Monday 3/18: Jared had a busy morning at clinic. He is surprised at how many patients are coming despite it being Ramadan. Last year the numbers dropped significantly. It’s also not as hot this year as it was last year at this time so maybe that makes a difference. This morning was fairly cool so Layton and I swept the yard. Quite a few leaves were piling up under the coconut tree. That tree has at least 8 big coconuts on it. Our papaya tree has 1 big papaya on it, and the jackfruit trees are loaded down as well. Went to the Dokan and bought Layton one of those Bengali brooms that looks like it’s basically a bunch of sticks tied together. He did an amazing job helping me! He had a huge bucket and picked up my leaf piles and dumped them on the street for the trash men to pick up. Of course we caused quite a stir working in the yard like that. People watch us quite closely here. Two ladies stopped and asked why I was sweeping the yard and would I hire them to do it? I said “my son and I need to work.” This really baffled them. All of a sudden here came another lady traipsing behind my house to find me to ask me if she couldn’t clean the yard. I said “no my son needs to learn to work.” They for sure think I’m crazy now. Anyways we eventually got the job done. A white lady working is something else apparently. Ridoy and Ripon worked in the house all day. Ridoy had white dust from the ceiling all over him and he said “look auntie, I am becoming a foreigner with my white skin.”😂 He really wishes we would get a boy teacher. “It’s ALWAYS girls and I could really use a friend.” I said “well it’s up to Carl who comes.” He has so many questions about working as a nurse in America and “is that a normal job or a fancy job?” Sometimes I go upstairs and or take the children outside so he quits hounding me with questions and gets back to work. I don’t mind visiting one speck but he needs to work. They got my bright green kitchen fan hung up which is so nice because it’s starting to get quite hot and stuffy without one in there. By evening Ripon and Ridoy had finished up the living room so we gave it a good scrubbing and moved everything back in. Jared very kindly swept and mopped the entire house from top to bottom. It was filthy. I know the guys will come make more dust tomorrow but at least the top layer of dust and grime will be off. Felt good to have one room back to normal downstairs. For now our suitcases reside in the pantry while the dining room gets finished. Those suitcases have came in handy for all sorts. They get used to block the stairs off so Shania can’t go up or they get used to block off the kitchen doorway so Shania has to stay in the kitchen while I cook. She escaped today and I found her happily splashing in Shanto’s paint tray. The paint here has an awful smell to it. We retreat upstairs and turn the ACs all on and the fans to keep the smell from getting too strong in the bedrooms.
Tuesday 3/19: Jared had clinic. A little girl is staying at the clinic now that has had two major surgeries to repair her cleft lip. The split of her lip went up both cheeks up to almost her eyes. They repaired the one side a while ago and it has healed really nicely. This time she came back to get the other side sewn shut. The left side doesn’t appear to have an eyeball in the socket. She is such a beautiful little girl! On the home front… Ripon came and repainted the dining room ceiling. It looks so nice! Ridoy came and invited the children and I for lunch. He said he couldn’t work today because his neck hurt. Layton has taken a real liking to Ridoy. Spent some time upstairs cleaning and organizing all our clothes that I have stored away for next winter and summer. Went to the sand court for a while and was a referee for Layton and Abdullah. His mom came to the sand court and we sat and visited for awhile. She is the perfect person for me to ask questions to. Everyone here says “Layton onek prosno ache.” (Layton has many questions) So that’s probably how she feels about me. She told me that I dress like a Muslim.😂 “Do you always dress like this in America too?” I said “yes i do except my skirts are much shorter.” She said “all the pictures I have seen of Americans is that they have a lot showing.” Then she said “your friend that was just here, she wore the same thing as you. Does she wear that in America too?” I said “yes she does.” She always wonders what I feed Shania and if Shania is ok since she gets sand in her mouth. I really think these people think I’m nuts but that’s ok because sometimes I think they are crazy too. Naton told us the other day that Bengalis just expect Americans to be crazy so it doesn’t matter what we do they will think we are crazy. I said “well I have come to the right place then.” Anyways the kids and I went and ate at the guesthouse with the crew. Shanto made fish curry, then he added sliced potatoes and eggplant to the curry too. It was good. Shanto fed some to Shania and I was worried it would be too spicy for her but she ate it ok. Sometimes she will cry and cry after we feed her Bangla food so we’ve quit trying to get her to eat it. I just take a PB & J along for her when we go places. Late afternoon we packed up the crew and headed to the clinic for singing. Shanto loves to sing! Jared says he thinks Shanto knows every song in the songbook. It took us close to an hour and a half to get to the clinic! Now during Ramadan in the afternoon everyone is trying to get home to eat to break their fast. A lovely rain storm came through while we were singing so when it came time to leave we had a much easier time driving. Hardly anyone was out walking and by that time it was late enough that people were home eating. Stopped at Herfeys for a quick supper. The manager was in there and he came up to Jared and said “my crew says you eat here a lot.” 🤭
Wednesday 3/20: The boys were over bright and early. Worked on more electrical work. Hung up fans and more lights. These houses have two fans in almost every room except the small bedrooms. Plus a light on every wall. When we moved, Ripon put up a light and a fan in each room and now he’s going back around hanging up the rest. I mostly tried to keep Shania out of their way. She kept trying to play with their tools or climbs up the stairs to find Ridoy or Shanto. She knows they will always hold her anytime! Took the whole crew to the clinic for lunch. Got home and quick had a rest before the boys came back. Afternoon I took the kids to the sand court for awhile. Here was the conversation I overheard.
Boy: “Are you Christian?”
Layton: “I don’t know. Mom are we Christian?”
Me: Yes we are Christian.
Boy: “who do you pray for?”
Layton: “God”
Boy: “we pray to Allah.”
Thursday 3/21: The boys were really busy today. Jared assembled more light fixtures for them to put up. They got the window trim in our bedroom scraped and repainted. They worked late… The tile mistris are really making progress at the guesthouse! When we had lunch with Shanto they had the living room almost finished and had 3/4 the dining room done. Ridoy and Ripon are hoping to finish up our house in the next few days so that they can start at the guesthouse when the mistris are finished. We want to be moved into the guesthouse by April 13. The owner from London is coming into Dhaka then and we don’t want him to see his house all ripped up! Later afternoon quite a rainstorm came up. Lots of wind hail and rain. Ridoy came racing inside and said “is the car windows going to break from the ice?” Jared assured him that it would take much larger hail to do that kind of damage! The boys stayed and waited the storm out. It cooled off so much that we didn’t hardly need fans at night. Opened the windows and aired the house out good. Got word that Carl and Darrell weren’t able to find us a teacher or get replacements for Trevor’s. They will try again next placement meeting.😀
Friday 3/22: Church this morning! Quite a-bit of water on pink city streets. Looked like the city men were working to get the giant water pump working. By the time we got home the water was gone so they must have gotten it fixed. We were high and dry on our street! At church Ripon had the opening and Jared had the message. Stayed and had cha with Sumita and Anchila. Went out for lunch and then came back home. Layton and I made chocolate chip cookies and sent them over to the guys for an evening snack. I was informed they liked “all brown cookies.” I asked Lisa what “all brown cookies” they meant and she thinks they meant no bake cookies. They have been hinting broadly at having some mashed potatoes. They love them! I said maybe when they are working at the guesthouse and my house is half put back together then I would make mashed potatoes for them all. The color of the gravy is supposed to be brown I was told. Brown cookies brown gravy. Shanto and his boys are more fussy about eating American food than Naton and Sumita are. Naton and Sumita eat a lot no matter what I make.
Saturday 3/23: The boys came over and got right to work. There was some initial drama when they locked all the keys to the bedroom doors in one of the bedrooms. Some of the bedrooms at the guesthouse they keep locked because the crew is sleeping in them or they are being used for storage for construction supplies. Shanto worked on fixing up the steps that have a chipped tile. Ridoy and Ripon worked some more scraping painting and hanging up lights upstairs. I wish I could count how
Many times a day I hear “Brianna auntie!!!!!” Or “Jared Kotay?” (Where’s Jared?) It makes me smile! The morning was busy. Jared went out and found more garden hose for the outdoor tap and then the one on the roof. Hung up some hooks in the bathrooms for towels and such. Shanto had the tile mistri come and work on the back bathroom. They took the squattie pottie out and are putting a western toilet in. We noticed after the rain the other day that rain comes in the back screened in porch area behind the kitchen. Instead of glass over the iron bars it’s just mesh. Shanto is going to drill a hole in the floor so it can drain. It’s not a big deal if it gets wet there but we don’t want standing water. A creepy crawly came in with the rain and now Layton refuses to go back there. So far we are coping ok with all the hustle and bustle and people in and out. It’s always nice when 5 pm rolls around then the boys clean up and we get some quiet time to ourselves until the next morning. 😀 Jared thought it would be fun to go to the American coffee shop that’s 10 minutes away from us. Thought it’d be nice to escape the construction grit and grime. 30 minutes after the crew left they were back all dressed up. I suddenly had this funny feeling that I had missed a memo somewhere. Shanto said he was going to go buy Iftar food for everyone. In just abit they were back. Ridoy invaded the kitchen and got the food prepared and then we said and ate. Of course “auntie do you have coffee?”😀 We ended up canceling the coffee shop idea since by the time they left it was Shanias bedtime. We were disappointed we couldn’t go but Shanto has been lonesome for his family back in Kulna so felt like we should be with him extra! Ridoy thought Jared was 37 because of all the grey hair he is getting.
Sunday 3/24: The boys worked up on the roof this morning. Replacing the plastic plumbing unions with metal ones to see if that stops the leaking when the pressure pump is on. We’ve been leaving the pump off so the water is just gravity flow. (We have two large water tanks up on the roof.) . It’s ok that way just not much pressure in the shower. The kitchen faucet is not built for pressurized water. When I turn it on water sprays out from random parts of the faucet where water is not meant to come out of so Jared wants to get a new one after the plumbing is all fixed. Layton spent alot of the day up on the roof with the men! Ripon and Ridoy have been showing him how electrical things work which is his chief delight. They give him old capacitors, bits of wire, old LED strips, pieces of pipe and I don’t know what all. He squirrels them away in his “building Bin.”Layton dreams and dreams of building a robot sometime with all his parts and pieces. He wants to build one that will take care of Shania😂. Anyways, the water was off all day. Before Jared left for clinic he filled a bunch of buckets up with water so I could flush the toilets and wash dishes. Did a lot of dusting today. Furniture the windows etc. Things feel abit cleaner now. Layton considers himself a man now so every morning at coffee break, he pours himself a cup of coffee to drink with the men. The amount of sugar and creamer that go into his coffee is somewhat staggering. Ridoy has been putting him to work and I’m glad! He has Layton scraping the paint off of the porch wall, carrying water for him, handing him tools, etc. Layton loves to help and in the process Ridoy explains a lot to him. The men gave Layton an old battery they found and at breakfast Layton told Jared how it works and which is positive and negative. I’m very glad we finished kindergarten back in January because there is no way I could ever keep his mind on track with that when he could be helping the men and learning about electricity. They say he needs to go to engineering school.🙄 After lunch Ridoy borrowed a tall ladder and climbed up our coconut tree and brought 6 big coconuts down. He cut a hole in them so we could drink the coconut water. Neither Jared or I are big fans! The meat inside is better. Shania loved it! It tastes nothing like the coconut you get in the stores at home. This stuff has hardly any flavor at all and is white and slimy. The men worked late on the plumbing. It has been thundering ominously most of the afternoon. Hoping we get some more rain this evening! The trees look so lush and green now. They are loosing their grey dusty look after the rain. Layton is out playing soccer on the street with some friends which makes this mamas heart happy.
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