questions i was asked at a rock concert

this evening i went to this concert at our local stadium here in chittagong. there was a long list of bands, which included (i am told) many of the most famous bands in bangladesh. the music was mostly somewhere between pantera and guns & roses. lots of long-haired, large-lunged vocalists, and lots of guitar solos.

the crowd was fairly large. i would guess around 5,000. and about 98% male, which was slightly surprising, since the theme of the concert was eliminating violence against women. as usual, the men and boys were eager to meet and talk with a foreigner.

here is a partial list of questions i was asked (not necessarily in this order):

- where are you from?
- what are you doing in bangladesh?
- you are a teacher: what is your subject?
- how do you like bangladesh?
- how do you like this concert?
- how long have you been in bangladesh?
- have you had any problems in bangladesh?
- have you been to cox's bazaar?
- have you been to dhaka?
- have you been to st. martin's?
- are you married?
- do you have a girlfriend?
- how many girlfriends have you had?
- did you have a physical relationship with your girlfriends?
- did you vote for john mccain or barack obama?
- do you like barack obama?
- are you a republican or a democrat?
- where do you live?
- how many rooms does your apartment have?
- what do you eat?
- how do you cook?
- who is your favorite film hero?
- have you ever seen michael jackson?
- do you like lady gaga?
- do you know madonna?
- is madonna british or american?
- what do people in america think of bangladesh?
- when will you go back to america?
- can i come to america with you?
- will you come with us to cox's bazaar on dec 31st?
- why did you come here, to such a poor country?
- which search engine do you use: google or yahoo?
- are you on facebook?
- are you on google plus?
- is chicago the capital of illinois?
- is los angeles the capital of california?
- do many film stars live in los angeles?
- is it expensive to live in los angeles?
- is silicon valley in california?
- are there any poor states in america?
- do you have a car?
- do you have an iphone? (no) what kind of cellphone do you have?
- do you like bangladeshi girls?
- do you know the samba?
- can you show us an american dance move?

or perhaps it was: show us an american dance move.
answer: yes, the worm.

tennis

after 10 days in thailand earlier this month, i am back in chittagong. we have about one month of classes left before our winter break. in my ethics class, we are reading kant. in political philosophy, we are reading marx.

i was able to take some pictures in thailand. unfortunately, however, my camera also stopped working. i am looking into repair possibilities here, but i may have to wait until i return to the states in december to get it fixed.

in the meantime, here are some pics from before thailand, playing tennis with some of the other AUW faculty. our supply of rackets is limited, but we hope to have more (and better) rackets soon. the facilities are somehow connected to the military, it seems, as there is a general who comes to play regularly. we had to leave the court when told that the general was coming.

my first attempt at sports photography (no zoom on this lens, so no extreme close-ups):

the Serbian

the American

the Canadian

elephas maximus by moonlight

i am in thailand for fall break. i was in bangkok for the first few days of my trip, and now i am staying by the beach about an hour outside phuket, in the southern part of thailand.

it is quiet here. i am staying in a simple wooden bungalow, about 20 yards from the beach. tomorrow i will take a boat to the similan islands. we will snorkle and explore the islands, and spend two nights on the boat.

last night i went walking along a dirt road near the bunaglows. there were no streetlights, but the sky was clear and the moon was almost full, so it was not hard to find the path. along the roads were fields with palm trees, and sometimes rows of rubber trees. i saw no people. after walking some time, i noticed something in a field to my right, about 30 yards away. i looked closer and realized that i was staring at an elephant eating in the field. i then heard something moving in the plants on the other side of the road. walking a bit further, i saw another elephant eating palms, not more than ten yards from me with no fence or barrier between us.

as i understand it, the people here keep domesticated elephants. there are lots of places where tourists can ride an elephant through the jungle, and i suppose the elephants are mainly used for this purpose (perhaps others?)  i'm not sure how their owners keep track of them, but they seem to roam more less freely. at night, they put large piles of palm leaves into the fields for them to eat. the workers at the bungalows tell me that elephants often come down to bathe in a nearby spot where a river meets the ocean.

i have no idea how to approach an elephant properly, but i couldn't resist moving closer to them. i walked up to one, speaking in calm tones. it was picking up palms leaves with its nose and eating them. eventually i got close enough to pet its nose. it pushed its nose against my hand, and seemed to investigate me a bit. the nose is so muscular and so skillfully employed, i believe it could have easier knocked me down just using its nose if it had wanted to. but the elephant was not aggressive. nor was it very interested in me. it simply continued eating.

i approached the other elephant, and got a similar reaction. i imagine that these elephants were more of a curiosity for this human than humans are for these elephants.

guitar, voice, and tabla

last thursday, my friend illya played a show at bishaud bangla, a community arts space that is located just around the corner from AUW. illya recently moved here from arizona. he is teaching music at AUW. in the states, illya is the lead singer of a band called the whisperlights.

a lot of students came to the show. it was nice to see them outside the classroom. at one point, the students in illya's music class sang a bangla song, written by tagore to a scottish tune. illya was accompanied by a tabla-player, who played extremely well.

gallus gallus

walking the other night, i looked into the window of a building to see this rooster, so proud and pretty. several days later, i saw some of his relatives on the street, so helpless and humiliated.

working the night shift

the first three photos were taking at an aluminum processing workshop next to my apartment. the floor is dirt, the walls thin, and the noise of the machine very loud. the aluminum is first cut into thick rectangles, then it is pushed through a machine that flattens those rectangles into thin sheets, to be shaped into bowls, pitchers, etc. the workers enjoyed having their pictures taken, and started cutting up for the camera.

   

cutting rebar

security guards at my apartment

a streetside cobbler

chittagong at night: work, rest, prayer

this boy was sitting in a small shop, apparently waiting for his parents to return. when i saw him sitting there, i took his picture. then without any prompting from me, he got up, and without saying a word he walked to the front of the shop and stood there waiting for me to take his photo - as if this was the dutiful thing for a child to do.

workers live in the buildings they are constructing

praying alone in a small neighborhood mosque

chittagong at night, in black and white

a popcorn vender at work

trip to the beach

around a week ago, i went to the beach with a few other professors and a group of students. we went in the hopes of taking photos at a festival, but it turned out that there was no festival. still, it was a nice afternoon of taking pictures by the ocean. but don't imagine a sandy shoreline. more like huge fields of mud. at one point i was walking with one of my students and we both started sinking into the mud. i was in up to mid-thigh and starting to get a little nervous. but eventually we were able to help each other out of the mud, with some additional assistance from bangladeshi children.

 

there are not a lot of bathing suits to be seen at a beach in bangladesh. the men and boys swim in shorts or pants. the women don't seem to swim much at all, but do put on their nice clothes.

 

two festivals

in the past two weeks, there have been two significant festivals here. the first was durga puja ("puja" means festival). durga puja is a hindu festival that celebrates a multi-armed female deity who rides a lion and kills a demon. the celebration of durga puja lasts about a week. along with some other professors, i went to a hindu temple one night during the celebration. there was a priest performing rites before a statue of the goddess, and music and dancing.

last night was a buddhist festival of lanterns. there are large lanterns, each with a flame at the bottom. they are released into the sky, like mini hot air balloons. the festival took place in front of the main buddhist temple in chittagong. there was music and dancing in the streets.

as the festival continues, there are dozens of lanterns floating away into the night sky. as they rise up and are carried by the wind, they form a staggered series of lights, silently floating higher and higher, until they look like distant stars.

i shot video at both of these festivals, and i think the videos are better than the photos. they certainly gives a better sense of the atmosphere - the music and crowds and energy. but the internet here is so slow that i can't upload video. perhaps i can show some of you when i am back in the states.