Bangladesh day 1

The first day in Bangladesh, we took a long river cruise on the Buriganga and some of its tributaries (appropriate, since the class I'm here for is a water issues and social justice class).

It's an interdisciplinary class, and we're partnering with the geology department at the University of Dhaka, so in the picture below, you can see a Vanderbilt University earth sciences student, an anthropology student, and a University of Dhaka geology student (and the boat's smokestack).All along the river here, you can see boats laden with sand somehow making their way upstream to add sediment to the low-lying areas further along.

We're here when the water is very low. In monsoon season, the water would reach well past the bank on the right.

Along the banks most of the way, you can see the brick-making furnaces. It's one of the biggest industries in Bangladesh, especially for all the construction happening with development.