The Day in Pictures
April 20, 2007

Well, you guys have been asking for photos, so I have decided to start posting more in my blog entry. Fortunately, my new camera is very tiny, so I can take it along in my purse with me to take snapshots on the road! (My old camera was too bulky to take around with me.)

Speaking of my old camera, however, while I had been looking all over Dhaka for a camera store with technicians who were capable of fixing my Sony (my friend Abeer's nephew actually sent his camera to the US to get fixed!), there was actually a technical genius within my circle of friends! I took my camera over to my friend Tuni's house (Tuni is another Fulbrighter) because she has a device that she said would allow me to get my pictures off of my old memory cards (I had 2,500 photos that were stuck on my old cards...) I was complaining about how my camera broke, and as Tuni and I downloaded the pictures, Clay, her husband, started fiddling with my camera. By the time the pictures were downloaded he had fixed it as good as new! I couldn't believe it! I thought the camera was totally done for! (He is a film cameraman, so maybe that explains his technical prowess...)

Anyway, the result of these two joyous camera events (the arrival of my new portable camera and the ability to get my pictures off of my old camera) means more pictures for you! I am including in this blog some of the pictures that I took yesterday. I am also uploading to Flickr some photos of my trips to India (which were previously locked in my camera) and the photos from my Asian trips. I may or may not be adding commentary like I used to (that takes A LOT of time), but at least you will be able to see the photos...

Also, supposedly my new camera can take nice short digital movies, so I will work on figuring out how to get some of those out to you next!

Anyway, here are some pictures:

Shanty Town
There are several small lakes inside of Dhaka. On the edges of these lakes, many poor people have constructed make-shift houses. There is one lake in between Banani and Gulshan-1 which actually has a beautiful little farm next to it. It is like visiting a small village in the heart of Dhaka.

Children Playing in the Shantytown
In this photo, you can see the buildings of Banani in the background. In Dhaka the rich and the poor literally live right next to each other. Their accommodations are significantly different though!

Life in an Abandoned Building
There are many abandoned shells and foundations of buildings all over the city. Sometimes the local poor people will live in them or keep their livestock in them. A tree has taken residence in this structure.

Rickshaw Traffic Jam
On my way from my Bangla class in Banani to my furniture store in Gulshan-1, we ran into a traffic jam! (And this was just a small jam on the side roads, the main streets in Dhaka are always jam-packed with cars!)

Family on a Rickshaw
This family was as entertained to see me on a rickshaw as I was to see them!