April 22- April 28, 2024

 Monday 4/22: The tooth fairy remembered and left Layton some taka under his pillow. He is saving up his chore money and his tooth money to buy a horn/beeper for his bike! Shania slept for three hours this morning. We are trying to get her to go to sleep by herself which is a bit of a challenge. And yes I know I should have been sleep training her months ago but at that time life was not conducive for anything other than what she was used to at the time. Jared had clinic. Now that the summer heat is in full swing the mamas are coming right when the clinic opens at 10 and then by noon the amount of people dwindles quickly. After clinic Jared went to the bank. He’s quite pleased because he found parking there close by. Now he can drive there instead of walking all the way from the clinic and then he doesn’t like a drowned rat from sweat by the time he gets there. We don’t ever take parking for granted here as there is so little of it! After lunch Jared took Layton and Shania on a scootie ride. Shania loves it! He puts her in a baby carrier on his chest. I took Layton for a ride for awhile to get used to having someone on there with me. The balance is sure different when someone is on the back! Sometimes I catch these men here staring at me whenever I’m out on the scootie. I just smile real big and wave and them and they kinda sheepishly grin and wave back.😂 Later in the evening we all loaded up in the van and went on a drive. Jared stopped at the mechanics and picked up the renewed tax token for the van. The old one had expired. Jared got stopped today on the way to clinic. The police asked for his papers so Jared gave them to him including the expired tax token. The police didn’t even look at the papers when he saw Jared was white. He said “what’s your country?” Jared said “America.” The police promptly handed the papers back and waved him on. That was a close call.. he could have gotten fined for the expired paper. It was fun to go on a random drive again. We don’t do that much in Dhaka. At home we went on lots of joyrides all over down the back roads of Marion county. 

Tuesday 4/23: Jared had clinic again today. He said it wasn’t very busy… I spent the morning packing our bags to go to Kulna. Trevor is having an eye camp and he offered that Jared could come help him with it. We’ve never been to eye camp yet so we jumped at the chance! The neat thing is that this eye camp is only 10 minutes from Trevor’s house. Usually are 1-2 hours away! We left Pink City around 2:30 and got to Trevor’s at 7. Stopped at Shampan for a brief supper. Had corn soup and some type of beef that was really good. Shania sat like a little princess in her car seat. She’s catching on that a car seat means sitting nice. I took her out twice to wiggle abit. I was worried how she would nap in it but she was sound asleep before we were even thirty minutes down the road. 

Wednesday 4/24: Eye camp day! It was quite an experience! 600 patients. Jared thought there was closer to 800 people that were there because some patients had 1 or two people with them. They were all packed in line shoving and pushing trying to get to the front of the line. Someone from Dristidon Eye Hospital was really hollering at people to tell them to quit fighting but it didn’t do much good. I’m not sure how to even explain the packed mob. They were all just pressed right up against each other, there was no such thing as personal space. It was 106* today and the government officials of the town tried to shut us down because they deemed the heat unsafe. Bangladesh is having a “severe heat wave” right now. The school that hosted it didn’t want to be liable for anyone getting sick from the heat. They said we could keep on if people stood in line under the trees in the shade instead trying to cram into the area by the building. Whitney went out and bought water for all the workers and a patient stopped her and said “you can buy water for the workers but not us?” How are we supposed to buy water for 600 plus people?? I think 215 went for eye surgeries. A bus comes and picks them up and takes them to Dristidon. They do 70 surgeries a day so some will have their surgeries in the evening already. The surgeries are mostly cataracts and tear duct tubes. A lot of people here get clogged tear ducts and need tubes because of their indoor kitchens that have fires in them and because of all the dust.  All the smoke in their kitchens causes problems. However they fix the eyes but not the smoke. They could just put a pipe to the outside but rather they get their eyes fixed. Dristidon Eye Hospital provides all the staffing for the eye camp. One dr looks at their eyes, writes a script for surgery or eye drops, another man helps with prescriptions, CSI gives out free glasses that are for reading, then there is eye drops, another person checks blood sugar and blood pressure. They won’t do the eye surgeries if their blood sugars are out of control. The men finished up by 2:30. They came home hot and tired! We’ve been having problems with Dristidon not providing good quality care. They will do the surgery but the results won’t always be good so they are thinking of doing them through another hospital. Dristidon does eye camps with other NGO groups as well not just ours. It was such an intriguing sight! Some people were mad because they knew Whitney or Trevor personally or they were friends with Trevor’s guards. They thought this gave them VIP status and that they should get the privilege of going to the front of the line. Trevor said “I don’t care who you know you have to stand in line like everyone else”. It was very hot so Lisa and I took the children and went for a short amount of time. If I hadn’t had Shania with me I would have gotten me a chair and just plopped in a corner and watched all day! Bengalis can be quite mean to each other when they are waiting in line for something that is “free.” The children spent the day in the pool. Brock saw Layton’s little pool and had to have one too! I felt sorry for Tulsi. (Trevors guard) he was so hot. The kids convinced him to get in the pool and he just sunk down in there until he was completely under water and just laid there! Trevors give him a big jug of ice water to drink. 

Thursday 4/25: Left Trevor’s around 10. They begged us to stay until Saturday and go to Haduns with them. Now that we do singing on Thursdays we felt like it was important to come home to be with Josna. Traffic was great even coming into Dhaka! Jared said he has noticed that he’s much more relaxed with the driving here now. He used to get tight shoulders and neck anytime we drove anywhere of any length but now he’s much more relaxed!  Got home around 2:30 pm. Rested for a while and then at 4:30 we left and went to the clinic for singing. Sumita’s friend, Lucky and Josna were all there. It’s so enthusing to have more people than just Sumita and Ang. Sumita served us all watermelon afterwards! Went to Herfeys for supper because I was too tired to cook. I don’t know why I was tired because I just sat in the van all day. I was going to go on a long drive on the scootie when we got home but even that sounded like too much work. Put the children to bed early and retired early as well. 

Friday 4/26: Shania woke up crying and crying. Nothing would pacify her. Suddenly she threw up everywhere! So her and I stayed home from church. The last time I missed church was the week she was born. She has runny nose, cough, diarrhea etc. Lisa soon messaged and said she had sick kids too. Almost seems like the children get sick more when it’s hot here than in the winter when it’s cold! Jared and Layton went to church. We are very proud of Layton’s growth. He has started going places with Jared without getting so anxious if I’m not along!! Moving to pink city has done him so much good. Trevors even commented the last time we were together how settled and relaxed he is now. Having a place to play and be outside and wear himself out has made such a difference. A bike, a pool and a swing. He does not take this for granted. The other day he said “mom if we were at Siza court I wouldn’t be able to do all these fun things!” Of course he still has days where he hopes Grandpy doesn’t forget and start harvest without him or he wants to go fishing with papa, and he misses Nixon and Silas or he makes big plans about building a dairy barn when we get home. (Aunt Kinsey has already been hired to help milk!) Anyways… Jared picked up some lunch on the way home for us bless his heart. I did some laundry because you know how it goes when one person gets the flu. Suddenly every towel, blanket and then the sheets are dirty… Got lots of snuggle time in with Shania. Layton has been jealous lately. He said “mom I’m sure glad when she naps because then it’s just you and me.” Then in the next breath he is begging for another baby. One day he said “mom would it be possible for a lady to have 30 babies?” I said “I highly doubt it.” 😨He said “but mom couldn’t you please have one or two more? Please?” So it goes… We had a long list of shopping things we wanted to get accomplished today but that did not happen. Honestly I was quite relieved. When Layton and Jared got home I asked Layton what daddy preached about cuz I wanted to see if he had listened. He said “well it was very interesting but Daddy did say something quite ridiculous.” I said “what?!” He said “he read something that said ‘do not look left or right only straight.” 😂 I told him he got an A+ for listening. By evening Shania was back to her usual rambunctious self other than a runny nose and sneezing. 

Saturday 4/27: This morning we woke up and the children seemed to both be feeling better so we decided to carry forth and conquer. Went to the sheet tailor and ordered four sets of sheets, bought more brooms and mops, went to Best Buy and bought more plastic chairs for up on the roof, stopped at German Butcher for ground pork, went to Otobi and ordered new folding chairs for the clinic and then we stopped at UniMart to get some groceries. Going to German Butcher is always interesting! It’s one of the very few places we can get ground pork at. I buy the pork and then season it for sausage. They had some bacon too so grabbed that to try it. They have the pork freezers way back in a separate room so that no Muslims go in there. Jared and I always get a kick out of looking through their meat freezers… a whole boiled octopus, crab eggs, calamari, etc. Came home and then Jared and Layton went on the scootie to the electric Dokan to get more money put on our electricity card. Don’t need to run out of power when it’s this hot. Supposedly the real feel in Kulna was 121*. It didn’t feel that hot here in Pink City. Pink City has lots of giant palm trees that keep things shaded, plus this part of town is not as populated as Farmgate is! Tried my hand at making homemade biscuits for supper. Don’t have shortening here so found one that didn’t use it. They didn’t puff up much but they were soft and tasted good. Made sausage gravy to go with them. Biscuits and gravy Always reminds me of my family. 

Sunday 4/28: The motivation was seriously lacking this morning. Shania and I got all of four hours of sleep last night. Not sure what her deal is. Wish she would just get all her teeth and then be done with teething! Layton and I cleaned out his pool. When we were gone to Kulna it had some moss growing in it. I told Layton I’d get him some more taka for his piggy bank if he’d help me clean up the house. It was in quite a state of disarray. He got busy and it wasn’t long and it was tidy. Jared had clinic. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. In the afternoon we went to the helmet store in Bashundara and got us all helmets, stopped at a store for more fans and then stopped at a coffee shop for iced coffee to cool off. The evening looks like we will just be at home which is always lovely! 

April 15 - April 21, 2024

 Monday 4/15: First thing this morning, Trevor and Jared went off to the visa office so Trevor could sign some papers for his new work permit. Once you finally get a work permit it’s not hard to renew when it expires. Things are slowly starting to open up now after Eid and New Years. Lisa and I decided to take the children and go to Jamuna Mall. Lisa drove their van so we each picked a window to watch and alert for motorcycles and buses out of. The children played in the indoor play area there for two hours! It’s $6 for 2 hours and it’s well worth it. It has a huge ball pit, slides, a mini trampoline park area, a petting zoo with hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, fish to feed, a big screened in area that’s supposed to be a sand box but instead of sand it’s plastic beads, etc. It looks like something that every child would dream of! We just sat and watched and talked. The men came later when they were done at the visa office. The kids time wasn’t up yet so the men went and did some shopping for us at one of the imported grocery stores. Jared found some cashews, almonds and lemonade and Koolade. Lisa and I were trying to get our herd of children rounded up when two moms had quite a verbal dispute. It’s humorous watching two Bengalis get mad. Eventually we made it up to the food court. Did some more shopping then came home. Whitney loves to shop so I told her to get Shania some bigger summer dresses so she was quite happy to do that! When you’re inside that mall you feel like you are back home in the states, but all it takes is to go in the parking garage and you are quickly reassured that you are back in Bangladesh. Exits are blocked off, signs are in Bangla script, the humid dank smell, plus thousands of motorcycles parked everywhere. Took some good naps. Later on Jared worked on some papers for Shana. I did laundry and those sorts of things. Layton gave me a list of food that he wants on his birthday.😂 It never changes… it’s the same every year. Mac n cheese. Except this year he wants meat mixed in the Mac n cheese. I said what do you think I should buy you? He said “an electric toothbrush.” He has always had an obsession with electric toothbrushes for some reason! I said “who should we invite?” He said “just you mom.” 

Tuesday 4/16: Jared had clinic today. Trevors went to a furniture store in Gulsan to look for some storage cabinets for the kitchen at the guesthouse. There were kitchen cabinets in the guesthouse kitchen originally but they were in such poor shape that they had to be taken out. Everything was very expensive so think we might hire someone to build some shelving instead. Shania spent the morning randomly screaming. Not crying just sudden screaming outbursts. I sat at the table to eat something and she screamed because she wanted me to pick her up so she could eat what I was eating, Layton went outside and she screamed because she saw him leave, Layton wanted me to hold him and she screamed because mama was holding someone other than her! I told her “young lady, the Regehr household is a quiet house.” After some discipline over the screaming she seemed to have caught on.  She is little miss independent! She is so different from her brother. She is not afraid of anyone and will let anyone pick her up. Layton holds people at arms length and he told me the other day that “it takes me awhile to know if I like someone or not.”  Listened to church for a while this morning. That was so enjoyable to hear. Layton wondered if God lives in our church at Hesston. The afternoon was the usual. Jared came home and worked on paperwork. A rainstorm came through and caused the power to go out for a while. Spent the evenings with Trevor’s. The men tried to go to an American style hardware store but by the time they got there it was closed. 

Wednesday 4/17: Trevor and Jared took the boys and went and ran some errands this morning. It’s so good for the boys when they can go with their dads. Seems like that doesn’t work out very often. Now that we have a yard with real true live grass Jared bought a weed eater. The yards men here will mow your yard if you pay them but once they get in your yard they start doing all kinds of other things and then expect to be paid for doing all the things you didn’t want them to do. Layton came back with his eyes shining! “Mom you will not believe what that store had! They had generators, vacuum sweepers, a lawn mower…”. I enjoyed the quiet morning at home. Held Shania while she napped. Spent the late afternoon and evening at the guesthouse. Ridoy came into Dhaka and rented a big truck and loaded up some things from the guesthouse that we didn’t need. They are taking them back to Kulna. Sounded like they might sell some of it and give some away. Shanto’s like to get clothes and things and hand them out to the poor people in the village. Often Lisa gives them my children’s wore out clothes and her kid’s old clothes and they hand them out. At Christmas Shanto likes to make food packets and hand them out as well. It amazes me how generous and hospitable they are. Around 9:30 pm everyone decided they were hungry. Nathon was with us too because he was bored at his house. We all piled into Trevor’s van and headed to Herfeys. We didn’t get home until after 11… the food was good and the laughter was so great! A rainstorm came through and knocked the power out all evening. We feel so pampered with the community generator here! 

Thursday 4/18: Jared, Trevor, Nathon and the boys left around 10 and went to Mirpur. Nathon knew of a shelving place that can custom build shelving for much much cheaper than the furniture stores that we have all been looking at. These have a painted steel frame and then wood for the shelf. We have to be careful what materials things are made out of here. Things rust and mold and warp so easy here. Getting the shelves all ordered took them quite sometime. They ordered a book case and some shelving for the kitchen and shelving for the pantry, Jared and I designed some shelves for the toy closet, the utility and then a clothing system for our clothes. It will be done in 15 days! Was not expecting that soon. Later afternoon I happened to glance out the window and saw Nathon Brock and Kylie flying up and down the street on a red scootie. I ran out there and Nathon yelled “Brianna here is Jared’s scootie. I want to teach you how to drive it.”😳 So I got a riding lesson and took it for a spin! Pretty simple to drive. Lisa and her girls all came out and drove it too. We need to buy several helmets yet because “safety first,”says the nurse. Jared and Trevor  got home and barely 5 minutes later we in the van headed to Farmgate for singing. We usually have singing Tuesday evenings but we are going to have it Thursday evenings. Josna works every Friday but she has off Thursdays. We want to start having singing on Thursdays so that she can come. She loves to sing!  She came to the guesthouse the other day to help clean and after Trevor went outside she started to cry. Lisa asked if her if it would be ok if Nathon came and interpreted and she could share what was bothering her. She said that would be ok. It took her awhile to open up and serval times she stopped and said “I’m not talking.” And Nathon said “Didi, you must talk you can’t hold anything inside.” Three different times he told her that. She poured her heart out… cried and cried. someone in her village is taking land from her family, several long held offenses were brought up, the plight of her families financial state, how much CSI payed her when she worked at the clinic, etc. Some was quite personal so I won’t share that. I was so thankful she could open up. She says she misses church and the missionaries and being with everyone. The way jobs work here is that you can’t ask for time off. If you do when you come back your position will have been given to someone else. Some of Josna’s offenses go back years and years and previous missionaries tell us they dealt with the same things with her. That’s comforting to know that it’s not just us. She always says she feels comfortable with Nathon in the visits so that is wonderful. Otherwise we aren’t able to understand everything. Anyways singing was enjoyable. I made some cinnamon rolls this morning and took them along. Jared thought I would be a good idea if I made something special to bring since we haven’t seen Josna for awhile. Lucky came as well as one of Sumita’s friends. Trevor’s let Dhaka at 8:45 this evening and headed back to Kulna. Poor Whitney thought she was never going to get back to Kulna again.😂

Friday 4/19: Trevor’s got home to Kulna around 2 AM. Had church this morning. The first time in quite awhile that we had church by ourselves. However, two of Sumita’s friends came so that was neat. After church some patients needed some money and milk so Jared took care of that. The two mamas that brought their babies in for cleft palate surgery looked so so young. Scarcely more than 15. Did our usual shopping afterwards. The rest of the day was uneventful. Jared took the new scootie for a spin. I was going to as well but there were a bunch of police around Pink City and I don’t have a helmet yet. They really enforce wearing a helmet here so didn’t want to take any chances. Even the guys that haul people around on the bikes always have an extra helmet strapped to the back of their motorcycle. 

Saturday 4/20: Jared and Layton left at 9:30 to go pick up Lucky. She has been begging to come cook for us but things have been “et tu besto.” (A little busy) Finally today it worked out great! She was so excited to come. She was wearing a kameeze that I had given her and she had her daughter do her hair all up. The food she made was so good! Chicken curry… I had bought some sweet pumpkin and she fried it. Oh my …. Heaven on earth. Shania ate and ate the pumpkin. Jared was a busy beaver this morning. He weed whipped the lawn, then him and Layton cleaned out Layton’s little pool. We have been trying to figure out what to do with our floors upstairs. There is still cement grime on them from the tile mustris. It’s made the floors dull and gritty. Jared found a strong tile cleaner and poured it on the areas. Didn’t dilute it in water like normal. He used a putty knife and it literally wiped off! It looks like new clean shiny tile instead of dull dirty flooring. We were very enthused!!!! Now we need to do the rest of the upstairs. Jared and Layton took Lucky back to Farmgate. Tonight they had a Eid celebration in Pink City. They were giving free horse drawn carriage rides up and down the Main Street here in Pink City so the children and I went for a ride. Jared spent the rest of the evening doing honey do projects. 

Sunday 4/21: Jared went off to clinic this morning. Jon told Jared that legally now we are supposed to call the clinic “an office in a facility.”😂 First we are supposed to call it a dispensary and now an office in a facility. The children and I had quite a relaxing morning which was much needed. Feels like life might be slowing down some now that the moves are over. There’s still a lot of things that need to get done at the guesthouse but nothing with a pressing deadline. Trevors and Doyle's will help accomplish things too when they come into town. Anyways… Shania took a long morning nap this morning so folded laundry. I love listening to church and folding laundry at the same time. It’s therapeutic. I’ve always wanted to work in laundry at the Manor just so I could fold and fold and fold clothes to my hearts content. Something about folding a messy heap into neat little categories never fails to please my soul. Layton wanted to make cookies again so we did. Jared found some Bengali chocolate chips the last time we were at Jamuna Park. They are basically chocolate almond bark. Not much flavor but they work in cookies. This afternoon I practiced driving the scootie😀 it brings me such joy! I wear pants under my dress when I’m on it so I don’t terrify these people by showing too much leg.😂 Shania gets very nervous anytime she hears it start up so I can’t drive it unless Jared is home. The first time I drove it Lisa held Shania and Shania wouldn’t even come to me for awhile afterwards. Jared’s more confident on it then I am. This afternoon I was resting and Layton suddenly came and brought me his tooth he very calmly pulled out all by himself. Brings this is his first tooth to loose the excitement is quite high. The tooth is now in a bag awaiting the tooth fairy’s arrival tonight. The owner of the guesthouse is in Dhaka now. He hails from London.  He met Jared at the guesthouse at 5. He was a very interesting man. He works as an interpreter for the Mets police Department in London. He didn’t stay long. Well I better get this published… Shania is spending the evening practicing screaming.😱 

April 8- April 14, 2024

Monday 4/8:  Jared helped the men over at the guesthouse this morning. The crew is all depressed because of how much work has to be done yet. They’ve known for quite awhile what the deadline was but several things have came up unexpectedly that had to be fixed. Jared assembled quite a few lights for Ripon to hang up. I made several dozen cappuccino muffins for whoever needs a snack tomorrow. Mid afternoon Jared went back to the guesthouse to help with some electrical work. Shanto brought the AC mistris over to check out the AC in our living room. It works great except that when it’s on, water is constantly spitting out the front of it. If you sit on the couch that’s under the AC you feel like it’s sprinkling! Layton got enthused to clean his room which I was so grateful for. He said “mom I can’t sleep in a room that’s messy.” Some things I noticed he shoved under his bed to which I turned a blind eye. Decided it was a good to pick my battles. Of course the tale of me crying over the 14 ladies standing and watching me has spread to the rest of the crew. They have found it uproariously funny! I’m glad I can provide them with some entertainment. Naton said “I would have cried to” so at least one sympathetic soul is on my side. 😂 In the evening Lisa and I took a walk again. It was beautiful weather so wanted to walk and talk. They have Christmas lights draped over all the plants in the median on the Main Street here in Pink city now for Eid celebrations. It’s so pretty at night. 

Tuesday 4/9: Jared Trevor Ridoy and Naton went to the guesthouse at 6:30 this morning. The movers didn’t show up and said they didn’t have a truck available then when Naton talked to them it turned into just wanting more money. Anyways eventually two moving trucks showed up. They loaded the place up and brought the stuff to pink city. Before hand us and Trevor’s had put all the kitchen things and books into boxes. Jared brought Sumita and Ang over to help us clean. Shanto Ripon and Ridoy said they had cleaned already and that there wasn’t any cleaning left to do. Oh my… let’s just say a Bengali man’s version of clean and an American women’s version of clean is vastly different. Us ladies worked on cleaning until the first load of stuff arrived. We got the kitchen mostly put together. We cleaned and cleaned some more and finally the men thought it was time for lunch. We all went to Herfeys. Went back to the guesthouse and stared at the mayhem. Shanto’s wife Shotti, Antoor and Spondant (Shanto’s boys) arrived at noon. They are in Dhaka now for a few days. Shotti has a sister here apparently. In the afternoon we all split ways for a while. It’s how we keep our sanity intact over here. Trevors went and picked up some more things that the men needed and the Regehr family took naps. Shotti wanted to

cook supper for everyone so she made rice, sobji and dal. I think it’s safe to say that everyone is tired of moving. Layton said “‘Mom the next time we move it better be to our house in Kansas. It’s going to take a bulldozer to make me leave THAT house.” I was so thankful for Brandi. (Trevor’s girl) She just took over bring mama. I came over to our house to check on the children a few times and she had Shania down for a nap, did the dishes and had the house straightened up! 

Wednesday 4/10:  Well today started off with a bang. Shotti wanted to make breakfast for everyone. She loves to cook! So we went to the guesthouse around 8:30. We hadn’t been there long and Ridoy said “auntie the coffee pot has a problem.” They had put way too much water in and the coffee pot was overflowing. I guess we all just assumed they knew how to run an American coffee pot. Shotti made egg omelette, Bengali tortillas and dal. The egg omelette was an egg that she whisked up until it was frothy and then she added sliced onion and kaj morich. She left some without the peppers which I was relieved about. She fried them in oil and spread them out over the whole pan kinda like a crepe. We rolled them up in the tortillas and then dipped it in the dal. She made the dal really thick. It was so good. Jared and Trevor ate so many! I think it’s my new favorite Bangladesh food. We were trying to figure out what was the most important thing to accomplish at the guesthouse. The men were going to hang up fans and get the washer hooked up. Well all of a sudden someone said “it’s not hot this morning we should go to the zoo!” The traffic is wonderful now because Eid is tomorrow and people have all went back to their villages to celebrate. So we all piled into two vans and took off. No jams I tell you! Not one! Jared and I hadn’t ever been to the Dhaka zoo. We were pleasantly surprised! It was really nice. Lots of huge trees so it was very well shaded. Lots of grass and plants. There was a lot of animals! Elephants, Tigers, Lions, snakes, giraffes, monkeys, hippos, rhinos, birds of all sorts, pelicans, flamingos, Layton said his favorites were the giraffes monkeys and hippos. The animals were really active. We hit it just right and the zookeepers were feeding quite a few of the animals. The snakes were disgusting. Cobras, pythons etc. they had a live rat in the cobra cage and then beside the python cage was a cage of darling little rabbits that were for their lunch. Lisa and I didn’t care to watch the crime scene. The men found out you could ride the elephants for 50 taka but by the time they got back to the elephants the riding session was over. Jared was disappointed. I wanted to ride too but Layton was worried something bad would happen to his mama so I told him I wouldn’t. Since it was the day before Eid all the Muslims were home, so the only people we saw at the zoo were mostly Hindus. It was so enjoyable not having so many people around. A few asked for selfies but nothing like it would be usually! We won’t to go back to the zoo next year at this time again! Around 2 we were all tired and hungry so went to a Burger King that was close by. It’s interesting because here these American fast food chains often offer a side dish of rice with the chicken and burgers. We got home by 4 and all took naps. Ridoy came over later on and worked on the porch wall again. Looked like he puttied the cracks. Brock and Kylie came over for a swim in Layton’s pool that we set up on the veranda. It’s barely big enough for the three of them but they made it work! No one was hungry but Shotti made rice, dal and sobji. Her dal is the best I’ve had! She loves to cook and you can tell it. She spoils her boys so much. None of them like vegetables so she is always quick scrambling them up some eggs or giving them leftover omelette from breakfast to eat with their rice and dal. Shotti is such an interesting lady. She’s kinda quiet and I have a hard time understanding her. She can be quite a spit fire from what I have heard! She loves her goats. She said when she left she heard her goats crying for her, “ma ma!” She had a mama goat loose it’s kid and she said she saw the goat cry real tears so she cried real tears with the goat to!” Ripon got more fans hung up in the guesthouse. We are so enthused with that house! It’s going to make coming into Dhaka so much more enthusing for the other missionaries. The house is big enough that two families can easily stay there at once. There isn’t any grass planted in the yard so it’s just dirt and trees right now. 

Thursday 4/11: We’ll today everyone decided to have a “everyone does their own thing” type of day. However stay tuned to see how well that worked out!😂 The Regehr household slept in until almost 9! Shania was awake for awhile during the night so I was grateful for the extra sleep. Jared did random jobs like washing the van and replacing the faucet on the outdoor tap. Trevor was busy getting supplies for the men and doing electrical work at the guesthouse. Layton wanted to make cookies so I helped him make chocolate chip cookies! They turned out really good, the best recipe yet for cookies that I’ve tried here. Everyone oohed and awwwd over them to Layton and it made him feel good.🥰 We put in some of the chocolate chips that Aunt Rebecca sent! Pretty sure that’s why they were so good! Anyways, I used the opportunity of no one coming in and out in the morning to get some things done. Soon Ridoy came over and wanted to use my sewing machine to fix his pants, then Naton came over for awhile, then Brock and Kylie came over to play in the water… It’s Eid today so most places are closed today. We didn’t see much Eid celebrations going on today other than the neighbors were all dressed up in their nice punjabis and the ladies had on their fancy clothes! This evening Trevor’s took the crew to see the airport and the parliament building. We were going to go too but decided it would be best to have a quiet evening at home. When they all got back to Pink City I guess Ripon decided to give Brock a haircut. I was on the phone to Lisa around 10 pm and she said “you need to come look it’s bad.” Poor Brock looked terrified. I saw the leaf blower plugged in and that was the first red flag. Looked like a case of too many barbers. Naton said “Brianna, He looks like someone that would escape from a mental hospital.”😂 Sounded like they ended up giving him a really short buzz cut to fix the damage. Lisa thought her and I should go knock on Ripon and Ridoy’s windows during the night to really egg on their ghost story but unfortunately I value my sleep more than a good scare. 

Friday 4/12: Church this morning! We were packed. The Kulna crew, Naton, Miriam, a visitor named Beeti and then Naton invited his two friends that are husband/wife drs. The husband is an anesthesiologist the wife works in surgery at Dhaka Medical Hospital. Naton wanted Jared to meet him. They are Christians! We stayed for a long time after church visiting, having cha etc. At one point Trevor and Nathon were arm wrestling. A lot of good laughs were had. We went to Jamuna for lunch. Only the food court was open though none of the stores were. Some of the crew has been grumping about all the American food they have been eating lately. But they still picked Pizza Hut for lunch😂 Sometimes we want to tell them how tired we get of their rice! After lunch, we took Shanto’s wife and boys back to the guesthouse. The rest went off to try and find a meat market. Shanto and Shotti wanted to make beef curry for everyone. Later in the afternoon Lisa came over and made cookies for dessert for supper. Ripon, his cousin and Nathon were hanging out in the living room, and Jared and Ridoy worked on painting the porch wall. Layton Brock and Kylie were in and out all afternoon. Around 6 Sumita Beeti and Ang showed up. Nathon told them how to get to our place by CNG. Sumita wanted a tour of our house so Beeti and Ang could see it all. Sumita kept telling me how dirty the house was and how I should clean my floors bathrooms and oh my the roof is so dirty! I just laughed and told her that I have been having lots of people working in the house lately not to mention our front door is a revolving door as well. I think she is abit annoyed that I don’t ask her to come clean. I’m just not ready for that. Shanto moved all the furniture out of the living room at the guesthouse and him and Trevor scrubbed the floor good. For supper we all sat in a circle and ate. It was delicious! Shania got fussy and I welcomed the excuse to leave the group and retreat to my empty quiet house. 

Saturday 4/13:  Trevor left at 6:30 and took the crew back to Golpagange and Kulna. He had quite a day. He drove their old van back to kulna, Doyle brought Whitney to kulna and then Trevor and Whitney brought a bus back into Dhaka. The children and I went and had breakfast with Lisa and the kids. The caretaker of their air b and b begged to make them breakfast. Lisa messaged and said “can you please come and help us eat?” The man made chicken curry, potatoes, tortillas, eggs, sweet noodles, cha and then cut up cucumbers.🙄 Oh my. We left so much food on our plates. What would these Bengalis say if they saw that we just eat cereal for breakfast?😂 I must say it was a relief to have the crew done working here. We are truly so thankful for all they did. It was fun to have them here but all good things must come to an end. Trevors will stay in Dhaka for a few days yet to tie up loose ends. The kids were all back and forth between the two houses all day long. It’s so fun to see them having fun. They never would have been able to play like this when we lived at Farmgate. 

Sunday 4/14: This morning Jared cleaned up more construction materials outside. I did laundry and the usual mom things. I had a long list of things I wanted to get done but the spirit was willing but the flesh was weak. I ended up just sitting and holding Shania for awhile. My adrenaline rush from everyone being here is wearing off and now we are TIRED. Jared washed and vacuumed the van out. It looks so so much better in there. It was a fright! Crackers mashed up, toys, water bottles, Shania’s diapers, and who knows what. Brock and Kylie and Layton were in and out most of the afternoon. Whitney wanted to take care of Shania so I gladly took her up on that. Josna came to Pink City in the afternoon and helped clean some more at the guesthouse. It was so good to see her again. 🩷 She exclaimed and exclaimed over Shania’s hair and how long it’s getting. Today is New Year’s Day today here. I dont quite understand it all because they celebrate the “normal” New Year’s Day as well. A bunch of ladies here in Pink City were dressed up in their beautiful red and white saris. Red and yellow clothes are often worn on holidays. The weather has been unusually beautiful in the evenings lately! I have determined I am not going to complain one time this year about the heat. It would be a sin for me to gripe now that we have such a nice place to live that has AC in the living room! 

April 1 - April 7, 2024

 

Monday 4/1: We packed up and left Kulna around 10. Whitney came with us. We picked up Ripon and Ridoy. They said they were glad to come back to Pink City with us! Shanto has a few matters to tend to at Kulna so he will come in a few days. Ripon told Kobid yesterday that he likes Pink City except that him and Ridoy think that the guesthouse is dangerous. We said “why?” Ripon who is always quiet said “there’s a ghost in there! Every night at 1:30 the light turns on and I feel a breeze even if the fan is off.” We just roared with laughter because of all things?! Ripon coming up with this?! He insisted and Ridoy said the same thing. Except he says if him and Ridoy are in the same room sleeping then it doesn’t happen; it’s only if it’s just one person. Bengalis are very superstitious for sure the village people. Lisa said “you should pray when you see that happening and maybe it will quit!” Ridoy says “it gives me fear in my chest.” Ripon said he prays but he says he read a verse in Acts that says if you pray for something to stop or to be cast out you have to have lots of faith that it will work. Kobid said “well maybe someone that has more power should pray. Like a deacon or a bishop!” We really laughed then. Jared said he would be sure to let Carl and Darrell know what job awaits them the next time they come to Bangladesh!😂 Poor boys we didn’t go along with their story at all. Trevors say they will see if the “ghost” appears after we move the guesthouse and they spend the night there. Stay tuned.😂 We told them that we didn’t believe in ghosts and that you have to invite those types of spirits into your life and fear is the power that allows them to work in your life. Anyways we dropped off Whitney in Golpagang. Got to meet the latest little Barkman! Edward Aquillas… he favors Krystal and Rafael I think! We journeyed on into Dhaka. Got into town around 3:30. The traffic was really congested. Took us 2.5 hours to get into Pink City. We all had to use the bathroom so so bad. However one does not simply pull over at a gas station and use the bathroom like you would at home. No sir you hold it in until you get to where you’re going for sure when traffic is bad. I told the men they could just open the van door and go on the road since we were sitting in jams and they did not appreciate my suggestion. Ridoy said “auntie that is not happening.” Ripon and Jared were mostly quiet but Ridoy and I ran our mouths to keep our minds off of the bathroom. Ridoy was telling Jared about how he loves to take the train in Bangladesh. As a conclusion he said “uncle, trains have toilets!” Jared said “I’m sorry if I see anything suitable I will stop.” Then Ridoy started talking about how he didn’t like ferries. “But even they have toilets, why can’t your car have a toilet?” Every subject somehow ended up about toilets. We finally got into Pink city and dropped the boys off at the guesthouse. They made a mad dash to their toilets and we went home and made a mad dash to ours. I quick made some box Mac n cheese for people to eat. We took it easy for the rest of the evening. At 9 someone rang the doorbell and said that we had a water problem. Jared went up to the roof and sure enough water was pouring everywhere. He was one unhappy CSI man and I don’t blame him!!!!! We are ready for the water to stop leaking and just work for a change. 

Tuesday 4/2: Happy Birthday baby girl! How are you one already? she is so loved and spoiled here! Between Whitney, Brandi, Lisa, Sumita, Anchila, Naton, Shanto and Ridoy the little lady scarcely has a chance to be on the floor cuz they are always holding her. And if they are all in one group setting oh my… it becomes a competition to see who Shania likes best. One day Naton was holding her and she started to cry because she wanted me. He looked and me and said “oh no don’t tell Whitney that she cried while I held her or she will think Shania likes her better!”Shania and Layton played together for awhile this morning. Gave me a chance to get the laundry done and clean up the house some. Today is kinda the calm before another busy streak. Ridoy came over a few times to get something or ask a question. The last time he wondered if I had a sewing machine? I said “yes I do.” He says he needs to fix his pants. I did not offer to do it for him. Every time he left Shania cried. She was not happy that uncle was not taking her along. Jared had clinic. The heat has made its return! I went up to the roof to hang up the laundry and it was hot up there. Good clothes drying weather! Jared had clinic this morning. After he came home he went up to the roof and tried to figure out what the problem is now. It turned out to be a simple fix just needed to replace an old rusty pipe! The kids and I went to the sand court for awhile this afternoon. Made sure they played in the shade! Came back and gave them baths in a bucket. Our bathroom is the only one with a tub and since it has no water at the moment we got creative. Quick gave Layton a buzz cut. He would have shoulder length hair if I let him. Haircuts have never amused him. He said “mom please don’t get hair up my nose.” 

Wednesday 4/3: First thing after breakfast Jared and Layton left and went to the Standard Chartered ATM in Gulsan. Shania saw them go out the door and oh my was she unhappy. I’m going to have to start distracting her when anyone leaves the house. Jared says she has FOMO! We left the house around 10:30 and went to Siza Court. Parked at the guesthouse and the children and I stayed there. Jared went to Siza Court and gave Mr Faroque the money that they had agreed upon for a “damage” settlement. Mr Faroque took him up to see the apartment. Jared said our good friends that lived on the first floor had moved into our old apartment! That made Layton smile to know Mahira was living in his old house. Jared said they had torn all the wallpaper off and had painted the walls white and hung up new light fixtures. Trevors came into town with Shanto. They were delayed by some traffic jams so didn’t get to the clinic until 2:45. We all had lunch there. Ripon and Ridoy came by CNG from pink city and Naton came on his motorcycle. It was a good lunch. Of course the motor cycle accident that the men had helped with was described in detail and great length for all to hear. We took the men back to the pink city guesthouse and then crashed. Layton slept for three hours! I just let him. As soon as he woke up he said “Since I took a nap can I stay up late?” He is his mother’s child. Shanto and the boys went and did some shopping in the evening. Trevors came to see the guesthouse and get the electric card for the guesthouse. Lisa and I ended up taking a walk up and down the pink city streets. Takes us 30 minutes to walk them all. 

Thursday 4/4: Jared spent the morning doing end of month paperwork. He closed the door to his office and Shania sat outside of it and cried and cried for “dadada.” She hates doors being closed and is sure that she is missing out. Every time he came out to get something she made a beeline in there. She likes to go sit in the boxes that are in his office. The crew is busy over at the guesthouse. Made pizza pockets for lunch. Was going to make bierrocks but I couldn’t find cabbage so adapted and made pizza ones instead. They turned out really well! It reminded me of a time when Layton was maybe 2 or 3. He loved the buns that Jared’s mom made and would eat several. Well one day I made bierricks and he was so excited until he bit into it and there was meat inside. He wouldn’t eat buns for awhile after that. Lisa messaged and wondered we would want to just make lunch for the crew tomorrow instead of eating out. I was enthused! After supper I made some cream puffs with vanilla pudding and raspberry pie filling. I’ve made so many pans of bars and cakes lately so wanted to make something different for a change. 

Friday 4/5: Church this morning. It’s so enthusing to have church now when Shanto, Ripon and Ridoy are here! Trevors came too so we had a full room. Ripon had the opening and Jared had the message on prayer. I was in the kitchen with Shania and when Ripon said to kneel for prayer I noticed Layton go down on all fours just like the Muslims pray here.😂 As soon as church was out Lisa and I left and went to the guesthouse. She had most of the food made already. Made mashed potatoes and gravy, chicken, meatballs, cabbage salad, watermelon and then Bangla vegetable bajhi. It was so good. The guesthouse smelled just like Sunday dinner at home. I took my creampuffs. We put a “number one” candle in a cream puff for Shania and sang happy birthday to her! Sumita and her niece and Miriam came and joined us too. It was fun to have everyone there. I’ve been wanting to make a meal for everyone but it’s too overwhelming with Shania and with that many people so I was enthused about helping Lisa get it around. Jared Ripon Shania and I came home and Layton stayed and played with Brock and Kylie. Trevor brought him back to pink city a few hours later. This evening I went upstairs by myself for awhile. Jared said all of a sudden he noticed Shania was being very quiet. He went looking for her and found her eating a bag of powdered sugar that I had left in a bag on the floor. I had taken it for lunch to sprinkle on top of the creampfuffs so I had just put a clothespin on the top to close it. She was scooping it in by the handfuls he said. Maybe that’s why she didn’t want to sleep for the night until 1230 am. 

Saturday 4/6: Woke up this morning with the intentions of doing laundry and working on some projects around the house, but that did not happen. Jared had to go to the standard charter ATM which is in the same building as UniMart so may as well go along and get some groceries. Got home and he worked on Trevor’s new work permit visa application. He had to go to the market down the road to get more supplies for the men but couldn’t find everything that he needed. After lunch we headed for the old guesthouse. Us and Trevor’s Went through so much stuff. Oh my… so many years of stuff. Old baby equipment that was filthy, old cosmetics that people leave behind on their way out of Bangladesh, so so many old audit papers, tons of tract records, kitchen stuff that people have left there because they didn’t have the nerve to get rid of it, so much of the furniture is eaten by bugs or just plum worn out, old spices in the kitchen, old pillows and blankets that look they have seen better days, a birdcage, etc. We ordered in Pizza Hut for supper. Right when we sat down to eat Tanvir called and said he was on the way to the clinic with a milk delivery so Jared went and received the milk. We headed home around 9 and thought we would have abit of quiet time before we hit the hay. Well Ridoy showed up wanting some food he had been storing in my freezer and then Trevor called and said he needed his passport to book their air b n b. He tried to use a picture of it but that wasn’t good enough. Jared keeps everyone’s passports in our safe here. Eventually we got everyone taken care of. Anyways I saw something today that really bothered me. Two ladies wearing black burkas head to toe, which isn’t unusual at all. But these women had the lace veils on yet too that totally covered their face. All you could see was a black blob walking. It really gave me the creeps and at bedtime I just kept thinking about those poor women. I wondered do they like pretty clothes like I do? Does the color pink make them happy like it does me? Is there color under their black burka? My pita lady friend wears a burka but her eyes are showing! Her eyes are always smiling and sparkling. We wave at each other when I go by to the Dokan. She slips me extra Iftar when I go to get some for a snack.  Do these ladies that have their eyes covered feel ashamed? Or do they feel like it’s an honor that no one but their husband and children know what they look like? Sometimes I see young boys and girls hanging out together and the teenage girls are wearing burkas. How do they boys know which one is their girlfriend when all they can see is their eyes. I feel very naked in my dress. What on earth would these people say if they saw an American girl wearing shorts and a tank top? That would halt traffic. Been having a lot if people come to our gate and ask for money now. This is quite common as Eid gets closer. I tell them “my boss does not have money to give.” I know this sounds heartless but if we give to one then word spreads then we soon have the doorbell ringing constantly asking for money. It’s easier to give to the beggars that sit on the street when we are out and about  because they don’t know where we live. 

Sunday 4/7: Jared went to clinic this morning. The children and I took some things the men needed over to the guesthouse. Layton helped me clean the veranda so now he can play in the water there. Jared got a long hose for him to string down the stairs from the roof. I took Shania down and went and stared cleaning the porch off. It’s such a wreck. Bikes, scooters, construction material, tile, pipe and who knows what piled up. Shania kept herself well entertained so I worked furiously. One sweet maid came and said hello so I visited with her for a bit. They have been taking liberties and just marching right into the yard so I have to go and walk them to the gate. Anyways I kept on cleaning because I needed something to get my anxieties out. I like to pray while I work. Well I soon noticed the crowd of maids by our gate was getting bigger and bigger. Soon there was at least 14 maids all watching me. Lined up by the gate and all around the fence on the other side. I didn’t think I needed that audience so I went next door and got my friend’s driver and he chased the ladies off. I sat and cried. I have no idea why but I did, just cried my heart out. Right about then here comes Ridoy happy as a lark to get water. I was still crying and I said “Ridoy there was 14 women standing here watching me why can they not understand that I like to work?” He said “and this is why you cry?”😂 Bless his heart. He said “actually it’s ok that you cry. One time my friend made food for some people and then someone thought it needed more liquid so they dumped in a bunch of water and made it bad. She cried too.” Anyways he cheered me up with a gruesome story of one of his family members going into someones house with a pipe and hitting them on the head until he was “senseless.” I tell you… life is not dull here. I left the cleaning and went inside for some respite from the people. I pulled myself together and told myself I was not raised to be a quitter so I straightened my crown and I went back and finished sweeping the yard. The driver had to come over one more time to chase off more watchers. At least it’s all women. When you pray for missionaries pray for “nerves of steel.” I thought I had thick skin before we came and then when some silly incident happens like this and it makes me cry I feel like I’m such a baby. The maids have been going around in flocks today going to peoples houses collecting their Eid bonuses. I watched a group and asked the yardsman what on earth was going on and that’s what he told me. About 20-30 women were all up by the neighbors gate all eagerly waiting for their money. The rest of the day was uneventful, Trevor’s had the trash man and the paper man go to the old guesthouse to get all our things that we discarded. Sounded like the men were very happy with their new treasures! We are enjoying a quiet evening at home with just us. 🥰