Selfies with cows and scares

 According to newspapers, life in Dhaka is becoming normal again. Locals are back in the streets, stores and cafees. Dhaka is as it should be: crazy busy, loud,colorful, sleepless, never ending - an Asian NYC.
Still, I have a feeling that somebody or something is tearing apart the society. Please, let me be wrong.



Eid-ul-Azha, the second biggest religious festival of the Muslims, is just round the corner. Cows, sheep, goats, camels will invade the city. Social media will be filled with cowfies - selfies with cows, a big thing in this country.
The  creatures will first be decorated, celebrated, cowfied and then slaughtered with a machete in the street. And finally served at lavish dinners.



After the brutal and bloody terror attack two months ago I am afraid that Eid this time will be a traumatic experience to many.  Bloody machetes and carving of carcasses in the streets are not exactly healing things.
Last year , the parking lot in our previous building became first a cowshed and then a slaughterhouse. Days after the celebrations, househelps were washing bowels and crushing bones in the basement. Weeks after, I felt the smell of blood.



We foreigners still need to stay at home. No stores, no cafees, no walking for us.
Therefore it was good to get a little breather in Myanmar a couple of weeks ago. One day with meetings, one day with sightseeing. Good to take pictures again. 
Based on thin and hasty first impressions, Myanmar looks like the new Thailand. Wonderful nature, rich history and genuine smiles. Amazing drive in a country that only recently was under the rule of an oppressive military junta.