October 23 - 29, 2023

Monday 10/23: Jared had dispensary this morning. It was such beautiful weather today! Cool at 85*. Layton wanted to wear his sweater while we did kindergarten! After naps we headed to Farmgate. I got 7 pieces of fabric for new dresses. 🤭 yes they were mostly pink! I needed some new ornas too. My ornas somehow get used as napkins and burp rags by the small fry in this house thus they have tumeric and other stains on them that bleach or stain remover does nothing for. I had to laugh the last time we were at Santos because after Antoor (that’s in his 20s) finished eating he used his mom’s orna to wipe his hands and mouth. Some things must not ever change with age.😂 Anyways, found the button dokan as well. Amber had showed it to me but I haven’t needed to go there until now so I was glad to find it again. Stopped at Jared’s tailor and his new shirt fit wonderfully! Finally a shirt that’s wide enough across his shoulders. He ordered three more. His tailor also makes beautiful suit coats and pants! It is crazy to me how the sweat and grime here wears our clothes out. It seems like at home our clothes last forever and we finally stop wearing them because we are tired of them! Here they last about a year. Guess that’s not too bad actually! Anyways… Farmgate looks so different than it did a year ago when we came. The foot bridge is now connected to the different levels of Farmgate. Now you can walk up the footbridge and up the steps to the 2nd or third level instead of only being able to access it from the inside. There’s also a massive walkway being constructed that will have escalators on one side from Farmgate to the Farmgate metro station. In front of Hotel Shuktara they’ve taken out all the street side dokans and put up a nice metal fence. Now the market road there is much wider and not so horribly crowded. Used to be when you walked down the steps from Shuktara you were right in crowds and whatnot of the dokans. It seems easier to walk there now. It will be interesting to see after the metro gets inaugurated how long it will be until it’s all crammed with dokans again or if it will actually stay that way. Layton and Jared do NOT like shopping at markets. I have to beg to convince them to go so I was glad they were willing to go today. I could spend hours at the market but my men get peopled out quick there. Now that it’s cooler it’s more enjoyable to be out and about. We can take our time instead of rushing to try to beat the heat and get the children back home before they overheat. We had rain most of the afternoon and evening. 

Tuesday 10/24: No dispensary today. It was some sort of holiday. It’s the last day of the Hindu puja. They dip their idol Durga in the water to signify her return to the heavens. I’m so thankful we don’t have to dip our god in the water. Durga looks like a lady with 8 arms and a brightly painted naked body. No singing tonight since Josna and Sumita weren’t feeling well. We went out for supper later on. Spent quite abit of time outside today. Swung at the guesthouse on the swings for an hour then rode bike for awhile in the evening. It is so nice that Layton can play outside for longer periods of time now! He is much happier. Anything to expend more energy. Shania loves being in the stroller and being pushed around! Washed all my fabric I bought. The fabric and ornas here bleed alot so I’ve learned the hard way to wash each piece separately. My house cleaner and I have been going through some “adjustments.” 😂 I told her I was only washing the curtains once a year and that the furniture in the bedrooms was going to stay the way it was right now. I so appreciate her cleaning but sometimes it is a challenge. She gets upset when Layton makes a mess on the veranda and I told her I will always clean up his dirty messes so she doesn’t have to but that she can’t expect Layton to play “clean” all the time, because goodness he is a boy after all. 

Wednesday 10/25: Jared and Jon had a meeting with the auditors this morning. They are breathing down those men’s necks to get the audit finished. Kulna needs more funds released by January and they aren’t able to get the funds if the audit isn’t finished. Went to the clinic for lunch. Before lunch Jared replaced a capacitor in the fan and then changed the filters on the water system there. I dropped off a piece of fabric at the tailor. I found a picture of a dress I like so just printed it off and showed it to him. Easier than trying to explain it!! This is the first time I’ve gotten an actual dress sewed by him. He’s sewn me 3 piece sets before and they’ve always turned out great. Spent more time outside swinging and riding bike. While we were swinging I was walking around with Shania. All of a sudden Layton said “it’s like Pippi Longstocking says: ‘She’s out for her morning promenade!’” Oh how I howled!😂 The rest of the day was uneventful…. 

Thursday 10/26: Jared went to the clinic and took apart several fans for the sisters to clean. They are in a real cleaning spree right now. If they aren’t telling me to wash curtains, couch covers, rugs, etc, they are busy scrubbing their bedroom and washing the fans at the clinic! I thought I was a clean freak but I feel like a slob when I see how clean and tidy they keep the clinic. I think that’s why my housekeeper gets frustrated because the clinic stays clean and at our house we have children (and adults) that don’t keep things clean all the time. Made some caramel popcorn in the afternoon because I thought it sounded good. My recipe called for marshmallows in the caramel. Well I found out pretty quick that Bangladesh marshmallows don’t melt too well so I chopped away with my spatula until they unwillingly partially obliged. 

Friday 10/26: Church today. Jared spoke on the tree of life out of revelations. After Natun was done interpreting he said “you should preach out of Revelations more!” After church Natun came over for coffee and to visit awhile. He gave Layton a ride home on his motorcycle again which was highly enjoyed by both it appeared.😃 Natun invited us to Golpagange to see his family sometime over Christmas. That will be enjoyable! Went to Gulsan and did our shopping. There were a lot of people out. More than usual. There’s a big protest tomorrow so wondered if everyone was out getting their groceries and things before it happened? Ate at Cilantro in the UniMart food court. They had nachos!!! And they were so good! I miss nachos a lot but we can’t get tortilla chips here. Cilantro had them but it looked like they were homemade. Spent the rest of the day relaxing and enjoyed being outside. Now that it’s not so hot it’s so so much more enjoyable to take Layton outside when he wants too. 

Saturday 10/28: The BNP party had a huge event today. The streets here in Monipuripara were pretty quiet. I went to the pharmacy right down the street and the rickshaws and CNG drivers were just aimlessly driving up and down the street. The one rickshaw man was outside our gate and asked me if I needed a ride. I said no I was just going to the pharmacy. He wondered if surely I didn’t need to go to my office too? I said no! He followed me to the carebox and sat and waited for me until I came out. So I let him take me home just so he could make a few taka! Felt sorry for him! There were hardly any buses out either. This evening when we were up on the roof we noticed how quiet it was! Only heard a few bus horns and that was it. That’s one thing here when there’s a big political rally the people that aren’t involved stay home. They don’t loiter and socialize much. We are thankful our community here is safe. Jon came over and worked on some audit paperwork with Jon. Shania has been loving her walker today! I put her in it to keep her entertained while I made supper. She only goes in reverse in that thing.😂 she would roll up to the curtains and grab them and closely inspect them, then roll up to the windows and watch Layton play on the veranda, then she’d roll into the kitchen and sit and watch me for awhile! She is very observant. Looks like she takes after Layton in that regard. I caught her rolling into the entry and checking out all the shoes on the shoe rack. I moved her quick because I can’t handle the thought of her trying to chew on our street shoes.😣 Lucky didn’t come to cook today. She didn’t want to be out and about with the big rally going on. Sumita came to clean. I fried up some eggplant for lunch because I’ve been hungry for it. She came into the kitchen and told me that I’m just like Lucky because I use too much oil.😂 

Sunday 10/29: Jared had dispensary this morning. Did kindergarten with Layton. He did really with learning addition. He was quite busy afterwards… made a “pool” for Shania with a big plastic tub and wanted to teach her how to swim, then we went to the courtyard and took a screwdriver to his bike to remove the carrier thing on his bike. He daydreams of all the attachments he could make for his bike. Reminds me of my brothers when they were young. 

October 16 - 22, 2023

Monday 10/16: Jared went to the dispensary. Had 28 patients this morning. Layton always wants a precise number as to how many cleft palate patients Jared saw.😅 I did kindergarten with Layton. Doing our best to be consistent with it this week! Elwoods arrived in Dhaka from Golpagange and got to our flat around 11:30 or so. Their bus didn’t stop for breakfast so they were quite hungry!  Sumita was still here cleaning with they arrive so she told Melissa that Amber could understand her but that I can’t. 🫢 😂 I said “Amber was here three years and I’ve only been here one!” Had a relaxing rest of the day. The men went to see Abraham (our expelled brother) at the Bangladesh Bible Society. They got stuck in quite a jam on the way home. Later in the evening we hailed some rickshaws and went to Parktown for supper. Melissa was hungry for Thai Soup and wontons. It seems like it’s God’s leading that Elwood’s were able to come to Bangladesh right now. Our sister Monica and her family are going through a tremendous valley right now. Her husband Michael is in a psychiatric hospital right now to get some help. Elwood’s were Michael’s missionaries until they moved to Kishorganj. This was why Rajshahi closed earlier this year. Elwood’s know them very well and with their amazing Bangla they were able spend several days with Monica and their family and be a “ministry of presence.” 

Tuesday 10/17: Dispensary was canceled this morning. Dr Elizabeth had an exam. She’s been taking some classes. I made a pie to take to singing this evening. An apple crumb pie… Did kindergarten with Layton. He thinks of many shortcuts that he could take with his writing and learning and I tell him “no shortcuts, we are doing it just exactly how Silas and Kobe and Kenyan will learn it.” His mind leaves me in the dust some days. Elwoods were out and about on their own. Melissa wanted to go a store for some souvenirs. Shania was quite fussy this morning. Finally after baby food, a bottle plus walking around, we turned on the AC in the bedroom and she went right to sleep. I was glad Jared was home so he could watch her while I did school with Layton. Walking to the clinic for singing was quite an “adventure.” They have the sidewalks all tore out and a 4 foot trench dug where the sidewalk was. They have big piles of sand and gigantic spools of electrical wire siding beside the trench. There is also sewer bubbling up onto the street at various places. Traffic continues to fly by at their usual pace unless it’s jammed up. The only place for pedestrians is to dodge traffic and walk around sand piles, spools and sewer puddles or if the road is jammed to wind your way through the jam between motorcycles and CNGs. So we ventured forth. I held onto Layton’s hand for dear life. When we went and came we managed to hit it so that the road was quite busy. We dodged as best we could and almost got sideswiped a few times but we eventually turned onto our side street and heaved great sighs of relief. We like to call this sort of thing “adventurous” in order to be Pollyanna. 😂 

Wednesday 10/18: The apartment that the dispensary is in plus a few other nearby buildings are out of water. Jared tried to call the caretaker and ask if it could be fixed. He was told “in one hour a mistri will come.” Josna and Sumita brought all their food over and cooked lunch for us here at our house.😃 Had lunch abit early since Elwoods needed to leave by one for the airport. Jared took them… the new expressway makes such a difference!! They were able to make it back to India without problems. They were unsure how it would go since their 6 month visas were expired. Later in the afternoon the sisters came back for showers and to fill up their water jugs with water. Apparently the mistri still hasn’t gotten the issue fixed. I guess the underground water storage tanks are empty and haven’t ever gotten refilled by the city. 

Thursday 10/19: We woke up with a start at 7 to the doorbell ringing. We couldn’t figure that out as most Bengalis are still in bed at that time so Jared went to investigate. Here it was Harun! So we welcomed him in and gave him coffee. He wanted a shower and then I made everyone breakfast. I didn’t really have anything on hand that Bengalis eat for breakfast so I quickly ran to the dokan but it was still closed. He had to eat American food. Fried some eggs, cut up bananas, and had granola. We showed him how to add milk to the granola. 😀 He ate it all so it must not have been too bad. He stayed and visited for awhile. The conversation was pretty simple but we still were able to communicate some. He got ready to leave at 9 and then asked Jared for money. Our hearts always sink when this comes up. One of Harun’s family members had been in an accident awhile ago. Jared told him we can’t give him any money. Harun is one of our brothers that is quite offended from things in the past. We are praying that us not giving him money won’t deepen the offense. We have to be careful with giving out money. This specific brother asks for money a lot. Around 10 Jared left and went to a Baptist clinic. They had called him last week and wanted more tracts. He was enthused to go and take some! The lady that’s in charge talks English. Jared wanted to go today specifically because the workers where going to be there. Last time he had to leave the tracts with a caretaker so he was glad to be able to give them to a worker! It has been a smidge cooler lately. Layton washed his bike in the courtyard and then I put Shania in the stroller and walked her around. These Bengalis always stare at a stroller.😂 All the trees are officially down in our backyard. Next summer I’ll need to find some thick curtains to hang up over the windows because now that the sun shines in the living room it definitely makes things toastier! The extra sun and heat will be nice in the winter though. Jared had a good laugh yesterday because there was a group of men working on cutting up the felled trees into smaller pieces. Two men got into quite an argument over it all I guess and went at it for quite awhile. Jared stood and watched and laughed. 

Friday 10/20: Church today! Jared had the message on “The Lord is my Shepherd” and how God will always be with us in the hard times. It was a good message for both of us. Natun left right after church for  Golpagange. He said he missed his mom and wanted to eat her cooking again. He talks alot about his mom and her cooking😁 He says “I’m afraid when I get married my wife’s food won’t be as good as my moms. And then what will I do? I can’t be quiet if it doesn’t taste good. I’ll have to tell her that.” 😂He wanted to park his motorcycle in our parking garage but our alloted space for motorcycles was taken by someone else when we got rid of our motorcycles. Went and got lunch and groceries. We found a neat play place in the food court at UniMart. You have to pay for it but Layton played for an hour and had so much fun that we felt like it was well worth it. Got ice cream too while we were up there. Today is the first day of “Durga Puga.” It’s a Hindu holiday where they celebrate their god Durga. The Hindu portions of Dhaka are all decorated. Ec Number Gate had a big castle looking canopy over the gate with lights hung down the walls on both sides of the street. We noticed that other Hindu areas had the same thing. Wish we could be in the villages right now and see and hear their celebrations. Krystal says at Golpagange they’ve been hearing a lot of drums at night. 

Saturday 10/21: Just a usual day… nothing too exciting. 

Sunday 10/22: Jared had dispensary this morning. Did kindergarten with Layton. After naps we went to Farmgate. It is quite a chaotic mess there right now. There are redoing alot of the sidewalks around the area and now the foot bridge is open. Unfortunately the tailor and fabric store level was completely closed. I did find a pair of jeans for Layton though for this winter. 

October 9 - October 15, 2023

Monday 10/9: Jared had “office” this morning. I baked some bars and finished up my food to take to Kulna tomorrow. Did laundry and tried to keep the little girl happy. She just wants to be right where the activity is. She thinks it’s quite boring to lay on the floor and play with toys. She rolls onto her stomach and then thinks her little world has collapsed.😂 Did laundry. After naps we got the majority of our things packed up. If you haven’t tried using packing cubes you should! They make packing so much more condensed and organized. Went to Olive for supper. 

Tuesday 10/10: Well we were going to leave for Kulna after Jared was done with “dispensary.” However the lumberjacks were busy cutting down the trees right by our bedroom window until 2:30 AM. They kept hollering and branches would fall so no sleep for us! They were also testing the metro in Farmgate so it was coming and going every few minutes complete with the horn blaring. Needless to say not much rest was obtained. Jared was so tired in the morning that he went to clinic and forgot his keys and had to walk back home to get them. Then at devotions he got his words tangled up in the prayer. We decided to wait to leave until tomorrow morning when we were more rested. Traffic in Dhaka in the afternoon is a real challenge… lots of jams at that time of day so we were actually thankful that we had to change our departure time to tomorrow morning. Navigating the traffic with not much sleep isn’t conducive to Christian living. Took it easy the rest of the day. The past few evenings have been so nice. Feels like a “normal” Kansas summer evening instead of an inferno. We went up to the roof for awhile to watch the planes. It looks so different now to go up there with all the trees gone in our backyard!!! Gives my stomach the nerves to be able to see all the way down. Some of the trees were maybe 10 feet taller than our roof. Now we can see the coconut trees that were in the midst of the mango trees. They are so tall and beautiful! 

Wednesday 10/11: We all had a very good nights rest! Benadryl and Melatonin does the trick🤩 No lumberjacks or metro this time. We left Siza Court at 5:45 AM.🤭 The guards are always so excited when we go somewhere. Always want to know where, how long and why we are leaving. They stand and wave with their million dollar grins. “Sania Tata!” (Goodbye Shania!) We found a baby car seat for Shania here in our apartment in the archives. Even though we are in the mission where seatbelts and car seats are optional I just feel better if I know my children are safe when we are traveling. For sure with all the sudden stops and lurching we do. She did really well in the car seat. Got to Kulna around 10 right when the other kids were waking up. Trevor Elwood and Doyle were at Trevor’s office so Jared zipped over there. Trevor was sending a bus load of patients to Dristidon Eye Hospital. They came back and we had lunch around 2. It was my turn to do a meal so brought tacos, apples and caramel sauce and M&M bars. The children all spent the day in the sand and water! I told Layton no nap today cuz you need to run and play until you’re exhausted. Him and Brock went 90 mph all day long. By bedtime they were tired and sunburned! Layton feels pretty big now that he’s considered a “big” boy with Brock! In the afternoon Whitney and Brandi watched all the children while all us adults took a walk. We felt quite carefree without our children! We walked through the little village behind Trevor’s house. I just love love that walk. The path is all brick with grass growing up in between them. Rice fields are on either side. Total quiet other than the Hindu music or bells. We stopped and talked to some of Lisa’s friends along the way. This time we didn’t have to trudge through the mud! After supper all the kids went to bed and us “big people” burned the midnight oil and tried to solve the world’s problems. It was Jared and I’s turn for the non AC bedroom. It was quite comfortable and not even that hot in there. It seems cooler in Kulna than in Dhaka. 

Thursday 10/12: Doyle’s left and went home and the rest of the stayed at Trevor’s. Lisa’s American friend that married a Bengali came over for the morning. It was neat to learn to know her. The men took motorcycles and went to Santo’s job site. He is a contractor and his crew builds houses. Jared really enjoyed that! Then they went to see Liton at his dokan. Jared felt bad for how busy we were the last time Liton had tried to come to Dhaka so he made sure to go sit in his dokan with him for awhile. Liton is a barber so Trevor got a haircut while they were there. In the evening we all piled onto van rickshaws and went into Kulna and got fuska. That stuff is really growing on me!! (I described it in the post when we went to Kulna back in July.) This time no transformer blew or no cyclone winds came roaring through so we had quite an enjoyable time. We sat and embraced the feeling of sweat running down all our bodily crevices. We love riding on the vans. They are electric. Everyone went to bed in decent time! 

Friday 10/13: We were going to go home today but decided why not spend another day.🫣😁 We’ve always wanted to see Trevor’s Sunday school. They had the first Sunday school at 9:30. Maybe 50 kids? They use a classroom in a school right down the rode from them. Trevors have done a really good job calming that group of children down. One time they had 130. Around Christmas that group is an abosolute wild chaotic mob. Parents and children start to come out of the woodwork so that they can get a Christmas gift. So Trevor’s said “no more gifts at Sunday school.” That has really helped. They sang several songs, prayed and then Trevor read the lesson. They use big picture cards. Kobid came to translate. After that then they all colored pictures. Layton really enjoyed it. At 10:30 they had another Sunday school at a different location but I stayed home because Shania needed a nap. Church in the evening was at Santos. Jared had the opening and Elwood had the message. After church Sotti made us cha and some sort of snacks. One was a patty with dal inside it and another was a fried cake with dal flour and onions in it. So good😊 Sotti had some baby goats and ducklings. They were adorable. Shania loved the goats. She got all excited and started smiling and kicking. Brandi held her up close and she kept trying to grab the goats ears!! 

Saturday 10/14: We left Kulna around 11. Layton was really tearful about leaving. He said “mom I don’t like Dhaka can’t we stay in Kulna.” So we had to have a lecture about “blooming where we are planted.” I feel sorry for him, a boy needs sand and water and a place to run and play. Stopped at Sampan for lunch. The other times we’ve went to Kulna and Golpagange it’s never been the right timing to stop there for lunch. The food was really good! They have a VIP room that has AC. They even had soft serve ice cream! The traffic coming into Dhaka wasn’t bad at all. It’s always very busy but we didn’t ever have to sit and wait for more than 10 minutes. Got home around 5. We came home and crashed. Bedtime was early! Jared said he couldn’t figure out why we were so tired and I told him we aren’t used to such excitement.🥰😂

Sunday 10/15: Jared headed off to the dispensary. He had 38 patients. I tried to get everyone else back onto schedule. Did kindergarten with Layton and then did laundry and bought groceries from the dokan. Shania is starting to eat quite abit of baby food so got some thawed out for her. The metro was busy doing test runs in and out of the station so Layton spent quite abit of the morning at the living room windows and back veranda watching the comings and goings. The foot bridge at Farmgate got inaugurated today. It strikes us rather humorous how anything slightly new is getting inaugurated by the prime minister even before it’s finished now before the election. Guess it’s another feather in her hat! Almost every day now there are processions and protests in preparation. They are always in a part of Dhaka aways from here so don’t worry we are fine! My stove has been coated in a layer of oil for the past how long. I took Lysol and a metal scrubber to it, and some time later it was much cleaner. Now if only I knew how to get oil splatters off of flat paint! Any suggestions? Lucky fries our Bangla food in oil so that’s the reason for the oil. I thought about painting over it but wasn’t sure if the oil splatters would just seep through the paint. This morning my kitchen faucet sprung quite a bad leak. It was like the underside of the faucet had rusted through. The caretaker called the plumber and he came later afternoon and replaced the faucet. So ends another week for us! 

October 2 - October 8, 2023

 It’s been a busy week! I told Jared I felt like I was trying to stand up in a swinging hammock.😂 

Monday 10/2: Jared was busy with preparing for the financial audits. We have to use a different accountant this year since we’ve used the same one for the last serval years so Jon thought the accountant’s office below the guesthouse would work fine. That is nice because it’s just a stones throw down the street from us. Jared took all the papers (receipts from Dhaka, Kulna and Golpaganj projects) over to the guesthouse. The accountants came and went through the papers. They spent all day there and then Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday were the same process. He had to be there most of the time in case they had questions about anything. We are really hoping it goes ok and doesn’t drag out to a year long process like last years audit. This is our first time using this company so Jared is worried it will turn into “a long and painful process.” You can pray it goes smoothly. Sometimes we wonder if it pays to pray that sort of prayer in Bangladesh but with God all things are possible. We found out we are supposed to call the clinic “office” or “dispensary.” Such legal technicalities! 

Tuesday 10/3: In the afternoon Elwoods flew into Dhaka! We were so enthused and have been counting the days to see them.😁 They had their usual problems trying to get through immigration. Elwood’s passport is quite a frightful mess with all his crazy visas from Bangladesh and/or the lack thereof. But after three hours they finally gave him a visitors visa on arrival. He had to call his “tour guide” and have him write up a letter for him and then Jared had to quick type it up and turn it into a PDF and email it back and so on. They spent night at Hotel Shuktara (another visa requirement) and then came to our place Wednesday! We all had lunch at the clinic together. Josna cooked up special food for Elwood’s. Beef curry, Dal, rice and chichinga mix. Then she also made little mashed potato patties that had onion and chunks of kaj morich in them. She fried them in oil until they are browned and slightly crispy on the outside. They were so good. I ate three and my stomach later regretted it but it was worth it! (Two way burn. If you know… you know.)Elwood took Jared to his tailor here in Dhaka. We have tried and tried to find that place. Used google maps, asked around at Farmgate. There’s literally hundreds of tailors in Farmgate. I guess the CSI men have been using this specific tailor since the 90’s. We wanted to make sure and use him too instead of trying a new tailor. Jared got measured for a new shirt while he was there. Looking forward to seeing how it fits! These Bengali shirts are designed for tiny petite men not big muscular broad shouldered men that enjoy food! We tried an XXL shirt for Jared from Aarongs but it’s so narrow across the shoulders. We spent the evening with Elwoods here at home just airing and sharing. When you’re in the mission you can never have too much airing and sharing. Elwood’s knowledge from being in the mission for years is appreciated. Thursday morning Elwoods left for Kishorganj and Jared went to the guesthouse to continue on with the audit.

 Friday 10/7: Had church. Natun wasn’t able to come due to the rain. It has been raining for several days now. It stops for a few hours but then comes back with a roar! At night especially the thunder creates quite a symphony. Needless to say we have been having the children sleep in our room as thunder unsettled even the bravest of men. (Side note: Hindus are terrified of thunder. They think it is one of their gods. One time Trevor’s were gone while it was raining and storming and when they came home their Hindu guard was inside the house. He said he was so frightened he felt better inside!) The rain has flooded a lot of Dhaka but we are high and dry here in Monipuripara. What a rabbit trail… anyways church was enjoyable! It was a shorter service since we didn’t have an interpreter. Jared talked about coming down out of our tree to Jesus like Zachaeus. Several patients were needing milk and meds so he got that for them while we were there. 

Saturday 10/7: Sumita came to clean, Lucky came to cook and Jon came to help Jared with the audit paperwork. It is still a struggle for me to have all these people coming to clean cook etc for us. Sometimes it feels like we don’t have much privacy. But on the other hand it is a huge blessing too because now that I’m doing kindergarten with Layton I wouldn’t ever be able to keep up without them. At lunch Lucky asked us if we were staying in Dhaka for 3 years or 5 years? 😀 we said “ami jonne na.” (I don’t know!) She said in a few months we might know how long to stay.😂 she said as soon as people can talk good Bangla they always leave and go back to America. 

Sunday 10/8: … Layton and I had a short kindergarten session. Haven’t had kindergarten the past few days as Elwood’s came and plus the young lady in this house has been extra fussy. Today I gave her some carrot baby food and she loved it!! The auditors were back at it with the paperwork. Since Jared had “dispensary” this morning I went and unlocked the guesthouse for them and then checked in on them every so often until he could could come home. The lumberjacks cut down the trees that are along our back veranda. So now we have all sorts of natural light that we didn’t have before. (We are trying to view it in a positive light. No pun intended.) This morning Layton pretended to be a dog groomer. He washed his stuffed pup in the washer and then put it up on a table and dried it off with a hairdryer. He said “mom you should really try to dry your hair with a hairdryer. I don’t think it would make it too fizzy.” 😂 

September 25 - October 1, 2023

Monday 9/25: Jared had clinic this morning. Layton had kindergarten… he was quite pleased with his ability to make number 10s. Right when Jared sat down to lunch there was a bunch of fighter jets flew over. Layton and Jared raced up to the roof and there was quite an air show. The planes were doing barrel rolls and other stunts! A bunch of helicopters were in the flight too. Shania handles the helicopters, passenger planes and BiMan planes but the fighter jets send her over the edge. She just screams! So as soon as I hear the “sssss” noise the fighter jets make I have about 2 seconds to grab her before they come thundering over!!! We haven’t heard them for several weeks now but they’ve been busy yesterday and today. Layton was so enthused to watch them. The air traffic continued to be heavy the rest of the day. When we went to bed at 10 the planes were still flying over every few minutes. After supper Jared tried to figure out what’s wrong with our RO water system. Until a mistri can come look at it we are being extra cautious and just drinking bottled water for now.

Tuesday 9/26: After kindergarten the children and I went to the plant dokan. It’s not really a dokan the plant man just has probably 100 plus plants just sitting on the sidewalk. I bought several and lugged them home. I have no idea what kind they are! They are green and that’s all that matters.😂 I showed the man a picture of a hibiscus flower and he got me one of those. There’s all sorts of old pots in the storage room so used those up! I’ve been slowing turning our back veranda into a bit of a patio. It’s been a fun project for me to work at slowly… I’m not much into plants at home but here the plants don’t take much to grow prolific so I’ll see if I can keep them alive. I washed the veranda windows while I was at so Sumita wouldn’t see the terrible mess Layton made on his last mud pie adventure. I got some tiny little pots for Layton’s carrot seeds that Lanae gave him. He tried to plant his in a cereal bowl and they aren’t looking so hot!  He’s learned that plants need a drainage system. 😁 So we will try again… Anyways it felt so good to have a project like that to work on. Something other than laundry and dishes! Had singing in the evening… sang some more Sunday school songs. After singing we went to Parktown for supper. We’ve been here long enough that our favorite rickshaw men know where we like to go and where our clinic and apartment is. When we were done eating one of our favorites was right outside the restaurant so we hailed him. He said “apnar basa?” (Your house) and 10

Minutes later we were in Siza Court! It’s nice to not always have to give them directions. We got sweet and sour shrimp balls for supper. They were spicy but really good! It’s fun trying new food things… 

Wednesday 9/27: Shania took a good morning nap without me holding her so was able to do some extra review with Layton in kindergarten. Had lunch at the clinic. Chicken curry… of all the kinds of Bangla food we’ve tried so far, plain ole chicken curry just honestly can not be beat! It will be fun to make it for our family back at home some day. We ate until Josna’s eyes shone. While we were at the clinic another air show took place.  Came home and took naps. Some probably wonder why we take naps all the time, it’s not because we are short on sleep at night. When it’s hot and there’s a lot going on we’ve found that a nap in a cool room keeps our mental health in decent shape! Call it self care maybe?!😂 Doyle had installed two swings up on the top of the guesthouse roof when they were living in the guesthouse so Layton and I went over there and he swung until his little heart was satisfied! We stopped at the small grass patch by one of the apartments so Layton could “weed” it. The guard gave him a mango seed that had sprouted that was laying in the grass so we brought it home and planted it. Layton is quite thrilled with his “garden” thus far. 

Thursday 9/28: The Muslim prophet Muhammad’s birthday. A lot of stores plus the metro were closed today. Josna says the “holiday” today was why all the planes have been flying over. The fireworks were going for awhile the other night as well. The newspaper said it was Sheik Hasina’s (prime minister) 75th birthday today as well. Sumita came to clean, she said she like all the plants I had put on the veranda because they “made good oxygen.” 😂 Around 1 the airplane show thundered overhead again. This time I actually got to see them. Several sets of three flew over and then the helicopters came in formation. The boys in this house think it’s the neatest thing! We went to Pizza Hut for lunch… on the way home we saw the most awful thing. A lady obviously dying was laying on the edge of the street mere inches from all the traffic roaring by. Her adult son was sitting by her begging for money. Stark reality. I thought of how we have hospice at home and how people are surrounded by loved ones… One just never knows what we will see when we go out and about. We saw several Eicher trucks full of people waving flags and chanting. Not sure if it was for the prophet or prime minister. We spent the afternoon under the fans, by 6 we were just over the heat so we turned on the AC in the bedroom and had supper in there because we were all feeling like limp rags. Supposedly the 2nd week of October it will start to cool. The thought of wearing a slip or socks seems plumb hilarious but I know eventually it will get cool again. 

Friday 9/29: Church this morning. Jared had the message on the Israelites and the golden calf. He asked what are the golden calves in our lives? Enjoyed visiting with the sisters and Natun after church! It always gives us such a boost. It’s easier for me to understand the sisters so that makes me feel good. It’s interesting because I keep track of words I notice them using a lot then I look them up when we get home and it’s really helped expand my vocabulary! I still have a frightful time with using all the right tenses. But I figure these Bengalis need something to laugh at.😂 Natun likes to walk home with us and carry Jared’s big umbrella. He says it makes him feel “important” to carry such a big umbrella😂 what a guy! Finally got it out of him that he was 28. Layton was hoping for another motorcycle ride but Natun didn’t bring his bike this time. Went and got groceries then went to North End. In front of North End they had one lane blocked off and were taking videos of a lady riding her bike back and forth. It was quite a set up. Camera men, the lady all dressed up in western clothes, quite an audience on the sidewalk… We stood there and hooted. What else will we see in this city?! It is never dull that’s for sure. 

Saturday 9/30: End of September… Lucky was able to come cook today! Was good to see her again. She hasn’t been able to come for several weeks due to her mother in laws death. She was showing Sumita pictures of her mother in laws coffin and body.🤢 I tried not to get to close as coffins give me the willies even though I’m a nurse. The RO water system mistri came to work on our system. We were glad the mistri could come fix the system. It’s been troubling for a while now. Turned out to have several leaks and other issues. We could barely fill one water bottle before the water would go to a drip. They put a bigger tank on it as well. We go through about 6 water bottles a day in our Gott jug, plus all the water for the ice. While everyone was here fixing, cooking and cleaning the rest of us tried to stay out of the way. I worked on organizing some kindergarten things for the next week. Layton and I puttered on the patio veranda. We noticed yesterday on the way to church that the man had a few “winter” flowers out for sale! The lumberjacks continue to work in the backyard. They are currently hauling out all the big logs. In the evenings they build a fire and burn all the branches. When we first moved in here we always got so annoyed when they would burn because the apartment would get smoky but now it doesn’t bother us. The smoke really cuts down on the amount of mosquitos! Layton says it smells like a hot dog roast. There’s a few big trees left right up against our veranda. Now with most of the trees gone, At night we can see the metro station and hotel Shuktara all lit up through the living room windows! Layton spent the morning making his Halloween costume. “That way I don’t have to worry about it later mom.” He got a box and cut holes for his arms and legs and claimed it to be a robot. Not sure what inspired the costume but it kept him busy and out of trouble so I didn’t interfere.😂

Sunday 10/1: Jared had a busy morning at clinic. We skipped kindergarten today. I had some things I wanted to get done before the winter company starts coming through Dhaka. Elwood’s will hopefully get here Tuesday for two weeks if all goes ok at immigration. Gave the playroom a thorough cleaning and decluttering. Feels like I might actually be making some progress in that room. Went through Layton’s closet to see what he needs for when it cools. He found his winter Jammie’s and wore them the rest of the day. He vehemently claimed he was not hot at all but I caught him rolling up the pant legs. 😂 Made room in his dresser for Shania’s clothes as well. In the evening, Trevor’s came over! It’s always a great time with them.😍❤️