Eid Mubarak!
A few weekends ago I took a short trip over to New Delhi, India to see the sights, eat some paneer masala, and of course get my picture in front of the Taj Mahal. India was great, and the paneer was amazing, but there were quite a few travel disasters, like a booking mistake out of our control that meant we missed a flight and had to stay overnight in the Calcutta airport, just to name one. I was surprised at how much better the infrastructure of New Delhi was than Dhaka’s, although I stand by my belief that Bangla people are the nicest in the world. Sorry India, you get points for having Uber drivers who actually use the map, but Bangla people are just so kind and helpful.
The Taj Mahal was amazing! I was preparing myself mentally to be a little bit disappointed because anything iconic can be really overrated (looking at you Mona Lisa), but it was just as great as all the Instagram pictures would have you believe. The stone work is just really beautiful.
The next weekend, Dhaka basically shut down as everyone left to celebrate Eid, the end of Ramadan. My roommate and I were invited to go with our friend’s family out to their extended family’s home in Barisal—a 6 ish hour drive from Dhaka depending on how fast the ferry leaves and how bad the traffic is. It was amazing to get out of the capital for a few days and gorge on ripe, fresh mangos. My friend’s family runs a local non-profit there, and we got to see how they manage an orphanage, a natal health clinic, and nutrition training for parents and children.
At work, I’m compiling case studies of human trafficking survivors and their journeys through the justice system. Also, I get to attend one of the police trainings that we facilitate this week, so that will really interesting. We train on how to rescue trafficking victims and investigate trafficking cases.