Matlab is, much like Dhaka, a place of astounding contradictions. It is also vastly different from Dhaka in nearly every way.
Matlab (pronounced like MOtlOb - with the 'a's sounding like 'all') is a mostly rural area, that is similar in structure to a county in the US, meaning that it is a region made up of small villages and towns and is located within a larger region which might be more similar to a state. There are around 225,000 people who live in Matlab, give or take, making it slightly smaller in population than Lincoln, NE, my hometown, and around the same size as Chiayi, Taiwan, where I lived for a year in 2007-2008. It is around 158 square miles in size, so it is far less dense in population than either Lincoln (at approximately 90 square miles) and Chiayi (at 23.18 square miles!!!!!!!!!!). Compare that to Dhaka at around 140 square miles and … wait for it … over 7 million people. Major difference.
Matlab (pronounced like MOtlOb - with the 'a's sounding like 'all') is a mostly rural area, that is similar in structure to a county in the US, meaning that it is a region made up of small villages and towns and is located within a larger region which might be more similar to a state. There are around 225,000 people who live in Matlab, give or take, making it slightly smaller in population than Lincoln, NE, my hometown, and around the same size as Chiayi, Taiwan, where I lived for a year in 2007-2008. It is around 158 square miles in size, so it is far less dense in population than either Lincoln (at approximately 90 square miles) and Chiayi (at 23.18 square miles!!!!!!!!!!). Compare that to Dhaka at around 140 square miles and … wait for it … over 7 million people. Major difference.
I am currently staying in the guesthouse on the campus of ICDDR,B (located under the big 'H' on the map), the research hospital that sponsored my visa and is supporting my work here. The campus is made up of the hospital, many offices, the guesthouse, a mosque, and a few other smaller buildings. The campus is situated just off the main road in Matlab town, which is by far the least rural area in Matlab. One must cross a bridge and pass security guards to step onto campus and people who are not ICDDRB employees or hospital patients are not allowed to enter. It is slightly removed from the chaos of the main road and a beautiful, quiet, and very safe place. However, lest anyone get the notion that I'm living in the lap of luxury, let's get back to the contradictions.
As soon as I step off the bridge, I enter a different world from the one of the ICDDRB campus: horns honking, people yelling greetings to each other, rickshaw pullers and CNG drivers negotiating prices with passengers, all kinds of vehicles speeding past (busses, cars, CNGs, rickshaws, carts full of absolutely anything you could think of with a couple of guys perched on top), business of small shopkeepers taking place across the road, and anything else that may be going on a particular day. Heading down the main road towards the market is an amazing and overwhelming experience all in itself, never mind the experience of actually being in the market. Woodworking shops, CNG repair garages, welding shops, small convenience-type shops (NOT a 7-11, more like a square room with a counter facing the street, where you ask for whatever you need and the shopkeeper grabs it for you), roadside carts roasting peanuts, shops with copy machines from the mid-90s cranking away, roaming goats, cows, kids, adults. Some people stare at me, many more smile, lots try out English phrases that they know ("Hello, how are you? What is your country?"). If I'm really lucky that day, I'll see someone I know on the street who will stop to say hello for a moment, before we both continue on our respective ways. All the while, as there is little to no sidewalk - only road and storefronts, I am staying very aware of the traffic on the street, listening for horns or bells behind me that indicate I should get the heck out of the way. There is almost no way to see everything on one trip. After many a walk down the main road, I still see things I haven't noticed before.
With an easy left-hand turn off of the main road, however, there is yet another world hiding from the gaze of the unsuspecting outsider. Once again, there is peace and quiet. Ok, maybe not quiet, but peace to be sure. Walking down the back roads, I encounter family life in Matlab, and I feel at home. Houses are on either side of the road, parents, neighbors, and older siblings are walking leisurely down the dirt paths with little kids (the chubby ones are the best), and young boys and girls are heading home from school in their matching uniforms. There is, of course, the occasional errant chicken that runs across the road, scaring the bejeezus out of me, but never mind that…
Matlab is a beautiful, welcoming place, with seeming chaos a two minute walk from family life. Many people live very, very hard lives here - so much harder than I could imagine. Some struggle to provide food, clothes, education, and necessary medical care for themselves and their children. Even still, so very many people who I have met (both in my research and through friends) are some of the kindest, warmest, and funniest I know. Pictures can never do justice to the beauty and the hardships here. With a backdrop of wide rivers, bright green rice fields, and tropical jungles, people in Matlab can labor all day and come home with 300 taka (the equivalent of $3.85).
As for my own experience, I notice that I feel incredibly secure and grounded, but sometimes intensely vulnerable; always cared for deeply by those I am close to here, and sometimes frustrated beyond words; at peace and restless from one moment to the next; so far away from my family and friends, but at home.
As soon as I step off the bridge, I enter a different world from the one of the ICDDRB campus: horns honking, people yelling greetings to each other, rickshaw pullers and CNG drivers negotiating prices with passengers, all kinds of vehicles speeding past (busses, cars, CNGs, rickshaws, carts full of absolutely anything you could think of with a couple of guys perched on top), business of small shopkeepers taking place across the road, and anything else that may be going on a particular day. Heading down the main road towards the market is an amazing and overwhelming experience all in itself, never mind the experience of actually being in the market. Woodworking shops, CNG repair garages, welding shops, small convenience-type shops (NOT a 7-11, more like a square room with a counter facing the street, where you ask for whatever you need and the shopkeeper grabs it for you), roadside carts roasting peanuts, shops with copy machines from the mid-90s cranking away, roaming goats, cows, kids, adults. Some people stare at me, many more smile, lots try out English phrases that they know ("Hello, how are you? What is your country?"). If I'm really lucky that day, I'll see someone I know on the street who will stop to say hello for a moment, before we both continue on our respective ways. All the while, as there is little to no sidewalk - only road and storefronts, I am staying very aware of the traffic on the street, listening for horns or bells behind me that indicate I should get the heck out of the way. There is almost no way to see everything on one trip. After many a walk down the main road, I still see things I haven't noticed before.
With an easy left-hand turn off of the main road, however, there is yet another world hiding from the gaze of the unsuspecting outsider. Once again, there is peace and quiet. Ok, maybe not quiet, but peace to be sure. Walking down the back roads, I encounter family life in Matlab, and I feel at home. Houses are on either side of the road, parents, neighbors, and older siblings are walking leisurely down the dirt paths with little kids (the chubby ones are the best), and young boys and girls are heading home from school in their matching uniforms. There is, of course, the occasional errant chicken that runs across the road, scaring the bejeezus out of me, but never mind that…
Matlab is a beautiful, welcoming place, with seeming chaos a two minute walk from family life. Many people live very, very hard lives here - so much harder than I could imagine. Some struggle to provide food, clothes, education, and necessary medical care for themselves and their children. Even still, so very many people who I have met (both in my research and through friends) are some of the kindest, warmest, and funniest I know. Pictures can never do justice to the beauty and the hardships here. With a backdrop of wide rivers, bright green rice fields, and tropical jungles, people in Matlab can labor all day and come home with 300 taka (the equivalent of $3.85).
As for my own experience, I notice that I feel incredibly secure and grounded, but sometimes intensely vulnerable; always cared for deeply by those I am close to here, and sometimes frustrated beyond words; at peace and restless from one moment to the next; so far away from my family and friends, but at home.
By the way… the research is great. I'm finishing up the pre-testing of my interview documents, and once those are done, I'll be ready to roll! I can't wait!!!
Until next time…
xoxo
Katie
Until next time…
xoxo
Katie