Staring contest!

There are not many tourists in Bangladesh. As a result, you are very, very interesting, should you ever come visit. Bangladeshis are not at all precious about staring, closely inspecting, or following you. Young girls have even touched my hand, since I guess the color is different from theirs. A little boy repeatedly poked me in the butt today. These crowds can be a little intimidating at first, but simply because of the number of people, not because it feels threatening at all. The men wear very hard expressions on their faces. It's like a game, to try to see how long it takes for people to begin to smile. Usually it just takes light eye contact and a smile. And sometimes the men simply lose interest and continue on their way, glaring.

Once, while walking down the main road in town, a crowd began to trail us. We picked up speed and closed the distance between us and some women walking ahead of us, in the same direction. One of the women turned around, and began to stare at us as she continued to walk forward. Meanwhile, a blind man with a stick was walking in the opposite direction, toward us. The woman walked straight into him, hitting her head against his stick. She wasn't so interested in staring at us anymore.

Another time, we walked through a part of town we hadn't been through before. A crowd gathered behind us, and we ridiculously wound our way through the narrow paths in the neighborhood. We came to a small creek, traversed by three bamboo poles lashed together. Marc and I easily scooted across, and as we continued on our way, I looked back behind us. About 30 men, women, and children had filled up the entire length of the bridge, crossing or waiting to cross to continue following us. Life is funny.