December 19-25, 2022

 

“Christmas is simply my King’s first step from the manager to the cross.” 

 

Monday 12/19: Busy day! Language class this morning… learned past active participle “having done” and then “Past Perfect Tense “had done.” Once again more changing the endings on Bangla verbs until I hardly know the English ones straight! Yesterday I got most of my sentences right, so that boosted my motivation. Homework was “onek.” (Much) Took Jared and I most of the afternoon to get it done. Sometimes we do it together and sometimes we do it on our own… depends how smart I’m feeling😂After class Jared went to the clinic with Daniel. Apparently Frequent fliers are an issue here just like at home!! If they are returning patient they can only come every two months unless they are pregnant or have cerebral palsy, then they can come every month. When they come back they have to bring their card that they were given on their first visit. Some like to come and pretend like they have never been there. But usually when they find out they can’t get care without it then they suddenly are able to find their card and show it. Some people come in complaining of pain or a small malady and you give them a couple of Tylenols and some Vitamin C and it cures them.😁 For the first while after Daniels leave Jared will just see existing patients then after we are done with our language class and he is comfortable running it then we will open it back up to accept new patients. I am so anxious to go there and see how it all works! Anyways what a rabbit trail! 🐰

After lunch we rested and then settled down to do several hours of homework. Later afternoon some of Daniels neighbor children from their flat came there to play so I took Layton. Layton and Nicolee had cut out sugar cookies this morning while we had language class so they had those for snack. The neighbor children didn’t seem too enthused about them. Bangladesh people aren’t used to all the sweets like we are! Daniel and Jared reviewed more computer things that Jared needs to know. The rest of the evening we just relaxed at home. Our housekeeper was here so talked to her for a-bit. She looked so tired so I gave her some bread and cheese and cheeseburger soup to eat. She was very grateful! She is a cook at a motel and I’m not sure if she eats much during the day. She works so hard to support 10 people in her family back in the village so figured the least I could do to show our appreciation was to give her some supper once in awhile. 

Tuesday 12/20: Language class: comparative sentences… than, more, less. That kept us busy for quite awhile this afternoon. Sometimes I wonder when language class is over what will we ever do with ourselves?😂 Midafternoon Layton and I went down to the courtyard to get some fresh air and then Jared went with us to the fruit stand to get some more fruit. We eat so much fruit here! Their bananas are really sweet. They come in huge bunches of 12 or more. Sometimes we ask them to chop the bunch in half because they are almost always ripe and ready to eat right away. We really enjoy the pomegranates too! They are incredibly juicy. Anxious to try mangoes in a few months when the season starts. Our usual Tuesday evening singing was canceled because the sisters wanted to work on getting packed up to go to their village. But they insisted on cooking lunch for us yet tomorrow! In the evening we went with Daniels to Farmgate. They wanted to take us out for chicken and naan. I ate chicken fried rice since I can’t eat the naan but Jared said it was pretty good! The chicken is a tiny whole hen covered in some spicy seasoning. You eat the chicken with the naan and some type of pink sauce. $7.50 for all 6 of us!  We are slowly getting used to the spice in the food here! I can see why they think American food is bland.  Didn’t really feel like trying to keep ahold of Layton in the massive crowd at the market as his mood and humor was less than stellar so we came home right after supper while Daniels stayed and shopped for awhile. 

Wednesday 12/21: Language class… Past Continuous Tense… was/were doing… There is alot more homework on this second book then there was in the first but that’s ok, how else will we learn? We started working on it as soon as class was over and had it almost done by lunch. It’s getting easier to write sentences it’s more just coming up with ideas of things to write. For lunch at the clinic today the sisters made beef curry, rice, vegetables and dal. They don’t always make dal when they make beef curry. Layton was disappointed that there weren’t any bones in the meat to spit out! He did very good eating it. The beef curry is like small pieces of stew meat with chunked potatoes added to the curry mixture. It’s kinda interesting, the sisters go home to their village once or twice a year to see their families. They send portions of their income back to their families to live off of. Anyways during the year they collect any glass jars (from Mayo, ketsup, pizza sauce, etc) that us Bidesis have used to take to their families. They really like the big Quaker Oats containers for storing their rice and lentils in. So we always save any containers we can for them! They also like to take any of our outgrown clothes or old dresses. The ladies in the village like to wear our dresses as house dresses. They will be in their village for several weeks and come back the 2nd week in January. The clinic is closed during that time as well. Yesterday was the last clinic day where the dr saw patients. Amber and I went to the tailor after lunch. She wanted some more dresses sewn and I took several pairs of Jared’s pants to get hemmed up. If they turn out ok I’ll take the rest of his pants there to get fixed. $3 to get 3 pairs hemmed up. It doesn’t take a scientist to see why one can’t have your pants dragging on the street. Most men here wear high water pants. I thought it was bizarre when we first came but after seeing the “collections” and “puddles” on the street I can easily see why it is a necessity particularly during the rainy season.  In the afternoon Daniel and Jared went with Jon to the auditors office. Spent the evening at home playing games with Layton. The neighbors listened to LOUD music all evening so that meant we did too. 

Thursday 12/22: Language class… had a test today. More “opportunities for growth.” Spent the day doing laundry etc. In the afternoon we went and got more passport photos taken for when we apply for visas and for some of the paperwork we will do when our baby is born. Jared and Daniel visited with our brother from church. Amber had gotten a whole bunch of ground pork so we seasoned it for sausage and got it all packaged up while the men visited. We thought cornbread and sausage gravy sounded pretty splendid so we quick whipped some up for supper. It was so good! Stayed for awhile and visited. It will be hard to see them leave that’s for sure! It’s cool enough at night now that a few days ago I got out Layton’s warm pajamas. He was excited because they “smelled like Grammy’s basement!” That’s the last time he would have worn them was the week before we left to come here. Tonight he said he didn’t feel good. He didn’t seem sick in anyway so I finally said “are you sad?” He said “I miss Kansas.” Then he said “my pajamas smell like Bangladesh now not like Grammys house.” We snuggled for awhile and he soon fell sleep on my lap. I had a good laugh the other day cuz he said “do we have any Amazon boxes? I really need to do some organizing.”😂 he is my child through and through!! It’s obvious he has inherited some of my OCD tendencies when it comes to things being organized🫣 I overheard him pretending to read “The Lorax” to Nicolee. “…and through a snergally hose by whisper ma phone, the secrets I tell are for your ears alone!” 😂 

Friday 12/22: “Van day” Layton’s latest term for Fridays… since after church we go get groceries and eat out!! Who knew riding in a van would be so exciting? For sure when seatbelts are optional. Had a different kind of church this morning. Since the sisters are gone it was just us, Daniels and our brother! So we sat in the circle and Jared had some thoughts and then the men discussed some topics pertaining to his thoughts. We went to a Mexican place for lunch and then to UniMart. Amber and I were both quite low on groceries so we had a lot to get. Went home and took naps. In the evening we got on rickshaws went to visit a couple that used to be members here in Dhaka. It was about a 20 minute rickshaw ride there. They wanted to see Daniels before they left. Really nice friendly people. We sat on their beds and visited. They made us plain rice cakes “pita”, some kind of sweet crepes and then some fried type of dough. We thought that was our evening meal and then about 30 minutes later she said she had made bhat! So out came a full meal! Rice, chicken and potato curry and fried eggplant. It was definitely spicier than what our housekeeper or the sisters at the clinic make! But we didn’t eat as much of it then. We usually have Coke or Sprite with Bangla food though so I was glad when they pulled the soda out to cool off our tongues. Plus they always serve sliced cucumbers too with their food so eating those every few bites helps neutralize it all! On the way home we happened to walk by a restaurant that was making naan bread. Layton and I stayed and watched for a tiny bit. Really fascinating. They shape the bread on a large round object and then slap it on the side of the tandoor oven and then a few minutes later grab it out with along handles hook and it’s kinda like a big bubble! Then the bubble settles as it cools and turns into soft naan. There are restaurants every little bit along the streets and for sure in the markets. Since I’m expecting we are very careful where we eat and what we eat when we are out and about. 

Saturday 12/24: This morning we didn’t do much. Layton was up multiple times during the night. He woke up this morning with a fever so mid morning him and I went back to bed for awhile. Jared and Daniel went and delivered some of the CSI calendars and then took all 4 guards out for lunch at Farmgate for Christmas. They had goat meat, rice and vegetables. Jared said the goat meat tasted like greasy ground beef but overall it was really good. Our electricity was out most of the day due to them putting up a new electric pole so I used the excuse to not do much today. Should have studied Bangla but I didn’t. Just relaxed. Think it was the most relaxing laidback day we’ve had since we came here. Layton slept and slept in the afternoon. Jared finally woke him up before supper. Our language teacher stopped by and brought Jared a black shirt and me an absolutely stunning royal blue and gold SaRi. (A long long piece of fabric that you wrap around yourself to turn into a dress.) She bought Layton a jacket… We had given her a 3 piece kameeze for Christmas and I guess she thought she needed to give us something in return! I’m enthused about trying this SaRi. They look so elegant and beautiful on the women here. 

Sunday 12/25: Merry Christmas! Woke up in the middle of the night to a cat in our apartment. It was sitting in the pantry looking out the window. I saw it hop down when I went into the kitchen to get a drink. My heart stopped because I thought it was a rat or something equally awful. The kitchen window screen has a small tear in it and I guess he hopped from ledge to roof and so on until he made it to the window ledge. Bangladesh cats are not cozy friendly cats so you can imagine what it took to remove the frightened creature. I found it humorous but my spouse did not. Mid morning when I was making food for lunch, we kept hearing some very loud music. We thought it was the neighbors again but after closer inspection there was a group of 4 men, 2 playing drums 1 cymbals and 1 a trumpet! Serenading us all quite loudly😂 it was quite a sight to behold! They were trying to raise money for something but before long the guard came and shooed them away.  We had lunch at Daniels. Roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, buns, lettuce salad and apple crisp and ice cream.  Afterwards Nicolee and Layton got their gifts. Layton got a rechargeable fan and a flashlight so he was beyond thrilled! We got him a big box of Legos so he has been busy. Later afternoon we went to Jute Quarters. It’s a place right down our street where quite a few of rickshaw drivers live with their families. Looks like a little mini village! Daniel made a piñata and we got all the children (maybe 20 or so) rounded up. It was the best thing I’ve ever watched! They had such a fun time. One of the sticks that we were using for a bat even got broke! They were pretty timid at first but soon they where whacking that piñata like crazy!  When all the candy finally came spilling out children, ladies and even a grandma dove into a pile to try and get some!! I stood there and laughed and laughed at the scrambling mayhem. Jared and I definitely want to do that again with them next year! We both thought it was the best part of the day. After the dust settled we went and sat on Daniels roof and visited for awhile until the smoke and mosquitoes drove us inside. We came home after awhile and just took it easy. Us and Daniels all have a cold bug so we needed some rest. 

Thanks for all the Christmas wishes! Christmas was certainly different this year for us but it was so enjoyable. Love to you all! 

December 12-18

Monday 12/12: No language class today! Jared went to the clinic with Daniel to learn the ropes there. They had a slow morning. Only saw maybe 5 patients. Usually they see 10-30 sometimes up to 60. They thought it was probably because it was “cold”. Layton and I did some housework and then went to Daniels so he could wear off some energy and ride bike. Amber and I got the CSI Christmas supper menu under control and made our shopping list for it. Came back home and practiced writing sentences for our Bangla test tomorrow. Later in the day the men did some more paperwork. It’s a continual effort to keep applying for security clearances and 1 year work visas. All NGOs here have this challenge, not just CSI. When they were done we all went grocery shopping. The traffic was very busy so we had to sit and wait for awhile several times. Definitely more chaotic than Fridays! Saw more Christmas lights… but nothing “christmasy”. Stopped at a clothing store called Artisan. It had really nice men’s and boys clothes. The boys clothes reminded me a lot of Carters just much cheaper like $2-$3 a shirt. Really nice quality. Got some for Layton in the next size up for in a few months. The best thing about the store was that the clothes were all sorted out by size in a STACK! In the markets it’s all one giant jumbo stack all mixed up that you have to dig through. Since it’s “winter” they only had long sleeved shirts for the men and big puffer coats, hoodies, and sweat pants.  It’s been getting cool enough now at night that I dug around and found some quilts for our beds. The guard asked Jared how we like these “cold winter months in Bangladesh”. Jared said “kube bhalo!” (Very nice) and the guard just kinda laughed. He probably thought these Bidesi people were crazy for enjoying 70 degree weather. 

Tuesday 12/13: Language class… Test went well. It definitely shows what areas we are weak in. Our instructor told us that “the first book is the hardest.” 😂 we will see if that proves to be true. No class until Sunday. We just asked her for one day off and she said “no class until Sunday” that seemed like a long time without class to us, but it seemed like maybe it was convenient for her. 

Wednesday 12/14: First thing this morning we got on a rickshaw and went to the hospital to get my sono report and get lab (“blood collection”) and a glucose test done. Getting the sono report was interesting. Told them what we needed at the “report delivery” desk on floor 2 and showed them my name. They went to a long wall full of folders and found the right medical record number and pulled out a folder with my reports in it! At home we would have accessed our patient portal online or the lab would have electronically sent the reports to the dr themselves. Had plenty of time to get people-watching in while we waited… Elderly Muslim men with varying hues of orange in their beards and hair, elderly women wrapped in warm shawls, women wearing bright colored 3 piece kameeze, some kameeze are plain, some with elaborate embroidery, some with glittering sequins… some ladies wearing all black with only their eyes and toes showing, some ladies wearing jeans and blouse but an orna over their blouse and head, pregnant women slowly waddling around holding their bellies and moaning so that all the world knows how miserable they are 😂, lab techs wearing lime green scrubs, ladies mopping and sweeping the floor, balloons hanging all over to celebrate the hospitals 16th anniversary, medical students in white scrubs, techs? wearing purple scrubs. (Seeing all the scrubs makes me feel like I’m amongst “my sort.”) Some people using old Nokia phones, more modern people reading off their tablets. Some men wearing suit coats and slacks others wearing mikassers and traditional Muslim hats, Little girls wearing short dresses with their black hair pulled up into ponies with hair bows… It’s hard to guess how old these children are. Some are so petite and tiny and others are bigger and well filled out. Got a CNG and headed home when we were done. Layton was enthused to be able to ride in a rickshaw and a CNG all in the same day. He thought it was even better than chocolate covered doughnuts! He’s a foodie like his mama! Went to the clinic for lunch! Chicken curry, sobji, bhat and dal. Layton ate and ate. I especially tried to savor the food today as the sisters leave next week for several weeks to go back home to their village over Christmas and New Years. So no Bangla food for awhile! Kelly’s had come into town to pick up some company that’s coming on Friday so they joined us for lunch too! Went home for naps and then went to Daniels for the evening meal and made pretzels and cheese sauce. Was fun being with them and Kelly’s. 

Thursday 12/15: This morning all the men and children went to Farmgate to buy ground pork. I enjoyed some quiet alone time at the apartment! Went to Amber’s mid morning and helped her with some things to get ready for the CSI Christmas supper. Later the rest all went to Herfeys for lunch. It’s a really good hamburger place, almost as good as Freddys! We skipped out and stayed home. Layton and I needed naps as we didn’t sleep well the night before. Plus we needed some quiet home togetherness time… We need a lot of that right now. In the afternoon I made a chocolate cake for the Christmas supper tomorrow eve. My boys were drooling at the idea of a chocolate cake.😂 they both had plenty of frosting by the time it was all said and done! They seem to know when I’m baking things and suddenly the kitchen is the place to be😁 Jared went down the street to the barber and got a haircut. They only used a scissors and did a very good job for only $2! I’m glad I get a break from my barber duties for the next 3 years! Layton needs a haircut too but he was nervous about it so going to give him a bit more time to get used to the idea then I’ll go with him. Had supper at Daniels with Kelly’s again. So enjoyable💖 

Friday 12/16: Victory Day… celebrating when Bangladesh got their independence from Pakistan in 1971. Woke up at 4:30 am to the usual Muslim prayer call and then at 6:30 am to the sound of cannons firing multiple times. Had church like usual… I really enjoy the services. It’s interesting how we can receive inspiration and have fellowship with our small group just like we did at home. Came home and had a simple lunch… egg drop soup and ham and cheese sandwiches. We were just finishing up when the helicopters and fighter jets started up. We raced to Daniel’s roof to see them better but the smog and fog were so bad we could hear them but not see them. The fog and dust have been really bad the past few days! Supposedly yesterday they had to reroute some flights coming into Dhaka due to poor visibility. Looking forward to the rainy season to settle the dust and Jared’s allergies. Came home and rested awhile before the CSI Christmas supper. Hauled all the food to the clinic in the van. Felt kinda funny driving the van down those narrow alleys to the clinic. Made white BBQ chicken, broccoli and cauliflower salad, French bread, roasted potatoes… chocolate cake, pumpkin roll and then Lanae added some Christmas goodies. They usually don’t make that much food but we were here to help Daniel’s and then Kelly’s decided to come too so there were more eager hands than usual to help. Usually they just order Pizza Hut or pick up chicken and naan. All the CSI workers were there. It’s amazing how many people we depend on to keep us up and going. Our housekeepers were there (Lucky and Sumita) our language teacher (Paninna Didi), Jon who helps us with all the visa and security clearances, our clinic nurse (Miriam) , some community friends, our church members, etc. They are a very jolly bunch. The people here are very eager to get to know us. It makes us feel really welcomed! I wasn’t sure if they would be upset that we were replacing Daniels or how they would feel about it. Supper went over well. Everything got cleaned out!! They even liked the broccoli cauliflower salad. They aren’t used to eating raw vegetables but they were real troopers about eating American food. They all took a piece of every single kind of dessert😂 Sang Christmas songs for quite awhile. They knew them and really gave it their all. It was some spirited lively singing!! Our housekeeper was sitting there with her 2 daughters that she only sees twice a year. I noticed she would stop singing and just sit and look at them. Just broke my mama heart. She could not quit smiling! Meanwhile down the street a group of teenagers were out Christmas caroling. It was super loud and involved drums yelling and dancing in a circle. I noticed the children were gone so went and looked down the street and there they were completely engrossed in the scene and clapping along with the group. Around the clinic area a majority of the people living there would be Christians so that’s why there where carolers out. After everyone left we headed home. Since we drove we had to go around on the street which was quite busy. We decided to take the opportunity and go drive past the parliament and the government buildings to see the lights. Miles and miles of red and green lights. Every building was completely draped in sheets of lights top to bottom no matter how many stories the building was. The parliament was covered in lights too with red lights shining on the top. Lots of red and green for victory day but it felt kinda like Christmas to us Bidesi folk. In front of the Parliment there’s a very wide sidewalk where people like to congregate in the evenings to socialize, usually lots of vendors. It was absolutely packed full of people…. Thousands of them… A sea of bobbing black heads. Truly a once in a lifetime sort of thing to see. We came home exhausted and were asleep in no time. So much to remember and think about. 

Saturday 12/17: Kelly’s left this morning with their parents. They stopped in for abit and got all their meat that they had been storing in our freezer. Layton was worried we wouldn’t ever see Kelly’s again. I said “that’s the good thing about living in Dhaka is we get to see them again when they bring their company back in a few weeks to the airport!” I did the usual housework things the rest of the day… Spent the afternoon and evening at home relaxing with my boys💙 

Sunday 12/18: Woke up this morning after dreaming that Craig Ratzlaff was calling me asking me to come back to work.😂  Language class… learned how to tell someone to do something, and then some other things with random verbs. Wasn’t too bad… Lots of homework. 19 sentences to write plus a whole page full of translating English to Bangla and then Bangla to English then fill in the missing word in the sentence. So needless to say you can probably guess what we did the rest of the day! The four day break of no class was so nice, felt like my concentration was better today and I could actually comprehend things. 

Thanks to all who have sent us their Christmas letters! Been fun to read them all. Guess this blog is my Christmas letter. I enjoy writing and it’s kinda therapeutic to write the days events in the evenings when we are relaxing. 

December 5-11 2022

 Monday 12/5: Language class… what a class… Causative Verbs (to make someone do something) then nominative, possessive and objective pronouns. I couldn’t comprehend it. Even Jared had a hard time with it! After class we hopped onto a rickshaw and went to my drs appointment. At the hospital someone wondered if Jared was French! That’s the 2nd time since we got here someone wondered if he was French?!  A guy even tried to talk French to him once. Not sure if his Canadian accent throws them off. To me he doesn’t sound very Canadian but then I’m used to it. All was well with baby, we are thankful. I tried to get them to tell me the gender but no luck! So I guess we will just have to accept that it will be a surprise and pick out 2 names. Any name ideas?? With almost 6 years between babies our name list seems kinda outdated😂  After we got back home Jared went to Daniels since Jon was there to do some paperwork. Spent the evening at home. We tried in vain to do our homework but the brain cells weren’t firing on all pistons so we finally quit and did nothing. 

Tuesday 12/6: Language class… how to use “with” in regards to people and objects. You use different words depending on the subject. In the afternoon I took Layton to ride bike at Daniels and I took a walk in the courtyard. It felt so good to take a walk again! Daniels left at 3 to go see Elwoods. It’s a 6 hour bus ride. Elwoods are shutting their post down as the family there that are members moved away. Daniels wanted to go see them before they left. They offered we could go with them but it would mean almost a week of no language class which would drag them out even longer after Daniels leave. We have both field secretaries coming and revivals in February so it feels prudent that we are diligent with continuing on with language class. It doesn’t look like life will slow down anytime soon… possibly moving Elwoods in March and then baby in April.  We also thought it would be a good experiment for us to do Tuesday evening singing and the Friday church service by ourselves as a trial run. The Tuesday singing went well! Half of the songs are Christian Hymnal songs so at least we know the tune and then the other half are just the words with no music wrote to them. Had to have one of the sisters help us start a few that we weren’t familiar with. Thankfully they are written in both English and Bangla script. After we got home Layton and I read out of Mrs Piggle Wiggle per our usual routine. A few days ago he didn’t want to brush his teeth so I read him the one about the “Not brushing teeth cure.” I told him that if he didn’t brush his teeth I was pretty sure I could find a Wag (the dog that teaches children how to brush their teeth) in Dhaka. I meant it as a joke but he took it seriously. He’s been religiously brushing his teeth TWICE a day ever since😂 Maybe I should read “the picky eater cure” next!🫣 

Wednesday 12/7: This morning when I looked out the window I noticed the guard was wearing long sleeved shirt plus a short sleeve shirt with a scarf wrapped around his head! It’s 75*. A gentleman came to our door a few days ago and was wearing a coat and stocking hat. Language class… mostly review and how to have a conversation with a child. The pronouns are informal when speaking to a child. Plus more words to memorize. Had lunch with the sisters at the clinic. Chicken curry this time. Layton pigged out on the rice and chicken! I was worried they would just be quiet around us since they don’t know us very well but they were quite talkative. The clinic nurse usually eats with us too… Even though we can’t talk about detailed things since we don’t know Bangla very well it helps just to smile and laugh with them. Sometimes I despair and wonder when I will ever be able to just say what I want to them but I always think of what Elwood said that even if we can’t say it all right, our spirit still can shine through! So when we sit and laugh with them that’s how it feels. Our spirits and hearts are connecting. At home the rest of the day to study and do my usual mama things… 

Thursday 12/8: Language class.. learned how to say the time… like half past, quarter till, quarter after and then how to say from 3:00 until 4:00… We have a test next week so have plenty to review this weekend. We are almost finished with the first book. 2 more books after this. The 3rd one is written Bangla dialect I believe. Not everyone finishes that one. Guess we will see how close we are getting to Carl’s and Neil’s (field secretaries) coming and revivals. Made my boys meatloaf and roasted potatoes for lunch. They both grinned and were quite pleased.   It’s one of their favorite meals! Layton said “this doesn’t even have black beans in it!”😂 He hates black beans to the point of it almost being a phobia that his food might have a bean hidden in it. Meals involve poking one’s food with a fork before cautiously taking the first bite to make sure there’s not any in there. Got caught up on laundry finally. Washing sheets takes up a good share of the line space, so that slows down on keeping the laundry going. I quite enjoy hanging up laundry to dry. It makes the apartment smell so good. An occasional whiff of laundry detergent throughout the house makes everything feel clean!! At home the rest of the day… studying and memorizing. 

Friday 12/9: Church this morning. The brother had the opening and Jared had the message. Interesting to me how their thoughts were both on the same topic without them even telling each other before hand what they would share. Was kinda a funny feeling to think that in a 1 1/2 months it will always be just us having the services! It was a bit quieter than usual. Mostly because we couldn’t converse a whole lot in Bangla. After the service the brother wanted to talk with Jared so they stayed in the church room and Layton and I sat in the kitchen and watched one of the sisters cut up her Sobji (vegetables) for lunch. She sat on a low stool and used her foot to hold her knife apparatus. A curved blade with a platform on the bottom. They can cut up vegetables very fast with this. They use it to cut up whole chickens or any thing like that. Hard to explain the contraption! Of course Layton was intrigued and had all kinds of questions for her about it. I tried out some Bangla and was able to fabricate a logical question. I try to think of a question before we go so that I can practice saying it. Today I said “Apni ki khabar ranna korben?” (What food are you cooking?) Not sure if the verbs where the right tense but hey it’s a start… I love sitting there and watching them prepare their food. Sometimes I’ll point at what they are cooking and try to say the names of the vegetables and meat. Or I’ll say “eta ki?” (What’s that?) I hope they know that I am interested even if I can’t talk as good as Amber!  After church we went and got the van from Daniels and went to a Mexican place for lunch and then to UniMart. Layton loves going there because there is a large indoor playground right beside the grocery store. I went and got what we needed while him and Jared stayed and played. Spent some time just poking around the store to see what all they have! Found some gluten free pasta and cookies this time. Haven’t been able to find any gluten free flour other than rice flour. They have chocolate and Nutella so I think Jared will survive living here!😂 Pretty proud of my man for how well he navigated the roads!💙 looks (and sounds) like your car horn is your best friend here! We pretty much only drive the van on Fridays otherwise we take rickshaw or CNG or walk. If the men have to go to the auditors office or someplace like that of course they drive but parking is so limited here! It surprises me that there’s not more accommodations for it. Even at the hospital there’s not much room for parking. Looks like it’s mostly a drop off or pick up situation if you do drive a “mini bus.” Someone asked me the other day if it looked like Christmas in Dhaka. Definitely not! The only thing close to Christmas here is that one of the Christian ran apartment complexes has Christmas lights on it. It’s beautiful! Looks like a sheet of lights 5 stories tall. It is becoming obvious that some of our neighbors are very passionate sports fans… as evidenced by their whooping and hollering late at night. (Welcome to apartment life😂) The World Cup is a huge deal here. The markets have Brazil and Argentina flags hanging all over, even the rickshaws have tiny flags tied to their handlebars. They scraped a bunch of political posters off the wall along our street and painted it all up with a Bangladesh and Brazil flag. Tonight appeared to be especially emotionally turbulent as fireworks and the hollering was still going strong at 11:30 pm. Sometimes it was a whoop of happiness and other times not so much. 

Saturday 12/8: I spent the morning prepping things for the next week. Made sure Layton had cookies available and made some granola for our breakfasts. Neither of my boys like pancakes or waffles so we pretty much just have eggs and granola or toast and yogurt. Boring I know! Jared went with Daniel to go to a pharmacy where they buy some meds for the clinic. The streets were empty! A political party is holding a rally today somewhere in Dhaka. The next election is 2024. There are already many many posters, signs and huge billboards up in regards to the election. Went to Daniels in the evening to hear about their trip. Sat on the roof for awhile. 

Sunday 12/9: Language class… since we are finished with the first book we just did review. I blurted out all my questions and how I just don’t understand all this infinitive and possessive stuff. She patiently answered all my questions so it brought some clarity to my brain! Layton built himself a tent on the veranda… his tools were a twin mattress, a chair to prop up the mattress, several broomsticks for rafters and many pillows and blankets for comfort. He was quite pleased with himself! That kept him entertained for awhile. Just relaxed and studied the rest of the evening. 

Nov. 28-Dec 4, 2022

 Monday 11/28… We left Golapganj around 11. We meant to leave sooner but the men all went to Kelly’s eye clinic to see it. It’s a little dokhane on the side of the road. The trip home was uneventful. Jared drove most of the way home. Did very well. I had to tell myself not to be a backseat driver. It’s unnerving to me to have these huge buses come sailing around you while you are ripping around a rickshaw or dodging someone on the side of the road. All the while all parties involved are laying on their horns. The buses seem to think the road is theirs! So I’m trying to relax and enjoy the drive. I asked Jared if he felt stressed about driving and he said “It wasn’t that bad!” I think my brother Phillip would enjoy driving here, he would find it to be a great sport.😂 In Dhaka it’s best to either leave or arrive around 6 AM or around 1 PM. We didn’t hit any traffic jams once we got into the city. After we got home we all took naps… We were wore out from all the fun and festivities. We just enjoyed the weekend so so much!!! The other missionaries ages are all within 5-6 years of us. In the afternoon, I did laundry, made supper all the usual… Jared went to the dokhane and got veggies and fruit for the week. Later in the day Jared and Layton went to the clinic to check on some work the carpenter is doing there. They have two huge metal cabinets in there right now that hold all the powdered milk, diapers and meds. The cabinets are really deep so there’s a lot of wasted space. Daniel hired a carpenter to make some that aren’t so deep and that are taller and then they will put all the meds and milk in one cabinet to better utilize the space. The room the cabinets are in is the same room where we have church, eat lunch on Wednesday’s, sing on Tuesdays and where the dr sees all the patients on clinic days. So it’s a multi purpose room so space and functionality is of essence! It’s maybe 10x15. Our housekeeper came this evening and when she saw that we were home she said “I am happy!” Layton followed her around and talked a blue streak to her in English and she just laughed with him. She is such a sweet lady! We studied for abit in the evening and then went to bed. Coming back to our apartment after the weekend away felt just like coming home. It is our home now and we are so grateful. Dhaka feels cultured and sophisticated compared to the village! 

Tuesday 11/29: Language class… Learned how to ask a question if something was available or a possibility and switching the verbs to verbal nouns, names of vegetables and numbers 15-20. Made granola for the freezer. Studied most of the evening… Jared went to Daniels for awhile in the afternoon to learn some more about what paperwork is needed for the police, what we will need to get from the embassy for our visas etc. We usually go sing with the sisters Tuesday evening, but the carpenter was still building the medicine cabinets there so decided to cancel singing. Was glad to be at home for the day. Thanks to those of you that sent us conference reports! They where all very inspiring😀 

Wednesday 11/30: How is it the end of November already?? Language class… how to say sentences and questions with must/have/has/had/ will have, am/is/are/was/were/ will be. You get the idea. Then if you want to say “no I don’t have” sometimes you say “na” and sometimes “ney” then of course you have to change the ending of the verb based on which pronoun you use. And then sometimes you change the ending of the pronoun and sometimes you dont😂 seems like Bangla is all about adding letters. The fun thing we learned today was how to write from 1-10 in Bangla. Quite the interesting squiggles. They have their own set of hieroglyphics for their alphabet and numbers. Now we will be able to read the prices on things. They usually have it wrote in American numbers but not always. (100 Taka is $1 US)  Our language studies are using American script so we can understand it.  Per our usual Wednesday routine we went to the clinic for lunch. The sisters made shrimp curry, boiled eggs in curry sauce, rice, the usual vegetable mixture and dal. The shrimp definitely is different than at home but it is still very good! It’s more meaty. We loved the boiled eggs. They are yellow from the curry. They where the same kind that we had at Tim and Sherilyns a few years ago! We were trying to decide on the way home what kind of meat/curry was our favorite. So far Jared’s is the shrimp or chicken and I think mine is chicken or fish. Layton’s is chicken because he likes spitting out the bones like he’s seen the Bangladeshis do. He always says “mom can you put my meat in small pieces but don’t worry if there’s a bone I’ll spit it out!”😂 The carpenter is making great progress on the med cabinets at the clinic. We came home and took naps. Layton was up multiple times during the night… crying, raiding the fridge, coughing, being restless, etc. He seems to have some sort of allergies ever since we came. Spent the rest of the day at home studying and catching up on memorizing words. Jared and Layton both felt under the weather. Some of the children and adults have gotten the stomach flu and/or colds after all being together last weekend. 

Thursday 12/1… Language class… learned how to say conditional sentences (If you….. then I/he/she/we will…) and how to change verbs to conditional participles . Had an early lunch so we could nap. I don’t know why we are so tired the past few days! In the afternoon, Daniels and us walked to Farmgate in search of a few things that we needed. You know your in Bangladesh when the store has a pungent sewer odor! Felt good to stretch our legs and walk. Came home and worked on our homework much to Layton’s dismay. We have plans with Daniels Friday and Saturday so knew we better get our 10 sentences wrote, sentences unscrambled, flash cards made and fill in the blanks done this evening. So it felt good to get that done so it’s not hanging over our heads the rest of the weekend. I had no idea all the details and knitty gritty you have to learn when you learn a new language! It’s good for stretching the brain😁 shouldn’t have to worry about getting Alzheimers anytime soon. 

Friday 12/2: Church this morning. Was able to converse with the sisters abit. They know a decent amount of English but they think it’s neat when we try our Bangla on them. When Jared was talking to them Layton said, “why is daddy making such funny noises?” 😂 Seeing the sisters get so enthused when we say a few words or ask a simple question keeps me motivated to keep on studying. I so want to just sit and talk with them! They had some family stop by so as soon as church was over they started preparing their meal. It’s so intriguing to watch them. We stopped for hamburgers and then went to Uni-Mart. Found some gluten free tortillas and crackers so was quite pleased. Finding gluten free food here in stores is a real challenge. After supper we went to the clinic. The children played for quite awhile with a little girl that was staying there. Bedesi (foreign) children are definitely more rough and tough in their play. The carpenter was ready to move the cabinets in. They look so nice! Made from melamine. Hard to believe the only power tool he used was an electric drill to drill the screw holes. Used a screwdriver for the screws. Tomorrow he is going to bring the glass doors for the shelving then we can move all the medicine over. One of the sisters was displeased because one of the doors had a quarter inch gap at the top on one side. “The cockroaches can get in.” Valid point. They keep that clinic and their living quarters absolutely spotless so cockroaches would be alarming. On the way home I had a pleasant encounter with a massive rat in the gutter. Jared and Layton wondered what I was being noisy about. The Bangladeshi man that was walking behind me laughed and laughed. He probably thought this white Bidesi woman was a real wimp. I straightened my crown and kept on walking. 

Saturday 12/3: A busy day! In the morning Daniels and us took CNGs to New Market. It’s about 30 minutes from our flat. CNGs make me acutely aware of how claustrophobic I am! Layton LOVED the ride. He wanted to leave the market so we could ride on one again! New Market is absolutely humongous. There were stores for days. Hardly knew where to go first. Jared and I bought a painting for people to sign, so now we are true Bangladeshi missionaries! Haha! After going to several other stores the daddies took the “cat and dog” (What we call Layton and Nicolee since they love to fight.) and went to the store that is making the glass doors for the med cabinets at the clinic. Us Mamas went and bought 3 piece kamis for the ladies that work for CSI. It’s their traditional Christmas gifts. We wanted to get them all matching ones but ended up getting several different colors of the same print. They have so many that are just gorgeous!! I’m not allowing myself to get anymore until after the baby is born. When we got home our housekeeper had made us Bangla food. It felt so good to sit and eat after traipsing through millions of people in a busy market! Sometimes I wonder how Jared and I will ever know how to get to all these places after Daniels leave!! They traverse this massive city with such ease. I think we are going to feel kinda lost without them for awhile until we familiarize ourselves more with the city. We know how to get to places like UniMart, the restaurants we go to after church and Farmgate @ least so we will be good to go! Jared’s been pinning all these places on google maps so when we are here by ourselves we know how to get to them. Later in the afternoon Jared and Layton went to the clinic and helped Daniel move all the meds and milk powder over into the new cabinets. Took it easy the rest of the day… 

Sunday 12/4: Language class… learned present continuous tense. Was a concept that was a bit easier to comprehend. Spent the afternoon studying… took Layton outside to ride his trike awhile to burn off some energy. I love this apartment but I will be glad to move into Daniels apartment. Their courtyard is much much bigger and roomier for children to run and play. It’s surrounded on all 3 sides with apartment buildings. They have a badminton court there too that people play in the evenings. Badminton seems to be a favorite here! So once we are there then Layton will have a large place to ride bike and plus there is the roof yet too to go play on. But he seems happy here so I’m thankful! 🥰 Spent the rest of the day at home. Felt good to have a day at home after a busy weekend.