Y'all act like you never seen a white person before.

You know those super hot and humid days during the Ontario summer when you walk out the front down and it's like stepping into an oven, well that's what Bangladesh is like right now. Currently I'm in Rajshahi which is on the west side of Bangladesh and is the hottest place in the country during the summer time(coldest in winter but now snow) It's probably close to 45 degrees here and it's getting annoying. I took a train from Jessore to here that took 5 hours and wasn't too bad, although I asked for tea and they brought me coffee. I don't drink coffee and don't plan to but I had my first 4 cups on the train, I had 4 because they kept bringing it and they get offended when you turn something down. The coffee was actually pretty good but I don't plan to keep drinking it.

So the last night in Jessore I was having dinner and met a couple my Sweden/USA that work as missionaries in Bangladesh. Super nice people and when they found out I was going to Rajshahi they gave me there friends mobile number so I could meet up with him. So when I got to Rajshahi I gave him a call and ended up going over to his house for supper. It was nice to have a home cooked meal, we had something similar to Kraft dinner, it was a nice change from the rice and chicken that I eat almost everyday. In Rajshahi I stayed at Haq's Inn, nice hotel and the staff are friendly although they also get really annoying because if they do anything little thing for you they ask for a tip and just stand there until you give them something. This gets super annoying from people, because I don't tip over here that much because I'm on a budget and most places have a 9-13% tax on some of the food bills.

So on Wednesday I was just about to check my e-mail and then the load shedding for the power happened which sucked so I was going to go to the river. The River here is the Padma River and it's actually the Ganges but it's not called that in Bangladesh. So I found a rickshaw guy who I thought understood me when I said river but he clearly didn't because he dropped me off at some building with a huge stone wall and a fence. I still have no idea what the place was, so I just gave him some taka and walked away annoyed and covered in sweat because it's about 1pm when this is happening and it's the hottest point in the day. I was just walking down the road(headed to the river) and a guy stopped by on his motorcycle and had the typical conversation with him that I have with everyone over here. So after 5 minutes he left, then 5 minutes later he came back and suggested I get a guide so I can see Rajshahi. His english was very good, he had a masters in English from Rajshahi University, university is very popular here(probably because it's a way out from the hard life of a typical Bangladesh person if they can get a good job) So I talked with this guy for a bit and he offered to show me around so I got on the back of this motorcycle and headed off. This was really fun because it was actually the first time I've ever been on a bike and it was something I wanted to do before I left for home. He took me too a couple parks along the river and he was very keen on showing me his parents village(he lives in the city now). I was very interested to see a real village so I agreed to go with him. What an eye opener that village was, although I expected it to be dirty and lots of shacks. I was wrong. The houses are made of mud and some of them have steel roofs but not many because not everyone can afford them. This guys parents are teachers at the school in the village and by Bangladesh standards they must get paid fairly well because the house was nice. The whole village had electricity and most people seemed to have tv's and ceiling fans. The houses seemed very strong and the mud was almost like bricks, the guy that took me there said they are stronger then bricks. Most of the people in the village just live off the land, there are many mango trees and fields of rice. All the land is farmed for rice currently-they call it pati(sp?) So they sell all there products around Bangladesh, they also export alot of mangos. Clothing is the number 1 export, alot of the t-shirts you were probably come from Bangladesh. Sadly though these clothes are made but child labours who work in not so great conditions. Now, I'm against child labour but at the same time at least these children aren't living on the streets begging for money and doing drugs. Street life is a terrible thing 3rd world countries-in Thamel, Nepal for example there's a group of kids who are addicted to sniffing clue in bags. They just stand outside the super market where all the tourists go and ask for money for food but what they really do is but clue to sniff. Some of the saddest looking children you'll ever see, most of them were about 8yrs to 15 yrs old and the older kids there brains are fried.

So after we checked out his village his mom made us dinner which of course was curry chicken, it was actually pretty good and not the spicy. I think I'm developing a taste for curry, although I'm sure this will change when I get back home and go on my diet of pizza, beef and pork. I can't put up any pictures because of the computer I'm on but hopefully tomorrow I'll be able too. I felt like a rock star walking through the village because everyone following me and very curious to meet me.

So today the plan is too get some food and then go to the train station. I have a train to Dhaka that should take 5 hours and then I have to catch another train to Chittagong which is on the far east of Bangladesh. So all together I'll be on a train for about 15 hours. I've got 6 days left of travelling and then I need to be back in Dhaka, I plan to check out the Chittagong division and visit a couple islands that are in the area.

So 7 days until I come home and get to wear clothes that don't smell like sweat no matter how many times I do my laundry in the sink.