I am not a movie star but I played one in Bangladesh. I even had the opportunity to sign an autograph for middle-aged women that approached me at a store. I have been stared at in all the countries I have travelled to where my skin is a few shades lighter than the locally prevailing hue, but nothing like in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh stare is unique for its intensity. Visitors are rare, and folks tend to look at you in that drop-jawed, eye popping kind of way. At first I was a little freaked out but then I developed some coping strategies. First, never- and I mean never- stop in the street. This is like dropping a blob of honey in an ant farm. Secondly, walk fast. People will still stare but they will have a hard time keeping up with you. Lastly, develop a friendly yet slightly dismissive way of acknowledging fame. I found the “peanut butter wave” did the trick. What you want to do for this one is put your hand in the air about eye level with all your fingers together and act like you are spreading peanut butter on a piece bread. All in all this was a good trip. Mission accomplished and nobody died. Like all my trips I learned oodles about myself. I know for certain that I don’t like rice as much as the typical person from Bangladesh. I am certain that I like being able to blend into the crowd, and I know that I would not like the fame that comes with being a movie star. I know that going two weeks without drinking a really nice glass of wine is most certainly not to my liking. And I now have faith in my squat toilet abilities.
Travel thrusts us into all manner of unexpected situations, with all kinds of unimagined people, and in so doing, it challenges and stretches- and teaches- us in unexpected and unimagined ways. Adversity offers us irreplaceable lessons in humility, flexibility, open-mindedness, open-heartedness, resilience and resourcefulness. Look out- I have two more big trips coming up.
Until then...
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