. Bada Bing Bada Boom, no visa. But no time to go to Banderbans.

I'm going back to Nepal to get my India visa, find a bus/train to Varanasi and that's that.

Bangladesh...okay maybe I should say - Dhaka, the capital. What did I learn in Dhaka? This country has 89.8% Muslims. The people of Bangladesh are called Bangladeshis (Bandladesheeze) and the language is called Bangla. The Bengal Tigers are widely known around the world because they are from the Sunderbans, south of Bangladesh. And the currency is called Taka, US.68 to their 100.

This was a tough city to get around. Primarily because there are no women. I walked down a busy street full of hotels, restaurants, businesses, and a college! I saw an guess-timate of 200 men outside for lunch and a total of 5 women. 2 of them were beggars and the 3 were probably someone's wife and sisters. Even the florist has male employees! So imagine an intersection with 600 men, and 15 women. That is how I saw it.

I can actually count the times that someone was nice to me; The old man fruit seller that gave me 2 extra oranges, and was cool that I didn't have 30 more taka on me to pay for all of my food and water. One rickshaw biker actually watched the road and tried his best to not scare me when crossing the middle of the highway. My hotel manager gave me a new towel and toilet paper without me asking. The representative that helped me get my air ticket back to Nepal, he gave me my first Bangladeshi red tea. And the female security guard at the India embassy, telling me that I was beautiful.

So, I wish I went to the Banderbans and then I could say that Bangladesh ISN'T the worst country I've been to. But it is indeed memorable. I bought a can of Bavaria, non-alcoholic beer, and I will crack it open midnight tonight. Cheers to a dry country!

Family in Nepal?

Receiving an email from my mom telling me that I have a cousin in Nepal was a shock. I was in Nepal for 5 months...how could I not know this?

For real, I found out a few days ago. My first-cousin is 17 years old. My youngest aunt from my mother's side, married a Tibetan and their son grew up in Nepal. His name is Tashi and I was surprised to know that he lives 25 minutes away from me. So it was quite odd for me to call him, tell him who I was and to tell him that I can come visit. He likes basketball, art, and soccer. He wants to be a stock broker, because he's really good in math. I feel so bad, he's in way more shock than I was. He grew up thinking that he was the only child from his mother's side of the family, I told him that he had 5 other cousins living in the US. We got really close and I wish I knew this earlier, I had so much time in Nepal, and he and I could have hung out more often. At least I got to meet him. He calls me sister.
tashi and me.

Nepal Part 2

So it's been 3 weeks already in Nepal and it's been great. I have become closer to the boys than I did when I was here. I'm just here to hang out with the boys, I have no desire to go back to teaching anytime soon. Considering how intense my last months in McLeod Ganj was, I deserve a break, and this is a great place to do nothing and chill out.

few of my boys and his sisters family

Some problems, my main reason coming back to Nepal was that I needed to renew my India visa but my last one expired November 25th. Problem is that I didn't know I had to wait exactly 30 days to get a new one, that means...I can get my India visa December 25th, but that's a holiday, the Indian embassy re-opens the 29th, my Nepal visa ends 23rd. So I can't get the visa! Now guess what? I'm going to Bangladesh, I don't know too much about what's there, but I know it's similar to India. YES DAD, I WILL TRY TO STAY SAFE. I'm only going there so I can get my damn Indian visa. It's so funny to me, I'm so free...to do what I want, but it's not that easy because I don't have any other options to choose from.

Anyways, I have a week to enjoy Nepal, next blog in Bangladesh!