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. :)

I'll take the local breakfast...

Photo above is 6 pm view outside the front of my hotel in Dhaka.

No updates on the project, as we haven't actually discussed my work. Today was figuring out the shower, discovering breakfast (local breakfast equals roti-like bread with turmeric potatoes and peas, fried egg, and milk/sugar chai), ATM, getting to Grameen Bank main office, meeting folks & the GCC team, experiencing power outages*, walking outside the office for lunch, crossing the street (no easy feat and they drive on the British side of the road), walking home, purchasing a shalwar kameez (3 piece Indian sub-continent suit), working out in the USSR-era workout room and discovering Bangladeshi censorship of YouTube (I can't even Google the word). We discuss my involvement in the GCC project tomorrow.

*I'm staying at the Grand Prince Hotel in Dhaka and while it's no Ritz, it's clean, cheap, safe and works for my needs. The only review I could find prior to arriving in Bangladesh was one disgruntled person who complained that each day, 3 times a day, the power would go off, then on and then the AC couldn't be used for an hour. He thought it was ludicrous and just the hotel trying to save money.

Well...actually- it's not that uncommon. And yes, people are more aware that electricity costs money here. Yesterday as my friend Naumi (well, her driver) drove me to dinner she told me that shops close at 8ish to save power. Today in my meeting with the Managing Director of GC the power went out but after a moment the lights flicked on. As she opened the windows, she explained that the building has a generator for lights and computers (but not for AC) and that the city redistributes the available power throughout the city throughout the day, resulting in periodic power loses. The city can only supply electricity about 70% of the time and in the rural villages electricity is about 30% of the time. I haven't confirmed if the computers stay on or lose data each time. About half an hour later the AC kicked back on and everyone closed their windows. I was in the changing room at the store connected to the hotel with a top over my head when the entire place went dark. We hung out in darkness for about 30 seconds before the generators started up and the lights flicked back on. True to form, my room-AC wasn't working when I got back to my room 30 minutes later and it started up another 20 minutes later. So to Mr./Ms. Reviewer- it's a developing country. Deal. And think about all this next time you flip a switch in the US or Europe or anywhere else power isn't a visible issue...

Welcome to Dhaka

My location and life have changed dramatically since I've last blogged. (I read recently in the >NYTimes of how blogs now fail at a higher rate than restaurants- and I had to agree- that's me). So here's my update of life since then.

I've been to Egypt, UAE and Turkey. I wrapped up teaching 2 courses and completed my time at Carnegie Mellon Qatar. I got into 2 business schools, waitlisted at 1, rejected at 2 and ultimately decided to go to University of Michigan for a Master of Science. A relationship ended and another...? And now I'm in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Why Bangladesh? Why come to apparently one of the least livable cities in the world?* I like the concept of Base of the Pyramid (BoP) business solutions to develop sustainable living and poverty alleviation solutions. And I'd like to get into the Ross School of Business at Michigan when I reapply this fall. Ross' C.K. Prahalad is known for his BoP teaching and I'm currently registered for a fall BoP course.

I started looking into some sort of sustainable development/BoP internship in India and even applied for one at d.light. But then I contacted a connection I made at the ICTD conference at Carnegie Mellon Qatar (where I was 1 metre from Bill Gates) with Global Communication Center (GCC), an NGO relative of Grameen Communications (GC) and Grameen Bank. Grameen is a microfinance bank that won its founder- Dr. Muhammad Yunus- a Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.

One thing led to another and here I am in Dhaka for one month to consult with GCC. More on the project later after my first day is done.

*My Bangladeshi friend and former colleague Faheem worried about me citing this data-crunching survey from the 'global north' re: Dhaka right from the get-go, as it could color the impressions I give others. I'll have 33 days to make my own conclusion and hope to document those observations here.

Two Swords Found

You know you're not in America anymore when the University's receptionist sends an email out announcing that two swords had been turned into the lost and found and could Mr. Saleh please pick them up today. 

Just thought I'd share.

Sandstorm

My first day in Doha over a year ago, I brought crummy weather with me. Crummy weather in Doha can be heat and humidity or in the equivalent of a rainy day- a sandstorm. A year ago it was harsh winds and whipping sand but it was nothing compared to the storm that came in yesterday afternoon.

Yesterday Darbi and I were discussing the effects of the Carnegie Mellon's building shadow on the vegetation outside (plants in the permanent shadow didn't flower, those on outside the shadow would). I stepped out of her office for one moment and suddenly she began yelling for me to return. What had moments before been a bright blue sky had become hazy and golden as the sandstorm rolled in. We watched the sky become hazy and fog-like, only the fog wasn't moisture but sand. After experiencing sand in your eyes and teeth during windy days, I have a better innate understanding and appreciation for the tradition of the keffiyeh or the Arab headscarf. I've even wrapped my head and face, saving only my eyes, once during an extremely windy day.

Since Carnegie Mellon Qatar's building is not quite finished (especially on the third floor) and let's face it, the construction quality isn't amazing to begin with, within minutes of yesterday's storm the hallways and main atriums of the building had a hazy smoke quality to them as sand particles drifted in the air. It was very eerie.

The top image is from the QTel building on the Corniche. Below are some comparison shots from Education City, looking towards Ceremonial Court (gorgeous day vs. this morning)



See more at QatarLiving.com

Happy Deepavali!

The view from my landing of my downstairs neighbor's apartment last night.

The carefully laid colored powder and the fresh flowers made me smile. I was extra careful not to mess it up on my way up and down.

Happy Deepavali!

Updates 4: Arabic

Since I'm thinking I may be around a little longer, I'd like to get better at Arabic. Especially if I might need to work with Arabs in the country/region on environmental work. I'd like to know that I'm communicating clearly (as my run-in (literally) with the Egyptian proved earlier this month). Also- I'd like to have another language under my belt so I don't feel like a stupid American when interacting with other nationalities.

I already take 2 Arabic classes here through Carnegie Mellon- but that's only 4 hours a week of so-so curriculum. One class is only devoted to learning the alphabet for pete's sake. So I'd like to learn more and try to practice when I can.

I tried in the souqs, asking the football scarf vendor 'how do I say, 'how much?'' and Darbi and I ended up getting a half-hour Arabic lesson. ('They were totally flirting with us' as Darbi would put it). I also took out my sketchbook to prove to them that I can write the letters and then promptly forgot my sketchbook in the shop. That sketchbook held almost a year's worth of thoughts/musings/doodles and travel notes. I was bummed and went back the next day to recover the book- which I swore must be in the shop. No luck but I left my business card anyway. I was bummed.

1 week later I get a call, saying that my book had been found in the shop. And since he had found the book, I was to bring some 'sweet books'. Huh? I feared that this was some sort of come-on or that he was requesting porn. :/ I asked others what should I do, especially if I wanted to show my thanks but not send the wrong-messages. Others (Qataris) deemed a monetary reward would be insulting/weird and a gift would be awkward/unnecessary and suggested I just offer extreme thanks.

I showed up and he did indeed have my sketchbook. However, he asked, 'where are the sweets?' and made an eating motion. Oh that's what he meant! I quickly ran out and returned with 2 scoops of rich gelato as a thanks. He was appreciative and promptly handed over my book- pointing out that there was a message for me in it in Arabic (and a mobile number). It may very well be an Arabic love letter (it does include drawings of hearts) but I'd rather not find out right now. I'll figure that out after break.

After recovering the sketchbook, I swung by the Technical Care Center (an electronics store with the worst type tracking and horizontal/vertical stretching I've ever seen in a sign) and lingered for a long while over the electronic speaking dictionaries/translators. I had been attempting to look up Arabic words during class in my little fat student Arabic/English-English/Arabic dictionary and things had not been going well. So now I have a funny orange Nintendo-DS looking dictionary that can speak the words and also gives conversational phrases and could recite the Quran if I wanted.

Why plunk down the dough for a talking dictionary? Because I'm that serious about learning (I already have Rosetta Stone Levels 1-3). But to learn a language- you really need dedicate time and teacher-student interaction. So I'm proposing to take advantage of CMU-tuition reimbursement/assistance benefits and study Arabic at the University of Chicago this summer. If I took all 3 sessions- that would be 6.5 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 9 weeks. Whew! Hopefully I'd be as fluent as a kindergartner by that point! I'll also find out more details about that after break.

Speaking of break- I'd better get on that. Take care and Happy Easter!

Updates 2: Design

The students wrapped up their designs for the LAS poster series last week and I've delayed in sharing some of their work with you. Below are a selection of the final posters. Their finished size is an A3 sheet of paper. Needless to say, I was please and pleasantly surprised with the results. (Dan Boyarski- who sat in on 3 of the crits, was also pretty impressed). Many of them went light years beyond their original design concepts or what they would typically see in the hallways here). I didn't have time to scan in the 'before' designs for you so I'll just have to press this upon you- these posters were designed by business, computer science, and information systems students. Some of the posters are pretty decent to begin with but when you realize these are not design students, and that many of these students have been working with the Adobe Creative Suite for less than 2 months- that's impressive.

Nasreen Zahan

Nida Ilahi

Noor Al-Maadeed

Rana El Sakhawy

Amna Jassim

Bayan Yousef Taha

Eatidal Al-Qatami

Hanoof Al-Thani

Maryam Khalil

Amal Badar Al-Barwani

Film! Passion! Controversy!

We're now in week 3 of the LAS Faculty Film Series. My design students are working through the complexities of designing an engaging movie poster for the remaining movies and I extended the deadline to this Wednesday. However, the architecture professors are showing 'Blade Runner' this Wednesday, so we needed to get something up for 'Blade Runner' soon. A very driven student, Mena Assad, dedicated himself to finishing a poster ahead of time and completed it today. We edited some details, discussed the colors, and printed/trimmed 35 copies. At least 15 of them are up in the building right now. (The image here is the near-final, as I do not have the final PDF yet).

I just received an email that the poster appears to be creating some controversy. The part in question is the yellow bar containing the word 'Passion' and a obscured image of a kiss. Apparently it's been deemed 'inappropriate' by some students. I wondered what is the main objection- the word, the image, or both? We've determined that it's probably the image and jokingly said we could put 'censor' bars over their 'lips' (?) if things become really controversial. However all this 'controversy' could fuel increased awareness about the event and possibly boast attendance. We'll see.

The thing that strikes me about this are the conflicting messages within the culture. As I mentioned before, kisses  or embraces can't be shown but we can play songs about a woman's anatomy in the grocery store? We can't show a very stylized still from a movie but students can watch 'Desperate Housewives' and 'Sex and the City'? Movies and TV shows are censored here (downloaded ones probably are not)- so you don't see sex or kisses or nudity on TV or in the theaters- but that doesn't change the fundamental moral message of a show like 'Desperate Housewives'. With this poster- one could argue that it's a very obscured 'kiss' and also that if a student objects- then he/she doesn't have to see the movie.

I have never seen 'Blade Runner' or another future LAS Faculty Film Series film, 'Cold Mountain'. However, someone marveled that we would show 'Cold Mountain', given that there are some very suggestive scenes in it. Curious to see how 'Blade Runner' compared to 'Cold Mountain', I looked up the sex/nudity rating of both films online. 

The result? 
Blade Runner-5
Cold Mountain- 7

However the posters currently in development for 'Cold Mountain' are much tamer, while 'Blade Runner' host Professor Kelly Hutzell described these posters as an "accurate portrayal of the movie." So will it be ok to hide the sex/nudity/gore of one movie while honestly expressing the extent of it in another? We shall see.

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.

Oh- did I mention?

...that Dan Boyarski (Head of the Carnegie Mellon-Pittsburgh School of Design) arrives in Doha tonight to participate in VCU-Q's 'Tasmeem' Design Conference next week? And he'll be siting in/TAing 2-3 of my Communication Design classes?

...that my 19-year old brother arrives tomorrow night to spend his first collegiate spring break in a dry-Middle Eastern country with his big sister? It will also be his first time in the Middle East.

...that I've been biking on Friday afternoons with a group of cyclists, through heat, sun, wind, and sand, riding on the loaner bike, which turns out to be the old bike of the renowned and sadly departed Bill Brown (CMU-Pgh and CMU-Q Bio Professor who died last July)? Or that I am signed up to bike 68 km (48 mi) from Doha to Al-Kohr in the
Bill Brown Memorial Bike Ride on his old bike this Saturday morning?

...that I've been taking two Arabic classes in the mornings, each 1 hour, each twice a week- with one class focusing on learning the alphabet (which I already learned at a class last fall in Washington DC) and the other on writing and reading sentences? (It's a little advanced and I would be entirely lost if I hadn't been working on Rosetta Stone)

...that I've been taking Spanish Level 2 classes here at CMU-Q? (The term 'taking' is used loosely here- the class meets 4 times a week and I often show up 2-3 times a week- although I only went once this week... :/ )

...that I'm giving a half hour presentation 4 times this Sunday and Monday at Qatar University's " Go Green. Change Our Future" كن صديقاً للبيئة. غير مستقبلنا Conference, presenting to a minimum total of 2,100 people?

...that the 'Examining Sustainability in the Gulf' mini course starts this Monday, and that I've had numerous inquiries into the course and received enthusiastic interest? I just received an email stating that "Me and my friends want to joing this mini course so badly, but unfortunately the timing is bad since others and I have a class that starts at 2:30". I responded that if the demand was high enough, I'd consider requesting to create another section of the course... Imagine that!

So- yeah. I didn't mention any of that? Sorry- I've been meaning to blog on that for a while now... :)

More internet trouble?!

Emailed 5 hours ago:

"UNSCHEDULED EVENT:
Qatar Foundation Customer Service Desk today provided the following update
and request for our cooperation.

"As of this Morning (Friday 01/02/08) our connection carrying traffic out of
QF toward the Pacific Link suffered a failure. Please note that this is a
separate issue to the internet degradation being seen in recent days.
A backup link is in place; however, this link does have reduced capacity."

It is therefore important that until further notice, we refrain from using
network resources for personal use to minimize traffic on this backup link
and allow the business to continue without interruption.

This affects our campus and Internet Services as well. While local Qatar
access, E-mail, and web access are still available, until the Pacific link
is restored, real-time applications such as videoconferencing will not be
practical and may only contribute to the congestion.

QF is working with the international fiber providers to resolve the issue.
We will update the community once the incident is resolved."

Connection Interrupted...

So I was wrapping up another sports experience or two before planning to continue my Sports Weekend (Week)-Part 2 when 1) I forgot my laptop at school and couldn't blog and 2) the internet suddenly became very, very, very slow. Early-dial up days slow. Hit 'Next' on Amazon, walk away, brush teeth, wash face, return, and it's still not up slow. I thought it was my normally decent but sometime sporadic home wireless.

Today at school, where I use an Ethernet cable, it was still a little spotty. Then we received an e-mail, stating:"UNSCHEDULED EVENT:Computing Services would like to inform you that Internet access has beenslow since yesterday for all Q-Tel, Home-ADSL, and Business users. This is caused due to a major Fiber cable cut near Egypt."

Ok, that explains it, I thought. No biggie. Internet seemed to be working ok and I had no real reason to watch videos or stream audio anytime soon. Then another email:"Computing Services would like to keep you updated regards this incident.

Two cables were cut in the Mediterranean yesterday which bought down our Atlantic link. Traffic is currently routed via a second link (through the Pacific).

We are measuring 150ms latencies over this second link. Hence, some congestion may occur causing delays and backlog. Computing Services recommends that you plan tele-conference backups for your video-conferences as the service could face high delay under the circumstances. [CM-Q faculty and staff regularly teleconference with the 8-hours behind us Pittsburgh campus. It's not unusual to walk by a conference room and see folks chatting with someone on screen in a recognizable room in Pittsburgh. The classroom I use is wired for video-conferencing; our lecture halls are designed for distance teaching; and all of our faculty/staff laptops/computers have webcams].

As we understand, it is anticipated that new fiber will be laid down within
approximately 2 weeks. [Not too shocking- I've come to expect that things take time here]."Thus I wasn't too surprised to go home after work and find my internet didn't work at all- at least for 6 hours. It was a welcome break-absolving me from checking email and forcing me to read some prior-downloaded recycling reports, listen to Anthony Bourdain read his 'Kitchen Confidential' on iTunes, and sketch a typeface.

With the internet back on, I saw an email from my mom discussing my Uncle's communication with his employer Aramco in KSA(Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) was interrupted and then I just noticed the Internet outage is one of the top stories on CNN.com. Yep. That's us folks. Far as I can tell- not quite the chaos here they describe in Dubai in the article but bothersome nonetheless. We'll see what sort of effect it has here in Qatar.