"Welcome to Dhaka, Bangladesh" Says the captain and I'm overjoyed..and yet unable to see the ground from my window seat..and wondering how the hell this man is going to land the plane. "Quasha!" says the guy next to me..meaning FOG!...hence the poor visability. But without a problem the pilot landed the plane safely. It's been two plus years since last I was here and a lot has changed. The airport has been renovated to my surprise! But it took two hours to get through immigration, for two reasons. 1. about 20 people cut in front of me in the most strategic and shady way possible, it's quite a skill and I plan on picking it up. 2. no rennovation can improve the lack of organizational skills at the airport and as soon as the immigration officer realized I am originally from Bangladesh he decided to strike up a conversation (where's your family from, is this your first time, are you fluent in bangla, etc.)..this is probably the third reason immigration takes two hours to get through! there is an upside here, I met two wonderful people, one from Canada who is coming to Bangladesh with Doctors without Borders and the other from D.C. working for the "Save the Children" organization. We all briefly exchanged our purposes for visiting/working here and then exchanged cards--two great connections for me to have in some future endeavors here in Bangladesh!
Couple changes I've noticed here already...
Traffic has gotten WAY WAY worse in two years. A trip which should normally take 15 min took 45 min. The dust/pollution is a lot worse despite efforts to reduce carbon emissions (this is a problem the country is actively trying to alleviate). Thirdly..the mosquitos actually wasted no time to start chomping on me, my first bug bite occurred as I walked through the exit ramp from the plane!! Lets hope I don't join the ranks of my father and aunt who got Dengue while they were here ;) Jk, i'll be fine.
Jet lag has been vanquished. Work starts early tomorrow as I partake in a seminar with the medical students at Dhaka Medical College to discuss integrated learning/teaching (a testament to the problem base learning program at Drexel which we are trying to get started here). Hopefully the first day isn't too traumatizing...real accounts and pics from the wards starting tomorrow!
OH also if anyone was curious (JUSTIN especially since we have the worst luck in recorded history) but I of course was seated next to screaming children the ENTIRE way...and then next to two Bangladeshi guys who spotted my stethoscope as I pulled out my headphones from my bookbag and started to tell me about his persistent cough and showed me his prescription for his workup...and then asked if I could fill out his disembarkment card b/c he didn't really understand everything on it...Anyone that knows my handwriting is probably in shock that anyone would allow me to fill out any paperwork for them...
(Note to self: Please make sure to get in touch with the Save the Children lady, her efforts with Adolescents and family planning andthe anemia investigation will be very helpful for DCI and FIDVB)
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Despite screaming kiddies, how long did it take you to fall asleep once the plane started moving? Also, I hope you packed some Benadryl for your bugbites, no repeats of Prague/Munich. We miss you already!
ReplyDeleteHahah, I sat down in my seat, put my belt on and the last thing I heard was "Please watch this saftey video...." completely knocked out for almost 5 hours before I was woken up by the smell of feet b/c the guy next to me decided to take his shoes off...
ReplyDeleteAnd I packed Benadryl AND prednisone AND antibiotics....Miss you guys too :)