Hey guys... so I have been gone a few days now and got thrown straight into work all while still battling this stupid jet lag (I keep telling my body to suck it up!). So now I am finally ready to attack some workouts as it is Friday and the beginning of our weekend here.
Fun facts about this workout... wanted to have an intro outside but I was already in my workout capris, can't have those leggies showing outside on my balcony. I already attract a lot of staring as a very, very white girl. Also, first world problems of having to find other music sources because pandora and spotify do not exist in Bangladesh. I have found a cool new site called hickery that is basically pandora but uses youtube instead... it has been pretty good thus far. The bars that cover my windows are basically square rebar and that was quite unpleasant if I may say so. I was also not hanging under them so the pullup was a bit different than usual but at least I got them in! The situps should be called scoot-ups because I would end across the room by the time I finished a set because the tile is so slick. Other than that it was business as usual minus the fact that I apparently did a poor job of hydrating before bed because I was feeling that... slow going to start but I will adjust. Hence my clever title for the first video. I haven't figured out the best way to keep these separate from my science posts but I will figure something out soon. Missing my Dynasty family and can't wait to skype in on a bodyweight workout soon!
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Well folks, I have finally arrived! What a journey... and I thought my trip to Africa years ago was long. At least I had stops and left the airport (which I will do on my way home from Bangladesh).
Sunday started off wonderfully with a few short errands and two hours of sand volleyball... heaven! Then my friend Punam dropped me off at the GNV airport to pick up my rental car to drive myself to Jacksonville where my flights all began. I got there an hour and 45 minutes before my flight and let's just say... that was cutting it close. It took almost an hour for the gal at the desk to figure out my bag situation... had to check 3 and 2 were overweight (due to fifteen 12V batteries, microscope, and other field equipment). It was not her fault though and after the whole thing went down she gave me a "fast pass" for the preferred security line so that was AWESOME... took me 2 mins to get through security. That began my 24 hour trip with 19 hours of flying. When I finally got to the last leg of my flight (istanbul --> dhaka) I was maybe 1 of three white people in the whole place (other two mere men) and everyone told me I would be stared at but my goodness was that 100% the truth haha. I was talking to a gal who grew up in Bangladesh and lives in the states now and she said that their culture believes you are more beautiful the lighter your skin tone is... wish that were true in the US so I wouldn't have to fake tan lotion my pasty legs lol. My icddr,b handler was at the airport with my name on a sign... have always wanted to have that happen... and he told me exactly what to do and say to customs and the VISA security. So glad he was there because not a lot of Bangladeshis speak english and that could have gotten hard. All three of my checked bags made it - I was in shock! So about an hour after my flight landed we were out of there and past the gates were so many people (even that early, about 6am) bargaining for their rickshaw, taxi, baby taxi, etc. We had a VIP exit (yes, that's what it's called) where a hired driver from icddr,b was waiting at the car. I swore our car was going to hit these children that run so close to the cars and people that are just everywhere around the airport. The near crashes didn't stop there... merging into the roads to leave there are no lanes like in the US and everyone just kind of goes and uses their horns to warn that they are about to pass or to "move the hell over" so I can pass. It was so bizarre though, I felt pretty safe oddly enough. About a 10-15 minute drive (streets are pretty empty compared to afternoons) and we arrive at my hotel... I am very impressed - $50/night goes far in Bangladesh. Running water, stand up dial shower, flushing toilet, an A/C box, wifi and cable with epic indian music channels. However, I got there before management and no one spoke english, so I had to wait for another hour and a half to officially check-in and get the wifi password and all that, though I capitalized on that time and napped. Free breakfast comes every morning and I had delicious authentic bangladeshi paratha (SO GOOD), scrambled eggs, and tea. I sat in the breakfast room at a table that looks outside so I could watch the busy streets and everything that goes with them... however, it seemed I was the one being watched. Even those in rickshaws zooming by seemed to notice the white girl sitting in the window haha... I don't know if I will ever get used to the staring. After a delicious meal I headed back to my room, showered, and hit the bed hard. I slept all day (Florida's night) and now I am struggling to sleep during their night (which is necessary if I want to adjust to the time!). Tomorrow I am getting picked up and get to start working at icddr,b and meet those who I have been skyping with the past few months! Cannot wait... and yes monsoons hit here with ferocity but are not all day (at least right now). Oh man... I cannot tell you enough how ecstatic I am to finally be leaving for this trip! I have been talking about it for months and explaining to people for months and now it is finally happening. I must say I have gotten annoyed with all of the "but what about this?... how are you going to deal with this?...etc." type questions because I cannot worry about the things I do not control. And my god... I definitely CANNOT control monsoon season in Bangladesh and the subsequent number of times I get diarrhea from the terrible water haha, all a part of the journey.
I will be in Dhaka for about 7 days before we kickoff our fieldwork (fingers crossed). I say that because we still have yet to get IACUC and IRB approval through UF (the animal and people overseeing boards for research). How am I not having a constant panic attack you ask... refer back to the last paragraph. All will happen when it happens... all I can do is bug the sh*t out of the offices to push them through. In 24 hours (rough... I know) I will arrive in the heart of Bangladesh... after being routed through Jacksonville, JFK, and Istanbul first of course. If you didn't already see in my facebook post you can contact me using email ([email protected]) or skype (stephcink). I will have internet access for most of my trip so I won't be disconnected completely (sadly). Look for the actual exciting posts soon... I cannot wait to experience ALL Bangladesh has to offer. It will be a trip of a lifetime but also the first field season for my dissertation research. I still can't believe I have already finished a year of my PhD... bizarre. Thanks for all of the happy thoughts and good lucks... I will take whatever I can get. |
Steph CinkThis is my way to share both my personal and research experiences with my family, friends and those that are interested.
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