11/9: Carls and Linferds flew in around 9. Linferd and Teresa are from Cartwright. She is Judith’s big sister. They came for lunch. Shana helped me make grilled chicken, pasta salad and fruit salad. I was so thankful for her help! While we cut up the fruit and vegetables we sat at the dining table and chattered. Her and I chatter a lot.😂 Anyways Shania climbed on the table and perched her bootie on top of the no bake cookies I had just made and proceeded to steel handfuls of veggies and fruit any chance she could. After lunch Carls and Linferds were doing their best to stay awake so we took them on a drive. Took them to Siza court so that Carls could show Linferds where they used to live and then showed them the old guesthouse too. Every time we drive down that street and smell that specific smell I am overcome with such gratitude and thankfulness that we could move to pink city. Relief is the right word. We had good friends at Siza court but pink city is so much better for children and teacher!
11/10: Shana went and got dim and ruti for everyone for breakfast! Gave the guards the leftovers. Left Pink City around 9. Got aways down the road only to discover that the main road we take to Rajshahi was closed. Went on a 3 hour goose chase through all sorts of random back streets that wound in and out of construction. Eventually we made it back to the main road. We also enjoyed several jams in the mixture. Linford and Carl hopped out a few times to try and clear the jams up. Sometimes white skin helps! At one point Layton wearily called out from the backseat “are you SURE we aren’t back to where we started?” We all died with laughter😂 Eventually we got going again. Got to Michael’s around 7ish. I was glad to be out of the van. Some of us were blessed with car sickness but rallied quite quick when Monica dished out the pilau and chicken curry!!!! That woman’s cooking is so delicious. 😋 They were really enthused to see Carls and Linferds. We didn’t stay too long because our beds were calling. Stayed at Royal Raj. That place is so luxurious which felt so good after all the bumping and jostling on the roads. Took Layton for a quick dip in the pool before bedtime yet. The water was so cold that he didn’t last long in there. Bed felt good after being cramped in the van! We were a tight fit in there but we didn’t want to hire a driver and have two cars.
11/11: Had breakfast at the hotel and then headed to Michael’s around 10. Breakfast at Bangladesh hotels are pretty much all the same… Fried rice, chicken curry, Bangla noodles, ruti, boiled eggs, rice pudding, and fresh fruit. Michaels seemed happy! Monica really enjoyed showing us her animals. Shania remembered the goat and was plum tickled. She did not want to sit still in the living room while we visited, she kept wanting to go back and look out at the animals. So her and I spent most of the time watching the chickens hop around. She just LOVES animals. Now Monica has added 2 rabbits to her herd of animals. She showed us her and Marcie’s gardens and her flowers up on the roof. She also has a little outdoor kitchen with a tin roof over it up there too! The neighbor had some rice drying on the roof and she came up there and swished it around with her feet so it would keep drying. Monica seemed really enthused with all her projects! She has recently started sewing for other people too. She was busy sewing clothes for a wedding that was coming up for some aquaintences. It made me feel good to see her happy and enthused about her projects. She didn’t even cry when we left this time! I wish we could transplant Marcie into an American youth group. I think she would blossom. She is such a beautiful girl! It just looks like she has no motivation. Monica says she does cook a fair bit for them and she enjoys that. She used to go to school to get some type of nursing degree but she isn’t pursuing that at this time. Not sure if it’s because of money or what?! After we finally pulled ourselves away from Michael’s we headed to Kaligonj. Jared and I had never been there before. The GPS optimistically told us four hours but by the time we dodged buses, trucks and every thing else we shared the road with it was more like 6-7 hours. We did stumble upon a cutesy little resort for lunch. That’s one thing that drives me crazy here with traveling. At home you don’t think twice about eating on the road. But here you never know if you will find a place to eat that’s decent or will they be open or will they have child friendly food, or will it be clean? Felt like we found a pot of gold finding this resort. It was beautiful and Linferd and Teresa took my kids outside on a walk while we waited for our food. My children are lapping up all this “grandparent” attention they are getting from Carls and Linferds! Layton always hopes “one of those girls” will sit by him in the van! 🥰 anyways, we eventually made it to Kaligonj. The next challenge was to find Boli and Elizabeth’s house. Oy…. Driving in the dark here is something else. Jared did so good and I was so proud of him!!! He twisted and turned down all sorts of tiny village roads and eventually we made it. Boli and Elizabeth don’t really live in a town but more of a settlement type place. Layton was glad that they had a grandson to play some soccer with! This couple is in their 60s maybe?? She suffers from arthritis and pain and chest pain. Due to her poor health they haven’t ever been to revivals or fellowship so this was our first time meeting them! They have two sons. One is married and has two children… a 8 year old and a 1 year old. Boli is kinda quiet but he visits easily. Elizabeth is the sweetest thing ever. Have you ever been with someone that is so sweet and kind that you kinda feel a bull in the china shop around them. That’s how Elizabeth is. She kept calling me “seester.”We all went and sat on the church floor and had cha. We didn’t stay long because the guesthouse in Kaligonj kept calling Jared wondering when we were coming. A few weeks ago Doyle found a place called “Hunger Free World” guesthouse. They have been trying to find a better place to stay when they come to Boli’s once a month. CSI does have a small house rented but it doesn’t have electricity or running water most of the time, so Darrell thought it would be wise to find somewhere else to stay that’s better suited to the need! This guesthouse is ran by NGOS.
11/12: The night was OK. At one point I woke up to the sound of someone a few doors down having some gastric distress. We will leave it at that. Carl and Jared went and found a good restaurant that served breakfast. They bought some dim and ruti and brought it back to our room. We spread the food out and everyone grabbed some paper towels and bon appetite! Everyone had some sort of tale to tell about the previous night.😂 will we stay there again? The jury is out…
After we were done eating we noticed there was a school on the main floor of the guesthouse! Probably 75 kids were all lined up in the courtyard doing their morning drills. They were doing some exercises and reciting something. We couldn’t understand what they were saying. We stood on the veranda and enjoyed the entertainment. Packed up and headed back to Boli’s. This time it was daylight so we could see our surroundings! Drove down some very narrow brick roads. It’s rice harvesting season now so everyone was busy laying their rice straw out on the road to dry. Any big open area is covered in rice stalks. Nothing to do but drive right over it. They don’t seem to mind. Also saw piles and piles of cow manure out drying on the edges of the road too. Noted some tobacco fields and pawn growing areas. It was neat to see their place in the light! Their yard is immaculate! They have a big outdoor kitchen, 2 houses and then the church. The whole yard looks like cement but it’s cow manure and water mixed together then it’s “painted” on. When it dries it hardens flat and smooth and is easy to sweep. Elizabeth has a bamboo fence up around the yard and lots of plants. Absolutely gorgeous. I told her I thought her yard was so beautiful and she seemed to find that humorous. They have the church building looking quite nice. However the decorations made us giggle. At the front behind the podium table was a big wooden cross with Christmas lights wrapped around it and then the curtains are white with red crosses stitched onto them! We sat and visited for awhile while the men went off to look at Boli’s rice fields. Elizabeth took Shana and I on a walk. She took us to her friends house that has a talking parrot. It kept saying “apnar nam ki?” (What is your name?) then it would say it’s name “Ritou, Ritou.” Shana and I just howled with laughter at it then it started imitating us and laughing back😂 we went and got the men and showed them this hilarious creature!!! They took us to have cha at a NGO organization down the road. Eventually we pulled ourselves away from there and got back in the van. Stuck our nose in the wind for Golpagang! Took about four hours to get there. Couldn’t find much to eat on the way there but eventually we found some fresh shingaras. We dropped our things off at Samuel Bella’s guesthouse. Layton and Jared went on to Doyle’s but Shania and I needed some rest and quiet time! Laid down and the next thing I knew Jared was telling me it was time for supper!Sandwiches were had by all. Didn’t stay too late at Doyle’s as everyone was ready for bed pretty early. It’s impossible to nap when you are on the road here, too much lurching and braking.
11/13: The men and Shana headed off to eye camp. It was about an hour away! Shana did the computer work and Jared, Doyle, Bruce, Carl and Linferd all had jobs too! They saw about 600 patients and at least 1000 showed up but they turned a lot away. The men got home around 5 and were absolutely starving because they had had no lunch. I made tacos for everyone and there was not much left! They all thought they were delicious. Made some CSI bars and those got gobbled up too. I enjoy cooking for hungry people! While the men were gone us ladies did our own thing. Sat and visited a lot. The children played in the water most of the morning so it was quite peaceful. Kinda interesting out of our big group, only Carl, Shana and I are Americans. All the rest were Canadians in some way shape or form! Was neat to be able to make connections and talk about people that everyone knew.
11/14: Had breakfast together and then packed up. As we were leaving Samuel’s guesthouse we met Nathon’s dad! He wanted us to come over but Jared told him when we are back in Golpaganj for revivals in January then we will stop in! I was struck by the saying on Samuel’s shirt “CHOSEN to be a testimony.” Gave me something to meditate on. Left Doyle’s around 10. Carls and Linferds stayed behind to go with Bruce’s back to Kulna. Our van felt quite empty and quiet after traveling with them the past few days! Shania was so over being around lots of people that as soon as we got in the van to leave she waved and waved at everyone saying “bye bye bye bye!” After all the twisty winding village roads we’ve been on past few days the road from Golpaganj to Dhaka felt like quite a dream. The traffic in the city was wonderful and we hardly stopped at all! Got to pink city around 2! Shana says she is ok if we dont get back in the van anytime soon.😂
11/18: Jared had clinic and then went and met Doyle at the Padma Bridge. Picked up Carls and Linferds and brought them back into Dhaka. Shana and I made them all supper. They were very thankful for something that wasn’t spicy.😂 Just visited for quite awhile in the evening. Carl wondered if we would come back for a 2nd term. We told him that a 2nd term didn’t feel like an open door. We would really like to be home by the end of August so Layton can start 2nd grade at home but it all depends if there are replacements to be had or not!
11/19: Everyone came for breakfast. After breakfast we all piled in the van and headed to Farmgate. The ladies wanted to do some fabric shopping. However, I always forget that the fabric and tailor section is closed on Tuesdays! That was really disappointing because Shana and I both wanted to get some things, but that’s ok! We ended up just browsing through the part that was open which was still a fair bit. Found my children some winter Jammie’s which they were both plumb tickled about. (Update: my days of buying my children’s clothes at the market are over. The next day I washed them all. The athletic pants that Layton loves that I bought, shrank by at least 3 inches and my hoodie I bought the sleeves shrank by 4 inches. So no more market clothes. I was very frustrated.) We all went to KaWran Bazaar next. That’s where Jared goes to buy milk. I’ve always wanted to go there but Jared always says he thought it was too stinky and slimy for women to go to. Now it’s dry season so it’s not all muddy. We walked through the vegetable and fruit market, it’s designed more for wholesale. The vendors just throw any rotten or bad vegetables on the road or to the side and when the compost gets too much then a big loader comes through and scrapes it all off into a pile. Layton was not amused at the smell.😂 it wasn’t too bad. We went back behind the bazaar and walked along the train tracts for a ways. That was so neat to see all the tin shacks along there. Even most of them had electricity! Lots of women out cooking. I was surprised that we didn’t have more followers than what we did. Three trains came flying by while we were out there. It never gets old seeing the Dhaka trains. They are so stuffed full of people, inside and then on the roof and then some hanging on the back. Sometimes the young boys will be running along the top while the train flys along. Jared thinks the train goes around 50 mph? By this time we were all getting hungry so took rickshaws back to Farmgate and got cold cokes. We stopped at the jute store next. Found some dandy treasures and some presents for the people I love. Headed to the clinic and feasted on the most scrumptious fare. Josna made Carl boss beef biriyani and chicken curry. Biriyani is fast becoming my favorite Bangla food!! For sure with lots of lime juice squeezed on the top. Carl bought some tok and Misti doy. Doy is like a custard yogurt. The Tok is a lot like Greek yogurt and the Misti taste like a sweet pudding. Very good! I could tell my children were starting to get worn out and frazzled and so them and I quick ate and then we went back to the kitchen for some quiet time while everyone else ate. Shania took a 30 minute nap and Layton just sat in the corner and played one of his games on my phone. I’ve been finding if I give my children a break on days like today they are much more enduring. I was so proud of what troopers they are!!! After lunch the men dropped us ladies off at Danmondi Aarongs and they headed off to a coffee shop to meet Shurov (our Dhaka brother.) Us ladies shopped at Aarongs and then got CNGs and headed to Prezzie (a different coffee shop). We stayed there for awhile just relaxing and enjoying food and visiting. The men’s visits didn’t last super long. Shurov seemed abit softer than last year when Carl visited him. He admitted that he does miss coming to church. We all came back to pink city and rested for 2 hours. Had Shania nap again and Layton had some quiet time. Around 7:30, we packed up Carls and Linferds things and headed for Gulsan. We were all enthused about going to Farmhouse Burger for supper. Traffic was pretty thick and jammed up so it took us an hour or more just to get to the first Gulsan intersection. So we ended up just turning around and heading for the airport to drop them off. It’s always sad to see visitors leave! My children will miss their new grandparents🥰 We headed home and just had snacks for supper then we all flopped into our beds!
11/21: Jared spent most of the afternoon and evening getting the old Kulna van sold. One of Hridoys friends came and bought it. As is usual here in this culture, it was quite a long and drawn out process but by 7 the deal was closed and the van was driving out of Pink City!
11/28: Happy Thanksgiving! 🍁🦃 No school today! Shana and I cooked almost all day. We had a lot of fun cooking. We decided to go all out for Thanksgiving and make all our favorite foods. Made chicken and gravy, mashed potatoes, Mac n cheese, deviled eggs, canned cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, pecan pie, chocolate pie, apple pie and pumpkin pie. Mavis and Krystle brought butter horns, cauliflower salad, sweet tea, apple cider, sweet potatoes casserole. Shana and I were quite proud of our homesteading cooking.😂 the green bean casserole we made cream of mushroom soup from scratch and plus the French fried onions were “scratch” like Layton says. Then Shana wanted relish in the deviled eggs so she carefully cut up pickles. So there you have it… CSI homesteaders, stay tuned. We invited Josna and Sumita and Nathon. Nathon was busy with a friend’s wedding so he couldn’t come. We all ate plenty, I think that’s goes without saying. It was so so good to have American holiday food again. Josna and Sumita kept counting all the different piles of food on their plate to see how many different kinds there were. They seemed to really enjoy it. I sent some pie home with them later on.
11/29: Well our morning was quite interesting! A few weeks ago one of Nathon’s friends that is a pastor at a Baptist church in Tongi asked Jared if he could come and speak on a Bible verse at a youth program. Jared wasn’t so sure but the other CSI men gave him the go ahead so he decided it was probably ok. Got to the Baptist church in Tongi a lot sooner than we thought. Only took 20 minutes to get there. Never know how the traffic will be and the area we were driving through is always jammed up pretty bad so it was a pleasant surprise that we got there so quick. Right after we got there the younger children were having “Sunday school” or some type of activity. Dancing to Jingle Bells. Shana and the children and I went and watched. Looked like organized chaos. Shania wanted to dance along with them!. The big girls all wanted to hold Shania but she wasn’t so sure about it. After awhile, they called us to go to the upstairs of the building and Nathon had the youth group playing some hilarious games with plastic cups. The event was called “youth refuel day.” The schedule was kinda interesting it had been going since 8 in the morning. Jared, myself, Shana and the children all had to go up front and get introduced and then they handed us all flowers.🤣felt a little out of my comfort zone. Jared gave his talk. He talked abit about why we are here and who we work for. They wanted him to speak on “abhore that which is evil and cling to that which is good.” Nathon interpreted for him. After the sermon, they got out their guitar and the leader sang a song while Nathon played the drums. They were taking a lunch break then. They invited us to stay for lunch but Shania was getting so fussy so we ended up leaving. Hope that wasn’t too rude. That church is nice. It would work perfect for revivals if we ever hosted them in Dhaka. The “sanctuary” had lots of fans in it and a big speaker system, plus a pull down projector screen that they had the songs on.They had cooks there too that were making chicken and egg curry. Nathon had told Jared about this church awhile ago so it was nice to see it. He goes there and helps with their programs occasionally. Came home for pie and pizza and naps.
Clinic update: It’s a busy place I tell you! Last month one day Jared saw 50 in one morning, another day he had to turn away at least 20. Thus the reason we didn’t feel bad closing down clinic for a week last month to go to Kuakata. You might wonder, “well isn’t it good to have such high numbers and isn’t it good to see as many patients as possible?” Yes and no. Our clinic facility is quite small. We have a 10x12 room where Miriam, Dr Elizabeth and Jared see the patients. One patient at a time is allowed into the room. The area where the patients wait is a long narrow hallway. Otherwise they have to wait on the street. If too many people come, these Bengalis extinctively soon get the mob affect. Pushing, shoving, butting in front of the other, yelling about how their problem is worse than the person in front of them and so on. It’s like Michael from Rajshahi explained it to Jared once. “In Bangladesh if there is not order at the clinics, you soon have 10 patients in the room, 10 patients around the doctors neck and 10 more in the hallway.” If we were able to run the clinic like a drs office at home yes we could see more, but these people cannot comprehend that style of order. This is why Golpaganj and Kulna no longer do clinics only eye camps. Things get out of control so fast and it’s impossible to regain order once chaos has started. Miriam keeps order at our clinic! She is serious about it too. If someone stands in the room too long after Jared helps them she says “Boss has given you enough money, you should be thankful.” And she sends them on. She has a heart of gold for the patients but she is very firm with them too. So every so often we shut the clinic down and the numbers go down for awhile. We very easily meet our quota from the NGO buero so this is no issue. One day Jared said a man came running in off the street and came inside the clinic yelling “there’s an emergency we need the doctor.” They told him that we are not an urgent care and plus Dr Elizabeth doesn’t go see other patients while she is at the clinic, the guy would not leave and became more and more obnoxious. Finally Jared just looked at him and said “do we need the police?” The guy quieted right down and left. Another day a mom brought her 15 year old girl in. This girl comes in a lot and Jared always thought she was normal, but this day that she came in it was very evident that she was NOT normal. She kept hitting her mom, pulling her mom’s hair and being a mess. She kept trying to grab the drs notes from Jared and just fixated on it. Jared said “if she wants the paper so bad let her have it maybe she will calm down.” Her mom said “no she will rip it up.” The girl got so worked up Jared didn’t know what to do. He thought about taking her outside so she wasn’t so disruptive and so the mom could finish up her things but it’s inappropriate for a man to do that so finally they just got business taken care of and the mom could take the girl home. The conjoined twins have officially been separated! One remains in ICU and the other is out of the ICU and is able to drink milk on her own. The dad comes and gets milk every so often. They shared a liver and some intestines and also some a major vein or artery I forget which.
Shania’s latest game is: “how many cats and dogs can we find?” Now that it is cooler she loves to be outside all the time. She goes to the door and begs to go out. In the mornings when Layton and Shana are at school, I put her in the stroller and her and I walk up and down all the streets in Pink City looking for cats and dogs to meow and bark at!😂 I enjoy it! It takes about an hour an she is quite content in her stroller. Plus it gives me exercise! You should try it sometime, meowing at any cat you see… it’s a lot of fun. Decreases adult cares and worries. Layton giggled because I told him we were being “thing finders.” (Pippi Long-stocking) Shania had kinda a rough week the past week. Her last molar plus two other teeth are trying to poke up through which has caused the young lady alot of emotional anguish. I am very ready to be done with this teething season. One day in particular when she was especially fussy and clingy Layton sighed and said “mom, it looks like getting teeth is alot more work than just loosing them.”🤣 she is picking up new words at an astonishing rate! She would love outside in the dirt if we let her. Don’t worry, dewormer is always on hand.🤭we are really careful with not letting dogs into our yard so not too worried about it.
Layton is busy as usual. Rollerblading and playing games with dad are his two current favorite past times. He is enthused about music class now. He came home one day and said “Mom, did you know there is two Dos in music.?” He especially likes the song “My Homes in Montana.” One day he said “there’s a thing in your ear that vibrates and it sends the noises up to your brain, sometimes like when you’re on a tractor or something, it vibrates too much and allows too much noise to go up to your brain and that’s why it’s so loud.” I’m so thankful he enjoys school. We could not have asked for a better teacher!🩷 He gets quite worried at times about “Kansas school.” So Shana has been explaining to him how it works and what you all do at school and it has eased his fears quite abit. He remembers the big playground set and the gym so we capitalize on the fun he will have at recess with Kobe, Silas and Kenyon. Layton has made some new friends lately. One day one of them was over playing. I overheard Layton ask him “what do you do when the power goes out while your praying at the mosque? How do you hear the prayer call? Do you have to wait to finish your prayers until the electricity comes back on?”🤣 Then a few days earlier he had come running inside all worked up. “Mom that boy told me I should be a Muslim.” Shana said “don’t forget that you’re a Christian and you’ll be ok.” He’s been spending a lot of time playing badminton and soccer with his new friends. Of course as soon as the 5pm prayer call goes all games are over for the evening. In the afternoons one of his friends comes over and him and Layton sift dirt. They use my good colander and gravy ladle too. I’m just so thankful that he is playing with other children that I don’t put up a fuss about my kitchen ending up outdoors except I did make a noise when the colander got a big dent in the side. I’m not sure what is so appealing about this particular behavior. It reminds me somewhat of “Beezus and Ramona.” Ramona and Howie playing brick factory. Pounding bricks for no particular reason. Sometimes Aarobs older sister comes too and her and I play badminton. I love badminton and it’s fun to do something other than housework.
