First day of Spring
It's the first day of Spring in Dhaka city (Falgoon in Bangla.) Women are dressed in their brightest sarees and sular camis - with flowers in their hair. It's a nice sight. We were told today that we will be given sarees to wear for pictures and for showing off in the U.S. Holly and I expressed concern at this.... this is a 6 meter piece of fabric wrapped intricately around the waist with a very pretty pleat, then the end thrown over one shoulder and back around the waist. A very tiny top is worn under it, but the mid-section is exposed (! - how is that ok?!?) Holly and I agreed to wear them, but advised Florence that she would have to dress us - for we had no CLUE how to put that thing on! :) She only laughed and said 'of course!'
So, we visited 2 farms today to recheck 2 cows that have been sick. One is a small calf with an infected naval - Lawrence has been doctoring it (daily penicillin injections and draining the pus out, as well as flushing the area with a sulfa powder/water mixture.) The calf is fine - the infection is almost all gone. I think he just wanted us to see it again, and the family wanted to see us again. :) We had tea and looked at family photos. They laughed at our pitiful attempts to speak Bangla. Wonderful people.
The next place was new for us - it was a farm with a cow with a bad case of mastitis - Lawrence began treating it 7-8 days ago with a Gentocin/Penicillin intra-mammary infusion as well as injectable sulfa antibiotics. They were only stripping her out 2-3 times a day. We advised 3 days ago that they increase the stripping, and give her some pain relief! They don't have Banamine here (!) but Lawrence has an antihistamine injection and they have aspirin. We saw her today, and they said that she was sooo much better after the injection and aspirin - her milk is still a little watery, but her production is coming back up and she's eating well. :) A success! The only people who will really be interested in this next part will be Dr. B and Mark (and any other dairy people reading this that I don't know about...) Lawrence has a drug in his box that is seriously a cure-all! It has 500mg/mL Oxytetracycline, Prednisone, DMSO, AND Chloramphenicol!!!! Lawrence says it's what the government vets use for everything - can you imagine why?? :) Woo - seriously illegal in our country! He's only used it in one cow - but she got better! :)
Ok, more about the driving conditions: All major roads are void of lane lines. There is no need for them. It's like a giant tetris game - seeing who will fit where. Most roads will fit 6-7 vehicles wide - that's a mixture of buses, cars, CNG's, and rickshaws. And it is normal and expected that people will cross a busy highway as if it's no big deal. Just keep moving - and you won't get hit. (!) Oh, they also have giant speed bumps just right in the middle of the highway. Odd.
So, the song we are teaching them is the 'Victory Chant.' For those of you who don't know, this is a great echo song. It's got a fun beat - and they really seemed to like it. Unlike us, they sang with great enthusiasm. (Most of the time, when we are learning a new song, we don't sing very loud - but they did!) Since tomorrow is Hartal (boo!) Holly and I gave out all the valentine's day candy that we brought with us. They were very reserved about taking any at first, but then they swarmed! All was gone within a few minutes! :) I think the universal language is chocolate. Everyone understands it! :)
Ok, enough for today.
So, we visited 2 farms today to recheck 2 cows that have been sick. One is a small calf with an infected naval - Lawrence has been doctoring it (daily penicillin injections and draining the pus out, as well as flushing the area with a sulfa powder/water mixture.) The calf is fine - the infection is almost all gone. I think he just wanted us to see it again, and the family wanted to see us again. :) We had tea and looked at family photos. They laughed at our pitiful attempts to speak Bangla. Wonderful people.
The next place was new for us - it was a farm with a cow with a bad case of mastitis - Lawrence began treating it 7-8 days ago with a Gentocin/Penicillin intra-mammary infusion as well as injectable sulfa antibiotics. They were only stripping her out 2-3 times a day. We advised 3 days ago that they increase the stripping, and give her some pain relief! They don't have Banamine here (!) but Lawrence has an antihistamine injection and they have aspirin. We saw her today, and they said that she was sooo much better after the injection and aspirin - her milk is still a little watery, but her production is coming back up and she's eating well. :) A success! The only people who will really be interested in this next part will be Dr. B and Mark (and any other dairy people reading this that I don't know about...) Lawrence has a drug in his box that is seriously a cure-all! It has 500mg/mL Oxytetracycline, Prednisone, DMSO, AND Chloramphenicol!!!! Lawrence says it's what the government vets use for everything - can you imagine why?? :) Woo - seriously illegal in our country! He's only used it in one cow - but she got better! :)
Ok, more about the driving conditions: All major roads are void of lane lines. There is no need for them. It's like a giant tetris game - seeing who will fit where. Most roads will fit 6-7 vehicles wide - that's a mixture of buses, cars, CNG's, and rickshaws. And it is normal and expected that people will cross a busy highway as if it's no big deal. Just keep moving - and you won't get hit. (!) Oh, they also have giant speed bumps just right in the middle of the highway. Odd.
So, the song we are teaching them is the 'Victory Chant.' For those of you who don't know, this is a great echo song. It's got a fun beat - and they really seemed to like it. Unlike us, they sang with great enthusiasm. (Most of the time, when we are learning a new song, we don't sing very loud - but they did!) Since tomorrow is Hartal (boo!) Holly and I gave out all the valentine's day candy that we brought with us. They were very reserved about taking any at first, but then they swarmed! All was gone within a few minutes! :) I think the universal language is chocolate. Everyone understands it! :)
Ok, enough for today.
posted by Leslie @ 4:49 AM
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