Tonight I'm Gonna Go and Dance In The Rain
The monsoon has arrived with a vengeance. While all you people who live in North America and Europe are enjoying summer, here in Bangladesh it is raining. It is not the cold, blustery rain of Washington winter, nor the cold gray drizzle of spring. The main difference is that it's warm. WARM! Rain at 85 degrees (30 C) is the perfect temperature for playing in, be that messing in the mud puddles for my young neighbors, or taking long walks without an umbrella for more dignified older folks like myself ;)
Well, rain or no rain, life goes on.
Pic 1: For the next 3 months, it will either rain or threaten to rain everyday, so creative ways to deal with it are necessary. Take for example this cobbler.
His work place is right here on the side of the road. With a little inovation he is now protected from the heat in summer and the rain in the monsoon.
The rickshaw pullers just keep going, rain or shine. They figure it's ok to get wet, as long as the rain doesn't come in direct contact with their head, thus they wrap their heads with bits of cloth or some plastic.
The passengers are left to defend themselves with a sheet of plastic over their lap, which tends to billow up and down, and the too-low leaky "convertible" roof. I've never managed a rickshaw in the rain without getting soaked, but its fun to try.
Pic 3: It's hard to plan big events during the monsoon, because every event is held out of doors. But we do them anyway. This is a play about women's rights our organization put on in a slum. The roof of the tent is waterproof, and everyone who doesn't fit under it would just have to get wet. Lucky for us, it didn't rain. People came out in droves, sitting on the walls and roofs of nearby houses when the space under the tent was filled up. As I mentioned last time, people here REALLY get into anything that has singing and music.
Over the weekend I went to a huge Hindu festival and was a guest at an old colonial era house. The rain held off until the evening bus ride back...
Well, rain or no rain, life goes on.
Pic 1: For the next 3 months, it will either rain or threaten to rain everyday, so creative ways to deal with it are necessary. Take for example this cobbler.
His work place is right here on the side of the road. With a little inovation he is now protected from the heat in summer and the rain in the monsoon.
The rickshaw pullers just keep going, rain or shine. They figure it's ok to get wet, as long as the rain doesn't come in direct contact with their head, thus they wrap their heads with bits of cloth or some plastic.
The passengers are left to defend themselves with a sheet of plastic over their lap, which tends to billow up and down, and the too-low leaky "convertible" roof. I've never managed a rickshaw in the rain without getting soaked, but its fun to try.
Pic 3: It's hard to plan big events during the monsoon, because every event is held out of doors. But we do them anyway. This is a play about women's rights our organization put on in a slum. The roof of the tent is waterproof, and everyone who doesn't fit under it would just have to get wet. Lucky for us, it didn't rain. People came out in droves, sitting on the walls and roofs of nearby houses when the space under the tent was filled up. As I mentioned last time, people here REALLY get into anything that has singing and music.
Over the weekend I went to a huge Hindu festival and was a guest at an old colonial era house. The rain held off until the evening bus ride back...
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