We are in the middle of Ramazan, here in Dhaka. Most of my (Muslim) colleagues are fasting from sunrise to sunset. So much for lunch dates and cups of tea. Iftar, the breaking of the fast, consists of many delicious, mainly fried, foods. Since I’ve been with hungry people all day, I am also hungry at 6:40PM when the sun finally goes down. So I’m not above buying something off the street, usually jelapi, which is like crispy fried donut dipped in syrup. Not hard to see why people usually gain weight during Ramazan, since that’s just one of the many options. Iftar is followed by dinner, in case you were wondering.
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| Taking a mid-morning break for sweets in Rangpur |
Mango season is winding down. I think I hit an all-time record this year in terms of consumption, at least for June and July. Last month I went to Rangpur, up north. My trip’s timing ironically corresponded with mango season, and the destination ironically was one part of the country well known for mangos. Our driver was particularly entrepreneurial. I thought my 20 kilograms would be a lot; then I saw that he had bought about 100 kilograms! My colleague and I barely fit in the car with all the mangos! It was pretty epic. Another irony: I acquired a real fridge while in Rangpur (I was planning to take it a few weeks later, but my friend got evicted when her roommate called the cops on their landlord, who hadn’t noticed that they’d been paying the utility bill for the whole building—a lot of money being paid off scamming the foreigners. Unfortunately it ended with him throwing them out, instead of anything resembling justice). But back to my side of the story, which is: I got a fridge and a washing machine! The fridge enabled me to spread my mango consumption out over a few weeks—I was worried I would turn orange otherwise (my hair has already turned a dark, reddish color which I’m assuming is due to the iron content in the water). Muri, which is essentially rice krispies, is a staple food here, and mango, milk and muri is a classic breakfast for villagers.
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