As a guest one is treated like a king, no matter how poor or rich the host is. Surprising and very touching.
Not only are the guests served massive amounts of food but also gifts. It's hard to know how to express enough gratitude when one leaves with both stomach and hands full. And has only newcomer embarrassment to offer in exchange. Lesson to learn here.
We were in a heavy hospitality rain during a few days trip to Chittagong Hill Tracts last week. The Hill Tracts is an area in the southeastern corner of Bangladesh, bordering India and Myanmar.
Banana trees grow in the slopes, the nature is green, the air fresh. Cows and goats wander in the middle of the roads. There are vast forest areas, blue waterways and nice hiking routes.
The region is beautiful but poor and troubled. Years of conflicts between the Bengali and the indigenous population have harmed the economic and social development.
We (again I was allowed to join my husband on a field trip) visited the town of Rangamati and a little island in the Kaptai Lake, a man made lake created as a part of a hydroelectric project.
The inhabitants of the island have very little but thanks to a development program the housing, income and education situation is better.
A teacher who earns 2000 taka (25 euro) a month was teaching the kids about the different countries in the world. Many places seemed to be rather remote from this island.
The parents have also learnt how to present their issues to the authorities. Most of them had never been into a public office before.
And they had a lot of issues, can just think how desperate the local officials are now.
Otherwise the government is still blocking the social media. The blockade is not totally effective thanks to VPN services.
Hope that everybody takes the Prime Minister's photo as their temporary profile picture when Facebook is back.
Yes, bangladeshis are so hospitable. Sometime it's too much that it seems like they are already forcing you to eat or finish all the food :-)
ReplyDeleteSo true.
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