Rude awakenings

One of the British girls and I went to the big market on Saturday to buy material to get clothes made. Since our home stay is coming up soon and work is also fast approaching, we’ll need more traditional clothes to wear. As we tested out our new Bengali phrases, we managed to communicate we needed a rickshaw and also negotiated on the price! The next thing we knew, we were off on our own to the market – a nice break from the regimented schedule we have in place for the next month. As we spun through the streets we both realized even more today, that the intense staring still continues. Even though it’s curiosity that we’re foreigners for the most part, it’s definitely a hard thing for all of us to get used to. Something else even harder is the amount of begging on the streets. Children as young as three or four run through the traffic, selling popcorn, beads, flowers, anything to make a few Taka. Today was the worst though… We passed a physically deformed man begging by the roadside, sitting in dirt, and he must have only weighed about 60lbs. I have never in my life seen someone so emaciated, it was truly horrific. The sadder thing was that people didn’t even notice him, pay him a second glance. My heart ached. Yes another indication of the haves and have-nots here. But this was the tip of the iceberg today regarding rude awakenings…

I checked my emails at the end of our shopping day at the VSO office, just a few blocks away from the induction flat, and someone must have followed me as I was walking home. Shopping bags in hand, I walked through our main gate and up the stairs to the flat, when all of a sudden, I felt hands grab my hips from behind. At first I didn’t realize what was going on but as I turned around I saw that it was a young Bangladeshi guy, maybe about twenty years old. I shouted out for him to let go of me and we fought for a bit as he groped me but I kept shouting, and managed to break free and then I ran up the stairs as he panicked and ran back down the stairs. I was shaking trying to get my key into the door of the flat and I could barely hold them in my hand. Eventually I got in, out of breath, and in complete shock. Thankfully some of my flatmates were home and I told them what happened. In terms of VSO process I filed a report with them, the police have also been informed and I’m being chaperoned every where I go right now. It’s unsettling to say the least. Yesterday was a bad day. I couldn't even email anyone to tell them what had happened. I was just starting to feel a bit settled and now this…

Harassment here is something that all women here have to deal with but being a western woman makes it even harder… you never think it’s going to happen to you. When I walked to the VSO office on Thursday night to meet the others to get up to Bagha club, I got a lot of harassment as I walked through the streets, far more than I would during the day. It was really uncomfortable. It’s suddenly becoming painfully clear that being out alone, even at dusk, is not an option here. The other flat that I’m trying to move into with the British girl and two guys (one from India, one from Uganda) is something I’m going to push for even harder. Fingers crossed that gets sorted out this week.

I think my independence is going to take a beating here and that’s probably one of the hardest things I’m going to have to come to terms with.