After a brief hiatus we are back to the blog. The last few days have continued to be interesting. Mannan, who is the head paramedic here on the boat returned. In another 2 days the paramedics from the boat and from the surrounding chars (pronounced, chores- which are the islands in the river here) will be coming to hear us give a presentation on diarrhea- cha cha cha.
Yesterday we went for a run around our little char. Venturing further than we had been before we made our way into a village. Wherever we go we create a spectacle. We are especially popular among the bengali children who love to run out and shout "bideshi!" (which means foreigner) as we run by.
Today we were brought to one of the other chars to see their clinic, which is associated with friendship. This trip required a 2 hour boat ride. Upon arriving we were faced with the challenge of actually getting onto the island. Our fearless captain brought us up alongside the char where the sand shore line was approximately ten feet in the air. He took out a wooden plank and wedged it into the soft sand on a gradual incline about 8 feet up. The precarious nature of our walkway did not sit well with Jasim who was very concerned about Courtney crossing. To his protests Monir (our other translator) replied, its OK...she's from new york, which promptly ended the disagreement. We guess in Bangladesh they believe what they say, if you can make it there you'll make it anywhere!
A short walk later we reached the village. We were shown a building where women were being taught how to weave, the local clinic, and the surrounding residences. For the highlight of our tour we stopped in at the island school where we were treated to a rousing rendition of twinkle twinlke little star performed by the school children.
After a little over an hour it was time to head back to the boat. Obviously, no trip would be complete without some misadventure in transportation and this time would be no exception. A mere twenty minutes from home (so close!) our propellar sputtered and suddenly we were grounded. No problem, that's what our trusty bamboo pole is for, it does not, however, fix a propellar that has snapped in two. Luckily, any trusty captain carries a spare. Unfortunatlely, by this point we had drifted even further towards shore and our bamboo pole just wasn't cutting it. In an effort to help, Monir rolled up his pants and jumped in to the dangerous calf deep water only to stumble backwards and land on his back. Soaked and flustered he tried to pull himself back on to the boat. Five minutes and a hilarious flip video later he scrambled back aboard. Guess how long it took us to show that video to all of the crew when we finally got back...where we learned 'sold out' translates just fine.
Yesterday we went for a run around our little char. Venturing further than we had been before we made our way into a village. Wherever we go we create a spectacle. We are especially popular among the bengali children who love to run out and shout "bideshi!" (which means foreigner) as we run by.
Today we were brought to one of the other chars to see their clinic, which is associated with friendship. This trip required a 2 hour boat ride. Upon arriving we were faced with the challenge of actually getting onto the island. Our fearless captain brought us up alongside the char where the sand shore line was approximately ten feet in the air. He took out a wooden plank and wedged it into the soft sand on a gradual incline about 8 feet up. The precarious nature of our walkway did not sit well with Jasim who was very concerned about Courtney crossing. To his protests Monir (our other translator) replied, its OK...she's from new york, which promptly ended the disagreement. We guess in Bangladesh they believe what they say, if you can make it there you'll make it anywhere!
A short walk later we reached the village. We were shown a building where women were being taught how to weave, the local clinic, and the surrounding residences. For the highlight of our tour we stopped in at the island school where we were treated to a rousing rendition of twinkle twinlke little star performed by the school children.
After a little over an hour it was time to head back to the boat. Obviously, no trip would be complete without some misadventure in transportation and this time would be no exception. A mere twenty minutes from home (so close!) our propellar sputtered and suddenly we were grounded. No problem, that's what our trusty bamboo pole is for, it does not, however, fix a propellar that has snapped in two. Luckily, any trusty captain carries a spare. Unfortunatlely, by this point we had drifted even further towards shore and our bamboo pole just wasn't cutting it. In an effort to help, Monir rolled up his pants and jumped in to the dangerous calf deep water only to stumble backwards and land on his back. Soaked and flustered he tried to pull himself back on to the boat. Five minutes and a hilarious flip video later he scrambled back aboard. Guess how long it took us to show that video to all of the crew when we finally got back...where we learned 'sold out' translates just fine.
Did you start your presentation with a little american flare
ReplyDelete"When you're driving in your Chevy and you feel something heavy...diarrhea, diarrhea..." ORRR "when you're going down a slide and you feel something glide, diarrhea, diarrhea..." Please feel free to let me know if you need more content... i can provide maybe about 4 more renditions :)