I'm leaving

hey,

so this is my last post out of Bangladesh. Today I did a really nice trip through the old part of Dhaka. Because it is a national holiday there was no bad trffic at all but on the other hands many stores were closed, so I didnt see everything. I bought some books and DVDs which are just really cheap over here. I spend all my money so I hope I wont face any unexpected costs tomorrow. Im looking forward to come home. But on the other side, I had a really great time and I dont really know if I want to have the daily life back. But I dont have a choice. The taxi picks me up at 6 am, the flight goes at 8.30, I will have a stop over at Doha, Qatar and then be in Frankfurt around 6.30 pm (German time).

C U

PS:this is not the very last post

Dhaka, one last time

hye,

I'm back in Dhaka. The trip was very interesting, although I did not see much new things, but it was nice to have more time to talk to the people at the village. I went with a guy from Austria, and it was nice to talk German for him without anybody understanding us, for example about the food we didnt like but had to pretend it was good because we were invited. We have a better impression of Grameen and the system now, and although you cannot get a really honest picture how the people of the village thing about Grameen it is impressive to hear all the development they did during the last years. I will write my whole impression of Grameen as soon as I'm back in Germany.
Now I have 2 days left. Tomorrow I will spend the whole day at the bank to hope to see Prof. Yunus. The day after tomorrow I will go to Old-Dhaka and do sight-seeing for the last time. And on Friday I already fly back.

See you then, or not.

last week

so I'll leave today at 4 to a 3 days field trip outside of Dhaka. I'm exited to have that experience and I'm happy it worked out because of the curfew and the fact that things got a little bit stressed because I leave soon and still have many things to do.
I'll be back on Tuesday late afternoon.

Back to normal

I just wanted to say that everything seems to be back to normal. After a huge monsoon rain this morning, the streets are crowded again and the silence is gone. I´m looking forward to have a change from writting my paper all the time and do this trip to the village on sunday. my last week has began!

Staying at the hotel

The situation has not got better. The curfew is still up and they shut down the mobile connections and even the internet (its just one for these 2 hours) to stop the students from organising themselfes.
Hope things will get better on sunday because Im planning on doing a field trip.
I'm fine!

Curfew and flying stones

so the situation in Dhaka is not that easy at the moment. On Monday there started a fight between the students of Dhaka University and the Police during a soccer match. Then yesterday the situation got worse and all the students of different universities in Dhaka join to fight protest against the police which got supported by the military. They shoot with rubber ammunition and throw big stones at each other. 2 hours ago there was a fight in front of our hotel so that me and some other intern had to stay at the bank for a while.





Now the situation (at least here in front of the hotel) is a little bit relaxed. We could go back to the hotel and now they have a curfew in Dhaka, which means we are not allowed to leave the hotel. Everybody is watching live TV to see how the situation develops. Hopefully we can go out tonight, because I'm invited to dinner and lets say I just made some bad experiences with the hotel. OK, so I am fine and I'm sure I will survive the almost last week! For more information check out google news.
Maybe I'll go to the pool later which is on the roof, so don't worry!

2nd half

so its been a long time since I wrote the last time...
For the weekend I did a trip to Srimangal, its in the north east of Bangladesh. It was very nice to get out of Dhaka. We rent some bikes and then went outside of Srimangla to visit tea gardnes and a tea factory. We also participated at and Hindu festival, where everybodz sang songs and we got some more informations about the religion, which was very interesting. And then we went to a close village to talk to people who took credits from the Grameen bank, because usually when we visit them someone from Grameen is with us, so we dont really get honest answers. It was very interesting to hear also about the negative side.
At the moment I write the paper. And finally I get a little bit stressed because I fear to not complete it on time.
Many of the interns I spent a lot of time with leave during the next days which is sad, but this way I have more time to write and I will leave soon anyways (10 more days).
I still hope I will have a chance to see Prof. Yunus, its not for sure now, but things look good.
Pictures still dont work for some reason, so I will have to upload them once Im back in Germany.
Next week I will probably do a 3 days field trip, which means I will stay for 2 nights at a village and experience Bangladesh culture more closely.
Now I have to get ready and then I go to the bank.
ciao

Mobile phone

One more thing:
I bought a mobile phone card, so if you feel like talking to me, just give me a call: 008801727522296 The whole number has to be dialed in like that.
(For call-by-call numbers see billiger-telefonieren)

Weekend

Hey,
just to give you a little update:

On Thursday we (Delilah from USA and me) met a guy from Bangladesh who speaks english very well. He helped us to find a taxi which is not always that easy around here. His name is Ron and he showed us around in Dhaka over the weekend and we had a good time.

Then I met the Germans I knew through a friend before I came here. They do a social project in Bangladesh and luckily live at a very nice house. We ate to dinner and played some pool.

Yesterday and today its raining a lot, which is a nice after the last couple days which were really warm.

Today I have some meetings with different subsidiaries of Grameen (there are 20 or so) and I continue my paper.

Prof Yunus is coming here on August 18th. I'm really looking forward to meet him!

C ya

Got it!

Yesterday I just ate dinner at the hotel and around 10 at night everything got back out the wrong way. So finally I got sick like almost every other foreigner here so far. This morning my coordinator made it to a big deal and complained at the hotel manager.
Then we did a trip to the slum area and visited a village meeting where we could again get an impression of the grameen system and differences in slum areas. After that we visited a children center, where they help children from the street to get a free education and food and a place to stay. This visit was very interesting. We all set down in a circle and some kids sing a song, others did a poem. And we all had a good time. It was nice to see that these kids who had such a bad history could all enjoy live again. Because I still didnt feel that good and I had a little bit a temperature I had to take a nap for 2 hours at the hotel.
After that I felt really good again, so I went to a nice cafe in one of the better areas of Dhaka. And now we are sitting here drinking coffee and use the free internet connection.
Thats it for now.
Take care...

Cox's Bazar

Ohio (japanese for "good morning") (although its late afternoon),
this morning we came back from the south east of Bangladesh of a place called Cox's Bazar. Me and 5 other interns from Grameen Bank from France, Holland, Japan and USA (they are all very nice) took the night bus, because this way we wouldnt spend a day, just the night for the way down there. For whatever reason the airconditioning was soo cold that we all coudlnt sleep. The placew was very nice. Its a tourist place but Bangladi style. We were the only foreigners and so again we got alot of attantion, which was alittle bit frustration especially for the girls who could not or just dressed go into the sea. People took pictures of us which I was fine with but obviously wasnt so good when they starting taking pictures of the girls without asking when they werent completely dressed. I dont know how many times I heard the question "From which country?" but I also had to sign a T-Shirt. I tried to play some soccer with some boys but it didnt worked out because too many people came and asked questions and wanted to watch.
The second day we did a trip to an island which was closed. On the way to the boat, one Rikscha driver let me drove his Rikscha (bike with seats for 2 or 3 perons and vehicle number one here). The stupid thing kpt driving to the left and although I tried really hard, after 2 minutes one wheel got of the street and I tried to get off, but one food got stucked. I almost drove right into the river but luckily I stoped right before. I was laughing but the driver didnt think it was that funny. When we got back on the street, of course again many people watched us and a police man came as well and wouldnt let me continue driving. (Mum Im fine!)
On the island we did a round trip and watched a Hindu tempel, which is kinda special because the number one religion here is Islamic. We got to talk to a Hindu monk which was very interesting and spiritual.
Then we decided to go the beach. We walked for a while away from the main beach because we wanted to be alone. As soon as we set down, again people where coming from everywhere. The other guy and me went swimming and when we came back there were about 30 people around the girls and watched them as they were doing ... nothing. The just slept. But they kept starring. Every now and then someone poke them with a stick to see if they were still alive. Because this was not as relaxing as we thought we went back to Cox's Bazar.
Yesterday we relaxed at a Beach-Cafe. I did some surfing of at least I tried and we watched a camera team who made a music video for one of the most popular musicians in Bangladesh (yes, this time WE watched).
The ride back to Dhaka was better but I didnt sleep that much, so when we came to the hotel we all took another nap and I slept till 12. After that I went to the Bank and I did some reading and we discussed another field trip tomorrow. Because of the flud at the moment the situation of millions of Bangladesh people and also the Grameen Bank is very critical. One guy said that the place we went to and Dhaka are pretty much the only places where is no what at the moment and I heard that 2/3 of the country are actually under water. The situation in Dhaka is relaxed and all we can do is wait until the water floes into the ocean, people can start building up their houses again and start working. Although this year the monsum is very hard, people here are used to deal with the situation because it happens every year.
For me its time to find a "daily life" between internship, interns, travelling and the paper I have to write.

How are things in the West?
Nickster

PS: pics still wont work

1st fieldtrip

Moin,

today I had my first field trip. Me and another Intern from Japan (her name is Hidemi) left at 8 in the morning and visited a local bank office where women can get money and our coordinator explained us a little bit the system of Grameen which is so much more complex then I thought.

After that we meet of women who talked with a bank representative and the other women about their credits and other things. It was really interesting because I saw for what reasons the women needed to money for and how much they took. But the most important experience was that I could actually see what they used the money for (for example houses) and I could see how happy they were. Although I had the impression that it got a little bit faked because of our present, it still convinced me that the system works there.

We were allowed to walk into their home areas and houses and they proudly showed us a TV or a second bedroom as well as working machines. Everywhere the people are very friendly although they star alot, just because they probably havent seen someone from another country before.

Today again I met many new Interns from Europe and other countries, so my worries to be the only "western" guy is totally false.

Tonight we leave to go to Cox's Bazar for the weekend (which consists out of the days saturday and friday) to see the worlds longest sand beach. We will have a 11 hours bus trip but I'm really exited to see some more of the country.

And I have to figure out what exactly I want to do for Grameen bank because basically they gave me all options. Maybe I can combine it with my seminar paper.

We will see. I write the next time in 2 or 3 days when I come back from my trip.

C ya

PS: Pictures will follow

Arriving in Dhaka

Hey,

so today I arrived in Dhaka.

I arrived at 8 in the morning, after 2 hours of sleep. The guy who was supposed to pick me up from the airport didnt show up, which meant I had to go back into the airport, exchange money to call Grameen Bank and see if they know what to do. I didnt get a hold of anybody, so I decided to just take a taxi and drive into the city my own. And this time I saw someone with a sign saying "Nicolas Ritz - Grameen Bank". I smiled at him and said "Oh hello, I didnt see you the first time" He responded "Thank you"! While he was getting his car I had to wait in front of the airport and saw soo many people just standing around, yelling or starring at me.

The ride to the hotel was ... well an experience. I felt just like in the Jeep in Qatar. Most of the cars look like they were stolen after a crash-car-race, and this is exactly how they drive. They use their horn all the time but I think its just their just used to using it all the time. And because everybody uses it, no one listen to it any more. A couple times I though we might crash something or someone, but we didnt. All the people in the other cars starred at me and on the whole 45 min ride through the city to the hotel, I saw one white lady in another car.



This is the only picture I took today because I was too amazed by all the impressions. In the back you can see a usual bus. In the front you can see a very new car. The remarkable is that besides the licence plate you can see some feathers. So it seems like the guy just put his chicken in the trunk. hmm

The hotel room is nice but small. But I have a TV (just Bangladesh program) and a fridge.
After I rested for a couple minutes. I called the bank again and they said I should come over. Its just a 10 min walk and it was nice to be closer to the people.

The people at the bank are really nice. I met two other intern, both from Bangladesh. We watched a 2 hour movie about the bank and discussed some things (for example wasnt it a good idea to come with shorts, no one wears them although its hot).

I found out that the working times are very flexible. You work as much as you want and almost do whatever you want. I will have to find some things during the next days.

Tomorrow I will already go on a field trip. I dont really know what we will see. They told, but I didnt understand it that. I still have to get used to the language of the mixture between English and Bangladeshi. Although Im surpried how many people speak or at least understand English.
Back in the hotel I bought some bread, Oranges and Nutella. Of course I will try local food but not in the first days. At the hotel I met a french girl, who works for Grameen as well. She invited me on a tea and we talked a little bit. She told me about some plans for the weekend to go to the south to see the world longest sand beach. And I took her invitation to come with her and 4 other girls and one guy, all interns at Grameen. She was really nice and stays till the end of August as well, so I dont have to be afraid to be the only European around here.

Then I took a 3 hours nap. Although I know it would have been better to stay awake to get used to the time difference, but I was just soo tired.

After that I ate something and now Im here using the free Internet of my hotel. Although I think 10 $ is too much for the room here in Dhaka I think I will stay because a little bit luxury will be good and all other interns are here as well.

I will see how the trip tomorrow will be and of course I will hook you up with infos.

Take care...