The Expat Life.

Ok, whats next? Continuation of the basics, everyone always asks me if i like my assignment, and what do i miss, so i will sum it all up here:

Things i miss (from living in America):

1. Driving & my car! Expats are NOT allowed to drive. they drive on the wrong side of the road here (right side) and the bangladeshis do not follow traffic lights, lanes, signs, you name it. So it's too risky for expats to drive here.

2. Sandwiches! i'm pretty simple as a person, so my whole life, a sandwich with a side of chips for lunch every day made me really happy. not having this available here... has killed me. 

3. American movies and TV shows. you watch, i will feel like some alien when i move back to america. right now, i am surviving with satellite from India. they have 5 american TV channels with HBO. believe it or not, The Simpsons made it to india! =)

4. Walking around freely without everyone staring at you. depending where in bdesh you are, foreigners are rare and when they see one, they are just so amazed. sometimes they stop you and ask to take a picture with you. Once, I was with my friend who's a red-head, oh man, she brought in a huge crowd.

Things i will miss (from this expat assignment):

1. Having a driver. i know, i am a hypocrite. i have 2 drivers, one for day and one for night shift. Nur Alam and Alam Hossain. just my luck, they are both called 'Alam' for short. it's sorta nice to just sit back and relax. oh and of course, i will def miss my drivers. they are awesome. they like to teach me bengali whenever we sit in traffic.  

2. Having a full time maid. i am just going to admit it up front, having a maid has just spoiled me. now don't hate! it's super cheap to have one here and it's a cultural thing here for everyone to have one. even my maid has her own maid! anyway, she cleans, cooks and does all my grocery shopping. Her name is Gitila and she's really sweet.  

3. The expat vacation package. back in the US, i only had 2 weeks of vacation. now, i get 3x the vacation, plus all the week long holidays, it's 4x the amount! so, what comes with this is also missing all the traveling i get to do out here. how can anyone go back to 'normal' after this! ;)

4. their Masala Chai tea. black tea with milk and sugar and it's so good! this coming from a girl that didnt really drink tea back in america.

5. Bangladesh pineapples and mangos! i cant go back to kroger's pineapples after this. it's so different from the states. 

Obviously, there's a lot more to my lists, but those are the key ones i think. i'll save the rest for another blog post! 

miss you all. lil. 

My First Post! Finally.

Hello everyone! i can't believe it took me about 1 year to finally post, hah! thanks to Heidi for introducing this site to me.

First off, yes, i am still alive out here! i am really sorry if i've been MIA and haven't responded to your email in forever. i am super behind on life. bare with me, as this blogger is suppose to help with updating all of you on what's going on in my side of the world.  =)

i don't even know where to start. okay, let's start off with the basics...

Do you know where Bangladesh is? like did you know it's a country? Because to be honest, i thought it was a city in India when i APPLIED for the job. ha! nope, it is a country just west of India. It use to be 'West Pakistan' until when it won it's independence.

This is a third world country and it is very, very poor :( i mean, it's really sad when you see people bare foot on the street cuz they can't afford shoes and people beg for money everywhere. However, it does makes you appreciate your life more and not worry about the shallow things.

On the flip side, everything is dirt cheap here. i mean like, going back to the states, i will feel ripped off. you can get 25lbs of veggies for $4-5 bucks here, which would be $35 bucks back at Kroger. Manicures and pedicures are $5 each, at a nice salon too! you give a picture of a nice table from Crate and Barrel and the carpenter will charge you less than 50 bucks to imitate the same darn thing. china dishes is made in bdesh and 1 full dinner set (6 piece) is 60 bucks. i dont need china, but i'm gonna get it cuz how can you not? ;)

Next, this country is 95% Muslim. So, they don't sell alcohol or pork here. yup, it's a dry country. But, that doesn't stop the expats here, as my coworkers are stocked with tons of liquor from their sea shipment! but, i do miss pork. i was never a bacon fan, but when you don't have it available anymore, i suddenly am a huge fan.

i live in Dhaka, which is the capital, a city! so, dont worry, i am not living in rice paddies where the local villages are. However, that's why my gas facility is, in a town called Sylhet. just think of beautiful green fields and then ... boom... right in the middle of beauty is our darn gas plant & wellpads. oh chevron!

now, you're probably wondering what the heck i am doing out here. :) well, why not? hah. if you got a chance to take a break from your routine life, wouldn't you?? i am learning so much out here about asia and loving it! ok, i am asian, yes. but i didn't realize how american i was until i lived out here and find myself craving a cheeseburger! anyway...

ok, i supposedly got 1 more year left in this assignment so i will try to post as much as possible, about bangladesh, the people, culture, my travels, everything! so, hope it's entertaining!

miss everyone back in the states!

lil.