Love and Flowers

Happy Valentine's Day!  We celebrated by going to one of the fanciest restaurants in Dhaka - it definitely didn't feel like we were in Dhaka anymore!

This evening I went for a walk in the park behind our apartment building and had some fun conversations with the locals.  Whenever I go to this park, there are always people taking photos of me with their phones.  Actually, whenever I go anywhere there are locals taking pictures of me.  I don't mind - I want to take photos of them too!  I spoke my limited Bangla with a few older women, and I could tell they were excited to talk to a white foreigner.  I also spoke English with a teenage boy whose mother convinced him to talk to me - he appeared quite nervous!  His nephew was running around the park with a phone taking pictures of me.  It was really endearing.  I decided to take a photo of him too.

The park has incredibly beautiful flowers, and I just had to take photos of them!  There are these huge flowers that they call sunflowers here.  They are the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen.

A family asked me to take a photo of their daughter in front of a flower I was taking a picture of.  They had her pose in a certain way, but she refused to smile.  A lot of the local women here will smile, but as soon as you go to take their picture they put on a serious face.

 Some more flower photos.  I'm practicing my techniques :)

Below is a picture of a family on the see-saw.  Since arriving in Bangladesh, I've noticed that many young children have a black spot on their foreheads.  At first I thought it was some sort of birth mark; but after seeing the same black spot on dozens of children, I realized it must be some sort of custom.  After talking to locals and researching online, I found out that the parents paint this black spot on their child in order to avert the 'evil eye'.

 As I walked back to my apartment, I decided to take a photo of the gutters here.  They are full of stagnant water, and it's usually used as a toilet for the men.  This is exactly what makes Dhaka smell so absolutely repulsive.

On that note I will say goodbye.  Happy Valentine's Day!! :)