The Thinker

So one of these thinkers belongs in Paris and one in the Oklahoma City zoo. I'll let you guess which is which.

Crazy bugs in Oklahoma!

Ok, so I have no idea what this chunky little creature is, but he was hanging outside my apartment door for a couple of days. Anyone--help me out here! Is this a cicada or what?

Holding the snakecharmer's snake!

The same snake charmer that showed up at the birthday party I attended, happened to be walking down our street today, and we called him over to give us a show! Wesley and I also had the pleasure of holding one of his snakes (a non-poisonous, non-biting one). We weren't about to hold the cobras--they are very poisonous!

A Real-Live Snake Charmer!

Salma and I got the treat of seeing a snake charmer the other day! We were at a birthday party for one of Salma's buddies, when the snake charmer happened to walk by, and offered to perform for the party. It was incredible. He had three cobras in his baskets, and at one point he had all three cobras out at once, up and dancing to his flute music. A few times the cobras got closer to the snake charmer and looked like they were about to bite his knee, but he jerked his knee very fast, and they retreated. Anyway, it was quite a thrill to see!

Beef: It's What's for Dinner

This photo is from January, but I just got it developed...here's Audry with our cow that become dinner the next day. Sacrificing a cow is part of the ritual of the Eid that is celebrated on New Year's day (called Eid Corbani). I chickened out on seeing the cow slaughtering--I'm not so crazy about all the bloodshed, but I do have to admit that it was very yummy beef curry that we had the next day.

At the Dhaka Zoo

Here's some photos from our trip to the zoo. We saw two royal Bengal tigers, lions, a leopard, monkeys, deer, gorillas, snakes (including cobras and pythons), and birds of all kinds. We didn't get to all the exhibits--there were also hippos and crocodiles and other animals. The zoo is very big, but not at all the same experience as a zoo in the US. The zoo feels more like a big park. These photos are taken in the middle of the park. The animals are not very well taken care of, I think. I noticed some deer with very severe eye infections and sores. But it was fun for Salma and Audry to see the animals. Salma loved the big "mews" (tigers) the best.

Goats

Salma and I stopped to check out the goats on the way to visiting Mukhta's house. (Mom went with us--she took the picture.) Salma loves the goats!

Oink Oink

Here's another photo from our trip to Rajshahi...a wild pig just happened to wander into Shafique's mother's front yard. Salma wanted to say hi but he didn't look too friendly!

Proof of the Monkey

Told ya there was a monkey up there! There he is!

There's a monkey up there!

This is the view from our bedroom window at Azfar's parents' house. So many buildings in Dhaka are like this--half torn-down, with metal posts sticking up all over the place, yet fully occupied. A couple of weeks ago, it seems that some residents of this building captured a monkey. They have it tied up on the top floor on the roof, above the two red brick floors. It's a rather big-sized monkey, like the size of an average dog. It has just enough rope to swing around or sit on the metal posts. All day it sits there. Although it's very entertaining to see a monkey outside my window, I feel sorry for the poor thing! I've thought about going over there and making some threats if they don't let it go, but so far I haven't gotten brave enough. Anyway, this is my first monkey sighting in Bangladesh! I'll try to get a good shot of the monkey and post it soon.