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!💙
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