Lisbon, Kolkata, and Sonargaon in One Month
February was always the longest month of the year for most of my life-the winter doldrums, combined with an uneventful sports calendar, and every single person's least favorite holiday made the shortest month seem interminable. The shift towards associating positive thoughts towards February began when Marianella appeared in my life (hey, Valentine's Day isn't so bad!), gained momentum when we moved to Peru (summer vacation!) and has certainly moved into the range of being a pretty good month (we'll see what my thoughts are next year when we're experiencing a real winter again in Beijing).
Kolkata (Calcutta)
Shortly after returning from Portugal, a three day weekend presented itself on our school calendar due to a local holiday. Along with our friend Sabahat and her son Zarar, we had scoped out this long weekend well in advance to visit the "City of Joy", the former capital of British India which lies just a half-hour plane ride from Dhaka.
Victoria Memorial:
We spent our first day visiting the homes of two of Kolkata's most renowned citizens, one a native, the other an immigrant, both recipients of the Nobel Prize. In the morning we went to the vast estate of Rabindranath Tagore, whose poetry and prose brought him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, the first non-European to gain such an honor.
Bust of Tagore at his estate:
With Sabahat at Tagore's home:
Sabahat and Zarar:
Zarar must have a future as a wedding photographer; this pose was his idea:
Following lunch, we visited The Mother's House, where Mother Teresa established the Missionaries of Charity in 1950 and lived and worked for the rest of her adult life, tending to the destitute of Kolkata's streets. The grounds remain in active use, so while we were visiting the museum and gazing into the modest bedroom of Mother Teresa, the sisters that lived on site continued their daily work around us and a Catholic mass began during our visit. Separately, Marianella and I experienced a surrealism as we edged into the congregation primarily made up of sisters in the familiar white and blue saris. Growing up in our respective homes, Mother Teresa was the embodiment of a living saint and when she received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, our childhood was in the midst of the height of her esteem. As the priest conducted the mass and the sisters sung the hymns, and we sat a few feet away from Mother Teresa's tomb, it almost became overwhelming, a moment where we found ourselves truly in awe of where our lives had taken us, from the little children who gazed at the magazines and TV screens while Mother Teresa tended to the poor of this unimaginable faraway land to treading on the same ground as this hallowed, larger-than-life figure. Could our parents, our families, our teachers ever imagine we would visit here one day? The simple enormity of the moment didn't register for us until then, even though we had planned well in advance for this visit. We have visited many sites in our time abroad which have been awe-inspiring, but none that registered on the personal level like this simple house in the teeming crowded streets of this old city.
Following mass, at Mother Teresa's tomb:
Sisters filing out after mass:
Sonargaon
Never heard of Sonargaon? Don't feel bad, neither had we, and it was a mere hour's drive from our home. Looking for an easy day trip to do on Marianella's birthday, our friend Hamida suggested this option and we were not disappointed. First ruled by a Buddhist in the 13th century, it later was established as the capital of Bengal in the 14th century for a period of time when under Muslim rule, before ceding control to the Mughals who shifted the capital to another site. In the 19th century, the British estabished Panam City as a trading center for cotton fabrics, where Hindu merchants built their homes in the European fashion of the time.
Bamboo school in a village:
Children from the neighborhood:
How does that history translate to today? Quite peacefully, as the area has largely been abandoned and the ancient homes and temples are uninhabited and turned over to nature (although Panam City is still somewhat preserved). It is easy to see the former grandeur of these edifices, stationed so closely to the villages which we would stroll through and where we were so warmly received. We have lived in Dhaka for nearly four years, and along with our excursions on the river, this was the most peaceful time we have experienced in the country.
Landlord's Estate:
Hindu Temple:
On our Walk Through the Village:
Panam City:
Next Stop. . .
We are quite excited for our next trip, which happens at the end of this work week, when we embark on a trip home to Minnesota, arriving in time for Easter which coincides with my Mom's 85th birthday (and niece Heidi's birthday too!). If you happen to be in Chatfield the following Saturday afternoon, stop on by the Catholic Church basement to help us celebrate her birthday along with my Uncle John's 80th.
Until next time, take care everyone!
This February ranked pretty high on the chart, due to several short getaways, both far (Portugal*) and near (a day trip to Bangladesh's old capital). Have I piqued your interest? Hopefully so. . .
* So, Portugal happened in late January which is pretty much February anyway, right?
Lisbon
Along with two of my colleagues at AISD, we attended the International School Counselors Association Conference at the end of January. Not only did we get to network, increase our knowledge and rekindle old friendships (shout out to Holli Hebl, who I go all the way back to UW-Stout grad school days!), but we were in Lisbon. Hey, I don't decide where these conferences are held, I just go where they tell me to go.
Before dinner one night, with Christ the King statue in the background:
Before dinner one night, with Christ the King statue in the background:
My experience travelling in Europe has been exclusively tied to various counseling conferences and always are quite rapid-I would imagine if I totaled the number of hours in transit to get to the conference versus time spent in Lisbon, it would be pretty close. While we were kept quite busy for our two days of the conference, we were able to have nearly the entire day free to wander the city on our day flying back to Bangladesh, and we took advantage of that gift from the airline scheduler.
Belem Tower:
Our free day in Lisbon unfolded in wonderful fashion, as the skies were clear blue with a crispness in the morning air that gave way to roll up your sleeves warmth in the afternoon. Lisbon provided a similar experience to my other ventures in Europe, which is to say, fully charming. Wandering the narrow, winding cobblestone streets, we marveled at castles and cathedrals, admired the intricate tile work, bought souvenirs from exuberant Bangladeshi merchants (if you are buying souvenirs in Lisbon, you are most likely buying them from stores run by natives of Bangladesh. By chance, I wore a school t-shirt out for the day and was continually greeted with warm smiles and inquiries and in one store, I garnered free sodas for my gang), dined al fresco, and soaked up as much as we could of the historic city on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. Yet another city to return to with Marianella when the time allows.
The God Bread was deserving of its name:
The God Bread was deserving of its name:
Kolkata (Calcutta)
Shortly after returning from Portugal, a three day weekend presented itself on our school calendar due to a local holiday. Along with our friend Sabahat and her son Zarar, we had scoped out this long weekend well in advance to visit the "City of Joy", the former capital of British India which lies just a half-hour plane ride from Dhaka.
Victoria Memorial:
We spent our first day visiting the homes of two of Kolkata's most renowned citizens, one a native, the other an immigrant, both recipients of the Nobel Prize. In the morning we went to the vast estate of Rabindranath Tagore, whose poetry and prose brought him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, the first non-European to gain such an honor.
Bust of Tagore at his estate:
With Sabahat at Tagore's home:
Sabahat and Zarar:
Following lunch, we visited The Mother's House, where Mother Teresa established the Missionaries of Charity in 1950 and lived and worked for the rest of her adult life, tending to the destitute of Kolkata's streets. The grounds remain in active use, so while we were visiting the museum and gazing into the modest bedroom of Mother Teresa, the sisters that lived on site continued their daily work around us and a Catholic mass began during our visit. Separately, Marianella and I experienced a surrealism as we edged into the congregation primarily made up of sisters in the familiar white and blue saris. Growing up in our respective homes, Mother Teresa was the embodiment of a living saint and when she received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, our childhood was in the midst of the height of her esteem. As the priest conducted the mass and the sisters sung the hymns, and we sat a few feet away from Mother Teresa's tomb, it almost became overwhelming, a moment where we found ourselves truly in awe of where our lives had taken us, from the little children who gazed at the magazines and TV screens while Mother Teresa tended to the poor of this unimaginable faraway land to treading on the same ground as this hallowed, larger-than-life figure. Could our parents, our families, our teachers ever imagine we would visit here one day? The simple enormity of the moment didn't register for us until then, even though we had planned well in advance for this visit. We have visited many sites in our time abroad which have been awe-inspiring, but none that registered on the personal level like this simple house in the teeming crowded streets of this old city.
Following mass, at Mother Teresa's tomb:
Sisters filing out after mass:
On our second and last full day in Kolkata, we woke up early to take a walking tour of the city before the sweltering heat would fully engulf us. As Kolkata was marked as the capital of British India, immigrants from all destinations and religions pored into the city and our tour on this day took us through the multi-layered melting pot that was Old Kolkata. It was fascinating from a historical context, but equally so in its modern iteration. As we were gazing through the photos taken that morning, we were struck by the faces-some full of joy, others not so joyful. They speak better than I.
Sonargaon
Never heard of Sonargaon? Don't feel bad, neither had we, and it was a mere hour's drive from our home. Looking for an easy day trip to do on Marianella's birthday, our friend Hamida suggested this option and we were not disappointed. First ruled by a Buddhist in the 13th century, it later was established as the capital of Bengal in the 14th century for a period of time when under Muslim rule, before ceding control to the Mughals who shifted the capital to another site. In the 19th century, the British estabished Panam City as a trading center for cotton fabrics, where Hindu merchants built their homes in the European fashion of the time.
Bamboo school in a village:
Children from the neighborhood:
How does that history translate to today? Quite peacefully, as the area has largely been abandoned and the ancient homes and temples are uninhabited and turned over to nature (although Panam City is still somewhat preserved). It is easy to see the former grandeur of these edifices, stationed so closely to the villages which we would stroll through and where we were so warmly received. We have lived in Dhaka for nearly four years, and along with our excursions on the river, this was the most peaceful time we have experienced in the country.
Landlord's Estate:
Hindu Temple:
On our Walk Through the Village:
Panam City:
Next Stop. . .
We are quite excited for our next trip, which happens at the end of this work week, when we embark on a trip home to Minnesota, arriving in time for Easter which coincides with my Mom's 85th birthday (and niece Heidi's birthday too!). If you happen to be in Chatfield the following Saturday afternoon, stop on by the Catholic Church basement to help us celebrate her birthday along with my Uncle John's 80th.
Until next time, take care everyone!
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