October 13, 2005: Headlines: COS - Bangladesh: Reverse Culture Shock: Lowell Sun: When Emily Greenwood first returned from a two-year stint in Bangladesh as a Peace Corps volunteer, the thing she craved most was her personal space
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October 13, 2005: Headlines: COS - Bangladesh: Reverse Culture Shock: Lowell Sun: When Emily Greenwood first returned from a two-year stint in Bangladesh as a Peace Corps volunteer, the thing she craved most was her personal space
When Emily Greenwood first returned from a two-year stint in Bangladesh as a Peace Corps volunteer, the thing she craved most was her personal space
While most of the people she met in Bangladesh are poor by U.S. standards, she added that they have some things that Americans do not. “They have a closeness of family that we don't have, that Americans can learn alot from,” she said.
When Emily Greenwood first returned from a two-year stint in Bangladesh as a Peace Corps volunteer, the thing she craved most was her personal space
Culture On Display In Westford
By MARIE DONOVAN , Sun Correspondent
WESTFORD -- When Emily Greenwood first returned from a two-year stint in Bangladesh as a Peace Corps volunteer, the thing she craved most was her personal space.
“Bangladesh is the most densely populated country in the world. it is really overwhelming; I just wanted to disappear sometimes,” Greenwood said.
The country, located on the Indian subcontinent, has a population roughly half that of the United States, squeezed into an area the size of Wisconson.
Tomorrow, Greenwood, a 1993 Westford Academy graduate, is inviting the public to the Parish Center for the Arts to view photos she took of the jam-packed people she called neighbors, while teaching English and art classes in a rural village called Fulbarigate.
“It's a tough country. It's very, very hot. Dehydration is a big issue, especially if you're not used to it,” Greenwood said.
One thing the locals were not used to were foreigners, in particular a camera-toting Westerner. “If anybody finds out you have a camera, you have to take a picture, you have to procure it for them almost immediately, because they love photos,” Greenwood said.
Prior to joining the Peace Corps in 2003, Greenwood earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees in art history from Skidmore College and UMass Amherst, in addition to interning as an exhibit researcher and organizer at San Antonio's McNay Art Museum, and as a studio assistant for an artist in Jamaica.
Greenwood hand-developed all of the high-resolution photographs for her exhibit in a darkroom she set up at home. Among the images is a photograph of an elderly woman, whom Greenwood estimated to be about 90 years old and had never met a foreigner.
The woman in the photo took one look at Greenwood's smooth hands and instantly made a funny -- although incorrect -- presumption.
“She took my hands and said, ‘you do not cook,' “ she said.
While most of the people she met in Bangladesh are poor by U.S. standards, she added that they have some things that Americans do not. “They have a closeness of family that we don't have, that Americans can learn alot from,” she said.
Greenwood now teaches art history at both Montserrat College of Art and Salem State College as an adjunct professor, and she says that after her experience in Bangladesh, she is no longer caught up in measuring her life in salaries and pensions.
“I love to teach in any capacity. So what if I don't have a 401K? I'm just thankful to live in a country where I'm not hungry and I have shoes,” Greenwood said.
Greenwood will serve homemade Bangladeshi snacks and will have numerous Bangladeshi textiles on display, at her artist's reception tomorrow from 6 to 9 p.m., at the PCA. The exhibit is up until the end of October and can be viewed Sundays from noon to 2 p.m. or by appointment.
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Story Source: Lowell Sun
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Bangladesh; Reverse Culture Shock
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