The Mystery of the Missing Handicap

As has been mentioned before, M likes to golf.  A lot.  And fortunately, one of the nicer things in Dhaka are the two golf courses.  So when we arrived, 15 months ago, M inquired about getting his handicap recognized so that he could sign up to play in tournaments at the nicer of the two [...]

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Man with ducks in basket

Door-to-door duck sales. Only in Dhaka.

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How to arrange a marriage

Today my Bangla teacher is going to meet a girl.
This is a huge step in Bangladesh, and especially huge for my Bangla teacher, who said he never wanted to get married.  Now he’s pushing 40, and his family is quite concerned that the time has come. He must find a wife.
And finding a wife in [...]

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The Rohingyas

Lately the news has been full of stories about the Rohingyas, an ethnic minority in Myanmar (Burma) that lives along the Bangladesh border.  For years they have suffered discrimination and persecution under Myanmar’s military government, and hundreds of thousands have fled to Bangladesh.
In Myanmar, the Rohingyas “face religious persecution because they are Muslims in a [...]

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Biswa Ijtema begins today in Bangladesh

The world’s “second largest Muslim congregation after the hajj” begins today in Bangladesh.  Up to 3 million Muslims are expected to come for Biswa Ijtema, or World Congregation, which is a three-day event focused on religious discussion and prayers.  The event attracts Muslims from around the world.  (One article I read said that 152 countries [...]

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The Burka Thing

Lately I’ve been walking in the mornings.  I really can’t bring myself to go to the gym, and we eat a lot of oil here, so I have to do something.  So I power walk.
Anyways, I’ve been going to a local park, which is actually very nice, and  surprisingly crowded by 6:30 am.  But what [...]

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Trip to the market

Over the holidays we did a lot of wandering around town (it was quiet in Dhaka), checking out the markets and all the little stores around our neighborhood. We managed to stumble across some export-quality clothes, which is exciting, although they were mostly men’s. My shopping options are still pretty much limited to [...]

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Protected: It’s all relative

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

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