Monday 6/5: This morning the paper said Dhaka government primary schools are canceled this week due to the heat. There is so much about power outages in the paper and the lack of fuel and coal. We don’t think an hour several times a day is that bad. Jon says though before the war in Ukraine Dhaka very seldom lost power. So when you compare it to that it has definitely increased! It was 95* in our apartment yesterday afternoon so I am glad the outages aren’t much more than an hour at a time. Layton and Shania nap with a fan blowing on them. It amazes me how when we are out and about how many people I see walking barefoot on all this hot cement! Doesn’t look like it bothers them that the ground is so hot. They must have very calloused feet. Some have asked if we have AC why we don’t run it all day when it’s so hot. These cement buildings aren’t insulated and it would be cost prohibitive to keep an apartment this size cool all day. So we just run them at night and shut our bedroom doors so that the cool air stays in. If Jared is doing paperwork in the afternoons he turns it on for awhile otherwise the fans blow his papers all over the place or he sticks to the chair from all the sweat. Sumita came and cleaned today. She cleaned the windows in Layton’s playroom within an inch of their lives. She put on a mask and wrapped her head all up in a red orna so that she wouldn’t get dusty and so her allergies wouldn’t flare up. Then she pulled down all the curtains and dumped them by the washer and said “onek moyla, poriskar lagbe didi!” (They are very dirty and need to be washed, sister) Tomorrow she is coming to wash all the windows in the teachers room. This apartment will be clean whether it wants to be or not. In the afternoon we were all a bunch of grumps for various reasons. I made everyone coke floats and then we all had some alone time in our respective rooms. When we are together all the time sometimes we just all need some space to breathe our own air! 😂 Paninna stopped in and picked up some jars for mango jelly. Around 2100 the car mechanic brought Elwood’s Scorpio back to the flat. Jared had him take it for a service and tire repair. Now Jared hopes to get it sold. It’s a white elephant vehicle here in Dhaka so hoping we can get a decent price for it. Selling a vehicle as a NGO here takes jumping through some hoops. You can’t just put a for sale sign in the window and park it by the road like you do at home.
Tuesday 6/6: Sumita barely made it here to clean today. I thought she was going to have a heatstroke with as rough as she looked when she came in the door. As soon as she got here I made her sit in front of the fan and gave her water to drink. The air feels like pudding today. Very humid. But there’s hope! It’s suppose to cool off next week into the 90s and there’s high chances of rain for then as well. We shall endure!🤗 Made honey mustard chicken wraps for lunch. Didn’t feel like turning on the oven to bake something. Lanae wonders what character trait this heat is trying to teach us?! I thought maybe endurance.😂 they say your first summer here it seems pretty rough and then the next summer you don’t sweat quite as bad. Shania was fussy today. Only wanted mama to hold her and wouldn’t sleep unless she was laying on my chest. So that’s what I did! Life is short… soon she won’t want to hold still ever so I enjoy this sitting and holding her while she sleeps even if the timing is somewhat inconvenient at times! Layton on the other hand tends to have some jealousy when this occurs! I said “I did this for you when you were a baby too!” That settles it. Jared had clinic today. Only had 6 patients and then the power went out so they closed shop early. Sumita told me that she didn’t want to sing this evening if the power was off at the clinic, so we called right before it was time to leave. Power was on so off we went . We stopped and bought them some mangos and apples to cheer them up. (This heat and the current load sharing makes them anxious it seems like.) They don’t eat any fruit unless we buy it for them. Fruit is sort of a rich man’s food here. Often times if there aren’t patients at the clinic they won’t eat much meat either. After singing we stayed for awhile and waited for Tanvir to deliver the milk. The walk home was enjoyable! After the sun goes behind the apartments and it’s dusk it’s not too bad outside.
Wednesday 6/7: Caught up on laundry. Didn’t get much of it done yesterday since the power kept going off. Think it went off 4 times at least, 3 of those for an hour. At 1 we got a rickshaw and headed to the clinic. Typically we walk there but with the heat this week we take a rickshaw so that Shania isn’t in the heat for too long. 115* real feel today… Jared and I pay the rickshaw drivers a little extra just because we really appreciate them hauling us around in this heat. They work hard that’s for sure. Their shirts are sopping wet from sweat on these morbidly hot days. Lunch at the clinic was amazing! Fried fish, egg curry, vegetable mixture, rice and dal. Her vegetable mixture is never the same. I always like to guess what’s in it. Today was snake gourd, carrots and something else that I couldn’t tell what it was. Josna was especially pleased because Jared took 2 eggs (“Duane boss ate three!”) and Layton liked the fish. His comment was “do these things (fish) have flippers to swim with like sharks?”😂 Whenever Shania cries during lunch all three ladies immediately say “Shania bhat lagbe?” (Does Shania need rice?) They think it’s hilarious. When Josna makes fish for lunch it’s always a topic of discussion about how many kg the fish weighed. This one was 3 kg. I told them Shania weighs 4.5 kg so they found that humorous. For a few weeks we’ve been kinda burned out on so much rice and spice but now we don’t mind it again! We eat pretty light bland meals the rest of the week to make room for the rice and spice the other 2 days of the week. While we were there a patient fromKishorganj came. Her daughter has some health issues. They needed milk so Jared gave them 12 bags. The lady was wearing a full burka with gloves. When the lady wasn’t listening I asked Josna if that black burka outfit wasn’t awfully hot? She laughed and shook her head and said “Muslim burca onek gorom!!!” (Very hot!) The fabric doesn’t look to be very thick but all black has got to be stifling. This lady only had her eyes showing. I almost felt naked beside her in my dress and orna! Got home and the power was off. We immediately shed any unnecessary clothing items and took naps. Later in the evening our neighbor across the hallway brought us some mangos! I need to take her something now in return.
Thursday 6/8: Trevor’s came into Dhaka last night sometime! Jared needed to have a visit this evening with someone and it was felt it would be best to have more than one brother in on the visit. Trevor needed work done on their van anyway so they came into town for moral support and then Kelly came in by bus. In the morning I made granola and brownies before it got too hot. Trevor and Jared went and bought a new AC for the guesthouse. Some of these ACs are still the ones that Carl put in years ago! (Thank you Carl!) We had it serviced and cleaned out awhile ago put it still lacks luster. Doyle’s will be staying there for a few weeks when they first come to Dhaka so it is prudent to get the dears a good AC as the heat might be a slight change from Nova Scotia weather. Sumita came to clean like usual. Her and Layton spent time writing their names on paper. Layton wrote his and then she wrote hers in Bangla. I complimented Layton on how neat he had wrote his name. With him being a lefty it has been hard for him to write his name straight on the lines. Then with all the drama only a 6 year old can muster Layton said “it’s only taken me 10 years to learn how to do that!” In the afternoon we had a small rain shower and then the most delicious cool breeze came up. Jared and I just stood on the veranda and savored the coolness. It was truly amazing! I will never complain about wind ever again🤭 I told the guard how thankful I was for the “thanda batash” (cold wind) and he clapped his hands and smiled like only he can smile and “Kube bhalo batash!” Meanwhile while we were enjoying the breeze, one of the drivers was trying to teach a lady how to drive down in the courtyard. You very very seldom see ladies driving here. One day we saw a lady driving a cycle and that was really unusual. Out in the village you pretty much never see a lady driving. The women in Dhaka overtime are slowly becoming more “liberated.” The children and I went over to the guesthouse for the evening with Lisa and her kiddos while the men had their visit. We got pizza and then had the brownies I made earlier. Sent some to the men too for them to eat during their visit. Layton played and played. When we first came it totally overwhelmed him to play with the other children and now he just plays with his whole heart. Makes me so happy to see! The longer we are here the less overwhelmed he is by things. It is a relief to me. We’ve had to use a lot of tough love with him to help him overcome some of his fears and anxieties and it seems to be effective. He’s also becoming more independent and isn’t constantly wanting to be right beside me all the time. Kylie, Brock and Layton had the ripsticks out and were sitting on them and would zip down the parking garage ramp! The men stayed up late talking. I don’t mind when they do that, just glad that Jared can visit with other men. The children and I hit the hay. Kelly spent the night here at our apartment.
Friday 6/9: Kelly left at 5 this morning and took the Dhaka cycle back to Golpaganj and then Trevor will pick it up from there and take it to Kulna. On the way to church this morning it was really muggy. Let’s just say that the humidity amplifies the odor coming from the trash wagons. Church was full this morning. The sisters, Miriam, Lucky, Trevor’s and us. A book seller and his wife came to the service too in hopes that we would buy some of their books. Later the wife asked Miriam if we could give her money to help her daughter get through school. Miriam told her we only give out money to the sick and to people needing operations. Seems like our white skin makes people think that we dish out the taka. After church we tried to tell the children “act as though you were in church at home.” This seemed to have little effect on the wall climbing and gate swinging. Honestly if we come home with children that act like savages we really did try to keep some semblance of rules and discipline while we were gone! Trying to remind your children how to act in church “like at home” seems strange though because there is no comparison between the two. Walked home from church in the rain. Soon after we got home it turned into a downpour. It was amazing! Coolness followed. The one man that lives in the apartments near by was out in the courtyard just walking back and forth back and forth enjoying the rain! On the way to the restaurant when we were going up the flyover a bunch of little boys had foam blocks and were putting them on the side of the road watching them float down the stream. Another guy was washing his hair under the rain pouring off a roof. A bunch of rickshaw drivers parked their bikes on the edge of the streets where the puddles were and were washing their rickshaws. Of course the cycles stop and park under any bridge they can find to take cover from the elements. This slows traffic and then causes jams! It’s fun seeing how the rain makes people so happy. I wonder if they will still be as enthused about the rain in a few months from now? The rickshaw drivers keep plastic under the seats to put over your laps when it rains. One of the drivers had a little head umbrella on his head. Us and Trevor’s went to Farmhouse Burger. It’s a real favorite of ours. Their burgers are interesting. One is a BBQ burger with a fried egg on top of the patty, another one has barbacoa beef and a crisp corn tortilla on top of the patty with a spicy dipping sauce. Their fries have Parmesan cheese and parsley on top. Layton thought it was cold and I said you better enjoy the reprieve for the few hours that it’s cooler! By everning it was 78*. We spent awhile in the courtyard riding bike and walking. When it’s cool like this the electric is on pretty much all the time since they don’t need to load-share.
Saturday 6/11: Sumita came to clean. Lucky wasn’t able to come cook… Shania took a long nap this morning. She slept all night last night for the first time. Woke up with a start and here it was almost 6 am! While Shania napped I spent time with Layton. Went and rode bike for awhile, did some worksheets with letters and numbers, etc. we stopped and bought some vegetables for the coming week. The dokan man was quite jovial. Probably because of the cooler weather. Usually he sits under his fan and in a drab weary voice he says “ki lagbe?” (What do you need?) Today he was up walking around, got me what I needed instead of making his grandson, and then talked to the children.😊 I don’t blame him… this cooler weather makes us all a lot happier! Sumita was cleaning the kitchen windows while I was making lunch. I had bought several eggplant. I have been hungry for Josna’s fried eggplant. Sumita showed me how to do it. Cut up the eggplant into thick slices. Put them in a steel bowl and sprinkle with turmeric and salt. Let sit for five minutes. Then heat up oil and fry on both sides for 2-3 minutes. Put on paper towel and sprinkle lightly with salt again. When she told me to put “holud” in with the eggplant and salt, I was so confused. I could not figure out what holud was. I quick used google translate and it said “yellow”. Then all of a sudden I thought turmeric!!! Turmeric is very yellow and sure enough, that’s what “holud” is. Thats my style of learning Bangla. This afternoon was cloudy and thundered ominously. We just had a relaxing afternoon and evening at home. Called some family…
Sunday: This morning after Jared left for clinic, the children and I went out and about. I took two more 3 piece sets to the tailor for him to sew. Then Layton wanted to go to the clinic to see Josna and Sumita and daddy. Stopped in there, they didn’t have any patients right then so stayed for awhile. Watched Sumita cut up a chicken plus the feet. She said she would freeze the feet for later. Josna was busy cleaning the kitchen. That clinic is spotless! We headed off to the fruit dokan and got 5 kg of mangoes. I want to cut them up and freeze them for smoothies. Stopped off at the veggie dokan and then headed home. Today it’s cloudy and still cool (90*) from the rain.Now that’s it’s cooler we still sweat like crazy but it’s more from humidity then heat. I really enjoy going out. I don’t go many places without Jared, but I feel comfortable going to the tailors by myself.
A clinic story… Trevor recently sent a baby to Dhaka from Kulna for Jared and Miriam to assess and potentially help. The baby was born with severe deformities to the face and mouth. I will not go into great detail because it was pretty bad. Jared said he wished he could unsee it. Upon giving birth the mother put the baby in a bread bag and put it in the trash. She fled elsewhere. Someone happened to be walking by and heard the baby crying. They took the baby out of the trash and took it to a nearby neighbor lady. The neighbor lady was no relation to the mother. She has been caring for the child ever since. She took to the baby to Trevor for assistance. He gave her some milk as no one expected the baby to live. Every time she came back for more milk Trevor noticed the baby was getting bigger and growing despite the severe deformities. He had to increase the amount of milk to give her, so he decided to send them here to Dhaka to see if surgery would be beneficial. Miriam says they will cut the skin from over the eyes “to see if the eyes are alive.” The baby has hydrocephalus so it needs a shunt to drain the fluid from the brain. However due to the oral cavity being so deformed it is unsure if anesthesia and intubation is even possible. Often times when the oral and nasal cavity is so mishappened they are unable to advance an airway. Sometimes their throat is too small so they have to wait until the baby get older. Wish this baby could just fall asleep for a nap and go to see Jesus. Keep it from all the suffering! Anyways, just thought I’d share that story. We get occasional updates on some of the children that we see. We spent the evening at the guesthouse with Trevor’s. The men fixed some plumbing problems.
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