The other side of the street

I've received some comments about the previous rickshaw commute video and thought I'd show you the other side of the street at a different time of day and with the original audio- instead of a soundtrack to cover up my discussion with an Italian about Thailand and traveler's diarrhea (I didn't think you'd want to hear it).

Few items to note in the video- this was about 7-7:15pm on a Monday, so somewhat after the usual work-day rush hour home. This video shows the route I would normally walk to work. Look out for the brief shot of the street kids using ropes as swings on the electrical tower base. The car honking is also strangely quiet in this video as well- when the traffic is really bad it's ridiculous. I got quite use to the constant honking in my hotel room. 

(Videos seem to work nicely when I don't have time/energy to write- as does simply uploading photos to my Picasa gallery. New pictures from the last week's activities will be up in the gallery shortly. I hope to write an update on my weekend trip to Srimangal this evening).

Less than a week left in Dhaka- this month has gone by faster than I thought.

Train Accident in Dhaka

Colleagues were watching this video on YouTube after the weekly team meeting today and I had to share. (YouTube is blocked at my hotel but not at Grameen Communications--- not sure why. MP3s and movies-even Googling them- are blocked at my hotel as well). Yesterday afternoon a train collided with a bus and 2-3 cars  after the bus and a car went beyond the barrier and got stuck in traffic. Apparently one woman was killed.



The comments on the video show a mix of compassion, despair, responsibility, mean-spiritedness and stupid racism. One must take YouTube comments with a grain of salt or not read them at all, as they quickly become flamewars and I personally find the hateful comments vexing. However, I do have to agree with those that wonder how the camera managed to be set up just so to capture the accident... and what could be done to help people become more responsible drivers.

One hears of the many accidents in Bangladesh and other than the many re-patched dents on nearly every bus, this video represents the first accident or accident aftermath I've seen. In Qatar it seemed one saw an accident or a wrecked car every other day. Thank goodness Qatar doesn't have any railways (as far as I can recall)- or we'd probably have similar accidents with people trying to beat the train or inch a few meters forward.

Driving or participating in traffic in Qatar and Bangladesh (and India and Egypt and Morocco ...) gives me new appreciation for American respect of driving laws. We'll describe someone as a reckless driver or Wisconsin folk will talk about those crazy Illinois drivers...we don't know squat about reckless. I recall seeing SUVs late at night in Qatar take entire roundabouts on their two right wheels... Others' reckless driving habits will rub off or force you to become a defensive and aggressive driver- anticipating that at any moment someone will do something stupid. Others who have returned to the States have warned me that I'll need to watch my driving when I get back, as I'll be in the habit of driving faster and being more 'creative' in my driving. I think I'll combat that by a lack of vehicle. :)

Commuting to Work

Work is located in the Grameen Bank Main Office- Mirpur 2 (or 'dui' ২ দুই) on the same street as my hotel. Grameen is the tallest building around and here from my hotel you can see a view of it in the distance.

My first day I was picked up from the hotel in a van for the 5 minute ride to Grameen Bank's Main Office. Kabir, my main contact/coordinator/person? walked me home that evening, citing that in the future I could rickshaw the ride from Grameen Bank to the Grand Prince Hotel (8-10 taka or 12-14 cents). With less trepidation the next morning I struck out on my own, laptop in one hand and work purse on my shoulder. The 12-15 minute walk goes past street vendors, polluted side ditches, schools, piles of trash, bricks, beggars, two-patches of English speaking boys, broken sidewalk and a petrol station. While a rickshaw would be quicker (and less sweaty), I would loose out on exercise and have to deal with small change. So I mostly walk.

On my way home once I saw the most brilliant patch of sunset sky- it looked like a mother of pearl stuck in the clouds. Another time on the way to work, I fell in step behind this man carrying carefully folded and balanced papers on his head. Funny- the street wasn't that empty when I walked- perhaps people disappeared when I took the picture or incidentally were in the right spot to *not* be in the picture. People do stare and I expected that. But I basically pass through unbothered.

After being in Qatar and other parts of the Middle East/Africa- I discovered that my American Mid-West tendency to make eye contact, be smiley and extra friendly can get me in 'trouble'. Namely, I was seen as a huge flirt. 'She catches me eye and smiles- oh, she likes me.' So.... I've gotten a lot better at not making eye contact while still looking around. I'm still polite and smiley to those I encounter or engage in communication, but I've toned it down a bit.

My second work day I went shopping with a Mukta, a coworker, for shalwar kameez. We traveled via rickshaw away from work and my hotel, towards the shops across from the cricket stadium. We had bad luck- either the outfits weren't in my size, were the wrong color, wrong sleeve length, of poor quality, or had a stain on them. She sent me on my way back to the hotel via rickshaw (the video was too dark to get a good view). Both rickshaw rides I felt that I would slip out, and braced myself the whole way, as the rickshaw bumped over speedhumps, road debris and nearly bumped into other vehicles. Great as rickshaws are for the average person in Dhaka and great that they give jobs to thousands of people, they also make the traffic situation so much worse in Dhaka. Rickshaws go against traffic, swerve, stop, and respond slower. I generally feel better in an CNG or taxi- but only *slightly* more so.

(Note: Speaking of commuting- I drafted this post after work but waiting to conference call with Ashir, Project Director in Japan at 6:30pm. We wrapped up at 8pm- already quite dark- and the PD insisted my colleague in Dhaka (Kabir) take a taxi or CNG with me to my hotel before backtracking towards his place. He said it wasn't a good idea for a single person, especially female, to take even a vehicle alone at night.)

Car Graphics

It's not uncommon to find white decal stickers on the back of cars here in Doha, thanking God, giving thanks, praising God, or showing Qatar pride. I personally purchased a Qatar seal for my non-existent car back in the States and considered a 'Alhamdulillah' (Thanks be to God or الحمد لله ) sticker.

But more striking are the photographic images plastered on the back on SUVs and trucks showing the Emir, his son, his falcon, Qatar flags, etc. Supposedly, the story goes, some patriotic individual put the Emir on his vehicle. The Emir saw it and rewarded the man with a large sum of money. And then supposedly everyone started doing it. So the story goes.

Thought you'd enjoy.

My commute

Before I move to my new apartment at the Education City Housing Compounds less than 5 minutes from Education City, I thought I'd share my current commute home from EC to my apartment at Al Samrya Gardens. The ride home is usually significantly shorter than the ride to work, mainly because in the morning traffic backs up due to a short light that only lets traffic in one direction at a time. Each cycle takes four minutes, so sometimes it takes 20-30 minutes just to get through the light, meaning my 10 km drive could take 30-40 minutes! Crazy. In order to lessen my impact on the environment and recapture about an hour of my day, I'm moving to EC housing (inshallah) next week.



Items of potential interest in this video:
-You'll perhaps notice a large white building with 'holes' in the facade on the right- the LAS Building at EC was the most recent former home of CM-Q.
-After that, the large white towers and space on the right is the EC Ceremonial Courtyard, where EC senior celebration was held.
-This video was shot before I received my vehicle permit pass, which now saves me the trouble of dropping off and picking up my international driver's license at EC Security each day.
-Where I pause before I turn onto the main road was the site of my March accident (which ending up costing me about $1K). I'm a lot more cautious in my driving now.
-Note the roundabouts- once the bane of my driving existence, I know generally embrace them for speeding up traffic. Some roundabouts in Doha have traffic lights, which does slow things down somewhat but probably reduces accidents.
-The huge billboards at the final main intersection are the site of my usual morning long-light. This time I got lucky and zipped right through.
-Since one can't make left turns throughout most of Doha unless using a roundabout or making a U-turn at an intersection, I take the back way to my compound to avoid the crowded roundabout I would need to use to get to my compound.

My Brother's Visit to Qatar- the abridged version

Feb. 29- Lunch with Dan Boyarski at the City Center Mall. My brother Henry arrives that evening in Doha. We unsuccessfully try to find a BBQ at Qatar Foundation Housing and then pass out.

Mar. 1- Bill Brown Memorial Ride early AM. I bike 46 km in total from Doha Golf Club to Simaisma Bridge. My brother- on the small loaner bike, rides 26 km to Lusail. See some pics from the event. Henry passes out and then goes to see 'Vantage Point' at the City Center Mall. I help LiveGreen (CMU-Q's student environmental group) prepare for the next day. I stay up too late preparing for my own speech.

Mar. 2- I give a ~20 minute presentation ('The Opportunities of Sustainability") 2 times at Qatar University's " Go Green. Change Our Future" كن صديقاً للبيئة. غير مستقبلنا Conference (Women only). I'm in at least 2 English papers and apparently some Arabic papers the next day (See The Gulf Times & The Peninsula). My brother heads back to City Center Mall with a student of mine, only to accidentally have my car keys in his pocket. We sort it out, do some food shopping, cook a veggie dinner and call it another early night.

Mar. 3- I give my presentation twice again (Males Only), teach my communication design class, teach my first section of 'Examining Sustainability in the Gulf', add another section of it, discover CMU-Q accidentally sent my textbooks back and we've now ordered them to arrive with the Pittsburgh students this Saturday. Henry and I play volleyball with the students, faculty, & staff. We then head to the souqs, Henry purchases souvenirs, and we have Iraqi food.

Mar. 4- I go to Arabic class, do some work at school, & swap my sedan with Darbi/Greg's SUV so my brother and I can go find the 'Singing Dunes'. I tell Henry I'm on my way home (we communicated via email, 2 American cell phones, 1 Qatari cell phone with mixed results). I leave Education City and pull into traffic too soon, getting slammed in the back, smashing up a little blue car driven by two Egyptians that don't speak English. We wait ~3 hours for the police to come to file a report. One tank of gas, one traffic department, 2 reports, 12 riyals, and 1.5 hours later and I'm finally back home to my stranded (and ill-informed) brother. In the fading light we attempt to find the Singing Dunes but no luck. Henry and I go with Greg and his visiting girlfriend Sophie to pick up Turkey Central. We eat at Greg's and then they watch movies at Greg's place. I work.

Mar. 5- We plan to get my brother to the Qatar National Museum for the morning and have him join me in the afternoon (after my classes). We have conflicting reports of whether the museum is open, closed, partially-open and can't confirm any details. We find the place deserted and later learn it won't be open to the public until November. After some phone calls- we learn the Weapons Museum is now open to the public and will be open until noon. We call, confirm, and then unsuccessfully try to find the place. Back at campus, we're given exact directions of how to get there- we head back out again and Henry books a cab for the ride back. We arrive- it looks nice- clean- legit. I bid Henry farewell and then he runs back, saying it's closed. I throw my hands up. At this point Henry begins to truly realize what it means to live in Doha and that while a decent place to live, Doha is not primed for tourists yet. I teach 3 classes (my sustainability course now has 20 students in two sections)- Henry relaxes. I secure a GPS from Justin & Marjorie and in the fading light Henry and I set out for the Singing Dunes again. 45 km from the city, we find the dunes and by flashlight we hike towards them on foot (as I have my sedan again and it would have not been happy on the rocks). It was eerie to make the dunes hum and vibrate at our footsteps and even eerier that we only had a flash-light at this point. We did see some fantastic stars.

Mar. 6- I skip out on Arabic class and Henry and I do tourist shopping. We purchase a photo book for Grammy and Henry picks up some foodstuffs at the Carrefour (as well as some helpful new sandals). We head back to City Center and pick up some carmel and stuffed dates at Bateel. We find time running short and Henry cheerfully suggests trying the 'McArabian' chicken pita-sandwich at McDonald's. I agreed because yes- technically it's a cultural experience. Like many McDonald's products- while initially tasty, the meal leaves us feeling disgusting. I'm done with McDonald's in Qatar. We're signed up with 5 others for an 8-hour desert cruise with QIA. Two others not from CMU-Q would also join us. We set up the night before for them to pick the CMU-Q folks up a little later due to other's time conflicts. The driver calls us up 45 minutes early demanding to know where we were. After some semi-heated phone calls and calls to the company, we clear it up and the 2 other tourists don't appear mad at us. We drive off, ride camels (20QAR each), bash dunes, feel like we're about to tip the car (it was our driver's first time- greeeeeeeeeaaat), collect sea shells, attempt to sand board (sounds like a better idea than it actually is) , hear a helicopter air-lifting someone who flipped their quad-bike on the dunes, have a BBQ on the beach, and then drive back in the dark.

Mar. 7- We got Henry to the airport (almost the wrong airport- Qatar is building a new airport and they already have signs up for it. Thanks Qatar.) by 6:30 am. I see him checked in, bid him farewell, drive home, and sleep for another couple hours. I think I plan to use this weekend to recover from his vacation.

Lessons learned:
-Very few of the students have environmental exposure.
-Give your expat host more than a week to plan.
-The tourist experience here leaves something to be desired.
-GPS in the desert is good.
-Wear sunscreen.
-Avoid McDonald's (my stomach still isn't very happy).
-Call. Confirm. But don't be surprised if things change.
-Always check your pockets.
-If you have to teach a difficult/boring/unpopular subject, offer it as a 4th quarter mini course so that students who fail other courses, drop those classes and then desperately need units pack your course.

2nd Week Discoveries

So I feel I owe an update; last week I discovered:

-my roof leaks (a little leak but it was very surprising for the desert- but then I've been told it's not that uncommon given the level of craftsmanship here)
-my washing machine doesn't work (at first I thought I couldn't decipher the non-labeled symbols-nope, it simply won't spin)
-my class has swelled; from 10 to 17 (two other students added today- so I'm expecting 19 tomorrow)
-never go to the mall on a Friday night (Americans in general have no true concept by the phrase 'sea of humanity')
-the car has no windshield fluid and I haven't found any (only distilled water; I've since been told that I have to get refilled at the car shops next to the petrol station)
-the best bread in town is from 2 cafe/bakery places in the Villagio mall
-this is maxi-pad country, with tiny stocks of OB for the expats (Grr. Note: ladies traveling/living abroad- make sure to get correct information about the female necessities availability before you travel...)
-this air/climate/humidity/something really dries out your skin
-electric stoves make excellent makeshift heaters
-halogen space heaters are better than the other space heaters because they are less of a fire hazard but- ha- they're very, very bright- I feel like I'm in the movie 'Sunshine' or something.
-my apartment gets very dusty, very quickly
-take the left (inner) lane of the roundabout; that way you have the right of way and only have to worry about one set of cars to your right
-this town (especially if you only seem to see expats) is really quite small and you run into the same crowd at similar functions
-apparently Darbi and I are heading to Jordan in February
-it's true- you don't need Arabic to live here

Car Stories- Part 1

My rental car arrived my second night here- a little white 07 or 08 Chevy Optra (apparently it's equivalent in Mexico was the Chevy Cavalier). 8,700 km on it- I'm suppose to turn it in for a check-up at 10,000 km. (I could have sprung for the SUV for an extra $500 US a month but my principles and pocket-book didn't like that). It was windy and cold the night they delivered it to my apartment steps (an hour late) and we were recovering from a cold dust-storm. Think windy (but not hurricane windy) and foggy- but that fog coats your car in dust and seeps into your apartment (because windows aren't water-tight; there is no need for them to be). A layer of dust is on most everything- everywhere. And this isn't sand-dust like in Saudi Arabia- this is more brown-soil style dust. I joked with the rental delivery guy that I should have requested a gray or tan car, because this one will be that the next day. (It's a good idea to keep a dust brush in your car to brush off the dust before driving. I'll get into car washing in a shopping post).

Back to driving- admittedly, I was worried that they trusted me to drive so soon. I had heard about the atrocious driving habits of Doha drivers and lots of talk of what to do when (not if, when) I had an accident. Being driven to my apartment and experiencing the roundabouts for the first time wasn't as scary as I feared; but then again, I wasn't driving. Being driven to campus the next day in the dust storm- things began to look alike and I mistakenly fixated on every-round about, trying to remember if I went straight ahead or turned. In reality, I should just count and remember the turns- not the straight-throughs. Having never experienced British or European roudabouts- I am no expert on how these compare- but I will say folks will not hesitate to cut you off. Driving for these first few times, I become a little nervous each time I approached a round-about (similar to when I was learning to drive and dreaded left turns- because they forced you to merge into the next lane). It's gotten better and I've only been honked at twice- but I still need to be careful and respect the dangers of the road (recent Peninsula article on the road situation in Doha).

They recently changed road laws here (as in Nov or so) and installed numerous cameras to catch speeding and red-light running. You probably won't be pulled over- rather the camera will catch your vehicle, record the license plate # and charge you. You can view your violations and pay online. Oh- and guess what? Supposedly you can't leave the country if you have any violations- so add that to a list of travel to-dos. I don't really speed much in America and tend to be one of the slower drivers here. However- I think the cameras and fines (I've heard in the thousands of riyals) have scared some other drivers into being law-abiding.

It's late again- I'll continue with my car adventures in another post.
مَعَ الّسَلامَ
-Rosemary