WELL IT’S FOR SURE! ALICE AND I are spending Christmas in Bali.
HERE IS ALICE having a nice curried beef, rice, spicy potato, dal, and rice meal at Halim’s place. Halim’s mother is on the right. Her curries are some of the best we have tasted in Bangladesh.
MASUM, HALIM’S BROTHER, WHOM I also play football with giving his nephew a fun ride.
HALIMER CHOTO BEI SNAN KORCHE! Ok, I’ll translate. Halim’s younger brother taking a shower.
HALIM, MY FOOTBALL PLAYER FRIEND, standing in front of some cows in the village his mother comes from. I went with Halim and one of his nieces to this village in Munshigang district. They were very friendly and were gracious hosts.
HERE I AM ON MOHAMMADIA HOUSING’S MAIN ROAD adjusting my lungi before I started helping to skin this cow. I didn’t want the lungi to fall off!
TODAY IN BANGLADESH IT WAS EID-ul-Ajha, which is the Eid in which they sacrifice an animal to in recognition of when Abraham took his son to Mt. Moriah to be sacrificed. Each family decides whether to sacrifice a camel (rarely in Bangladesh), a cow, or a goat. We had 13 cows and 9 goats in our parking garage this morning in prep for this event. We live in an apartment with 32 apartments. Here in a nearby field there are many Bengalis participating in the special prayers before the sacrifices happen.
EID MUBARAK TO all my Muslim friends. Tomorrow is Korbani Eid (Eid of Sacrifice). This is the cow that our neighbor-friend bought for his Eid Sacrifice. This morning on our walk we saw many cows being led down Mirpur Avenue (a main street in Dhaka), either for sale, or already sold and being delivered. The main topic of conversation on the streets these days is, “How much did you pay for that cow, or how much do you want for it. The same goes for goats. Across from us is a playing field, around which at least 100-200 goats were bedded down for the night, last night. I’m quite sure by tonight we will have 12 cows and 5-6 goats in the parking area beneath our apartments. They are tied up like this cow out by the playing field on the sidewalk during the day. After morning prayers, then the sacrifices will begin.
BENGALI LADY PICKING TEA on a Tea Estate near Moulovibazar.
BENGALI WORKER IN TEA GARDEN near Moulovibazar in Northeastern Bangladesh. These workers are paid per kg of tea leaves they pick.
SHARMIN STARTED LAUGHING BECAUSE it took me so long to take this photo. I bumped the shutter mode button by mistake and it was on the timer mode! Therefore when I pressed the button it took 10 seconds before the shutter opened. Of course, I think this even made a better shot. Sharmin was a part of the 18 photographers of the TTL club that went to Northeastern Bangladesh to take photos last weekend.
RUBEL, ONE OF MY GOOD FRIENDS, whom I play football with five days per week.
The Camerist's Collection 