Wanderin': 6 weeks as a vagabond

I'm about to head off on an adventurous month of travel: Bangladesh to Nepal to Sri Lanka to Chapel Hill, NC to Washington, DC to New York to Iceland to Amsterdam to Barcelona to Madrid and finally, to Ann Arbor.

For the first time since I made my way out of my mother's birth canal and into the bright hospital light, I will be alone on my birthday. I don't see this as a bad thing, more as an adventure (if you were going to be on your own for your birthday, wouldn't you want to to be in a place with a name like Kathmandu?). I will blog as I wander but before I set off, I want to leave you with this thought:

If I can say one thing for my mostly inconsequential life, it's that out of some stroke of luck I have been friends with some of the most amazing people I've ever met. You are probably one of them (why else would you be using work time to read this?), and I thank you.

To kick off my 27th year of life and a month of wanderin', my friend and humor soulmate Tania Luciow has specially handcrafted a Luciow Original blog post for your reading pleasure. I'm not sure what possessed her to write about a serious place of academic learning (business school), but there you have it. Thank you, Tania. Check it out!

Happy Birthday girls!

I'm not sure if this is coincidence, luck or a pre-disposition to associate with people similar to myself, but I seem to know a bizarrely large number of July babies. Stav, the assistant country director of CARE Bangladesh, is one of them. For her birthday this year she threw a party - not for herself, but for the 20-some girls she volunteers with every week!

It was a two-day birthday extravaganza, with dinner, dancing, cake, and a sleepover at Stav's last Thurs (July 9) night, and yoga, french toast, nail painting, Bollywood movie watching, photo-taking and posing on Friday.

I remembered my camera for the second day and the photos are hilarious. I took maybe two of them. As soon as you take out your camera, at least six girls run at you at once - two to take it from you, three to pose for pictures, and one to watch.

I have uploaded a few below, removing the dozens they took of the Bollywood movie stars gyrating on tv, and the one they snuck of their 65 year-old caretaker taking a bath (sneaky little girls!). The photos are truly from the girls' perspective.

The party was a lot of fun. The girls were just as charming and funny as ever. Their personalities were out in full form! I got a good dose of reality too.. I've been wondering this whole time what happens to these girls when they leave their school. They're young – mostly 13 or younger. All 20 of them live, learn and play in a two-bedroom apartment that's smaller than Stav's apartment where she lives on her own.

From what Stav tells me, many of their families live in shanties similar to ones found throughout Dhaka (I described some of these in an earlier post). They are not entirely on the street, but you would be hard-pressed to call where they live a “house.”

Somehow they end up at this school which, though quite small, is considerably nicer than what their parents are able to provide them. They spend a couple years there and when they reach about 15 years old, most of them return to their families. A few of them – the ones who are very smart and have picked up a decent amount of English, may be able to pursue vocational training - one of the girls is in a junior nursing program.

What happens to the rest of them?
Some are married off, others become garment workers, and some become sex workers.

It’s hard to imagine that these girls who have pulled me in circles, fed me mango, painted my nails, drawn henna patterns on my hand, who have hugged me and kissed me and jumped on me and held my hand… these girls are destined for that fate. And here I sit, contemplating in front of my laptop, options that I have never had to consider.

What does that mean? What does that say?
I don’t know.

But, I will share them with you as they are now – happy little girls with 20 best friends.
Happy Birthday, girls!

For your viewing pleasure..

Sundarbans photos! And it only took me 456892127934 years to upload them. I'm missing high-speed cable internet like none other, though I suppose it's a small sacrifice for weekend trips to jungles, and dahl and roti breakfasts every morning.



Quick explanation of the photos..

What are those kids doing? Is that sanitary?

We stopped for about an hour at a town near Khulna to pick up a group of Germans. Pretty soon after we got there, we saw a group of little boys run down to the shore as fast as they could, jump onto their bellies and slide through the muddy sand down into the water. Within five minutes Ashish and Aigars were in the water, swimming to shore to join them. J.R., Charlie, Hayley and Arthur followed suit. You couldn't have paid me to do that.

Why? About 20 minutes after they jumped in, I watched clear yellow liquid being drained from the large ship docked next to them on the beach. That should answer part b of that question. But hey, it looked like it was a ton of fun!

Why don't you have more photos from the jungle?

My camera battery died, and I'm a rather lazy photographer. Sorry! But, to tell you the truth, it was your standard jungle. Not really as "exotic" as you might expect. The most unique experience of the trip itself was the mud walk - and the train ride back. I definitely have never trekked through calf-high mud before! And I've never taken an overnight train in a developing country, so that was definitely interesting. Actually, the train was much more comfortable than I had expected, despite being like 50 years old.

My favorite part of the Sundarbans trip was really being in the ship and in the row boat. It was a very different perspective of Bangladesh and my lungs were grateful for the fresh air.

You were on the boat for July Fourth - how did you celebrate Our Great Day of Independence?

We threw some tea overboard and made the Brits walk the plank.
Actually July 4th was pretty tame. We went out in the row boat for a couple hours, returned to the ship and headed back to Khulna, so we were sailing for most of the time. Basically we drank some Coca-Cola, talked in loud voices and irritated the Germans. All good fun! It was Scottish artist David's birthday on July 4th, so the night before the crew made caramel pudding, stuck some candles in it, and we sang the most known song in the world. David may have thought we were serenading him but we were really singing happy birthday to America.

Mangoves and.. Mangroves!

We finally went on the much anticipated trip to the Bangladesh Sundarbans. The Sundarban Forest is a dense network of mangrove trees connecting through Bangladesh and India. It is the home of the bengal tiger and a variety of other creatures, including crocodiles, dolphins, monkeys, deer, snakes and birds.

It's pretty cool, a little spooky, and really wet. Going through the Sundarbans is a web of waterways, subject to daily and seasonal flooding cycles that literally make chunks of land disappear and reappear with the tide (which seems to have a mind of its own).

For the trip I was joined by a group of Michigan students (Ashish, Charlie, Sarah, and Karen), an American I met here through Rosie (J.R.) and two Brits (Hayley and Arthur). The trip started with a 7-hour overnight van ride down to Khulna - interrupted only by a fishy (in so many ways) ferry crossing. We boarded our boat just as the sun was rising in Khulna and began sailing down through the Sundarbans.

Being on a boat again was amazing. I can't get enough of sailing. Bangladesh may not have the clear blue water and beautiful coral of the Palawan Islands in the Philippines, but its sandy brown water and friendly fishermen certainly have their charm.

We went on a hike, swam in the ocean, trekked through calf-deep mud, watched Germany beat Argentina 4-0 with a group of Germans, and bonded! In addition to the Germans (who we seemed to annoy with our incessant chatter), we were joined by Aigars, a Latvian backpacker, David, a Scottish painter, and a large Bangladeshi crew who kept us safe (the guards had giant rifles and clapped loudly to scare away hungry tigers) and well-fed. We docked at Kulna on Sunday, boarded an overnight train and rode for 11 hours to Dhaka. From there I went home, showered and went sraight to work. B-school has taught me well.

We didn't run into any bengal tigers (shame!), but we did see some tiger prints, beautiful mangroves, birds, snakes, a few monkeys and a bunch of deer.

Photos to come once I can get the photo uploader to work.. (things are a bit haywire right now.. my computer overheated and crashed.. oh Dhaka.).

WSJ Article on Danone's Expansion into Emerging Markets!

Imagine my surprise when I saw this article from the Wall Street Journal about Danone and its emerging markets strategy!

Even greater was my surprise at seeing a certain Ross School of Business professor quoted in the article... No, not C.K. Prahalad, founder of the base-of-the-pyramid concept and who, sadly, passed away a few months ago, but strategy professor Aneel Karnani, vocal opponent to C.K.'s model! Has Prof. Karnani's outspoken skepticism of C.K. and the Hindustan Unilever shakti amma BoP business model inadvertently pushed him further into the center of BoP strategy discussion, filling a void left at C.K.'s passing?

The world is getting weirder and weirder... but at least it still has a sense of humor.

Anyway, that's not the point. The point is that it feels pretty good to see this article in the WSJ. If only it had been written a few months later... maybe the CARE-Danone social venture would have been mentioned!

Check it out for yourself: Danone Expands its Pantry to Woo the World's Poor - The Wall Street Journal, June 25, 2010

Social Business Day, June 28

Hey people, it's Social Business Day! Bangladesh celebrates it.. do you?


In honor of the first annual Social Business Day, Bangladesh leading English paper The Daily Star interviewed Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Prize winner (2006) and founder of Grameen Bank. What's significant about this article is not its content or quality, but that it exists at all.

Like many of the achievements in social enterprise in Bangladesh, Social Business Day owes its existence to Prof. Yunus. According to the Yunus Centre:

Social Business Day will:
· encourage the participants to discuss the critical features of social business, merits, achievements, and challenges of social businesses
· discuss the plans for upcoming social businesses
· explore future social business opportunities, and
· inspire individuals, entrepreneurs, students, foundations, and companies to create their own social businesses

So get out there and celebrate! I really hope Social Business Day reaches its first birthday.

I still remember the first time I heard Yunus speak. I was in the car driving home from my Fortune 500 company job, stuck in the parking lot know as the Capital Beltway. I was listening to the radio... I suppose it must have been NPR, though I should clarify that I'm not one of those enlightened people who chooses NPR over talk radio or top 40.. I'm really not. I just sort of ended up on the station just when they were interviewing Yunus about his book.

Mostly I was bored and daydreaming, but at some point the words coming out of the dashboard managed to push their way through the cloudy fog of happy hours and weekend plans that made up 80% of my after-work brain activity and sink in.

I remember sitting up, stick straight, and listening intently.. I think I scrawled "Yunus" and "Grameen" on the palm of my hand (the gentlewoman's notepad).
And that was the moment my life changed..

Just kidding.

Actually I think I forgot about it, but you know how life has a way of shoving the same thing in your face, over and over, until you take proper note of it? Well, that is what happened. And here I am, working on a social enterprise in Bangladesh! Funny thing, life.

Creating a Social Enterprise

I realized the other day that I still have not mentioned what I'm actually doing this summer. I guess I've been busy... working? Anyway, a professional update is certainly in order.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm here as a WDI Fellow at CARE Bangladesh, country office of NGO CARE International. I got placed here at an amazing time. CARE BD is in the process of separating its innovative Rural Sales Program from the non-profit to form a joint social venture with global consumer product goods company Danone. I get to work on the final business plan and governance structure, preparing it for approval by Danone's social enterprise group!

Background on the Rural Sales Program

The Rural Sales Program is an initiative formed by CARE BD’s Economic Development Unit. It equips CARE BD's infamous "Aparajitas" (women who do not accept defeat) with training and products to sell to villages in rural Bangladesh. The program employs more than 2,000 women who source products at more than 50 hubs.

The model is based on CK Prahalad’s BoP concept and is similar to the Shakti model run by Hindustan Unilever. The big difference is that it was set up by an independent organization, allowing them to engage a number of for-profit companies and keep close measurement of social impact.

As a result, the Aparajitas sell a range of products, which ultimately mitigates risk. They sell shoes (Bata), daily packets of soap (Bangladesh Unilever), sanitary napkins (Square), seeds, animal feed, phones/minutes (Grameenphone), yogurt (Grameen-Danone Foods), and will soon be selling garments. Shoe sales, which earn the women the largest commission, fluctuate in a cycle of about one-two months, while soap sells daily but provides less commission. In the end, sales balance out into a steady income stream for the women.

The Aparajitas operate completely independently of CARE. They sell only what they want to sell and front the money for the goods themselves. This independence gives them full ability to tailor their sales to their geographic region so they can maximize individual profit. It also limits losses for the for-profit consumer goods companies.

In 2009, RSP generated $1M in sales for the companies it partnered with, and it is projected to generate $10M this year, almost 700 million Bangladeshi taka. In addition to providing the women with a regular income, the project also empowers the Aparajitas to become entrepreneurs and decision-makers in their families. RSP targets the most marginalized women in rural Bangladesh, so the impact of empowerment can be quite significant.

As one woman told us on a field visit, before she became an Aparajita, she couldn't approach even the poorest house in a village, and now she is welcomed at the home of the wealthiest.

The Future of RSP

The new social venture will be headed by the CARE staffer who formed, tested and ran RSP from the beginning, and who is also my supervisor. The work has be incredible so far. CARE has never been in this position, despite 65 years of experience, so we are essentially flying by the seat of our pants. I've been working on the new enterprise's governance structure, valuing the model to support CARE's ownership share (thanks to Ross finance professors Sreedhar Bharath and Gautam Kaul for imparting on me the most valuable knowledge I have so far gained as an MBA student).

We had a meeting with Danone on Monday and things are looking good. I have a few more numbers to clarify, and then I'll send my calculations to someone much smarter than I to make sure I didn't mess anything up. Once I'm done with that, I'll start work on refining the full proposal CARE will be submitting to Danone's social enterprise team for final approval (has been in the works for about six months).

It's all so exciting... and terrifying! I really hope I don't mess everything up.

Field Visit to Rangpur

After weeks of working in a cubicle, we finally got our first chance at a real field visit, six hours outside of Dhaka. Rosie and I headed out to Rangpur last week and got to see implementation of the projects we've been working on - Strengthening the Dairy Value Chain* (Rosie) and Rural Sales Project (me).

I took a small notebook with me. With no access to e-mail, gchat or facebook, this flimsy, unassuming, no-tech instrument became my vehicle to the outside world. I barely recall what I wrote. Flipping through it now I see pages of the illegible scrawl of a hand used to typing and the unstructured, stream-of-conscious rambling of a mind trained for e-mail. Surface level, it's all bulleted notes, circled questions and sections starred for further research. Looking closer, amid the interviews are disjointed speculations on life, poverty and happiness.

If someone found this notebook, they'd have to assume I had schizophrenia. (Maybe I do! In high school I watched A Beautiful Mind at 2 a.m. in the dark by myself, and couldn't sleep for two hours, convinced my family was not aging, and were therefore a figment of my psychosis)

One page in the book starts with a list of the quantity of milk a cow is producing for a family we visited (according to the farmer - an older man, about 65, it went from 6 to 10 liters, thanks to SDVC), followed by notes on a woman's role in cow rearing, social empowerment, thoughts on mangoes (hari banga!) and then randomly in the middle of the page "lovely wife - beautiful smile." Why did I write all that? How is it relevant to anything? No idea.

Being in Rangpur was a moving experience. The people we met were the poorest of the rural poor. Most owned no land themselves and instead worked as farmers on other people's land. Oddly enough, I didn't register their poverty at all. The whole experience was in stark contrast to Dhaka, where you can't help but be perpetually aware of poverty and malnutrition. In Rangpur people were poor, but they were incredibly vibrant and strong. They glowed. It was like they knew something, like they had a secret - not a secret to happiness, but to completeness. I forgot to feel sorry for them.

And I wrote this:

Looking at them you do not see what they don't have, you see what you are missing. You feel your own gluttony... the tragedy of your own over-consumption, your unfair, unbalanced taking. You think that maybe some wanting is good, that complete satiation can be lazy and destructive - to the world, certainly, but also to yourself. Seeing them you realize maybe living without means gaining quite a bit.

Ok, enough of that. Here are some photos!



Father's Day Note: To the man who bought me this camera (and gave me a way to share my experience), and without whom I would not exist (or know how to build furniture, install ceiling fans and buy groceries at the lowest per unit price), Happy Fathers' Day, Dad!

*SDVC, or Strengthening the Dairy Value Chain, is a project CARE BD's Economic Development Unit is working on to help farmers make the most of their milk. The project has an educational component that shows farmers how to increase their cows' milk production (safely and organically), and it connects them in a sort of cooperative that gives them greater bargaining power with milk processors (resulting in more income), while providing the processors with easier access to more sources of properly produced and handled milk.

For info on the Rural Sales Program, check out my first field visit.

WC in the Desh

Sorry I haven't posted in a while - things in Dhaka have certainly picked up! I guess this is what happens to would-be bloggers - they get a life and no longer have time to blog. Only the strong, friend-resistant ones survive. It's like natural selection in the blogosphere.

Since I know the internet is just dying for more of my rambling drivel, I won't keep it waiting. Let's talk about .. sports!

There's a sports tournament going on that has gotten a bit of attention. It's called the World Cup. Perhaps you've heard of it?

I sound like I'm being facetious, but honestly, I've never noticed the World Cup. A few weeks ago, you could have told me this was going to be the first World Cup ever and I would have believed you. Then I would have asked you which sport it was for. I have only paid attention to soccer long enough to notice that, of professionally played sports, soccer has the best looking guys. I'm saying this as a completely objective observer.

I would have remained blissfully unaware of the World Cup this year as well had it not been for one small factor: I'm in Bangladesh.

World Cup team flags are on sale at every street corner, in every store, at every stand. The WC has created an entirely new revenue source for street hawkers, tailors and sports apparel sellers. Flags are all over office buildings, in people's homes, hanging on walls and on door frames, I even saw someone's gate painted blue, white, blue, exactly like Argentina's flag.

Most of the country is divided into two camps: those for Brazil and those for Argentina. When I ask people why these two in particular, they say, "Because they're the best." Alright then. Bangladesh likes winners. Meanwhile, Bangladesh's soccer team is ranked 157th.

So how strong is this rivalry? Three weeks before the WC started, two villages - one supporting Argentina and the other supporting Brazil - actually came to blows fighting over the teams. According to Gulf News, village residents used "sticks, clubs and sharp weapons" in violent defense of their respective teams, and police had to fire a round of shots in the air to control the fighting.

This past week, Rosie and I joined a CARE colleague on a trip up to Rangpur for a field visit. On the six hour drive north, we saw lush green paddy fields, burgeoning towns, and... you guessed it, flags. Brazil came out ahead as the clear winner of Bangladesh hearts. Check out some of the WC loyalty we saw on our way up!



What I didn't catch on memory card were the dozens of people huddled around a single TV in a cha shop, the distinct change in traffic density depending on whether an important game was on, and all the kids who exchanged their cricket bat for a soccer ball in their playtime endeavors, at least for a now. Bangladesh has WC fever, and it has it bad.

One question kept coming to mind, "Is this normal?" I haven't figured out whether the Desh is unusual in its loyalty to teams that have little to do with it (is this happening in other countries?) .. and if either the Brazil or Argentina teams has any inkling of the passions they are sparking around the world.

We didn't see any random acts of WC madness on our field visit (bummer), but we did get a close-up look at some impressive social business at work. Will post about field visit soon..

Dust off your lungis...

Thanks to Rosie, my bff here in Dhaka, I know far more Australians in Bangladesh than Americans or Sri Lankans. The Aussies in B'desh take theme parties to a whole new level..

Welcome to Luke & Sophie's 30th Rickshaw Party!

If you're wondering what a Rickshaw Party is, or how someone has 30 of them, you're not the only one. The idea: dress like a rickshaw, a rickshaw wallah, or your favorite rickshaw art character and dance the night away. The party was on Friday and at it was a myriad of "lungis" (sarongs), colorful shirts, bird costumes, festive garments and more - all in all, an impressive display. The B'desh Aussies could rival mid-west American business schools on theme party enthusiasm.

How was it, you ask? The most fun I've had in... 4 weeks!
Highlight #1: arriving at the rickshaw party in a rickshaw... driven by Andrew, one of Rosie's roommates. Highlight #2: smoke machine and disco lights. Highlight #3: John Farnham (keep reading).

I didn't know Luke and Sophie before I got there, but now that I've met them, danced with them in my bare feet, broken glass on their floor (and cleaned it up!), I couldn't be prouder to say that I was there to witness their entrance into "the fourth dimension," as they termed it - their 30s.

Sarah (UMich Law School) and Charlie (Ross B-School) joined me as proud representatives of "low context Americans*." Sarah: "It's like Rick's!" Charlie: "Like Rick's but with more clothing removal... so like Peace Corps."

Conclusion: Aussies know how party! And they get quite sentimental over this song, by John Farnham (notice the photos of us dancing in a circle, arms around each other).

Cheers!



*"Low context" is a situation or person that does not require environmental or situational analysis when deciphering its/his/her meaning. In the cultural briefing the Aussies receive when participating in AusAID (similar to Peace Corps), they learn that Bangladeshis are "high context," and Americans are "low context." In other words, we're blunt. True dat.

In Memory of Cragin Brown

Last week, a friend and Ross classmate, Cragin Brown, passed away. Cragin was an amazing person. It's difficult to express the sadness and loss we've all been feeling. It's difficult to share it from so far away. At this moment, thousands of miles and several time zones west, Cragin is being remembered by her family and friends in the town she was born and raised, Glen Falls, NY. I can't be there, and I'm sure many others are in a similar position, but I have been following a breathtaking memorial that's been taking place online through Facebook, YouTube, and more.

In the spirit of remembrance and celebration of a life and person truly unlike any other, I want to share the following photo video put together by Ross student Joshua Karotkin.

Cragin, you lived life to the absolute fullest, you took every moment as an opportunity to do more, give more, be more. At the very least, we owe it to you to do the same.

Rest in peace, friend.

New photos from Lunch with the Girls

Thanks to Stav!

From 2010-05-22 Lunch fun with girls!

From 2010-05-22 Lunch fun with girls!

From 2010-05-22 Lunch fun with girls!

From 2010-05-22 Lunch fun with girls!

Yoga, meditation, dancing!

I had a great weekend and I'm sad to see it go. I ran around Dhaka with my new Aussie friend, Rosie (she's working with me on the Economic Development Unit at CARE BD). She helped me get a cell phone and do some shopping (my mother thanks you, Rosie!). We bargained our way through Dhaka, quite successfully I think!

Friday night, we had dinner at Stav's with two of her friends - one is in Dhaka with a UN food security program and the other as a consultant for CARE BD. Stav is the Assistant Country Director at CARE BD and another Aussie.. she's kind of like our boss's boss (or maybe boss's boss's boss?), which just shows how nice and welcoming everyone is here! That evening we went to a biodiversity photography contest award ceremony at the Australian High Commissioner's House - fancy place, lots more Aussies. The photos were really amazing - gorgeous photography of both the environmental beauty and degradation you can find in Bangladesh.

We spent the night at Stav's and woke up to yoga on a neighbor's rooftop (well, technically I woke up to the 4:15 am morning prayer! Managed to fall back asleep though ;), followed it up with a meditation session and then returned to a fun lunch that Stav was hosting for about 20 girls who are in a sort of boarding school for girls whose parents do not have steady housing (or maybe any housing?). Yoga was amazing, meditation was a struggle but worth it, and the girls were phenomenal!

Several things blew me away: (1) how sweet and charming the girls were - as soon as they met us, they grabbed our hands to lead us up to Stav's apartment. Each of us had our own gravitational field, an orbit of girls circling our waists in constant motion, buzzing with so much chatter and excitement they practically carried us up the four flights of stairs to Stav's apartment!

The next thing that amazed me was, (2) how intelligent they were - thank god they're smarter than I am b/c they had to do all the heavy-lifting in terms of communication. They spoke considerably more English than I did Bangla. As it turns out, a common language isn't all that necessary when interacting with kids. All you need is four tools of communication: teasing, laughing, tickling, and dancing.

And, (3) how talented they were.. and how much energy they had! They danced, then we danced with them, we ate lunch and they STILL had energy to start an impromptu game of cricket in Stav's apartment! They used a rolled up yoga mat as a bat and produced a tennis ball out of thin air. Rosie and I were wiped out by lunch.

If I could ask for anything, I'd ask for their love of life. They'd probably ask for my iPhone. My camera was dead so I took all the photos with my phone (sorry they're so fuzzy!) - they figured it out in about... oh, 1 minute.

First Field Visit!

We went on our first field visit today, as part of a conference CARE Bangladesh is hosting for dozens of reps visiting from offices around the world. We jumped in a van with CARE reps from France, Canada, Vietnam and Cambodia, and visited two CARE BD Economic Development Unit projects.

The first stop was to see a partnership initiated by CARE BD between a local entrepreneur and a group of women creating naturally dyed fabrics for sale to high-end retailers (so successful they already have orders booked for the whole year!).

The second visit was to see CARE BD's Rural Sales Program in action. RSP equips CARE BD's infamous "Aparajitas" (women who do not accept defeat) with training and products to sell to villages in rural Bangladesh. The program employs more than 2,000 women who source products at more than 50 hubs. We visited a hub and met some Aparajitas - two as part of a planned visit and one we ran into while driving to a village. The Aparajita in the village was using training she had received in family planning to sell contraceptives as well!

I'll let the photos tell the story...

Walking Adventure

Some interesting adventures this weekend. In Bangladesh the weekend is Friday to Saturday, while Sunday is a working day. I went on a walk each day and managed to get lost both times! The first is the more interesting story...

I decided to head north on Gulshan Road when awkward staring and congestion forced me off the main road and onto the side streets. I got caught up watching some kids play an animated game of cricket and subsequently wandered around them, past a cancer center and an abandoned school, until I hit a small path that looked like it was going to a dead end (as it turns out, Dhaka is filled with streets that go to dead ends).

I stood awkwardly, considering what I should do, when I heard a man calling from behind. I turned, did a quick gut feeling check and decided he seemed alright. With a great deal of gesturing, I managed to ask him how to get back to the main road. He walked back a few steps and pointed to a small cluster of shanties next to a large abandoned building. I looked at the shanties, then looked back at him. What, like walk through them? He said something in Bangla, to which I stared blankly, and then he took the lead.

The shanties were made of pieces of wood, scraps of tin, and strips of cloth and plastic, strung together into a makeshift community. Collectively they created a pile of discarded garbage, leaning on itself for support. Take one out and they'd probably all fall. They were each missing one wall; the open side faced the abandoned building.

As we got closer, I saw that there was a gap between the row of homes and the building - a walkway. My guide casually strolled through. I hesitated, held my breath instinctively, and waited for something to happen. Nothing did, so I smiled meekly and walked in. My eyes were downcast at first. I felt like I was stomping through someone's living room (which I essentially was) - the living room of someone who probably resented my presence. I glanced upward and saw people sitting up, looking at me with eyes that were curious but not unfriendly. I exhaled and smiled slightly. They didn't reply in kind, but they didn't seem to mind me either. I let my eyes move from their faces to their surroundings.

Each shanty was probably no more than 5 feet wide and 5 feet high. They had a dirt floor and were mostly empty. Their inhabitants were crouched on their legs, comfortable in a position most westerners couldn't get into. Their homes were made of garbage - other people's unwanted, discarded things, but they were neat and tidy. Their bit of space was small, but they appreciated it, they cared about it. I looked down, wondering if I respected my things as much as they respected theirs. I looked forward. We were nearing the end. My guide was greeting a young boy in faded black shorts. I smiled and nodded hello, he stared at me, then smiled shyly in return.

We came out of the other side, bent down to get through a wire fence and a barrage of honks welcomed us to the main road. I felt myself completely relax and I turned to my friend. He extended his hand and in it was his business card. The only words in English were, "Nasir," "Farhad" and "Ambulance Service." I smiled and thanked him. He asked for my number. I told him that I didn't have a phone, he said, "No problem." I thanked him again, turned and walked to the road, smiling as he shouted, "Call me! Call me!" - the only bit of English he seemed to know.

Day 2 Much Better

Made it through a whole day of work! Visited the office cafeteria. Bought some clothes. The power went out five times.

Even better, photos! Check out my ride to work (just watch out for the vegetables... and the bicycles... and the chickens) and some random pics of my room, me in my bed (I look best blurry in this heat), and my two favorite things: the fan and (when it works) the A/C.



Shout out to Sri Lanka for beating India and making it to the cricket World Twenty semi-finals! Clearly we know who the superior brown people are.. I'm only joking. I'm against brown-on-brown hate.

Next up: England.

Cheerio!

My first day..

Lasted about an hour.

Saif, my primary contact at CARE BD, took one look at me and said, "Why don't you take it easy today - sleep and we'll do a full day tomorrow?"

His boss, Asif, director of the Economic Development Unit at CARE BD, looked at me and said the exact same thing.

I thought this was just because Bangladeshis were incredibly gracious people. Then, during one of my introductions, a man whose name I think was Eric stuck out his hand and said, "Nice to meet you. What's wrong with your eyes?," before we had completed our handshake.

I finally got a chance to look in the mirror a bit later. My eyes were completely bloodshot from lack of sleep (I blame the blog!). I looked like I'd smoked a fatty with my morning coffee.

Hopefully better luck on my second day!

Bangladesh! Made it!

Greetings from Bangladesh! Wow it feels good to finally get here. I don't think I really believed I was going to be living in Dhaka for 12 weeks until I actually landed.. not sure if I still believe it..

I had a relatively uneventful flight via Emirates Airlines (highly recommended), with a quick stop in Dubai where I had time to grab breakfast with Rachel Perkins, a fellow Ross MBA, and finally made it to Dhaka at about 7:45 p.m. local time, Tuesday, May 11 (9:45 a.m. EST).

My new friend Biplop
I was picked up from the airport by Biplop, a CARE employee, who was a wonderful welcome to a new country! Biplop filled me in on life in Bangladesh and geared me up for my first day of work. For CARE he acts as a driver, providing shuttle service to/from work, airports, sites, etc., and does some other work for them as well. He let me know where I could buy clothing, find an ATM, go to a Buddhist temple (as a fellow Buddhist, he even offered to take me!). He also gave safety advice, warned me not to indulge my love of walking to get to work, despite the fact that it's just 3 km away, because traffic gets very bad and, of course, people don't prescribe to the level of driving regulation we find in the U.S.

My impressions of Bangladesh so far: wonderful! And hot - at night it's about 98/99 F, so I only imagine what the day will bring (I'm told around 110 F), and very similar to Sri Lanka. The area I'm staying in is considered the nicer "foreigner" area of town. CARE provided me with plenty of comfort. They have two staff apartments, each with probably four or five rooms. I am occupying one of the rooms in one of the apartments. There is another bed, but I don't have a roommate yet. I have wireless, I have my own bathroom, the apartment has a cook! I feel entirely too spoiled.

I'm looking forward to my first day at CARE.. am obviously jetlagged since I woke up at 4:21 a.m. and decided blogging was more interesting than sleeping. I may regret this decision shortly..

Wait, what are you doing in B'Desh for 12 weeks??

By some miracle I got a William Davidson Institute internship through the University of Michigan to work with CARE Bangladesh (Bangladesh office of ngo CARE International) on a project with female entrepreneurs that it's doing with Danone (yes, like Dannon yogurt).

Danone is doing some cool things in Bangladesh with Grameen Bank, so I'm excited to see what CARE's place in all of this is. Danone and Grameen, through a joint venture called Grameen Danone Foods, Ltd, are producing a low-cost yogurt enriched with vitamins, providing it to Bangladeshis to help fight malnutrition.

More details to come!

What is this blog?

So here's the deal.

Up until about a year ago, my international travel has consisted of the trek from U.S. to Sri Lanka, the motherland, and maybe a stop or two in between. Then I got into business school, threw up my hands and said, "To hell with saving money, I'm going to owe well over $100 G's at the end of the next few years anyway, time to travel!"

From that point I went to the Philippines, Colombia and Breckenridge, Colorado (this last one was probably the most out of my comfort zone. Brown people do not snowboard).

I just got to Bangladesh, I can't sleep because I'm jet-lagged out of my mind, and then it occurs to me: I have never recorded my travel adventures, never shared my experiences properly, and that's a shame. So here goes..