When I was given my departure date – 15th March 2009 – everything became very real. Suddenly, there was an urgency to the tying up of loose ends and the innumerable last-minute tasks that are necessary before leaving to live overseas for over a year. The ‘to do lists’ seemed to be unending: there were various VSO requirements to meet; vaccinations and other health-related tasks to complete; insurance to organise; financial arrangements to put in place; the surrendering of my apartment; considerations about my car; etc.
As the departure date approached, I noticed that I was developing a heightened sense of awareness of my surroundings as I attempted to store memories of my favourite places and experiences. For example, there were times when I found myself summoning Mnemosyne as I wandered through those parts of Dublin city that I love most, trying to capture every detail of the scenes of which I was a part. Or, I might be walking on the beach near my parents’ house in the west of Ireland and find myself trying to commit to memory the sound of the Atlantic waves crashing onshore.
Far less enjoyable was the storing of my possessions. Though not a serious hoarder (apart from books), I’m not a minimalist either and packing and moving proved tedious and time-consuming and plain hard-work. Once I had everything delivered, with the help of my brothers, to a new home in a large steel storage unit in Limerick, I felt a little lighter (both mentally and financially!). However, there remained the task of packing for more than a year away and that too proved to be onerous.
During this time my sister happened upon distressing TV coverage of the violent Pilkhana massacre in Dhaka (the capital city of Bangladesh) which she worriedly brought to my attention. The bloody massacre was the result of a mutiny by rank and file guardsmen from a faction of the army that guards the nation’s borders (the Bangladesh Rifles – BDR). Over 50 army officers were gunned down in Dhaka, together with a number of civilians, some of whom were wives of officers. (See BBC News.) VSO advised that they were monitoring the situation carefully and in time gave the all-clear.
And so, finally, after a series of long goodbyes with family and friends, the day of departure arrived.
On March 15th 2009 I left Ireland to spend 13 months in Bangladesh as a 
I am especially conscious that I am writing about an Eastern culture from the perspective of a Western observer. The opinions expressed are my own - unless otherwise stated. Should you perceive inaccuracy or misrepresentation, in this regard or in any other, or you would like to add something, I would welcome your observations. Leave a comment below the relevant post(s). 
A Year in Bangladesh 
I’m noticing you use images of Bangladeshi artists appropriate to the themes of your posts. Creative! Time-consuming I would guess.
Thank you! I enjoyed it. I love art and was very lucky to have the Bengal Gallery on my doorstep. I became very interested in Bangladeshi art and artists. I love this post’s one, Jamal Ahmed. Of course, the images of the paintings, as displayed in my posts, do not do them justice. I’m thinking though that if people are interested, they will investigate further. It was a lot of fun choosing images that reflected the themes of posts! Thanks for commenting.