1. The Bangla people: Everybody here is so welcoming, warm and generous. I have learned not to say to a Bangla person "Oh, I really like that ____! Where can I buy one for myself?" because they will give you theirs. Sometimes their interest in foreigners can be taxing, as we are stared at EVERYWHERE we go and they tend to have a different sense of privacy (ie: standing right behind you to look while you work or Skype on your computer). But overall, people here are absolutely lovely. And the Bangla Speech Therapists are so committed and work so hard to get this fledgling department off the ground.
2. The foreign people: People who come to Bangladesh to volunteer at CRP tend to be adventurous, compassionate, wildly interesting people. Everyone is interested in learning and experiencing new things every day. They come from all over the globe - Holland, Germany, Britain, Australia, Canada, the USA. They have so many stories and are involved in various projects.
3. Taking time to enjoy the little things in life: Away from my Western life, it is much easier to enjoy little tasks throughout the day such as doing the dishes or buying toilet paper. This leads me to my next favourite thing which is....
4. Hot bucket showers: This is one of the small tasks in my day that brings me immense pleasure. It's different than at home where you just turn on the shower and you're ready. Sure, the water back home is instantly hot... but I think that I prefer the bucket. First of all, you fill a large pot with water and light the gas stove to heat it up. This way, there's more anticipation about the shower you're about to have. The water gets hotter and hotter and it's a lovely feeling. Once it's boiling you pour the water into a bucket, mix it with a bunch of cold water from the tap until it's perfect bathing temperature. Then you just ladle it over yourself. This may sound strange, but it is seriously one of the highlights of my day.
5. CRP: Every single person who sets foot inside these gates seems to realize that this is a special, sacred place. I haven't heard of much theft here, nobody fights, nobody causes any harm. Everybody recognizes that we are all working together to create good for people. I have heard people call CRP an "oasis" and I think that this is a perfect way to describe it. And of course, CRP wouldn't be CRP without Valerie Taylor, the founder of this center. She is one of the most lovely souls I have ever met in my life. She is compassionate, welcoming and dedicated.
6. Rickshaw Rides: Although road travel is hair-raisingly terrifying, it still is very pleasant to zip around the streets of Savar or Dhaka in a rickshaw pulled by bicycle. It costs 10 taka (about 14 cents) and these very slender yet amazingly strong men cycle you to where you want to go.
7. The Colours: Although it is winter in Bangladesh right now and the greenery isn't as lush as it usually is, the streets are still bursting with colour due to the beautiful fabrics that they wear and the intricately painted trucks and rickshaws.
8. The new SLT (speech-language therapy) department: I know I already kind of mentioned them above, but you have to understand that the people running the speech department here are the FIRST speech-language graduates EVER in Bangladesh. These people are starting this health field from the ground up, which takes massive amounts of courage, dedication and vision. They still don't have all the resources that they need to do their job, but they make do with what they have and they advocate to get the resources they need. I am so, so proud of the work that they are doing here.
9. Pearls: Ok, this is a less serious one. I just went pearl shopping the other day and they are beautiful and cheap. And I love them. :)
10. Learning the Language: When I went to Ghana everybody spoke English to me, so there was no real need to learn Ewe (although I wish that I did). In B-desh, a bunch of people speak English but many do not, or don't speak it well. As I mentioned before, I'm also doing language therapy here, so it is very important that I know some of their language!! I now know the words for many everyday objects, many everyday phrases and we're even learning verb conjugation. Katia & I have a great time being language/linguistics nerds during our language classes with Mizan, who is also a Linguistics nerd. :)
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