I can't believe how fast January flew by! It was an incredible month! Brief highlights:
1. FINALLY seeing the new version of footloose. Seriously, the remake did not disappoint me in the slightest. It takes itself every bit as seriously as possible. However, I have a serious medical condition that it confirmed: when I watch a movie on a plane, I always tear up. This was no exception. The dialog is just really moving, and gosh they dance with such emotion! I also cried during House, 30-rock, and Friends, but stopped short of crying during Parks and Rec, thankfully. Not that the people next to me were any less annoyed by my outbursts of cackling laughter.
2. Visiting the fam at home in NC. It was a chance to go on some quiet runs, drink lazy lattes, lounge in flannel pajamas; all the finer points of life. I learned that when I leave my cousins, they just grow like crazy! All my boy cousins are taller than me now! Their voices are deeper, they drive, they have girlfriends (or at least girls that they text with and blush about when I ask questions). I also got pampered with my Aunt and grandmama and got a manicure/pedicure. You better believe that I had a bling french manicure (and gunmetal toenails to boot) for the next week or so. I also have probably the largest collection of NC pecans in Dhaka. Plus Michael Porter's beast of a book on Redefining Healthcare. Because everyone needs one of those on their bookshelf at work.
3. I went to a fascinating meeting in New York (you know you are an innovation geek when: #1 you get excited about a 60-page homework assignment. So excited that you wake up at 4AM the day of the meeting ready to discuss it!, #2 you have a TOTAL academic freak out because you recognize PETER UVIN, author of one of the best pieces on NGOs and scaling up ever written (it appeared in an obscure journal in 1996). I managed 30 minutes in the meeting before starting one of my comments with, OH MY GOD PETER UVIN IS HERE!!!! Ok, it wasn't quite that bad, but it bordered on school girl shrieking. Luckily, this doesn't happen to him often enough for him to be tired of it, so I think he was flattered and we ended up having a nice chat. and #3 you want to write something about the experience. Check it out on the Stanford Social Innovation Review blog!)
4. I also had time to be in New York and NOT work. On my way to North Carolina, I had an 8 hour layover and no cell phone. I took the subway into SOHO and just walked from bookstore to coffee shop to bookstore to coffee shop. I see jetlag as an excuse to eat cookies for breakfast. Sticker shock at Dean & Deluca's was intense, but actually just the amazing variety of things to buy--from kitchen utensils to fresh pastas to boutique sodas--gave me pause. Did you know that there are now stores that just sell dried fruits and vegetables? Who knew that there was such demand! Walking has never felt so good--it was a warm day and the sidewalks were so inviting. I love cutting through the quieter residential streets in the village with the beautiful brownstones. When I came back to NYC from North Carolina, I convened a group of long-time friends at a restaurant in Korea town. Afterwards, Melanie and I walked out together and asked each other what we felt like doing. I wanted chocolate and she wanted wine--funny enough, there was a wine and chocolate bar around the corner! Only in NYC would this happen. A few hours later, we stopped by a 24 hour pharmacy so I could stock up on contact solution, gatorade powder and.....super corny sweethearts and holographic valentines day cards. The things that haven't quite made it to mainstream Bangladesh yet. What has made it to mainstream NYC is bangla! I bought some souvenirs from a girl whose family is in Baridhara (a nearby neighborhood in Dhaka) and her colleague from Rangamati (the Hill Tracts), and another guy from Dhaka was my taxi driver to the airport! So I got to use my language skills unexpectedly, although more for shock value than in order to communicate (their English was much better than my bangla).
5. I also visited Bangkok, Thailand for a few days. Innovation meetings everywhere! I hadn't planned to do any sightseeing, but when your mentor (Richard Cash, in this case) tells you he'll be "disappointed if you don't take at least an afternoon to look around," you got to take it to heart. Especially if he hands you a map with an itinerary that he's planned out for you! So I sneaked out the last day and took the metro down to the river. I wandered through the streets, buying street food here and there, but after living in Dhaka for a year now, I find myself much MORE squeamish about buying something like say shellfish off the streets. I don't care how sanitary they say it is! I snaked through the canals in a boat to enjoy the sunset, catching glimpses of monks in their orange robes listening to their i-pods and smoking, and even what looked like a boxing club at one point! I ended at the Oriental Hotel, considered one of the nicest and oldest in Bangkok. I decided to pretend that I was looking for a honeymoon destination (I didn't have to specify that it was my brother's and not mine that I was envisioning). It was quite nice--the authors' wing is quite splendid, and the string quartet playing in the lobby was fantastic; I sat in a chair listening for some time. It was therapeutic to get out and wander; I felt my inner peace and creativity regaining a pulse through my veins. I also realized that for me right now, the idea of moving for a country where I'm unfamiliar with the language, culture, and place is completely unappealing. I don't have the serial country hopping (to stay, versus just to visit) genes whatsoever. It was also really fun to meet up with my friends from Dhaka IN Bangkok. We went totally crazy: we went to a BAR with LIVE MUSIC and drank MOJITOS. Three things that are hard to find in Dhaka.
6. I hit my one year anniversary with Bangladesh and BRAC last week (ok, not in January but close)! No celebration other than the little song and dance I did by myself in my still quasi-empty living room, but sweet nonetheless. I rung it in with Anjali, a friend from the MIT Sloan School of Management and her husband who trekked all the way out here to learn about BRAC first hand. Turns out her husband plays guitar really well! We went to a friend's dorm room at Dhaka university and jammed. The room was pretty small, which I expected, but I was shocked to learn that there were four guys that stayed in this room--two to a (single) bed! Now that is dedication to education. We performed some fun numbers--Drift away, Obladi Oblada, and listened to (attempting to sing along) several bengali tunes. I was so inspired that when I went shopping yesterday at Jatra, a local high-end fair trade store, I called to the musicians there (with a piano/accordion, big drum, and some metal clanging things), "Apnara American gan jannen na?" (do you know any american songs). They shook their heads. I frowned, "Ami gan gai" (I sing). "Bosun. Gan gen." (Sit down, sing a song). I slipped off my flipflops and sat down cross legged on the mat next to them. I started singing "All my lovin' ", figuring that they are as likely to know Beatles as anything else. They didn't, but once I'm a few lines in they joined and improvised. It's definitely a fusion of sorts. We performed "Stand by me" after that; I struggled a bit with the rhythm that they introduce, but feel like by the end of the song it gelled pretty well. Shopping is a lot more fun if I can sing while I do it. If only life could be like a musical--whenever something got bad or boring, you could just burst into song and dance and everyone else would sing along!
Maybe the title of the post makes sense now.
1. FINALLY seeing the new version of footloose. Seriously, the remake did not disappoint me in the slightest. It takes itself every bit as seriously as possible. However, I have a serious medical condition that it confirmed: when I watch a movie on a plane, I always tear up. This was no exception. The dialog is just really moving, and gosh they dance with such emotion! I also cried during House, 30-rock, and Friends, but stopped short of crying during Parks and Rec, thankfully. Not that the people next to me were any less annoyed by my outbursts of cackling laughter.
2. Visiting the fam at home in NC. It was a chance to go on some quiet runs, drink lazy lattes, lounge in flannel pajamas; all the finer points of life. I learned that when I leave my cousins, they just grow like crazy! All my boy cousins are taller than me now! Their voices are deeper, they drive, they have girlfriends (or at least girls that they text with and blush about when I ask questions). I also got pampered with my Aunt and grandmama and got a manicure/pedicure. You better believe that I had a bling french manicure (and gunmetal toenails to boot) for the next week or so. I also have probably the largest collection of NC pecans in Dhaka. Plus Michael Porter's beast of a book on Redefining Healthcare. Because everyone needs one of those on their bookshelf at work.
3. I went to a fascinating meeting in New York (you know you are an innovation geek when: #1 you get excited about a 60-page homework assignment. So excited that you wake up at 4AM the day of the meeting ready to discuss it!, #2 you have a TOTAL academic freak out because you recognize PETER UVIN, author of one of the best pieces on NGOs and scaling up ever written (it appeared in an obscure journal in 1996). I managed 30 minutes in the meeting before starting one of my comments with, OH MY GOD PETER UVIN IS HERE!!!! Ok, it wasn't quite that bad, but it bordered on school girl shrieking. Luckily, this doesn't happen to him often enough for him to be tired of it, so I think he was flattered and we ended up having a nice chat. and #3 you want to write something about the experience. Check it out on the Stanford Social Innovation Review blog!)
4. I also had time to be in New York and NOT work. On my way to North Carolina, I had an 8 hour layover and no cell phone. I took the subway into SOHO and just walked from bookstore to coffee shop to bookstore to coffee shop. I see jetlag as an excuse to eat cookies for breakfast. Sticker shock at Dean & Deluca's was intense, but actually just the amazing variety of things to buy--from kitchen utensils to fresh pastas to boutique sodas--gave me pause. Did you know that there are now stores that just sell dried fruits and vegetables? Who knew that there was such demand! Walking has never felt so good--it was a warm day and the sidewalks were so inviting. I love cutting through the quieter residential streets in the village with the beautiful brownstones. When I came back to NYC from North Carolina, I convened a group of long-time friends at a restaurant in Korea town. Afterwards, Melanie and I walked out together and asked each other what we felt like doing. I wanted chocolate and she wanted wine--funny enough, there was a wine and chocolate bar around the corner! Only in NYC would this happen. A few hours later, we stopped by a 24 hour pharmacy so I could stock up on contact solution, gatorade powder and.....super corny sweethearts and holographic valentines day cards. The things that haven't quite made it to mainstream Bangladesh yet. What has made it to mainstream NYC is bangla! I bought some souvenirs from a girl whose family is in Baridhara (a nearby neighborhood in Dhaka) and her colleague from Rangamati (the Hill Tracts), and another guy from Dhaka was my taxi driver to the airport! So I got to use my language skills unexpectedly, although more for shock value than in order to communicate (their English was much better than my bangla).
5. I also visited Bangkok, Thailand for a few days. Innovation meetings everywhere! I hadn't planned to do any sightseeing, but when your mentor (Richard Cash, in this case) tells you he'll be "disappointed if you don't take at least an afternoon to look around," you got to take it to heart. Especially if he hands you a map with an itinerary that he's planned out for you! So I sneaked out the last day and took the metro down to the river. I wandered through the streets, buying street food here and there, but after living in Dhaka for a year now, I find myself much MORE squeamish about buying something like say shellfish off the streets. I don't care how sanitary they say it is! I snaked through the canals in a boat to enjoy the sunset, catching glimpses of monks in their orange robes listening to their i-pods and smoking, and even what looked like a boxing club at one point! I ended at the Oriental Hotel, considered one of the nicest and oldest in Bangkok. I decided to pretend that I was looking for a honeymoon destination (I didn't have to specify that it was my brother's and not mine that I was envisioning). It was quite nice--the authors' wing is quite splendid, and the string quartet playing in the lobby was fantastic; I sat in a chair listening for some time. It was therapeutic to get out and wander; I felt my inner peace and creativity regaining a pulse through my veins. I also realized that for me right now, the idea of moving for a country where I'm unfamiliar with the language, culture, and place is completely unappealing. I don't have the serial country hopping (to stay, versus just to visit) genes whatsoever. It was also really fun to meet up with my friends from Dhaka IN Bangkok. We went totally crazy: we went to a BAR with LIVE MUSIC and drank MOJITOS. Three things that are hard to find in Dhaka.
6. I hit my one year anniversary with Bangladesh and BRAC last week (ok, not in January but close)! No celebration other than the little song and dance I did by myself in my still quasi-empty living room, but sweet nonetheless. I rung it in with Anjali, a friend from the MIT Sloan School of Management and her husband who trekked all the way out here to learn about BRAC first hand. Turns out her husband plays guitar really well! We went to a friend's dorm room at Dhaka university and jammed. The room was pretty small, which I expected, but I was shocked to learn that there were four guys that stayed in this room--two to a (single) bed! Now that is dedication to education. We performed some fun numbers--Drift away, Obladi Oblada, and listened to (attempting to sing along) several bengali tunes. I was so inspired that when I went shopping yesterday at Jatra, a local high-end fair trade store, I called to the musicians there (with a piano/accordion, big drum, and some metal clanging things), "Apnara American gan jannen na?" (do you know any american songs). They shook their heads. I frowned, "Ami gan gai" (I sing). "Bosun. Gan gen." (Sit down, sing a song). I slipped off my flipflops and sat down cross legged on the mat next to them. I started singing "All my lovin' ", figuring that they are as likely to know Beatles as anything else. They didn't, but once I'm a few lines in they joined and improvised. It's definitely a fusion of sorts. We performed "Stand by me" after that; I struggled a bit with the rhythm that they introduce, but feel like by the end of the song it gelled pretty well. Shopping is a lot more fun if I can sing while I do it. If only life could be like a musical--whenever something got bad or boring, you could just burst into song and dance and everyone else would sing along!
Maybe the title of the post makes sense now.
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