So much thought your head will hurt!

Firends,

After getting some much needed questions and thoughts from my readers, fans, parents, and some other people who will remain nameless,(master) I have decided to make this blogg entry a question and answer session between me and myself... I'll be the minster of information....

MI: (minster of Information) Travis, thank you for taking the time out of your busy life to talk with us. First question, how has your views of Islam changed?

Travis: Before coming over to Bangladesh I really didn't have any views on Islam, I have only meat a couple muslims in my life and they were all very nice people, one of them was a teacher at my college. Wasiq was his name and I have very fond memories of him, he had some different ideas that I found very different from him, I always enjoyed his classes and learned a lot about economics and life in general. My views have only gotten better, the main idea of Islam really isn't that different from Christanity, besides the praying 5 times a day, the values are still the same, I.E live a good life, help out people who aren't as lucky as you and so on and so fourth... My host family is muslim and they are some of the nicest people I have ever meat, after all they did open up their house with open arms to me, and i'm pretty sure that I kicked the parents out of their room, so I could have my own bathroom and shower... The word "Islam" means peace and in the Koran it says that other religions are fine for other people to pratice... So I would say that my view has become only more positive.

MI: How have your views of poverty and wealth inequality changed and do you still think Globalization is a good idea?

This question is a tough one, Bangladesh is a very poor country,With that being said, The family I live with is pretty well off. We live in a 3 bedroom house with a living room, kicthen and dinning room. Plus one other room to hand wet laundry when it is raining outside. Granted everything is concert and we have no washer dryer and things of that nature. We have fans that do a pretty good job of keeping me cool which is nice, I have running water all be it cold water. and no window only bars...My room is good sized and i have a bed so no real compaints.

yes, I am very poor by American standards.68 tecka makes one US dollar I make a little more than a dollar a day but I get a walk around allownace of 1500 tecka each month. Furher more Peace Corps will pay for my room and board with spending money each month. So really I'm pretty rich in the desh if you stop and think about it. And most of these people have never been outside Bangladesh and never will, so if you have never had something how can you miss it or be sure that your life isn't pretty good with out it?

MI: very nice, it should be interesting to see how you deal with that after sometime, maybe right now your still enjoying ruffing it, by the way do you still enjoy doing laundry?? Moving on, What is Tv and music like way over there?

We have a TV, we don't get cable though. We only get the state run channel. It is sort of like public access in the states. only worse, it looks like a bad version of wanyes world....(that's probabbly a little harsh) One can get cable for around 200 tecka a month. And with that you will be able to watch BBC, skysports, star sports, star movies which shows bad american movies from 5-10 years ago. People here love the worst movies, for example Babies day out, look who's talking and Home alone three, (I didn't even know home alone 3 existed) Moving right along to music and movies, Titantic is huge here. Everyone loves it and nobody believes me when I say that I've never seen it. They all think I'm joking or something... The next biggest thing is Bollywood. It is the Hindi version of Holloywood. Except they make about 100 more movies a year and they are all musical and last about 4 hours! In the same light, women in these Bolloywood movies dress just as poorly or different as Americans do in their music videos which brings me to an intersting question I ask many locals. How do you feel about the women in bolloywood dressing like that, to which they reply I could care less,(that's not what they say but it gets the point accross) Keep in mind how funny this is. A women in bangldesh must be fully covered with an ornar and everything else on. To say that Bangladeah is conservative by our standards is an understatemnt!

the music here can be summed up best by saying Micheal Jackson, one day my host brother and I watched every micheal Jackson video ever made, many of which I have never seen before. Their is a lot of hindi music which is alright, I have no idea what they are saying but most people seem to enjoy it. Very few people know about Bob Marley but so far no one has said that they don't like him after I play some for them.

MI: So how are things in the bathroom dept? Do you still use your left hand?

The toilet still freaks me out. Have you ever been camping?? It's kind of like that, you squat like a cather does in baseball and make sure that you hit the hole, one cannot use toilet paper becasue it will clog up the pipes. And I for one am not going to clean that!! So far I have been able to time my "2" so that i can teak a shower directly after... (but I know the day is coming when that won't happen) Some numbers for you to think about, according to the Peace Corps numbers I have a 106% chance of getting dieariea... Bangladesh is the highest in Asia and Europe but, Chad takes the cake with a 300% chance of dierriea....

MI: Are there and opportunites for you to make suggestions to imporve the Peace Corps or the Bangladesh Education system?

After sitting in on a class 9 English class. I know that by just showing up I will do a better job than the teacher they had. the teaching here is something I found shocking to put it nicely. During one of our training sessions, a PCV(Peace Corps Volunteer) can and shared some of her expericences with us. He and taugh first grade back in the states, so they decided to have calss pin pals with one another. The PCV taught class 9, so about 2-3 months it became obivious that the 1st graders were light years ahead of the class 9 student in English and this pin pal stuff just was not working... So to make a short story shorter, they had to do class letters so the pin pals would work..

The other day I got the text book I will be teaching class 11. After looking at a few chapters. I came to the conclusion that if I were to give this book to a grade schooler and asked them to do some of the assignments they would be insluted!! starting this week I will begin model school. yes everyone hold your breath I will be teaching real students!!

So I will I be able to have some type of imparct here. Ithin that it migh me dangerous to thin of it in those terms. My teaching will really have no impact on the fact of them passing the national exam or not. I get kicked out of my class 2 weeks before they are to take exams. Ad the vast moajority of students will have memorized the text anyways. Or gone to some private coach (tutor) to learn what they need to know, things are made even worse but the fact that every student gets and answer key to the book. So I have the freedom to do what I please, which I think is a very good thing...

MI: Ok, folks I hope you have enjoyed our chat as much as I have. If you have any questons comments or otherwise you know how to get in contact with him. Best wishes, Travis do you have anything else you would like to add??

Thanks for reading my comments and thoughts, and as always, keep them coming, this blogg is for all of you!

And who is Wilford Brimely?