New Place... New Venture...

Dear blog, there comes a time when every bird has to leave its nest in search of a life of its own (Yeah the metaphor does sound pretty gay). That time is upon me; although it came a bit late than normal. I moved to Bangladesh in order to study medicine at the University of Science & Technology, Chittagong. It has been a week since I got here and I already have acquired plenty of useful experiences.

I arrived at Chittagong accompanied by my dad on the 18th of January. We were welcomed warmly by the senior Sri Lankan students studying in USTC. They helped us pick our luggage and had arranged transportation as well. My first impression of Bangladesh was not a dear memory to me. I was already missing home as I peaked through the shutters of the moving van. Huge city, over populated, pollution, less sanitation and an extensive traffic were the key words describing Chittagong to me at that time. After a drive of an hour, we arrived at our apartments.

Then came the second shock. Five other guys and I were assigned to an awful apartment. It was over 2 km from the university and was covered in dust. There were plenty of other deficiencies too. Now the seniors had put plenty of hard work into finding us this place, arranging us the immediate necessities and to help us get settled down. Out of respect to their hard work, we decided to live there. Later that evening, a student of my mom's visited us and she was as shocked as we were looking at the condition of our abode. She had already arranged another apartment for us but discarded it since it had so many rules. But now the rules seemed bearable compared to the state of our apartment at that time. So my dad and her went out to checkout this new place, it gave me hope when I heard the possibility of moving into a better place.

USTC: As seen from our flat

Good news arrived the very next day. All five of us preferred moving to a new place and we took the seniors' consent out of respect for what they did for us. All of us went to the new apartment to have a look. The place looked like heaven compared to the other apartment. It was a couple of minutes away from the university too. We arranged the move as soon as possible. A senior helped us arrange transportation; rickshaws with larger compartments. We could move all of our stuff for a very cheap rate. Signing the agreement with the land lady, moving in, buying stuff for the apartment in a foreign place, adapting to the new environment, everything is new to me, very useful experiences indeed. As days passed by, I can feel myself settling down slowly. Bangladesh is not as bad as it appeared at first, the people are friendly, am learning their language and getting better at it :D.

My dad stayed with me for about 5 days to help me get started. I am eternally thankful to be gifted with such a family, Alhamdulillah. I'm excited about the new journey I've embarked on. May Allah grant me the knowledge and power to get through this course with success. Now am sitting in my room, counting on my days to start my studies... more importantly to finish them well and to return home, to where I truly belong. I do miss home very much, I miss my family and friends. But, like I said, every bird has to leave its nest one day.