February 20-26, 2023

Monday 2/20: Jared had clinic this morning. I had Layton help me in the kitchen while Sumita cleaned. He is quite a dandy helper when he wants to be. He helped me with the laundry and browned up some beef. I asked him if I made him work too hard and he said “it makes the time go by fast.” Not sure what that means! Haha! He misses Jared when he’s at the clinic. He likes to dump toys in Sumita’s mop bucket and then try to wash his feet in the shower while she cleans, then after she is done cleaning he comes behind her and scrubs the sinks again. So you can see why I try to keep him busy.😂 This afternoon Jared did computer work for CSI  things and I did the usual mom things. Made a pizza for the freezer. 

Tuesday 2/21: Happy Birthday Clarke! If I was home I’d make you some apple pie bars! Jared didn’t have clinic this morning since it’s a national holiday. Had some stores I thought it would be fun to go to since he was home plus I wanted to get out of the house. But alas, then we remembered in addition to it being a holiday it was also a Tuesday. For some reason here most markets and some stores are closed on Tuesdays. Then the electricity was out so Jared couldn’t do bookwork. I remembered that I needed an ultrasound before my drs apt next week so off to the hospital we went. There was quite a wait. At least 1.5 hours. While we were waiting Miriam called Jared and said he needed to come to the clinic for 3 patients that needed money for their pre op testing and powdered milk. Him and Layton took a rickshaw to the clinic and took care of the details and I stayed at the hospital to get the ultrasound done. I didn’t mind waiting, it was fun to just sit and people watch by myself. So many ladies that are covered in black burkas with barely a slit for their eyes. Some even wear black gloves so their hands don’t show. Makes me even more grateful for my bright colored dresses and ornas and just girlie pretty things in general. Even a little girl that looked maybe 8 years old was in a burka completely covered. For some reason seeing the little girls like that really saddens me. I had to wonder though if the women were wearing burkas because of being pregnant or because of their husband/father in law’s instruction. I’m still learning what’s considered modest for women here. After the apt we came home and behold the electricity was back on! Jared did his book work and Layton and I took naps. Some neighbors moved out of their apartment today. Layton and I watched the massive teetering truckload of earthly possessions drive down the street. 5 men perched on top to lift up the high line wires that were crossing the road.😬 Those men have obviously played Tetris with the way they packed that truck. The bed on the truck didn’t have very high sides so most of the load was up over the sideboards. It was phenomenal. Very little was put into boxes. They just stack and stack and restack until it all fits. Who needs a u haul trailer? Just lots of rope to keep it all secure. Had singing at 5 with the sisters this evening. That was fun… Kelly’s came into Dhaka midafternoon to pick up Lanae’s brother and his wife from Suncrest. Miss Trish is spending a few nights with us while they are here. 

Wednesday 2/22: Jared spent the morning doing paperwork that the SP officer called him about. They wanted more papers for my visa. Jon came over and had coffee with Jared then they went to the bank and took care of some things. It’s amazing how much it takes to keep our CSI programs running smoothly. A few paperwork jobs that Jared is responsible for is Clinic paperwork, getting money to Josna for all the clinic meals she makes for us and the patients, paying both the clinic bills and our apartment bills, making sure the other posts have enough money in their accounts, checking the budgets (gospel tract and CSI), sending reports to Neil, keeping the clinic supplied with milk and meds, wiring money to various other projects, making sure the other missionaries have their security clearances and visas (this is probably the biggest trial and issue) keeping the vehicles and cycles up to date on registration, taxes and other things, financial audits, immigration paperwork for new missionaries and teachers, just to name some. Some weeks it’s like he can hardly stay on top of it all and then other weeks like the past week he is caught up until Jon sends him another grocery list of things to submit to the NGO office. Went to the clinic for lunch with Kelly’s. Josna made beef curry, egg curry than the usual trimmings. Sumita made sure I noticed the egg curry because she knows it’s one of my favorites. It was so fun to sit and talk with Jaylens and Kelly’s. For sure since Jaylens are our age and are from Kansas. When visitors come it’s always neat to see and hear their first impressions, makes us realize how much we have gotten used to in just 3.5 months. Makes us feel not quite so pathetically new. The children played hard like usual. In the evening we had them all over to our house and had snacks for supper. Meat, cheese, crackers, cookies and coffee. We don’t eat much Wednesday evenings after our big clinic meal! Smoothies and quesadillas usually… Rice settles heavy on the stomach sometimes. Of course Layton was in his glory with his Thomas and Krista here. 

Thursday 2/23: Jared spent the morning doing paperwork and computer work. Layton and I did various things that seem to keep us hopping all morning. Finished up making food for the freezer this afternoon so that feels good to have that done now. This afternoon Jared met an eye patient at the clinic. Jared agreed to give him some money to help with testing. He needed some special contact lenses, so Jared went with him to Islamic Eye Hospital. Trevor’s came into Dhaka to pick up some company. Think their company is the last run of company for the summer. 

Friday 2/24: Church day! Jared’s inspiration was on Job and how no matter how successful we are on earth we can’t take our riches to Heaven. Trevor’s and their company came to church so that was fun to have a full room. Josna and Sumita always seem to like the extra company too! Stayed and visited awhile. Afterwards went and did our grocery shopping. Maybe someday we will get adventurous and try new restaurants and stores but for now we are sticking with the familiar places. Saw some of our friends in UniMart again! They are American missionaries here in Dhaka. Not sure what church they are affiliated with. We often run into them on Fridays there. Took it easy the rest of the day which felt so good. Layton doesn’t like it when we “take it easy” he likes to be up and doing and going from morning until night. 😬 I told him that when he is a daddy he will understand why it’s feels good to not always be so busy. 

Saturday 2/25: Busy morning! Layton made a new friend here in these apartments so I let him go down to the courtyard with her. I gave him strict instructions to stay where I could see him from the veranda and to not go inside her house until we know who her folks are. She looked like she was maybe 8? She talked pretty good English. So they were in and out and up and down. At one point when I looked over the railing they were standing there both eating chocolate popsicles.😂 It kept him entertained for several hours so that was super nice. Sometimes I get weary trying to figure out things for him to do here. He’s pretty creative with playing on his own but sometimes he just needs a playmate. And sometimes mom and dad are just boring…In the afternoon we went to the jute store. They sell things that have been made from jute that was grown and then made into bags in Bangladesh. I think the factory that makes it all is in Dhaka maybe. Bought a bag to use for a diaper bag. I had brought a diaper bag with me from home but it is way too big and cumbersome with all the walking we do. Plus I don’t need the whole closet with me when we go out and about… or do I?🫣

Sunday 2/26: Jared had clinic today. A few babies but mostly ladies. We didn’t do anything too exciting today. 

Hope you all have a good week! Thanks for the emails… 💖

February 13-19, 2023

Monday 2/13: Elwoods, Carls and Neil’s left at 4:30 this morning for India. They took CNGs to the airport so that Jared didn’t have to get up at an unearthly hour to shuttle them all the to the airport. They are going to check out some of the posts there. Spent the morning doing much laundry from our fun week. Realized this morning how much Layton has grown and got out his size 6 shorts and size 5-6 shirts. His 4T shorts were well above his knees. Kinda looked more like boxers than shorts.😂 Not that it matters here! He said “I feel so grown up in my new clothes!” Was glad I had some leftovers in the freezer for lunch. Sumita came to clean. Jared spent the morning doing computer work and then Jared and Jon went to the bank to pay taxes. The rest of the day we just rested and prepared for the coming week. 

Tuesday 2/14: Jared had clinic this morning. Next week he will start doing it three days a week instead of just two. A lady came in asking for financial help and provided memos of her medical bills. If they can’t show a memo they don’t get any help. When Jared gave her some money she said “Thank you!” Usually they think it’s never enough but this lady was so grateful he wished he could have given her more. Kinda refreshing! Layton has been looking forward to Valentine’s Day for weeks now. He’s been adamant that we make a chocolate cake with Nutella frosting. Not sure where he got this idea, but we whipped up some chocolate cupcakes and frosted them with Nutella, made a pizza and got some pomegranates. (Our favorite fruit here). Needless to say my boys (and me too) were very thrilled to sit down to that lunch! Layton said “mom you are a good cook but for sure on Valentine’s Day!” Now he is already wanting to make “cupcakes with something spooky on top for Halloween”😂 This evening we had singing at the clinic. Nurse Miriam, Josna’s sister and then another lady came, so we had a good sized group. Jared lets them decide how long we sing. Usually after 20-30 minutes they are done but tonight we sang for an hour! They were full of laughter and were joking with each other. We could understand some of what they were saying so it made it funny for us too! Afterwards we went to Parktown for supper. It’s a 10 minute rickshaw ride from our house. Lots of ladies were wearing yellow or fancy SaRis. They must have been celebrating Valentines Day too! 

Wednesday 2/15: Jared ran various errands this morning. He went to Farmgate to try and find a place to make keys but no luck. We know there has to be one around somewhere but finding it seems to be the trick. Needing more keys for the guesthouse. The language barrier makes things like this a bit tricky. Layton and I spent the morning digging through drawers and organizing some more areas in this apartment. Nesting has hit me in full swing. Jared told me I “was supposed to rest after revivals and not do much until the baby comes.”🫣😂 you would think after almost 10 years he would know I have a hard time doing “nothing.” and that I will always find something to rearrange or organize. 😂 Had lunch at the clinic with the ladies. Chicken curry… Miriam said Layton was a “Bengali babo” because of how much he ate. Later in the day we went to my dr appointment. Got a rickshaw like usual. 3/4 the way there the rickshaw driver veered off on a side street. Sometimes different drivers take different routes but not usually on the way to the hospital. They all take the same route. So we kept on and it soon became evident that he was lost as can be. Jared tried to tell him where to go but he just kept on going, eventually he ended up down the street aways from Square Hospital. Then on the way home Jared told that rickshaw driver to take us to “ec number gate, Monipuripara”. Well this gentleman went past ec number gate and all the way to our apartment. I have no idea how he knew where we lived. Jared didn’t know him either. So one extreme to the other!😂 While we were at my appointment we asked if we could have a tour of the OB ward. It was all very clean and orderly. We had to change into hospital shoes to walk around in there. 

Thursday 2/16: Jared set out on another key making expedition this morning. He went to KaWran Bazaar and this time he was successful and got keys made for the gate and the guesthouse door. Layton entertained himself and I just rested (orders from “Dhaka boss”😂) In the afternoon Neil’s and Carls flew into Dhaka from India. Their flights back to the states left in a few hours so they decided to just stay at the airport. Jared took the rest of their luggage to the airport since they hadn’t wanted to haul it all to India. In the afternoon I did some baking and cooking for the freezer for after the baby is born. 

Friday 2/17: Church today… Jared’s inspiration was on “the sower and the seeds.” Samir from Kulna was in Dhaka for business so he came to our service. He is such a likeable chap. Speaks good English… We did our usual grocery run in the afternoon. Glad we could go today because the next few days there’s supposed to be a lot of political rally’s on the streets. When we were stopped in traffic at one point we noticed one of the butcher shops had at least 30 goats up on the roof. It was probably a 3 story building. No fence or railing or anything! Looked like they might have been tied to something maybe? The rest of the day was quiet and relaxing! A bit too relaxing for Layton’s liking. 

Saturday 2/18: Sumita came to clean and Lucky came to cook. I don’t always know what to do when they are both here at the same time. Lucky takes up the whole kitchen with all the yummy dishes she makes so I can’t really be in there and Sumita is busy sweeping and mopping so we kinda play “dodge the wet floor” room by room! I’m very very thankful they both come though. I ended up doing some laundry and then taking Layton outside to ride bike to stay out of their way. If he goes a whole day without riding bike the guards wonder when he will ride bike again. I think they enjoy watching him! The minute we drove through the gate when we got home from Golpagonge last week the guard said “babo cycle khelbo?” (Will the child ride bicycle?)😀 Layton and I went and looked at the fish seller outside our gate and all his big metal bowls of fish swimming around. Every morning a vegetable man, chicken man and fish man come and park their wares outside our gate and sit there all morning. They usually leave with empty bowls and empty carts. The street cats and dogs are never far away in hopes of a tasty morsel from the slaughtering of the creatures! Found an old pair of roller skates in the storage room so Layton kept himself entertained for awhile with those. I puttered around the rest of the day doing some things for when the baby comes and such like. 

Sunday 2/19: Jared had clinic this morning. Said it went really well. Had quite a few cleft lip babies. Sometimes it’s mostly women needing vitamins or meds or lab work… Layton and I ran some errands this morning. Made him walk the whole way to try and get some of his energy wore off. In the evening we all went up to the roof and Jared grilled a bunch of chicken for me to put in the freezer. His paperwork and computer work has slowed down for abit so that’s been nice.  It’s definitely starting to warm up here! Put away our quilts and fuzzy blankets. Won’t need them until November or so… It’s supposed to start raining in March. Everything is just coated in layers of dust and grime. The trees in our courtyard are grey/brown from all the dust. Underneath it all they are still green! Even in the house, it’s crazy how dusty and gritty everything gets. 

February 6-12, 2023

 Monday 2/6: Went to UniMart this morning to get some things to take to Lisa and Lanae. I needed a few things too so between the three of us I had a good sized grocery list. There’s definitely more traffic than on a Friday but it wasn’t terrible. Did have to sit in some jams on the way home. Took maybe an hour to get there and then an hour home. Jared had canceled his language class so we didn’t have to feel pressured to be home at a certain time. Layton is learning to patient while we sit in traffic. Emphasis on the learning!!! While we were waiting in traffic I noticed a man on a bike pulling a “flatbed”. Instead of it being stacked with boxes or other cargo, he had his maybe 1 year old child on the back. 🫣😬 I tried to not think of that baby bouncing on that trailer through the Gulsane traffic. The rest of the day was pretty low key, spent time in the courtyard so Layton could ride his bike, made a pan of bars to take along to Golpagonge, laundry, the usual… 

Tuesday 2/7: Jared had clinic this morning. Sumita came to clean. She thought it was hilarious that Layton was wearing ornas around the house. I’ve tried to explain to him that only ladies wear them but he still thinks it’s great fun to wear them and then wash them by hand and hang them up to dry. Spent the day packing and taking care of some things before we leave tomorrow morning. Elwoods flew into Dhaka today from India. They were able to get through immigration after quite sometime… we were all so grateful! Their visa situation has been pretty dicey. They came for supper. It was so uncertain whether or not they would be able to stay in Bangladesh due to their India visa that I hadn’t made any plans for supper. So quick whipped up some cornbread and sausage gravy for us all. 

Wednesday 2/8:Left the house for Golpagonge at 6:45 am. Josna and Sumita rode with us. Shurov called Jared and said he was sick so he’ll come on the bus when he is feeling better. Kokhon said he would come by bus as well, so hopefully the Dhaka group will all be reunited tomorrow. Layton had fun seeing how many mosques he could see on our way out of Dhaka. I heard him mutter to himself, “thousands and thousands of them.” We were glad we had gotten up early to get through town. Didn’t have to stop even once for a jam!! Which in Dhaka is quite a feat. The drive to Golpagonge is really beautiful. Crossing the Padma Bridge was fun. The air was clear enough we could see the boats, barges and sand drilling rigs. Had to think of all of Carl and Neil’s stories about waiting 6 hours in line for the ferry there before the bridge was built. Now we zoom across! So much to see and observe. One just finally has to focus on the sights along just one side of the road. It never ceases to amaze me how once we are on the “freeway” people are still climbing over the guardrails and trying to dash across the road in between cars and buses. The nurse in me visualizes the trauma which could possibly occur. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the rice patties. Lush and green! Quite a contrast from all the grey dirty cement in Dhaka. Layton could not understand why you would want standing water in a field. Jared told him “Rice likes to have wet feet.” Got to Kelly’s at 9:45am. The road that leads to their house is very narrow. Part brick and part dirt. Barely wide enough for a “mini bus.” Then we met cycles and people walking along the road yet too that all deserve a spot. Kelly’s older children were in school when we got there so Layton and Krista amused themselves. They dug and dug and dug in the dirt. Jared and I just let Layton get filthy… he was having so much fun being with other children AND being able to play in good clean dirt. I wasn’t about to tell him he had to stay clean!  Lanae’s housekeeper made us all lunch… chicken curry, pumpkin, rice and dal. The rest of the afternoon we were at Kelly’s. Elwoods came by bus mid afternoon. In the evening we all went to church and had supper there together with some of the Golpagonge members. Due to the size of our group Kelly’s rented a church. It’s a Nazarene church. This one is much bigger than their church building. The “sanctuary” is upstairs and the kitchen and eating area is on the main floor. There is also a school room off to the side. I will not write about the joys of learning to use the squat pot in the restroom. All I will say is… be thankful for western toilets.😂 Before supper the men laid out the carpets on the floor, set up chairs, etc. Supper was fish curry, sobji (with large dal and peas in it), rice and dal. We are used to Josna and Lucky’s dal that is thick. This was very runny! More water than Dal. They poured it out of a tea pitcher. I could see why they gave us plates with high sides. At the end of the meal, you just slurp it out of your plate. Before supper I was standing in the doorway of the kitchen watching the ladies cook. They had a big fire in the back of the kitchen with a massive rice pot on it where they were cooking the rice. Then on a large gas burner they had another huge pot. The pots were so big I think Layton could have sat in them. Off to the side they had a large mound of probably 20 heads of cauliflower and a bunch of cabbage, tomatoes, potatoes and all sorts of sobji. I was intently watching out of sheer amazement and Melissa sidled up to me and said “looks just like the kitchen in the Hesston church doesn’t it?!” We had a good laugh. We are staying at a motel across the road from the church.  The other missionaries and members are scattered between several other places. 

Thursday 2/9: Trevor’s, Carls and Neil’s came this morning. Kulna is only an hour away so that worked fine for them! We had a loose schedule we attempted to follow today to keep the revival moving. 8:30 breakfast which ended up being more like 9:00 or so. It was Khichuri (rice, Dal, and vegetables all mixed together) with a boiled egg on the side. Very good and not too spicy to eat first thing in the morning. Layton was pretty leery of it because he doesn’t like dal, but there was just enough to make the rice yellow but not all runny. He actually ate some with a bit of convincing. 9:30 we started our church service. Neil had the message on Light and Darkness. The interpreter really put his heart into his job and used lots of expression and hand motions. Every once in a while they would have to rephrase something to make sense. 11:00… cha and biscuits (crackers) and then visits with different members. Carls, Neil’s and then the couple in charge of the post along with the member visited for awhile. Felt kinda strange to sit in on a visit and listen to other people share their hearts. I was thankful that they humbly shared things even though Jared and I were sitting there. 1:00: lunch (chicken curry) and then rest time. (Before church started, Jared and I had observed the “food committee men” out back butchering the chickens.) 4:00… cha and biscuits again and more visits then church service at 5. Carl had the message on hearing and knowing the voice of God. Supper at 7 (fish curry.) After supper Jared had another visit to sit in on so Layton and I came back to our motel room. He was needing some quiet time. I enjoyed visiting with Ang and Judith for awhile while we waited on the men. Neil’s and Carls are staying at the same place as us so we had our visit before we retired for the night. 

Friday 2/10: Todays schedule was much the same as yesterdays. Some more members were able to come today. Neil had a sermon on Repentance in the morning, and Carl had a sermon on the Church in the evening. The men continued with the visits in between meals and cha. Had a members meeting this afternoon. “Gol meeting” (circle meeting) we all sat in a circle and whoever felt like sharing could. The decision was made to go forward to Communion tomorrow. They were wondering how we did it in America, if all the members couldn’t attend would that close the door to Communion? Neil explained that it was what everyone felt on their hearts that determined whether or not we could proceed with Communion versus how many were physically present. Had more rice, chicken curry and fish curry! Bangla food is oh so good, but boy eating it all day for 2 days in a row makes one feel pretty fluffy.😂 I tried not to eat so much but my rice:dal ratio was always off. Too much Dal so I added rice to sop it up, then too much rice so I needed more Dal to moisten it. And on and on it went…. Kinda like chips and dip. Layton has been loving cha. He drinks two cups every time. This is cini (sugar) cha (tea).Basically piping hot sweet tea. The first time he drank it was Wednesday evening. Jared and Elwood took him to a cha dokan. Didn’t think to tell him that this cha isn’t strained and that the tea grounds were in the bottom of the cup. He drank it all and soon was hurriedly spitting out mouthfuls of grounds!! Now he carefully sips it.😂He told someone “my one granny makes hot tea and the other Grammy makes cold tea.” 

Saturday 2/11: For breakfast we had rice and dal and then alu borta. (Balls of mashed potatoes with onion and then something to add some spice.) Had a members meeting, self expression and then communion this morning. It was a neat experience and we were glad we could be here to partake of it. It was really special to me because one of our Dhaka sisters came up to me after Communion and hugged me and said “I love you!” Had beef curry for lunch. The beef was unusually good. Sometimes mutton here can be tough and lots of fat and bones to pick out. Layton and I went to lay down at the motel for a bit before the 2nd wave of activities hit. We packed up and headed to Kelly’s for the afternoon and evening. Layton couldn’t wait to go back to their place and dig in the dirt!

Sunday 2/12: We left Kellys around 1:45pm. Elwood, Neil, Carl and Tessa all took the bus from Golpagonge to Dhaka and then Jared and I took Melissa, Ang and Judith with us plus all the luggage. Got home around 5:15. We hit Dhaka right when the traffic was starting to pick up for evening rush hour. But we inched along and eventually we were home!💖  I was so thankful Layton could get to play with a bunch of other children for several days. 

January 30 - February 5, 2023

 Monday 1/30: Jared told me I was supposed to take it easy today. So I tried too. After class, Jared ran a bunch of errands. To the bank, then to Kawran Bazaar for new stools and powdered milk for the clinic and then disposable cha cups for revivals. I wish I could help him more with all his duties. But a white pregnant Bidesi lady traipsing through some of the markets isn’t entirely appropriate. Now that we are settling in we might not have as many exciting things to report on every day like we did when Daniels were still here. So if some weeks news from us is kinda sparse it means we are just living normally😂 I tried my hand at making egg curry for supper! Whole boiled eggs rubbed with turmeric and salt and then in a curry sauce. It seemed more runny than I remembered Josna’s but there were several recipes for it in our “Bangla Kabar” cookbook so maybe I didn’t do the right one. The taste was delicious so that’s all that matters! Layton was a trooper and feasted right along with Jared and I. While I was cooking Layton came up to me and whispered “Could I have my daily dose of Nutella?”😂 My boys do love their chocolate! At home they ate ridiculous amount of dark chocolate chips but the chocolate bars here have a waxy taste. Almost like they are plain almond bark instead of real chocolate, so I’ve been buying them Nutella!💖 Athough I laid down the law and told them they had to make a container of it last 2 weeks. 🫣 This evening we had high hopes of going to bed early but we no sooner got settled in and the helicopters chopped and roared over head every 5-10 minutes until 11 pm, then our friendly gecko started chirping away in our bedroom and then some nearby booming started. Hard to tell if it was the construction on the metro or fireworks. We got back up and Jared tried to hunt down Mr Gecko to usher him into a different room where he could chirp without disturbing us. No luck but the gecko hunt sent Layton into fits of giggles to see his dad wildly thrashing the curtains with a fly swatter so then we had a boy to settle down! Haha! 

Tuesday 1/31: Jared had clinic today. He said it was a good day. A 16 year old girl came in. She was the size of her 6 year old sister. We went to the clinic this evening for our singing evening. We just love doing that! Josna and Sumita sing with enthusiasm so if we stumble on the words it’s not a big deal. I told Jared that evenings like tonight make me realize why we are here. There was a mom and baby staying at the clinic so I went and peeked in on them. The baby had cleft lip and will get testing done tomorrow. Most of the time they have to spend the night again after the tests so that they can go get the paper results the next day. This baby was able to take a bottle with a regular nipple by putting clear to the side in his mouth. It looked like a slow tedious process to take a whole bottle. Sometime the mom would just squirt the milk into the babies mouth for it to swallow. I just had to think of how at home that baby would be on “swallow precautions” and “risk for aspiration pneumonia.” Often times the milk will run out their nose if the palate is open as well. Anyways… it was a beautiful evening outside. After supper we went down to the courtyard after dark for Layton to ride his bike. The air was clear enough that we could see the moon shining through the clouds! Down our street aways some men had constructed a frame out of bamboo poles and had made a canopy of all different colored lights over it for probably 1/4-1/2 mile. So we went and walked along there for some extra scenery. 

Wednesday 2/1: Jared had language class. We are debating how long he should continue. He has his plate so full right now with the clinic, paperwork and helping plan revivals. Went to the clinic for lunch. Went early so that Jared could unbox all the meds that were delivered from Square Hospital yesterday evening. Josna made an absolute feast! I didn’t think she was ever going to quit bringing food out of the kitchen. Shrimp curry, egg curry, rice, sobji, Dal and then green onions and potatoes cut into small pieces that were fried in some oil. I don’t know why she made so much but we sure enjoyed every bite of it!! I just could not eat everything on my plate. Between the baby in my belly and all that food I decided while it was amazing it wasn’t worth eating to the point of misery😂Layton really made them grin because when he was in the middle of stuffing his face with rice he piped up and said “khube bhalo!” (Very good!) We came home for a bit and then headed to my drs appointment. Spent the rest of the day at home doing the usual things and on the phone with revival planning. 

Thursday 2/2/23: Layton helped me make cookies this morning. He was displeased about the lack of dough that ended up on the beaters for him to lick so he plunged them down into the bowl again to get a more generous portion. You can imagine the size of the “portion.” His opinion and mine apparently vary on the amount that should remain on the beaters.😂 Sumita came to clean. Amber had helped her get WhatsApp on her phone but she can only get messages when she comes to our place when she connects to Wi-Fi. So she wanted me to help her to voice message some of the past missionaries that had messaged her! She sat beside me on the couch and just giggled and giggled she thought it was so funny to do that😂 Other than that just daily living. Spent time getting the guesthouse ready for Carls and Neil’s. They fly in at 8 and 9 tomorrow morning. Shurov came for sweet tea and a visit. We spent time up on the roof in the evening. There was a good breeze and it was amazing how it cleared the air! Could see for quite a ways. When we are up on the roof it’s amazing to look down and see how close together the other apartments are built. We were wondering how many people lived just in the 1/4 mile radius around us. Apartments on all sides and they all are 5-7 stories tall! I’m sure most have multiple families living in them. 

Friday 2/3: We went to the airport and picked up the men and their ladies. Neil’s girl Tessa came with them. We got to the airport in a record breaking 20 minutes but then the line to get into the international arrivals was atrocious. But we inched forward an inch at a time until we got there and then we waited in the parking lot. There’s never a shortage of things to watch when you are sitting and waiting! We had church this afternoon at 4:30 instead of this morning since their flights came in at church time. Was glad that we didn’t skip it completely. The mom and baby that where at the clinic Tuesday were back after the baby’s operation. His lip had came together very nicely in the front and he had the most beautiful smile! Who knew that a bunch of blue sutures could make such a difference in a smile. In these children it truly determines their success in the future. When he is bigger he will come back and get his palate fixed. After church us, Carls and Neil’s went out for supper at Parkhouse. It was Chinese food. Really good! They are fun people to be with. 

Sunday 2/4: This morning Jared, Carls and Neils went to visit Ab and his wife. They both used to be a member here. They live about a 30 minute rickshaw ride from our apartment. I had called Lucky to see if she could cook today and I thought she said she couldn’t so Layton and I stayed home to make lunch. Well all of a sudden Lucky showed up ready to cook! I’m pretty sure I misunderstood her on the phone last night. I felt so bad! Talking on the phone here is a real challenge for me. Layton and I quick went to the sobji dokhane and bought vegetables and rice. I had her use chicken breasts instead of a whole hen for the curry because I couldn’t remember where the chicken butcher shop was and didn’t feel like trying to get a rickshaw and hunt it down myself without Jared. Anyways, when the dust settled she had enough ingredients. I was all flustered cuz my lunch was well underway so I quick put all the thawed meat back in the fridge and she used the vegetables I had cleaned (for a broccoli cauliflower salad) in the sobji mixture. And the muffins were safely tucked away for another day. So needless to say we were all very happy to eat  Bangla khabar. No convincing needed. After lunch Jared took Carls and Neil’s half way to Golpagonge and Kelly met them and took them the rest of the way of back. Jared had quite the adventures on the way home. The GPS took him off the main route into some narrow streets in some far part of Dhaka where there were tall multi story buildings, then he got a flat tire so he had to find a safe place to put on the spare and then he got stuck in a jam. It was quite an ordeal. The minute he arrived back at home Jon came to pick up some papers. Then the guard called and the internet man was needing some money. Here they don’t send bills they just show up and ask for the money. Needless to say, Layton and I were so thankful he made it home ok. We even had a special prayer for daddy that he could make it home in one piece. But Jared had some interesting stories to tell us about what he had all seen in the midst of his plight. 

Sunday 2/4: Jared had clinic. He said it went good. It was mostly a normal day on the home front. Whatever normal is here! Feels like we are still figuring out what normal is😀 This afternoon Jared helped Layton put together his Lego tractor kit that Layton got from his Sunday School class! I’m not sure who enjoyed the process more🥰Thanks to Layton’s class!💙