samedi 31 octobre 2009

Destination: Bengladesh


BANGLADESH


I visited the Bangladesh for the first time on my second month of flying. I heard so many stories from different crew that i did not know what to expect from this country and the people.

The bangali are known to be quiet violent on board. They drink a lot. All the men ask for wisky and beer. Serving alcohol was one of the hardest thing for me. As much as i was trying to avoid having the bar cart i still had to do it sometimes. Astargfullah!

As soon as i landed in Dhakka, the cleaners came on board and while they were cleaning and the crew waiting for the next crew to get onbard, cleaners started asking me for food juices anything to eat. I then understood that outside we would be asked as well. Instead of throwing the untouched food as we usually do i decided to take all the muffins, little bottles of milk, cheese...bread. We are not allowed to do this and could actually be fired for this but if your purser is somehow understanding they wont bother you with that!


When i passed the immigration, i saw kids, sick people everywhere....being kicked with a stick to stop them begging. Little kids...so young and violently hurt.



In a heartbeat all the food was gone. They all jumped all me. I was surprised to see them asking for pens.
As all the crew was getting in the bus to go to the hotel, a woman came to be with a newborn in her arms and gave it to me! what do you say to that? just heartbreaking...i of course could not take it but the mother was already gone. My purser came took the baby and gave him to the driver who gave it to the brother, im guessing.



On our way to the hotel i saw all these people in the streets and sooo much traffic. I wasnt expecting so many people in the street but from what i understood they have no where else to go since many of them sleep in streets.




On the bus our purser reminded us not to drink tap water, eat anything from the hotel and be very very cautious when going out, we were not allowed to go out alone and after 7pm. I didnt know we couldnt eat from the hotel so i didnt think about bringing food. But other girls filled theire suitcases with noodles, bread, cheese, chips...You honestly dont think about eating when you've seen so much misery outside.

In gulfair, dahkka is known to be like ive said before one of the worst destination but some enjoy it. Its a place where shopping is obviously extremly cheap if you come with ur Bahraini dinars or anything other devise. Dont be looking for quality you will be looking in vain....this is a very cheap quality of course.

So i decided to go with other girls to "the bongo bazar" a place even more crowded.



I became hysteric in this place. Old and sick people touching me while begging. Everything but touching. I could not handle this...i was afraid and scared. i've never been like this in my whole life. Bongo bazar was just too much for me. Other girls were just fine, used to it i guess...shopping like crazy. I could not concentrate in shopping at all! and even starting feeling guilty from being here. I mean how can you shop when you see all this around you. You cant even shop...they are all calling you from every side. No this is not like khan el khalili souq...when sellers call you lol!
I even paid a man to tell people not to touch me. I was scared, thinking about it now makes me laugh on how hysterical i was.

Back to the hotel after almost dying 20 times. Yes they dont know how to drive...i mean they know but in their own ways. Like if you bring a man in paris he would tell you that we dont know how to drive either!
That was a great experience to go there. I have loved being with all the kids around me...they were amazed to get candies. I met a little boy in bango bazar, not even 8 but able to speak so many different languages. He told me "my dream....is to fly in a big big plane, make money and come back to give it to my mom"
Aaaah he randomly asked me, are you muslim? I said yes...and he told me and you dad let you travel alone? that made me smile....

Here is the little boy

2 Comments:

NtN said...

MashaAllah. I've heard interesting things about the country, but never so much about the squalor. JazakaAllah khairun for sharing!!!

Ma Vie & Etc said...

This just makes me more grateful for what I have here and make me realise that people have much more hardships to go through in life. Thank you for sharing this.