I made it! (Like, three weeks ago…)
After a bout of the stomach flu at home (2 DAYS BEFORE LEAVING!!!), many, many tears saying goodbye to my family and Walter and Nellie, and 24+ hours of travel, I finally arrived in Dhaka with Gretchen, a fellow Mizzou grad student, and her husband Martin. We more or less hit the ground running and haven't stopped since.
The last couple of weeks have been filled with lots and lots o' Bangla language classes (my brain is almost complete mush now), trips to the office to arrange travel and research plans, running errands, and a myriad of other things.
One reason I waited so long to post was that in all of the craziness, I didn't have any pictures to share! Now I have a few…
Another reason I didn't post was that I've simply been busy and tired and unable to spend any brain power on writing.
Probably the main reason, though, is that these last couple of weeks have been a bit of an emotional roller coaster - as the beginning of any research project or move to a different place often seems to be - and I wanted to be sure to write at a time when I was in a clear and positive mental space. You know… to spare you all from having to listening to me whine… Also, I want you to know, my friends, that I am happy to be here. I don't want a bad day tainting that impression.
Some days I'm on top of the world: "Things are awesome! My project is going to be a massive success!!!" Other days are quite the opposite: "If one more thing goes wrong, I'm quitting." Not really. I wouldn't really quit. I have a flair for the dramatic. Within a week, I thought I had a freaking awesome research assistant locked down, only to find out that I was totally incapable of satisfying her only (perfectly reasonable) criteria for moving herself and her 2.5 year old daughter to rural Bangladesh for 9 months. Then I found out that my April 1st field entry date wasn't nearly as flexible as I thought it would be. (Read: I HAVE to move out of my room in the student apartment on April 1st, so I'd better find a research assistant ASAP, or me and my luggage are couch surfing for who-knows-how-long) Etc., etc. You think you've got a piece of the puzzle in place, then you don't. Lots of hopeful highs, followed by disappointing lows. But, such is life! And, truly, such is research/fieldwork/life in a different country.
Luckily, I have met some great people here and made a few good, fast friends. They save my bacon on the really challenging days (as does Google video chat ability … ahem… thank you family and Roslyn…). Also, they really enjoy trying out new restaurants, so that rocks. I've eaten some AH-MA-ZING food in Dhaka thanks to these people.
In my experience, the first month is usually the hardest. It is the time when I'm reacquainting (or newly acquainting, as the case may be) myself with a place, a language, a lifestyle, a culture, a type of work and tasks, new people, that are very different from the place I've lived most recently. Aside from the language thing, this has been the case for me no matter where I've moved; whether to Texas, Missouri, Taiwan, Bangladesh, or even back to Lincoln after being away for a while. But, finding the positives during that first month, making connections with new friends and keeping in touch with friends and loved ones at home, definitely help me through the transition.
Now, I am 3 weeks into my first month, and starting to acclimate, so things will slowly - but surely - become easier and the emotional roller coaster ride will at least slow down (because now I remember to expect that nothing is a sure thing). Also, even with the challenges, I am so very happy to be here. Dhaka is a beautiful and crazy place, full of contradictions and genuinely kind, warm people. Every day is quite literally a new adventure; sometimes it is super stressful, but I love it all the same.
Now, for good measure, I'll leave you with a final picture. A selfie taken in my bathroom mirror, intended to show off one of my new outfits. Because I'm cool like that? If you're really lucky, there will be more where this one came from.
xoxo
Katie