Bdeshis in Rome

[anisa22]

I just got back from Rome which is a beautiful city with so much to see and do!

only sad thing is that our brothers over there seem to only work as street sellers targeting tourists with tacky junk that noone seems to want to buy. i felt really bad and ended up spending most of my euros buying things from them just so that they could get some business.

also went to the bangladeshi part of rome to get some proper food.... the place is like how brick lane was about 20 years ago! it was really quite depressing.... no women in sight, just perverse off the boat men who dont know that it is rude to stare.... felt like i was back in bdesh or something

i didnt realise there was such a large bangladeshi immigrant population there... does anyone have any relatives living in italy?

and i didnt realise how nationalistic i was til i found myself only buying souveneirs from the bdeshi street sellers just so that they could make some money....

[angeleyes]

Unfortunately havent had the chance to see Rome yet, but some day!

I've had similar experience in Paris though where there are a lot of Asians (to be frank I was unable to make a distinction between Pakis, Indians and Bdeshis) guys selling junky stuff on the street around the tourist places. I, unlike u, refused to buy anything from them coz I felt they tarrgeted esp me coz I was Asian!

It is sad to see our brothers in the state that they are, but guess when there is hunger at home and sisters to marry people are forced to come to Europe to work as street seller!

[anisa22]

well, in rome, i think nearly 100% of the street sellers are either chinese or bangladeshi. i didnt meet one pakistani person whilst i was there, though there were a few indians. the indians however, werent exactly street sellers, but had those tourist carts.... glorified versions of streetsellers, and they probably do make a lot more money cos people prefer to go to those to buy souveneirs.

i can spot a deshi a mile off..... especially when they are fresh from the village and havnt managed to get out of their deshi ways yet (ie wearing leary shirts, sponge sandals and chewing on paan)..... and it helps when they speak very loudly in bengali! they would carry on talking while i looked through their wares, and then when i wanted to buy something, i spoke to them in our language and more often than not they looked shocked cos they didnt realise i was one of them.... and they were embarassed because they had been talking about something inappropriate!

its strange though.... you know how you said in paris that they they targeted you because you were asian, in rome they tended to avoid the asians cos they kinda knew we wouldnt be interested in what they had to sell.

my lil sis was in paris the same weekend that i was in rome, and said she had the same problems you described when you were in paris.... being harassed by the asian street sellers and all that. they must develop different selling cultures in the two countries or something!

[amee_patla_na]

my mothers uncle, his wife & two daughters live there. when i went, i didnt see very many bengalis there...they lived in a pretty posh area and i was actually surprised to see this. he's been living in rome for over 30 yrs now...so maybe thaz why...?