I met Sarah on my first student outing in March.
She was alone and we ended up in a tandem kayak together. We went to Victor
Harbour in May. She comes from
Bangladesh and is in public health as well, doing her Master’s degree.
She moved to a new flat and invited me to her
place for a party to celebrate her new digs and Eid. Many students are Muslim.
Sarah, with some help from her roommate Nai,
made a spread of two kinds of fish, chicken wings, bean thread noodles, vegetable
rice, and spicy cooked, spinach, pumpkin and tomatoes. For dessert she bought Ladoo,
corn flour like balls, and made a sweet,
milky noodle soup - not unlike we get in Indian shops at home. There is a Bangladeshi supermarket here which
has products to help them feel at home.
Some students arrived late as they had to work
cleaning offices or picking vegetables or other menial jobs, so Sarah and Nai
insisted we go ahead and poured us a lovely lime drink. It was not until we
finished, raving about the delicious meal, that they sat down to eat. In their
country it is impolite to eat with guests.
They gave us a tour of their place. They are
very proud of the small garden with herbs and vegetables.They modelled and had me try on some of their traditional clothes.
They were thrilled that we liked the food.
Sarah insisted on sending some home with me which I shared with Deb, who
enjoyed it. It was the first time either of us had Bangladeshi food.
But I also experienced the hospitality and the
generosity of students who have little but give a lot.
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