February 14, 2010

When I spoke with Rakib this morning I told him it was Valentines Day in the US. Rakib informed me that Valentines Day is also celebrated in Bangladesh. I also told Rakib that it was Presidents Day weekend in the US and explained its meaning.
Rakib asked what the scouts were doing. I told him the scouts are preparing for the Klondike Derby and the Venture Scouts had finalized their hiking plans for the Grand Teton portion of the Teton / Yellowstone Trek and would be submitting backcountry hiking permit applications this week. I let him know the Venture Patrol will be working on activity plans for the Yellowstone portion of the trek this week.
Rakib said he was now living in the student hostel. He said he is comfortable there. There are two other students in the room and they are “good people”, all are first year med. students. The hostel is just a 10 minute walk from his classes. Living in the new hostel will save him money that he was spending on transportation from the old one. He will now also have more time to study. He paid the monthly rent, food, and his share of the cook’s salary. Rakib said he enjoyed getting an English language newspaper each day. The paper is paid for out of the food money. He said he was able to purchase a table, chair, bedding and a bookcase with the money we sent him. He said he had a little left over to buy miscellaneous items for the rest of the month. Rakib said the food was better quality than the food he was served at his old hostel.
Rakib told me that he went to meet Mr. Nurullah Masum this week. He is the scout leader I knew from Bangladesh. They talked a bit about finding a Rover Scout group or Rakib to join. Mr. Masum told Rakib that he thought he should concentrate on getting settled in at college right now. He has plenty of time to work on earning the Presidential Rover Scout Award. He said Mr. Masum will send me an email explaining his thoughts. He told Rakib he thinks he should join a scout group in about six months, June or July and he will assist him in finding a group at that time.
I asked Rakib how his study was going. He said he had an exam today. He did not know his marks but he thinks he did well. He said he had four classes at this time. He is using the bones he purchased for anatomy class. All first year students take anatomy the class. He said he is also taking a community
medicine and public health class. The class usually takes place in the second year of med school but, his teacher thinks it is an important class to have and is teaching it in the first year.
Rakib gave me an outline of his typical day. He gets up at 6:00 AM, takes care of personal items and has breakfast at 7:30 AM. Because he now has less travel time he is able to meet with other students from 7:30-8:00 AM. They use that time to discuss class topics. Morning class is from 8:30 – 12:00. Lunch is 12:00-12:30 PM, afternoon class from 12:30-2:30 PM. Rakib then returns to his hostel and reads easier general knowledge books from 4:00-6:00 PM. From 6:00 PM-2:30 AM he reads medical books, he finds these books more difficult to read, they are all written in English.
I asked if he had any free time. He said he attends school six days a week but he has some free time on Friday, prayer day. He usually finished his diagrams and sketches in his practical notebook and goes for a walk with his friends.
I asked if the college had a website that the scouts could view. He did not know but, he would find out and let me know next week. I told Rakib I would try to send him an email with some photos of the recent scout activities.
We wished each other good health, and happiness. Rakib asked me to give the Scouts his good wishes.