Friday, July 27, 2012

The BAGHA Club

One of the things that makes life in Dhaka bearable is the BAGHA Club.  Although "bagha" might seem like it is a Bengali word for "place where white guys drink themselves silly", in fact it is an acronym for British Aid Guest House Association.  It is a venerable institution, an intimate, friendly, expat club.  Once you enter the BAGHA Club you are in a place that's not really Bangladesh (although somehow the weather follows you inside), a place where you can have a ham and cheese omelette for breakfast with decent French-pressed coffee, or a beer and a pork chop for dinner.  It's kind of an Islam-free-zone inside a muslim country, and a nice place to decompress.

Although it is primarily a British club, there are members from all over the world.  You hear people speaking Spanish, Italian, French, and Australian!  That last language is spoken by a couple of my colleagues here, who hail from that island kingdom.  It maintains a bit of that colonial, genteel flavor, and seems like it's a bit from another era.  It is even permissible to smoke in the bar area, unlike in our overly civilized West.


The bar at the BAGHA club

I've never really integrated myself into the whole expat scene in other places I've been.  Generally I suppose that it's because I'm usually not in any given place for more than two or three weeks.  However, many of my colleagues on the project are here for two-year stints.  For them, having a place like BAGHA to go to is essential to their sanity.  And having been a member there myself now for the past month, I can certainly appreciate the appeal.  Yes, it is a way of separating yourself from the culture you're in, and some people would find fault with that.  Yet in our country, immigrants also tend to associate with fellow immigrants from their own countries and cultures.  It's a natural thing, and why should we be any different?

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    1. Heineken, Foster's, and Tiger, in order of palatability. There's also some English beer in a tall can, but it is not good at all...too sweet.

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