6 Reasons To Be Happy And Grateful

Hi!

Not going to make this long but this is just to make you realise that you should be grateful for what you have after all the struggles I have been facing in Bangladesh

1. You have a family, friends or someone that cares for you.

2. You have clean water, 24/7 electricity, Wi-Fi and clean air.

3. You have an amazing education system and amazing healthcare.

4. You have every kind of food available near you.

5. The weather is bearable.

6. Most important one. You are not poor!


Be thankful for what you have


Take care

Yours, Nafiza

When You Have Guests In Bangladesh

Hello!


Hope you are doing well! I'm not! I spent a day without my voice, hit my leg quite hard, had a poisonous insect bite me in the neck twice, huge face breakout, the kitchen heat and this heat itself killing me everyday. I'm pretty sure I'm getting bitten by the ants right now. But that's just my personal struggle like everyone...

First of all... I know I made a similar post months ago. However, this is quite different to the one I posted before. That one was when you have guests in a Bengali house abroad. For me that would be having guests in London. This one is about when you have short time guests in a house in Bangladesh. When I say short time I mean probably like for an hour or 2. We had guests today so I learnt about the steps that happen when you have guests. This is what happens...


1. Knowing They Are Coming

Whoever wants to come will call someone at home to let them know they will be coming over. When they say they are coming they do not expect to have lunch or dinner, they tend to come for tea and chatter. In some instances someone from the house will call them to come over for tea and chatter. This is most likely to be for neighbours as the neighbours in Bangladesh tend to be quite close like friends. Some people inform when they left the house and it is chaotic if anyone does that. The life of the people in the house instantly becomes hell.


2. Preparing Snacks

It is disrespectful to have a guest leave the house without even serving them a glass of water or a cup of tea/coffee. So obviously almost everyone will be helping each other in making the snacks or whatever they'd like to serve. The tea/coffee comes later as it gets cold and you know they are better warm. At the end you all end up gathering a fair amount of food for the guests.

3. The Arrival

They arrive, you greet, they greet. They all sit down and start talking but not too much because some of it needs to be saved for later of course. At first everyone is together in the living room,but women tend to like it segregated from men so they go to a separate room and settle and chat there comfortably rather than with a bunch of men. Other members are introduced to the guests and all those formalities that usually happen when you meet someone new.


4. Serving The Snacks

This is the time when you make use of those fancy plates and cutlery. You take them out, wash them and use them to serve the food you made earlier. You have to serve them separately as the men and women are in separate places. You serve the men first and then the women. You serve them in those fancy trays and hand them the food in person to be more respectful. The last thing a Bengali family wants is an angry guest leaving the house getting a bunch curses. In such families, others come first before you. Being selfish is not going to work in big families in Bangladesh.

5. The Farewell

They leave after some time of chatter. This again takes a good half an hour because they will start new conversations and then the same "You will have to come to my house next" kind of conversations. The farewell is a thing itself. You accompany them outside till the door and they finally leave.

6. Clearing Up

Since they left, you clear up the dishes and you have a bite of the remaining snacks together. You do not want to let food go to waste. You give a bit to everyone. have a little bit yourself, clean that up and rest for a while. Everyone at home will take a breather together and then will carry on with their normal life during the day.


This is not my imagination but what I really faced today. Hope you enjoyed it. If you have any suggestions about my upcoming blogs, let me know! I have decided that from today till the 14th September 2016, I am going to blog only on Saturdays. I will hopefully resume back to my twice a week blogs from that day. This is because my days are getting hectic and Internet in Bangladesh is rubbish. So stay tuned every Saturdays.

Take Care

Yours, Nafiza

4 Strange Things You Will Encounter In Bangladesh

Hey!

By now you have realised that I'm finding Bangladesh so strange even though I'm only back after 2 years. So, from everything I am observing, these are 5 strange (as I feel) and random things you will encounter in Bangladesh!

1. Links/power/authority

Let me explain...

In Bangladesh, some stuff cannot be done the simple way. For example, some roads do not allow auto rikshaws and it is not humanly possible to walk in the roads of Bangladesh. What would you do? You take your parents (mainly your dad) and let you in the road. This is because my dad is probably friends with some high status people that the road guards are scared of. You want to get into the ferry first? You say you are friends with whoever with high status. If you have links, it is really easy to get work fast. The current thing that works now is by saying you are from Gopalgonj. Why? In my previous posts I may have explained that the current PM of Bangladesh is from Gopalgonj, so by being from where the PM is, it is a big thing in Bangladesh. 

2. Bargaining

Unless it is a shop that clearly says "FIXED PRICE" or it is a supermarket, you are free to bargain and in some instances mildly blackmail. You go to a shop and the salesmen will show you a huge range of their products. You pick one or two and then you ask for the price. He will tell you a price and you are bound to say it is too much. You say a price and he will tell you it is too cheap and a loss for their business. Then you say "you give it for this price or I'm leaving". He will either be nice to you and give it to you or he won't. Or you will both agree to a price that's in the mid range. Say if a fabric costs £18 and you say £15, you will probably come to an agreement of paying £16-£17. Some shop owners are so horrible they will not listen you and will overcharge and not reduce the price. Most of the time they have the good quality products and you have to go back to him. I don't bargain because my parents do it for me. I have done small bargains but the whole thing is a shameful act in my opinion.

3. Maids

Back in the days, they were nice and simple girls. Nowadays they are too advanced, probably have a cheap touchscreen phone that has Facebook in it and buy 100 MB for 44 pence just to get on "FB" (aka Facebook). They do help with household work and it makes bengali people's lives easier. But sometimes they do a bit of work and they overcharge. I heard in Dhaka, they charge £5 for one task. For example, making roti is £5, sweeping and moping the floor another £5, cooking another £5 and so on. But I think this is monthly. When I was young, they used to do so much work at my grans house, and now they do a bit of work and just run away, not to mention they don't come at all at the slightest rain. 

4. Transportation

Rule of thumb! Do not take the bus in Bangladesh!!! Don't ask me why but don't. The main thing is to get the auto rikshaws and the normal rikshaws. Normal ones are open air and fit 2 normal sized or 3 small people or 1 big person. Auto rikshaws fit 4-6 people and you can go "reserve" or in groups with random people going to the same place and that is generally cheaper than going reserve. Price of this varies upon your destination. Somewhere close like your local bazaar would be 20p and somewhere far like 20 minute ride would be 70p. All in cash of course. Bengali residents think it is expensive but I get why they say that. Salary in Bangladesh is really low.

Hope you enjoyed this post and make sure to check back every Wednesday and Saturday.

I feel like I should reduce to one blog a week. Since the past few weeks, I have had a feeling that my effort is being less appreciated and I may have become a "spam" around my social media. It may be just me but I felt like sharing it because we're friends. If I think or feel that my time and effort is being wasted, I will completely stop blogging. I love to blog and want to but not for the ghost, Please don't assume I am bashing, blackmailing or forcing you to read my content. this is just me sharing my thoughts. It is upto you what you want to read and what not. Let me know what you think about this...

Take Care,

Yours, Nafiza