Long time, no see!

Hello!

I’m sorry it has been so long since my last post…between internet difficulties, traveling, and moving to a new city I haven’t been able to update my blog in a while. But I’m excited to share what has been going on recently!

Language School

      At the end of December, I finished my language program. Despite the hard work, I really loved my language class. The teachers were great, and I feel like I have benefited tremendously from the program. I can speak, read, and write in Bangla, which is both useful and fun. Though I can’t communicate very sophisticatedly, I enjoy using my new found Bangla skills, and I find that it really helps me connect with people here on a whole different level. I’m excited about continuing to practice Bangla, and hopefully I’ll pick up more of the language during my time here.  During my language class, I loved getting to know my conversation partner. Reemana has become a good friend, and she always spoils me with sweet gifts. She is planning on coming to visit me in Chittagong, and I’m looking forward to seeing her again. I’ve missed her since I left Dhaka! I think the feeling of friendship is reciprocated, considering she once matter-of-factly mentioned that she would still hang out with me even if she wasn’t getting paid to be my friend : )

 Reemana and I doing some homework and enjoying pitha (a local winter sweet)

Chittagong

In early/mid January I moved to a new city to begin my teaching placement. I have been placed in the city of Chittagong, where I am teaching freshmen level English at Independent University. Chittagong is a wonderful city. Located in the hill tract region of Bangladesh, Chittagong is a seaport city with some nice beaches. It’s very green, and compared to Dhaka, it’s much slower paced. While I loved my time in the capital, I’m really enjoying Chittagong, which has more of a small town feel. Granted, there are still 5.5 million people here in Chittagong, which is the second largest city in Bangaldesh. But after living in Dhaka, which has more than 16 million people, I’m finding that my definition of “small town” is relative.

 my neighborhood in Chittagong

Me and my friend, Molly, on a boat in Old Dhaka. Here in Chittagong, Molly also happens to be my roommate, travel buddy, and fellow Modern Family addict.

Teaching

I’m really enjoying being back in the swing of teaching! I love my students, and I’m excited to spend more time with them over the semester. As far as my job goes, I wear a couple of different hats. At IUB (my university), I teach freshmen level English, where the focus is on listening and speaking. Though there is quite a range of ability in my classes, most students speak and write well. In addition to my classes, I am responsible for developing a writing center here at the university. Also, I am working at the Language Proficiency Center. This is an organization that offers additional English education to madrassa students. (Madrassa schools are Islamic schools that operate autonomously outside of the national school system). Typically, madrassa students have little access to sufficient English education, which thus puts them at a disadvantage in terms of their ability to get into good universities or to obtain certain jobs (and this ultimately affects their socioeconomic status, etc). The LPC is unique because it seeks to reach both madrassa students and madrassa teachers. Here, I work with a class of secondary students and a class of madrassa teachers. I am so excited to have the opportunity to work here…the students and teachers are all so kind, welcoming, driven, and committed. I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to spend time with them, and I’m always inspired by their drive for learning. And lastly, I work at the American Corner. Established by EducationUSA, the American Corner is a resource center for the Chittagong Community (and it also happens to be located on my university’s campus). There is a library, computers, and various programming for students and the community. I am working alongside Molly (the other Fulbrighter placed in Chittagong) and William (an English Language Fellow) to establish programming that offers cultural and English language based educational opportunities. We are the first Fulbrighters placed here, and the American Corner just opened at the end of January, so we are starting from scratch! It will be exciting to see how the program grows and develops.

 Me with some madrassa students at the LPC

some of the madrassa teachers from the teachers' class at the LPC

the American Corner

I hope to be able to continuously share about my classes, students, and experiences at these places. I will keep you posted as the semester progresses! 

Traveling

I’ve gotten to do lots of fun traveling, including trips to Dubai, Sri Lanka, Cox’s Bazar, and Sri Mongol. Because this post is getting insanely long, I’ll save those for another day! But I will include some pictures from Sri Lank and Sri Mongol as a sneak peek. Currently, I’m getting SO excited to meet my parents and Laura (Susan, you will be very missed!!) in Bangkok! After a few days in Thailand, I’ll bring them back to Bangladesh and give them a grand tour of Dhaka and Chittagong. It will be wonderful to see them, and I’m looking forward to seeing 4/5 of the Tuberville family take on Asia. 

Galle Fort in Sri Lanka

Weaver in a Manipuri village near Sri Mongol, Bangladesh

 From now on, I hope to be able to backtrack and share about the places and things I’ve experienced in the past couple of months!

Life lately...

The past couple of weeks have flown by! My language program is very intensive, but I'm really enjoying learning Bangla. And slowly but surely, I'm making progress! It's definitely challenging, but I'm having a lot of fun trying to learn Bangla and immerse myself in the language.

They're keeping us really busy around here. I'm in three language classes, which focus on reading, writing, and speaking. In addition, we've all been assigned a conversation partner, whom we meet with 10-20 hours per a week outside of class. My partner's name is Reemana, and I'm really enjoying getting to know her. She definitely keeps me on my toes, but I greatly appreciate all that I'm learning from her! Also, I'm participating in a weekly teachers' training program that aims to provide us future teachers with a deeper understanding of the structure of the Bangladeshi education system, while simultaneously educating us on issues that are particularly relevant for teaching in this region. In the next couple of weeks, I will begin guest teaching at various local high schools as part of my placement process. All that to say, there are a lot of exciting things going on!

Reemana and I having lunch at her home. I'm still mastering the art of eating with my hands...

New friends Mishti and Reemana, along with some other students from my university, took me on an excursion to see some new parts of Dhaka.

Everybody here is gearing up for the upcoming Eid holiday. We have a week of vacation, so tomorrow morning (bright and early at 5 am) I'm going to my friend's village, Noakali. I'm incredibly excited to get out of the city for a little while and to see what village life is like. After a couple of days in the village, I'll head to Dubai to visit with a dear family friend. I'm very excited to share about my travels when I return!

Happy Eid!

Made it to Dhaka!

So I officially made it! I've been here for about a week, and I've really enjoyed exploring the city. Dhaka is a happening place with lots to see, do, and experience. The people here are friendly, and I appreciate how willing they are to help me get around and how enthusiastic they are to share Bangladeshi culture with me!

view from my roof

park across the street from my building

I'm looking forward to eventually teaching English and also partnering with some NGOs and development organizations here who are doing some fascinating work in educational development, particularly in providing education for women.  But for the first two months of my time here, my primary focus will be my Bangla language classes. My classes are at a local university here, and we focus on reading, writing, and speaking. Learning a language in a different script is HARD, but I'm really enjoying it so far! Needless to say, I'll be studying a lot in the next couple of months!

my Bangla homework

I'm living in a neighborhood called Baridhara. It's close to my school, which is convenient, and it's in a nice part of town. All of the Fulbright language students live in my apartment building. It's a fun group, and it's nice to have some familiar faces around!

I've been having a great experience so far, and I'm really loving my time here. The first week has mostly just been getting settled, learning my way around Dhaka, orientations through the embassy, and the start of my language class. More pictures and details to come later, but I just wanted to give you a quick update on my first week!