February 20-26, 2023

Monday 2/20: Jared had clinic this morning. I had Layton help me in the kitchen while Sumita cleaned. He is quite a dandy helper when he wants to be. He helped me with the laundry and browned up some beef. I asked him if I made him work too hard and he said “it makes the time go by fast.” Not sure what that means! Haha! He misses Jared when he’s at the clinic. He likes to dump toys in Sumita’s mop bucket and then try to wash his feet in the shower while she cleans, then after she is done cleaning he comes behind her and scrubs the sinks again. So you can see why I try to keep him busy.😂 This afternoon Jared did computer work for CSI  things and I did the usual mom things. Made a pizza for the freezer. 

Tuesday 2/21: Happy Birthday Clarke! If I was home I’d make you some apple pie bars! Jared didn’t have clinic this morning since it’s a national holiday. Had some stores I thought it would be fun to go to since he was home plus I wanted to get out of the house. But alas, then we remembered in addition to it being a holiday it was also a Tuesday. For some reason here most markets and some stores are closed on Tuesdays. Then the electricity was out so Jared couldn’t do bookwork. I remembered that I needed an ultrasound before my drs apt next week so off to the hospital we went. There was quite a wait. At least 1.5 hours. While we were waiting Miriam called Jared and said he needed to come to the clinic for 3 patients that needed money for their pre op testing and powdered milk. Him and Layton took a rickshaw to the clinic and took care of the details and I stayed at the hospital to get the ultrasound done. I didn’t mind waiting, it was fun to just sit and people watch by myself. So many ladies that are covered in black burkas with barely a slit for their eyes. Some even wear black gloves so their hands don’t show. Makes me even more grateful for my bright colored dresses and ornas and just girlie pretty things in general. Even a little girl that looked maybe 8 years old was in a burka completely covered. For some reason seeing the little girls like that really saddens me. I had to wonder though if the women were wearing burkas because of being pregnant or because of their husband/father in law’s instruction. I’m still learning what’s considered modest for women here. After the apt we came home and behold the electricity was back on! Jared did his book work and Layton and I took naps. Some neighbors moved out of their apartment today. Layton and I watched the massive teetering truckload of earthly possessions drive down the street. 5 men perched on top to lift up the high line wires that were crossing the road.😬 Those men have obviously played Tetris with the way they packed that truck. The bed on the truck didn’t have very high sides so most of the load was up over the sideboards. It was phenomenal. Very little was put into boxes. They just stack and stack and restack until it all fits. Who needs a u haul trailer? Just lots of rope to keep it all secure. Had singing at 5 with the sisters this evening. That was fun… Kelly’s came into Dhaka midafternoon to pick up Lanae’s brother and his wife from Suncrest. Miss Trish is spending a few nights with us while they are here. 

Wednesday 2/22: Jared spent the morning doing paperwork that the SP officer called him about. They wanted more papers for my visa. Jon came over and had coffee with Jared then they went to the bank and took care of some things. It’s amazing how much it takes to keep our CSI programs running smoothly. A few paperwork jobs that Jared is responsible for is Clinic paperwork, getting money to Josna for all the clinic meals she makes for us and the patients, paying both the clinic bills and our apartment bills, making sure the other posts have enough money in their accounts, checking the budgets (gospel tract and CSI), sending reports to Neil, keeping the clinic supplied with milk and meds, wiring money to various other projects, making sure the other missionaries have their security clearances and visas (this is probably the biggest trial and issue) keeping the vehicles and cycles up to date on registration, taxes and other things, financial audits, immigration paperwork for new missionaries and teachers, just to name some. Some weeks it’s like he can hardly stay on top of it all and then other weeks like the past week he is caught up until Jon sends him another grocery list of things to submit to the NGO office. Went to the clinic for lunch with Kelly’s. Josna made beef curry, egg curry than the usual trimmings. Sumita made sure I noticed the egg curry because she knows it’s one of my favorites. It was so fun to sit and talk with Jaylens and Kelly’s. For sure since Jaylens are our age and are from Kansas. When visitors come it’s always neat to see and hear their first impressions, makes us realize how much we have gotten used to in just 3.5 months. Makes us feel not quite so pathetically new. The children played hard like usual. In the evening we had them all over to our house and had snacks for supper. Meat, cheese, crackers, cookies and coffee. We don’t eat much Wednesday evenings after our big clinic meal! Smoothies and quesadillas usually… Rice settles heavy on the stomach sometimes. Of course Layton was in his glory with his Thomas and Krista here. 

Thursday 2/23: Jared spent the morning doing paperwork and computer work. Layton and I did various things that seem to keep us hopping all morning. Finished up making food for the freezer this afternoon so that feels good to have that done now. This afternoon Jared met an eye patient at the clinic. Jared agreed to give him some money to help with testing. He needed some special contact lenses, so Jared went with him to Islamic Eye Hospital. Trevor’s came into Dhaka to pick up some company. Think their company is the last run of company for the summer. 

Friday 2/24: Church day! Jared’s inspiration was on Job and how no matter how successful we are on earth we can’t take our riches to Heaven. Trevor’s and their company came to church so that was fun to have a full room. Josna and Sumita always seem to like the extra company too! Stayed and visited awhile. Afterwards went and did our grocery shopping. Maybe someday we will get adventurous and try new restaurants and stores but for now we are sticking with the familiar places. Saw some of our friends in UniMart again! They are American missionaries here in Dhaka. Not sure what church they are affiliated with. We often run into them on Fridays there. Took it easy the rest of the day which felt so good. Layton doesn’t like it when we “take it easy” he likes to be up and doing and going from morning until night. 😬 I told him that when he is a daddy he will understand why it’s feels good to not always be so busy. 

Saturday 2/25: Busy morning! Layton made a new friend here in these apartments so I let him go down to the courtyard with her. I gave him strict instructions to stay where I could see him from the veranda and to not go inside her house until we know who her folks are. She looked like she was maybe 8? She talked pretty good English. So they were in and out and up and down. At one point when I looked over the railing they were standing there both eating chocolate popsicles.😂 It kept him entertained for several hours so that was super nice. Sometimes I get weary trying to figure out things for him to do here. He’s pretty creative with playing on his own but sometimes he just needs a playmate. And sometimes mom and dad are just boring…In the afternoon we went to the jute store. They sell things that have been made from jute that was grown and then made into bags in Bangladesh. I think the factory that makes it all is in Dhaka maybe. Bought a bag to use for a diaper bag. I had brought a diaper bag with me from home but it is way too big and cumbersome with all the walking we do. Plus I don’t need the whole closet with me when we go out and about… or do I?🫣

Sunday 2/26: Jared had clinic today. A few babies but mostly ladies. We didn’t do anything too exciting today. 

Hope you all have a good week! Thanks for the emails… 💖

February 13-19, 2023

Monday 2/13: Elwoods, Carls and Neil’s left at 4:30 this morning for India. They took CNGs to the airport so that Jared didn’t have to get up at an unearthly hour to shuttle them all the to the airport. They are going to check out some of the posts there. Spent the morning doing much laundry from our fun week. Realized this morning how much Layton has grown and got out his size 6 shorts and size 5-6 shirts. His 4T shorts were well above his knees. Kinda looked more like boxers than shorts.😂 Not that it matters here! He said “I feel so grown up in my new clothes!” Was glad I had some leftovers in the freezer for lunch. Sumita came to clean. Jared spent the morning doing computer work and then Jared and Jon went to the bank to pay taxes. The rest of the day we just rested and prepared for the coming week. 

Tuesday 2/14: Jared had clinic this morning. Next week he will start doing it three days a week instead of just two. A lady came in asking for financial help and provided memos of her medical bills. If they can’t show a memo they don’t get any help. When Jared gave her some money she said “Thank you!” Usually they think it’s never enough but this lady was so grateful he wished he could have given her more. Kinda refreshing! Layton has been looking forward to Valentine’s Day for weeks now. He’s been adamant that we make a chocolate cake with Nutella frosting. Not sure where he got this idea, but we whipped up some chocolate cupcakes and frosted them with Nutella, made a pizza and got some pomegranates. (Our favorite fruit here). Needless to say my boys (and me too) were very thrilled to sit down to that lunch! Layton said “mom you are a good cook but for sure on Valentine’s Day!” Now he is already wanting to make “cupcakes with something spooky on top for Halloween”😂 This evening we had singing at the clinic. Nurse Miriam, Josna’s sister and then another lady came, so we had a good sized group. Jared lets them decide how long we sing. Usually after 20-30 minutes they are done but tonight we sang for an hour! They were full of laughter and were joking with each other. We could understand some of what they were saying so it made it funny for us too! Afterwards we went to Parktown for supper. It’s a 10 minute rickshaw ride from our house. Lots of ladies were wearing yellow or fancy SaRis. They must have been celebrating Valentines Day too! 

Wednesday 2/15: Jared ran various errands this morning. He went to Farmgate to try and find a place to make keys but no luck. We know there has to be one around somewhere but finding it seems to be the trick. Needing more keys for the guesthouse. The language barrier makes things like this a bit tricky. Layton and I spent the morning digging through drawers and organizing some more areas in this apartment. Nesting has hit me in full swing. Jared told me I “was supposed to rest after revivals and not do much until the baby comes.”🫣😂 you would think after almost 10 years he would know I have a hard time doing “nothing.” and that I will always find something to rearrange or organize. 😂 Had lunch at the clinic with the ladies. Chicken curry… Miriam said Layton was a “Bengali babo” because of how much he ate. Later in the day we went to my dr appointment. Got a rickshaw like usual. 3/4 the way there the rickshaw driver veered off on a side street. Sometimes different drivers take different routes but not usually on the way to the hospital. They all take the same route. So we kept on and it soon became evident that he was lost as can be. Jared tried to tell him where to go but he just kept on going, eventually he ended up down the street aways from Square Hospital. Then on the way home Jared told that rickshaw driver to take us to “ec number gate, Monipuripara”. Well this gentleman went past ec number gate and all the way to our apartment. I have no idea how he knew where we lived. Jared didn’t know him either. So one extreme to the other!😂 While we were at my appointment we asked if we could have a tour of the OB ward. It was all very clean and orderly. We had to change into hospital shoes to walk around in there. 

Thursday 2/16: Jared set out on another key making expedition this morning. He went to KaWran Bazaar and this time he was successful and got keys made for the gate and the guesthouse door. Layton entertained himself and I just rested (orders from “Dhaka boss”😂) In the afternoon Neil’s and Carls flew into Dhaka from India. Their flights back to the states left in a few hours so they decided to just stay at the airport. Jared took the rest of their luggage to the airport since they hadn’t wanted to haul it all to India. In the afternoon I did some baking and cooking for the freezer for after the baby is born. 

Friday 2/17: Church today… Jared’s inspiration was on “the sower and the seeds.” Samir from Kulna was in Dhaka for business so he came to our service. He is such a likeable chap. Speaks good English… We did our usual grocery run in the afternoon. Glad we could go today because the next few days there’s supposed to be a lot of political rally’s on the streets. When we were stopped in traffic at one point we noticed one of the butcher shops had at least 30 goats up on the roof. It was probably a 3 story building. No fence or railing or anything! Looked like they might have been tied to something maybe? The rest of the day was quiet and relaxing! A bit too relaxing for Layton’s liking. 

Saturday 2/18: Sumita came to clean and Lucky came to cook. I don’t always know what to do when they are both here at the same time. Lucky takes up the whole kitchen with all the yummy dishes she makes so I can’t really be in there and Sumita is busy sweeping and mopping so we kinda play “dodge the wet floor” room by room! I’m very very thankful they both come though. I ended up doing some laundry and then taking Layton outside to ride bike to stay out of their way. If he goes a whole day without riding bike the guards wonder when he will ride bike again. I think they enjoy watching him! The minute we drove through the gate when we got home from Golpagonge last week the guard said “babo cycle khelbo?” (Will the child ride bicycle?)😀 Layton and I went and looked at the fish seller outside our gate and all his big metal bowls of fish swimming around. Every morning a vegetable man, chicken man and fish man come and park their wares outside our gate and sit there all morning. They usually leave with empty bowls and empty carts. The street cats and dogs are never far away in hopes of a tasty morsel from the slaughtering of the creatures! Found an old pair of roller skates in the storage room so Layton kept himself entertained for awhile with those. I puttered around the rest of the day doing some things for when the baby comes and such like. 

Sunday 2/19: Jared had clinic this morning. Said it went really well. Had quite a few cleft lip babies. Sometimes it’s mostly women needing vitamins or meds or lab work… Layton and I ran some errands this morning. Made him walk the whole way to try and get some of his energy wore off. In the evening we all went up to the roof and Jared grilled a bunch of chicken for me to put in the freezer. His paperwork and computer work has slowed down for abit so that’s been nice.  It’s definitely starting to warm up here! Put away our quilts and fuzzy blankets. Won’t need them until November or so… It’s supposed to start raining in March. Everything is just coated in layers of dust and grime. The trees in our courtyard are grey/brown from all the dust. Underneath it all they are still green! Even in the house, it’s crazy how dusty and gritty everything gets. 

February 6-12, 2023

 Monday 2/6: Went to UniMart this morning to get some things to take to Lisa and Lanae. I needed a few things too so between the three of us I had a good sized grocery list. There’s definitely more traffic than on a Friday but it wasn’t terrible. Did have to sit in some jams on the way home. Took maybe an hour to get there and then an hour home. Jared had canceled his language class so we didn’t have to feel pressured to be home at a certain time. Layton is learning to patient while we sit in traffic. Emphasis on the learning!!! While we were waiting in traffic I noticed a man on a bike pulling a “flatbed”. Instead of it being stacked with boxes or other cargo, he had his maybe 1 year old child on the back. 🫣😬 I tried to not think of that baby bouncing on that trailer through the Gulsane traffic. The rest of the day was pretty low key, spent time in the courtyard so Layton could ride his bike, made a pan of bars to take along to Golpagonge, laundry, the usual… 

Tuesday 2/7: Jared had clinic this morning. Sumita came to clean. She thought it was hilarious that Layton was wearing ornas around the house. I’ve tried to explain to him that only ladies wear them but he still thinks it’s great fun to wear them and then wash them by hand and hang them up to dry. Spent the day packing and taking care of some things before we leave tomorrow morning. Elwoods flew into Dhaka today from India. They were able to get through immigration after quite sometime… we were all so grateful! Their visa situation has been pretty dicey. They came for supper. It was so uncertain whether or not they would be able to stay in Bangladesh due to their India visa that I hadn’t made any plans for supper. So quick whipped up some cornbread and sausage gravy for us all. 

Wednesday 2/8:Left the house for Golpagonge at 6:45 am. Josna and Sumita rode with us. Shurov called Jared and said he was sick so he’ll come on the bus when he is feeling better. Kokhon said he would come by bus as well, so hopefully the Dhaka group will all be reunited tomorrow. Layton had fun seeing how many mosques he could see on our way out of Dhaka. I heard him mutter to himself, “thousands and thousands of them.” We were glad we had gotten up early to get through town. Didn’t have to stop even once for a jam!! Which in Dhaka is quite a feat. The drive to Golpagonge is really beautiful. Crossing the Padma Bridge was fun. The air was clear enough we could see the boats, barges and sand drilling rigs. Had to think of all of Carl and Neil’s stories about waiting 6 hours in line for the ferry there before the bridge was built. Now we zoom across! So much to see and observe. One just finally has to focus on the sights along just one side of the road. It never ceases to amaze me how once we are on the “freeway” people are still climbing over the guardrails and trying to dash across the road in between cars and buses. The nurse in me visualizes the trauma which could possibly occur. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the rice patties. Lush and green! Quite a contrast from all the grey dirty cement in Dhaka. Layton could not understand why you would want standing water in a field. Jared told him “Rice likes to have wet feet.” Got to Kelly’s at 9:45am. The road that leads to their house is very narrow. Part brick and part dirt. Barely wide enough for a “mini bus.” Then we met cycles and people walking along the road yet too that all deserve a spot. Kelly’s older children were in school when we got there so Layton and Krista amused themselves. They dug and dug and dug in the dirt. Jared and I just let Layton get filthy… he was having so much fun being with other children AND being able to play in good clean dirt. I wasn’t about to tell him he had to stay clean!  Lanae’s housekeeper made us all lunch… chicken curry, pumpkin, rice and dal. The rest of the afternoon we were at Kelly’s. Elwoods came by bus mid afternoon. In the evening we all went to church and had supper there together with some of the Golpagonge members. Due to the size of our group Kelly’s rented a church. It’s a Nazarene church. This one is much bigger than their church building. The “sanctuary” is upstairs and the kitchen and eating area is on the main floor. There is also a school room off to the side. I will not write about the joys of learning to use the squat pot in the restroom. All I will say is… be thankful for western toilets.😂 Before supper the men laid out the carpets on the floor, set up chairs, etc. Supper was fish curry, sobji (with large dal and peas in it), rice and dal. We are used to Josna and Lucky’s dal that is thick. This was very runny! More water than Dal. They poured it out of a tea pitcher. I could see why they gave us plates with high sides. At the end of the meal, you just slurp it out of your plate. Before supper I was standing in the doorway of the kitchen watching the ladies cook. They had a big fire in the back of the kitchen with a massive rice pot on it where they were cooking the rice. Then on a large gas burner they had another huge pot. The pots were so big I think Layton could have sat in them. Off to the side they had a large mound of probably 20 heads of cauliflower and a bunch of cabbage, tomatoes, potatoes and all sorts of sobji. I was intently watching out of sheer amazement and Melissa sidled up to me and said “looks just like the kitchen in the Hesston church doesn’t it?!” We had a good laugh. We are staying at a motel across the road from the church.  The other missionaries and members are scattered between several other places. 

Thursday 2/9: Trevor’s, Carls and Neil’s came this morning. Kulna is only an hour away so that worked fine for them! We had a loose schedule we attempted to follow today to keep the revival moving. 8:30 breakfast which ended up being more like 9:00 or so. It was Khichuri (rice, Dal, and vegetables all mixed together) with a boiled egg on the side. Very good and not too spicy to eat first thing in the morning. Layton was pretty leery of it because he doesn’t like dal, but there was just enough to make the rice yellow but not all runny. He actually ate some with a bit of convincing. 9:30 we started our church service. Neil had the message on Light and Darkness. The interpreter really put his heart into his job and used lots of expression and hand motions. Every once in a while they would have to rephrase something to make sense. 11:00… cha and biscuits (crackers) and then visits with different members. Carls, Neil’s and then the couple in charge of the post along with the member visited for awhile. Felt kinda strange to sit in on a visit and listen to other people share their hearts. I was thankful that they humbly shared things even though Jared and I were sitting there. 1:00: lunch (chicken curry) and then rest time. (Before church started, Jared and I had observed the “food committee men” out back butchering the chickens.) 4:00… cha and biscuits again and more visits then church service at 5. Carl had the message on hearing and knowing the voice of God. Supper at 7 (fish curry.) After supper Jared had another visit to sit in on so Layton and I came back to our motel room. He was needing some quiet time. I enjoyed visiting with Ang and Judith for awhile while we waited on the men. Neil’s and Carls are staying at the same place as us so we had our visit before we retired for the night. 

Friday 2/10: Todays schedule was much the same as yesterdays. Some more members were able to come today. Neil had a sermon on Repentance in the morning, and Carl had a sermon on the Church in the evening. The men continued with the visits in between meals and cha. Had a members meeting this afternoon. “Gol meeting” (circle meeting) we all sat in a circle and whoever felt like sharing could. The decision was made to go forward to Communion tomorrow. They were wondering how we did it in America, if all the members couldn’t attend would that close the door to Communion? Neil explained that it was what everyone felt on their hearts that determined whether or not we could proceed with Communion versus how many were physically present. Had more rice, chicken curry and fish curry! Bangla food is oh so good, but boy eating it all day for 2 days in a row makes one feel pretty fluffy.😂 I tried not to eat so much but my rice:dal ratio was always off. Too much Dal so I added rice to sop it up, then too much rice so I needed more Dal to moisten it. And on and on it went…. Kinda like chips and dip. Layton has been loving cha. He drinks two cups every time. This is cini (sugar) cha (tea).Basically piping hot sweet tea. The first time he drank it was Wednesday evening. Jared and Elwood took him to a cha dokan. Didn’t think to tell him that this cha isn’t strained and that the tea grounds were in the bottom of the cup. He drank it all and soon was hurriedly spitting out mouthfuls of grounds!! Now he carefully sips it.😂He told someone “my one granny makes hot tea and the other Grammy makes cold tea.” 

Saturday 2/11: For breakfast we had rice and dal and then alu borta. (Balls of mashed potatoes with onion and then something to add some spice.) Had a members meeting, self expression and then communion this morning. It was a neat experience and we were glad we could be here to partake of it. It was really special to me because one of our Dhaka sisters came up to me after Communion and hugged me and said “I love you!” Had beef curry for lunch. The beef was unusually good. Sometimes mutton here can be tough and lots of fat and bones to pick out. Layton and I went to lay down at the motel for a bit before the 2nd wave of activities hit. We packed up and headed to Kelly’s for the afternoon and evening. Layton couldn’t wait to go back to their place and dig in the dirt!

Sunday 2/12: We left Kellys around 1:45pm. Elwood, Neil, Carl and Tessa all took the bus from Golpagonge to Dhaka and then Jared and I took Melissa, Ang and Judith with us plus all the luggage. Got home around 5:15. We hit Dhaka right when the traffic was starting to pick up for evening rush hour. But we inched along and eventually we were home!💖  I was so thankful Layton could get to play with a bunch of other children for several days. 

January 30 - February 5, 2023

 Monday 1/30: Jared told me I was supposed to take it easy today. So I tried too. After class, Jared ran a bunch of errands. To the bank, then to Kawran Bazaar for new stools and powdered milk for the clinic and then disposable cha cups for revivals. I wish I could help him more with all his duties. But a white pregnant Bidesi lady traipsing through some of the markets isn’t entirely appropriate. Now that we are settling in we might not have as many exciting things to report on every day like we did when Daniels were still here. So if some weeks news from us is kinda sparse it means we are just living normally😂 I tried my hand at making egg curry for supper! Whole boiled eggs rubbed with turmeric and salt and then in a curry sauce. It seemed more runny than I remembered Josna’s but there were several recipes for it in our “Bangla Kabar” cookbook so maybe I didn’t do the right one. The taste was delicious so that’s all that matters! Layton was a trooper and feasted right along with Jared and I. While I was cooking Layton came up to me and whispered “Could I have my daily dose of Nutella?”😂 My boys do love their chocolate! At home they ate ridiculous amount of dark chocolate chips but the chocolate bars here have a waxy taste. Almost like they are plain almond bark instead of real chocolate, so I’ve been buying them Nutella!💖 Athough I laid down the law and told them they had to make a container of it last 2 weeks. 🫣 This evening we had high hopes of going to bed early but we no sooner got settled in and the helicopters chopped and roared over head every 5-10 minutes until 11 pm, then our friendly gecko started chirping away in our bedroom and then some nearby booming started. Hard to tell if it was the construction on the metro or fireworks. We got back up and Jared tried to hunt down Mr Gecko to usher him into a different room where he could chirp without disturbing us. No luck but the gecko hunt sent Layton into fits of giggles to see his dad wildly thrashing the curtains with a fly swatter so then we had a boy to settle down! Haha! 

Tuesday 1/31: Jared had clinic today. He said it was a good day. A 16 year old girl came in. She was the size of her 6 year old sister. We went to the clinic this evening for our singing evening. We just love doing that! Josna and Sumita sing with enthusiasm so if we stumble on the words it’s not a big deal. I told Jared that evenings like tonight make me realize why we are here. There was a mom and baby staying at the clinic so I went and peeked in on them. The baby had cleft lip and will get testing done tomorrow. Most of the time they have to spend the night again after the tests so that they can go get the paper results the next day. This baby was able to take a bottle with a regular nipple by putting clear to the side in his mouth. It looked like a slow tedious process to take a whole bottle. Sometime the mom would just squirt the milk into the babies mouth for it to swallow. I just had to think of how at home that baby would be on “swallow precautions” and “risk for aspiration pneumonia.” Often times the milk will run out their nose if the palate is open as well. Anyways… it was a beautiful evening outside. After supper we went down to the courtyard after dark for Layton to ride his bike. The air was clear enough that we could see the moon shining through the clouds! Down our street aways some men had constructed a frame out of bamboo poles and had made a canopy of all different colored lights over it for probably 1/4-1/2 mile. So we went and walked along there for some extra scenery. 

Wednesday 2/1: Jared had language class. We are debating how long he should continue. He has his plate so full right now with the clinic, paperwork and helping plan revivals. Went to the clinic for lunch. Went early so that Jared could unbox all the meds that were delivered from Square Hospital yesterday evening. Josna made an absolute feast! I didn’t think she was ever going to quit bringing food out of the kitchen. Shrimp curry, egg curry, rice, sobji, Dal and then green onions and potatoes cut into small pieces that were fried in some oil. I don’t know why she made so much but we sure enjoyed every bite of it!! I just could not eat everything on my plate. Between the baby in my belly and all that food I decided while it was amazing it wasn’t worth eating to the point of misery😂Layton really made them grin because when he was in the middle of stuffing his face with rice he piped up and said “khube bhalo!” (Very good!) We came home for a bit and then headed to my drs appointment. Spent the rest of the day at home doing the usual things and on the phone with revival planning. 

Thursday 2/2/23: Layton helped me make cookies this morning. He was displeased about the lack of dough that ended up on the beaters for him to lick so he plunged them down into the bowl again to get a more generous portion. You can imagine the size of the “portion.” His opinion and mine apparently vary on the amount that should remain on the beaters.😂 Sumita came to clean. Amber had helped her get WhatsApp on her phone but she can only get messages when she comes to our place when she connects to Wi-Fi. So she wanted me to help her to voice message some of the past missionaries that had messaged her! She sat beside me on the couch and just giggled and giggled she thought it was so funny to do that😂 Other than that just daily living. Spent time getting the guesthouse ready for Carls and Neil’s. They fly in at 8 and 9 tomorrow morning. Shurov came for sweet tea and a visit. We spent time up on the roof in the evening. There was a good breeze and it was amazing how it cleared the air! Could see for quite a ways. When we are up on the roof it’s amazing to look down and see how close together the other apartments are built. We were wondering how many people lived just in the 1/4 mile radius around us. Apartments on all sides and they all are 5-7 stories tall! I’m sure most have multiple families living in them. 

Friday 2/3: We went to the airport and picked up the men and their ladies. Neil’s girl Tessa came with them. We got to the airport in a record breaking 20 minutes but then the line to get into the international arrivals was atrocious. But we inched forward an inch at a time until we got there and then we waited in the parking lot. There’s never a shortage of things to watch when you are sitting and waiting! We had church this afternoon at 4:30 instead of this morning since their flights came in at church time. Was glad that we didn’t skip it completely. The mom and baby that where at the clinic Tuesday were back after the baby’s operation. His lip had came together very nicely in the front and he had the most beautiful smile! Who knew that a bunch of blue sutures could make such a difference in a smile. In these children it truly determines their success in the future. When he is bigger he will come back and get his palate fixed. After church us, Carls and Neil’s went out for supper at Parkhouse. It was Chinese food. Really good! They are fun people to be with. 

Sunday 2/4: This morning Jared, Carls and Neils went to visit Ab and his wife. They both used to be a member here. They live about a 30 minute rickshaw ride from our apartment. I had called Lucky to see if she could cook today and I thought she said she couldn’t so Layton and I stayed home to make lunch. Well all of a sudden Lucky showed up ready to cook! I’m pretty sure I misunderstood her on the phone last night. I felt so bad! Talking on the phone here is a real challenge for me. Layton and I quick went to the sobji dokhane and bought vegetables and rice. I had her use chicken breasts instead of a whole hen for the curry because I couldn’t remember where the chicken butcher shop was and didn’t feel like trying to get a rickshaw and hunt it down myself without Jared. Anyways, when the dust settled she had enough ingredients. I was all flustered cuz my lunch was well underway so I quick put all the thawed meat back in the fridge and she used the vegetables I had cleaned (for a broccoli cauliflower salad) in the sobji mixture. And the muffins were safely tucked away for another day. So needless to say we were all very happy to eat  Bangla khabar. No convincing needed. After lunch Jared took Carls and Neil’s half way to Golpagonge and Kelly met them and took them the rest of the way of back. Jared had quite the adventures on the way home. The GPS took him off the main route into some narrow streets in some far part of Dhaka where there were tall multi story buildings, then he got a flat tire so he had to find a safe place to put on the spare and then he got stuck in a jam. It was quite an ordeal. The minute he arrived back at home Jon came to pick up some papers. Then the guard called and the internet man was needing some money. Here they don’t send bills they just show up and ask for the money. Needless to say, Layton and I were so thankful he made it home ok. We even had a special prayer for daddy that he could make it home in one piece. But Jared had some interesting stories to tell us about what he had all seen in the midst of his plight. 

Sunday 2/4: Jared had clinic. He said it went good. It was mostly a normal day on the home front. Whatever normal is here! Feels like we are still figuring out what normal is😀 This afternoon Jared helped Layton put together his Lego tractor kit that Layton got from his Sunday School class! I’m not sure who enjoyed the process more🥰Thanks to Layton’s class!💙 

January 23-29 2023

 Monday 1/23: Jared had language class this morning with Paninna. Him and Daniel decided awhile ago that it would be best to close the clinic on Mondays so that Jared can do the third Bangla language book. It’s “winter” now so the clinic is slower than usual anyway. At first we thought of having his class in the afternoons so we wouldn’t have to close clinic but often times that is when he needs to run errands, do visa paperwork or take care of other matters. It just seemed easiest to do it in the morning. We have been surprised with what Bangla Layton is picking up. We haven’t really tried to teach him any other than how to tell Lucky and Sumita thank you for the lunch and then how to say “I’m good” when people ask him how he is. We didn’t want him to feel pressured to talk differently when we are already working on his American speech! So we were quite surprised when on the phone the other night he told Papa several Bangla words and what they meant. Yesterday he wondered what some of the numbers were so I told him so we will see if he remembers. Quite intriguing to me how he soaks things up like that. Wish our adult brains were that quick and limber! I had to laugh because one day when him and I were out and about buying veggies and fruit, when we got home he said “mom, I said dhonnobad (thank you) to that lady and that’s not what I meant to say at all!”😂 I said “now you know how mama and daddy feel sometimes!” His distressed attitude just cracked us up! After language class John and Jared spent the morning going to deliver more paperwork to obtain security clearances for Trevor, Jared and Miss Kallie. Sometimes the men wonder how many times to keep reapplying and trying to get all the various clearances and visas that are “required”. Some are very expired but nothing much happens other than the police occasionally stop in and want to see that you did actually apply to renew. This has been a long standing issue so it’s not a new problem. We are pretty much settled into our new apartment! It definitely feels more homey and cozy than the guesthouse did. Layton is loving his bedroom and all the toys Nikki left behind🥰 Here in Dhaka people eat their evening meal around 10pm. when we go to bed around that time the smell of cooking spices and garlic wafts into our bedroom. It’s quite a pleasant smell! This apartment is far enough away from the rest of the apartments on this complex that we can have all the curtains open! Our living room window faces a veranda which you can see lots of greenage from. It looks like you live in a jungle until you look straight down at the dump piles😂 so we just focus on what we can see from the window! Neil and Carl always said “just keep your eyes two feet above the ground!”😂 It’s really not that bad. The best thing is the kitchen is much bigger than the guesthouse. A bigger oven, more counter space, a pantry, etc. So cooking and washing dishes can be conducted more efficiently. Layton and I spend quite a bit of time down in the courtyard. His latest thing is wanting to learn badminton. In the evenings the teenage boys that live here will string up their badminton net and play for awhile. Layton loves to go sit on the veranda and watch. Below our bedroom is a family of chickens complete with a rooster. He takes his job of crowing the sun up quite seriously! Between him, the crows and the doves it’s quite a beautiful sound to wake up too. 😍 

Tuesday 1/24: Jared had clinic this morning. Layton and I got out and ran some errands, felt good to leave the apartment for awhile! We had just got home and Jared called and needed something brought to the clinic so we went and took that to him. Stayed for abit. The sisters were bustling around cooking fish and other delicious smelling things for lunch for the patients that are staying there. The clinic room and “waiting room” were full of people so didn’t linger long in there. Didn’t want to impede progress. I held a baby that had just had an operation. She looked so healthy! Fat cheeks, plump tummy, and big brown eyes. They don’t all look that healthy, so when you see a baby or child that looks “normal” they stand out. The moms always love when the white ladies show their children any sort of attention. Usually they spend the night at the clinic the day before the operation and then for several days afterwards. So it’s neat seeing the baby before and then seeing what an improvement the facial and/or oral surgery has made afterwards! Sometime I hope to write up a more detailed post on how the clinic works and operates for those of you that aren’t familiar with our program here. I’ve been thinking up some phrases to learn to say to the moms, “how old is your baby?” “Did operation go well?” “Do you have other children?” And simple things like that. Hopefully they know I am interested even if I can’t say much. The people that come from the village can be harder to understand. This evening we had singing with Josna and Sumita. Josna’s sister usually comes too. Jared and I really enjoy doing that! We usually sing for 30 minutes or so and then have a prayer. After supper I helped Jared with his homework. I told him the word or letter and he drew the appropriate hieroglyphic with it.   চাল is how you write bhat (rice). 

Wednesday 1/25: Jared had language class this morning. We went to the clinic for lunch. Chicken curry today! Josna smiled approvingly when Jared took 3 helpings of chicken. Had 3 patients there and then another one came this morning. Jared got the new patient their appropriate paper work and powdered milk since their operation will be tomorrow. Depending on the severity, some of these children that have cleft lip/palate can only drink milk. We give them the powdered kind. Jared had to go to the bank so he took Layton along with him. Layton came home all enthused because on the way they had to stop and wait because the prime minister’s motorcade came through. Spent the afternoon and evening at home. Jared studied and did more computer work and I got all the baby clothes and blankets washed and organized and put away. Hard to believe I’m in the third trimester now! 

Thursday 1/26: Jared had language class this morning. He wrote down a prayer for church in English and then Paninna helped him translate it into Bangla. Sumita came and cleaned this morning. I like having her come, the extra female presence is nice! She’s usually here for about 2 hours a morning three times a week. She let out a little squeal when she saw all the baby clothes. “Sundor!” (Beautiful!) I try to say things to her and if I’m close enough to the right thing then she corrects me and tells me how to say it the right way! I really appreciate their patience with Jared and Is language skills. Layton has been begging to make chicken fingers. I cut up the chicken for him then he likes to dip them in egg/milk/Mayo and then in crushed chips. It all makes him feel quite accomplished! Plus it keeps him entertained for a good 30 minutes😂 Sumita thought it was hilarious that he was doing that. She likes to come see what I’m making for lunch! The auditor came and dropped off some much needed paperwork for some financial matters, then the generator man came to service our generator plus the one at the guesthouse. Later Shurov messaged and said he was coming at 5 to see and talk to Jared! I whipped up some sweet tea for him. It’s a tradition that when he comes on Thursday’s he likes sweet tea. I don’t drink sweet tea at all so I was in a bit of a stew because I don’t ever make the stuff. (yes I know how pathetic that a Mennonite girl doesn’t know how to make sweet tea🫣) I dug out Amber’s recipe and concocted something that I thought would work. I know I can count on Shurov to give me his honest opinion about how I can improve the flavor for next week. Stay tuned… UPDATE: It was a hit. Shurov said “it’s perfect, just like it is.” So my reputation is spared.😂😂 I’m glad Shurov comes on Thursdays and visits. It’s good for Jared, they both think are deep thinkers and are very analytical. 

It’s been a week since Daniels left! Jared and I were up on the roof this evening grilling some chicken and we realized it was exactly a week ago that we stood up there waving at Daniel’s plane flying over. But a week later it’s amazing how much has changed. The pit in our stomachs is gone, we feel more relaxed and happy, and Layton is thriving. We are still adjusting but we have prayed every morning for “strength for today” and every time He has answered. Humbling…. We miss them a lot but that’s life🥰 

Friday 1/26: Church day! Had church this morning. Jared had the message on “Our thoughts and speaking the truth.” We were on the way to UniMart and the police pulled us over (read: stood in the street and waved their arms at us.) It was a random traffic stop but some paper for the van had expired a few weeks ago unbeknownst to us so “I not punish this time ok but go renew.” Jared was frustrated because he thought he had just checked on those types of things but indeed it had expired. I told him “at least we aren’t in jail!” We had lunch at the UniMart food court (very very spicy 🥵) Jared took Layton for ice cream to cool their mouths while I started shopping. Got lots of stares. I’m sure it did look humorous that a white lady was buying so many groceries! The field secretaries come next week and then the next week is revivals so I wanted to stock up extra. The man at the meat counter seemed amazed that I wanted 6# of beef. I wonder what he would have thought if he knew that at Kansas we usually had more like 50# of beef in the freezer from our own cow AND a bunch of chicken. I really miss that! Not used to always having to buy meat. I’ve been trying to stock up to on groceries a-bit. Not sure what all to keep on hand always. At home I just did Walmart pickup (how spoiled I was) every week or so, so I never had a very big stockpile. But with baby coming in a few months I wanted to have extra on hand in case some week I didn’t feel up to shopping. Went home and took naps as we were plumb wore out from all the excitement. 

Saturday 1/28: Lucky didn’t come to cook this morning, which I was almost glad for because we had all sorts going on. Layton and I got the “teacher room” ready for both teachers and a visiting youth girl that will be in Dhaka this weekend. A Christian hospital here in Dhaka wanted some more tracks so Jared dropped some off at the clinic for them to pick up, then Jon came at 10 to go through the papers that the auditor dropped off. He likes coffee and “biscuits” (cookies) when he’s here so I made some coffee for him. I’m trying to remember all these Bangladesh hospitality rules. Sumita came to clean. Finally, I took Layton down to the courtyard to ride bike so that we would stay out of everybody’s way. We are learning to keep an eye out when we walk in the courtyard. 😂 Some people that live a story above us like to throw food like bread and rice over their veranda. Of course the crows come flocking! The other morning we were down there and all of a sudden I heard a thud. I noticed a clump of something on the ground and here it was a clump of frozen fish heads. The sight and smell of raw fish does not set well with me in this stage of the game so I evacuated the area. After Jon left Jared had to run to the clinic since a patient had arrived so he needed to go take care of some things. Then off he went to Farmgate to buy some supplies for the clinic. Seems like here Jared has plenty to keep busy with!! Right before supper a mechanic came to take care of the expired papers on the van. Layton told me that he wanted “something delicious” for supper. I made homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese. He just ate and ate. I finally asked Jared if he thought something was wrong with Layton because for the past 2 weeks he’s been eating much more than usual and hasn’t even been whining about what I make. He’s been eating more meat even which has been something he’s never particularly enjoyed. Regardless, I’m glad he’s eating more and hoping his picky phase has passed. The teachers came later evening. 

Sunday 1/29: Jared had clinic this morning. Had a slow start to the day as it was “onek ThanDa” (very cold 63*) Layton and I went and stopped in for awhile. Sumita made us dudh cha. It was hot tea with milk  powder and sugar added to it. Layton really enjoyed it.  They make it for “boss” every morning when he’s there. Sometimes when we are walking along the street here people just come up to Layton and hug him and pinch his cheeks and coo over him “babo babo!” This is hard for me to appreciate, I don’t like strange people touching him. But I’m trying to realize it’s their culture. In the states you’d probably get in trouble for pinching some random strange child’s cheeks. 😂 The guy for the van papers came and brought the rest of the papers that Jared needed. The teachers had supper with us. That was really enjoyable! Trevor’s stopped in later in the evening and stayed for awhile. Hard to believe another week has passed. Thanks for all the prayers!💖

January 16-22, 2023

 Monday 1/16: This morning Jared and I worked feverishly on our final exam. Made good head ways on it. Trevor’s are in Dhaka now for a few days. Their teacher had family that are flying back to the states this afternoon and then Trevor’s parents fly in Wednesday! They were all at Daniel’s this morning for breakfast so after we had worked on our exam awhile we headed over there until Jared needed to head to the clinic. It appears as though company comes between November to February while it’s cool! Thus why so much company has been coming and going through Dhaka recently. Doesn’t sound like April to October is a good time for anything very exciting to happen due to the heat. Lisa likes to tell me horror stories about how bad and miserable the heat will be. Guess we will soon find out! In the afternoon Daniels, us, Nurse Miriam and the sisters went to a museum at the old Dhaka airport. It was the sisters idea that we all go and they were adamant that Jared and I come along too! Old planes and rockets and even some playground equipment for the children to play on. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the outing. We were able to see the completed section of the new metro rail too while we were in that part of Dhaka. After that Daniels and us went to Jon and Paninna’s (our legal man and language teacher) apartment for supper. She made so much food. Beef curry, chicken curry, fried fish, egg curry, rice, and sobji. She was concerned about me eating spice since I’m pregnant so she carefully only scooped out bits of meat and egg for me to eat with the rice. I didn’t tell her I’ve been eating spicy stuff all along. Then after we had eaten until we were full she brought around ice cream and bananas. I was starting to think we would just roll home instead of walk home. Sometimes we are quite ready to be done eating but they keep putting it on your plate. If you say you don’t want anymore they worry “is it too spicy?” So we say “our bellies are full” and that seems to assure them that it was indeed delicious. Us foreigners aren’t used to consuming that large of quantity of rice at once! We came home weary but with happy hearts and full bellies. 

Tuesday 1/16: Language class: reviewed the final exam and then went over the main points of the last two books. My last class… a real relief to me to be done. I will continue to study and review and do flash cards though as much as I have time for. Jared had clinic this morning. He ran it by himself today and was quite pleased with how well it went. He had about 25 patients. The rest of the crew could speak surprisingly good English without Daniel there! Jared doesn’t want to rely on that and hopes to start integrating more Bangla when he converses with them. No singing this evening since we were with them all yesterday. Enjoyed a quiet evening at home. 

Wednesday 1/18: Felt good to sleep in and not wake up and fly around for language class. Made granola for Amber to take on the plane and then took Nicolee and Layton up to the rooftop to play for awhile. Jared and Jon worked on visa paperwork all morning for several of the CSI men and one of the teachers. Had lunch at the clinic with the sisters. They made chicken curry with the usual sides. You can imagine Layton’s delight! He ate two big helpings of the stuff. I’m convinced he’s in a growth spurt. He seems to just stretch out taller but not ever put much meat on his bones. Must be the Ensz in him. For a “dessert” Josna made payesh. A thick cooked rice pudding sweetened with molasses and raisins. Jared thought it tasted similar to his mom’s rice pudding! Nurse Miriam told me it’s a dish made for special occasions since it’s considered a “miSTi” (sweet) I enjoyed visiting with her while waiting for lunch. She told me about some of her nursing adventures when she worked in Saudi Arabia. She wondered what all types of nursing I had done. I told her I had cared for a lot of elderly people. I’m not sure she understood because she said “long term patients?” Here there is no such thing as nursing homes or home health or anything like that for elderly since it is the son’s responsibility to care for the elders. In the evening we had Daniels and our brother Shurov come to our apartment for supper. I didn’t think it was necessary for Amber to be cooking their last evening here. Since we had such a big lunch I made open face sloppy joe sandwiches and sliced apples. Layton and I went to the dokhane and bought some of Daniel’s favorite chips to go with it all. When we sat down to eat Shurov wondered if this was the Last Supper. We had a good time! 

Thursday 1/19: Dropped Daniel’s off at the airport around 1:30. Came back home and let ourselves feel all the hard emotions. We haven’t been emotional or very lonesome since we came but it seemed to catch up with us all of a sudden. Jared said “I didn’t know this would be so hard.” It helped us to think back to how clearly over the past few years we felt God asking us give time. We know we are in the right place at the right time. It’s part of the process, letting them go so we can continue the work here. Jared said our sad feelings will help us better understand how our members feel when they see another missionary leaving. We are thankful for an underlying peace. All the other missionaries said the day they dropped their couple off at the airport was a day they would never forget so it makes us feel better to know that our grief isn’t unusual or strange in anyway! Rather quite normal. 

Yesterday I was reading Frog and Toad to Layton and I came across this conversation. It struck me how accurate it is for Jared and I spreading our wings and settling in now that we are the official Dhaka couple. 

“I wonder if we are brave?” said Frog. 

Frog and Toad looked into the mirror. 

“We look brave,” said Toad. 

“Yes, but are we?” Asked Frog. 

We are feeling small tonight but are thankful Someone is bigger than us. 

Friday 1/19: Had church this morning. Shurov came in and announced  “the beginning of the Jared era!” The laugh helped Jared and I as our emotions were feeling somewhat unsteady. The service went well. Layton kept wondering “when is Nikki coming?” Jared and I just looked at each other and then tried to gently tell him that she wasn’t coming back. I was able to talk to Josna and Sumita a-bit in Bangla so that made me feel good. They were kinda quiet and I didn’t want to bother them too much as I know it was a hard day for them too. After church we did our usual grocery run.  More traffic than usual and UniMart was packed with people! When we got home the guard told us there was some sort of international fair going on so that explained it. A few weeks ago there was a large Muslim conference with 4 million attendees. Traffic was jammed for miles due to the extra people and all the ones walking on the road, beside the road, etc. So now we are making a habit of checking google maps and the news before we head out! Yesterday after we pulled ourselves and our emotions together we decided to just go ahead and move our stuff into Daniel’s apartment. We needed to stay busy. So we threw our clothes and few earthly possessions into the suitcases and hauled them over. Moving like this brings out the minimalist in me. Why does it take so much for us Bidesi folk to survive??  Most of it is clothes, cosmetics and baby things for the next 3 years so at least it’s useful items. The guard helped us get everything up into the apartment. These guards are so pleased to see the new “boss” and his family move in. Made us feel better about being by ourselves with how friendly and welcoming they were. “Call if problem!” they said! You would think “babo” (term of endearment for a child) was theirs as much fuss as they make over him. Whenever we walk in and out of the gate they act like they haven’t seen us for ages!Layton was just a whirlwind once we got things moved over… he was quite worked up about his room getting organized. Things being in disarray greatly bothers him. (Yes I know who he gets it from.🫣) I just let him do it how he wanted it and he did a very good job! He spent the rest of the evening busily getting his toys and things arranged and getting all his many stuffed dogs tucked into the doll bed for the night. It feels good to be in this apartment now and know that we can just settle in for the next 3 years. It is our home.💖 It’s a huge apartment so the three of us just rattle around in it, but the space will be nice when we host the other couples and teachers. It was hard seeing Daniels tell everyone good bye. I heard someone say once that if you leave the mission and you don’t feel any sorrow at leaving then you didn’t invest yourself enough in the work. A good reminder that now this is our life and work and our members and workers are our family. We spent the evening unpacking more and getting things in their proper place. Sumita comes tomorrow to sweep and mop so didn’t want her to walk into a complete mess! Jared and I were both impressed today with the verse, “where is your faith?” It came to both of us that while we are going through a hard adjustment phase right now that God brought us here and He will always be with us. Also the song phrase, “when we’ve reached the end of our hoarded resources… our Father’s full giving has only begun.” We had several prayers together today the three of us and by bedtime we felt more settled and less nervous. I’m sure it’s a feeling that will wax and wane over the next few weeks. We started opening up our happy pills that all our friends gave us when we left home! Think we might do 1-2 a day to ration them all out. I think there are close to 500 of them if I remember right.🥰 Layton’s question of the day was “when beavers chew down trees, do they swallow the bark or spit it out?” Answers are welcome😂

Saturday 1/21: This morning when we woke up we all felt better about life! Something about being on your own makes you feel like you just got here again. But today we are focusing on the positive!! Went to the guesthouse in the morning and brought all our sheets over to our apartment to get them washed. Took care of some other things there. Trevor’s will need to use the guesthouse next week so wanted it taken care of by then. Lucky came and cooked for us this morning. I was able to talk to her about her daughter and then understand what vegetables she wanted me to buy. Jared wanted me to go with him while he ran errands so that was interesting. We stopped and got a freshly slaughtered chicken for Lucky to cook and then he took another boxful of meds and papers to the clinic to take care of. Went by rickshaw as walking long distances makes me waddle!🤪😂 Lunch was really enjoyable with Lucky. She always stays and eats with us. Seems like we know more Bangla than we think cuz we were able to visit. Wasn’t a big conversation but enough to make it feel pleasant. Today I decided to focus on the familiar things. Knowing the sobji dokane man, the hot pink of my potholders from Audrey, the crocheted doily from my mom, the pioneer woman runner from Jared’s mom, having Lucky and Sumita here for the morning, hanging up laundry, loving on my boys… 💙 Jared spent the afternoon working on paperwork to get a visa extension for the three of us since our 3 month visa expires soon. Who knows if and when we will get our 1 year visas. Daniels were only able to get 1 one year visa the whole time they were here! Layton and I bustled around doing many little odd jobs. Had a quiet relaxing evening! 

Sunday 1/21: Jared had to cancel clinic this morning. Was disappointing but he had to go with John to the visa office for our visa extensions. Today was the only day it suited John and if you want to go anything done in even somewhat of a timely manner the mornings are best. Afternoons you will probably sit in traffic most of the time. Jared submitted all our paperwork and got a receipt that shows we paid the fee for an extension. Then if the police come and ask for our papers we just show them that and they are happy! He was happy that he was able to accomplish what he went after. Layton and I spent the morning getting his room straightened up. He had done a great job putting things away but it needed “a mother’s touch.” He was quite pleased with the result. It is truly amazing what all a 5 year boy can squirrel away🫣😂 The rest of the day was uneventful. 

I don’t intend on this blog turning into a place where we share all our personal and private ups and downs in the mission but wanted to share the past few days just because it is our first real “slump!” 

January 9-15 2023

 Monday 1/9: Language class: had a test… After class Melissa and I took several more pairs of Jared’s pants to get shortened at the tailors. I had a really hard time understanding what the man at the tailor was saying, I was glad Melissa was with me to help me talk. I could have probably pulled the conversation off by myself but he kept trying to say that he only wanted to do a shirt tail hem on the bottom of the pants. I was concerned it would unravel or fray out if it would rip or something because they just roll the raw edge under several times instead of surging it. Finally we got him convinced to just do a normal looking hem like they have when they come from the factory. I’m not sure why he was so adamant about it because he said he didn’t have any other work to do today. The older tailor is a lot more willing to do what you want. In fact Amber will just WhatsApp him a picture of a pattern and he can make it. Made stroganoff for lunch for us and Elwoods. Lunch was later since Jared went to the clinic as soon as class was over and Elwood was running errands in a far part of Dhaka. Went up to the roof and soaked up as much sun as possible. It’s 68* today and the sun feels bright and warm. Not much smog either so stocking up on Vitamin D and clean air. We walked to the tailors instead of taking a rickshaw just to get more sun. Felt so so good. Did a bunch of laundry yesterday so caught up on getting it all folded and put away. Only to start the cycle all over again today! It’s been cool enough that things take at least a day or more to dry even with a fan on high speed.  Amber, Melissa and I got together in the evening and made fajitas with all the fixings minus the rice! We eat so much rice at the clinic and anywhere else we go that we figured we didn’t need it again. The sisters came plus a guy named Natun. He’s mid twenties and has been friends with the missionaries for years here in Bangladesh. Quite a friendly likeable guy. Looks like a youth boy at home! He was so excited about all the food. He looked at Elwood and said “do all American woman cook like this or just the mennonite ladies?” He was like a kid at Christmas when he saw the monster cookies. He said “I’m so depressed! Do I take a smaller one with more chocolate in it or do I take a bigger one and then not have as much chocolate?” He finally took both to solve the problem.😂 Elwood told him that if you follow a recipe when you cook you can make pretty much anything. Natun just laughed and said “how am I supposed to know what “50 grams of this or that means?” Later in the meal I noticed him lean over and whisper to Elwood, “where’s the bones in this chicken?” So we had to explain that you can buy chicken without bones in it, like chicken breasts. It was news to him and he was all enthused at the idea! It felt good to laugh at someone being so silly! Sometimes it seems like we are so sober here. Adjusting to the new, struggling with feeling inadequate for the work, and wondering how we will manage all the paperwork with the government officials after Daniel leaves next week,  handling concerns at revivals in a culturally appropriate way so that both parties will be understood. One thing we know… God has been here with us and for that we are thankful. Seems like He is showing us how small we are and how big He is. 

Tuesday 1/10: Language class: 76 new words. Most of them were words with almost the same spellings but different meanings. For example: PORa: teach, POR: read/study, POR: fall, POr: wear/put on, POre: later/after, PORE ja: fall down, etc. Now you can tell why I’m becoming an expert at hand motions.😂Elwoods left this morning for India. If their visa cooperates they plan to come back here for revivals in February. I find it interesting that years ago they where the first mission couple in Siliguri India, and now they are going back to reopen that post. The new couple that will be taking over comes in about 3-4 weeks. They were placed the same time as we were! It was so fun to have Elwoods here. Layton loved Uncle Elwood’s riddles and funny dragon stories. He was sad to see them leave. In the evening we went to the clinic for Tuesday evening singing. It was so good to all be in that little room again. Didn’t realize how much we had missed it. There were 2 mamas and babies staying there. They were quite curious and joined in the singing too. After we were done singing we tried to have a prayer. We bowed our heads the first time and a helicopter came roaring over so loud we couldn’t even hear each other, then the 2nd time we started praying Daniel had only said a few words and crash! Kale knocked a cup of water over. We just sat there and laughed and laughed!!! One of the sisters said “maybe you should just pray in English this time.” So Jared prayed in English. Once the sisters start to giggle they can hardly stop! It’s such a beautiful sight! 2 ladies, dark colored skin, shiny black hair, even blacker eyes, heads wrapped in ornas, shawls wrapped around their shoulders and tucked under their arms, brightly covered 3 piece outfits poking out from under their shawls, balancing their worn green songbooks on their laps. Hands over their mouths they shake and shake with laughter. Laughing so hard they can hardly talk. They stop briefly before one of them snorts or starts to laugh and there they go again… It was a sight I hope I never forget. You never know what might strike them funny! One day they got the giggles because they thought it was so funny that Jared, Layton and I all wear glasses! You just can’t help but laugh with them , even if you have no idea what they are saying. Our brother doesn’t come to the singing evenings. He comes over Thursdays evening to chat and talk. Visiting is more his thing than singing. I’m glad our church is small enough here that we can spend 1:1 time with each member. After the singing Jared and Daniel restocked the powdered milk and meds. We get most of the meds from Square Hospital here in Dhaka. Lots of vitamins, antibiotics etc. The powdered milk comes from a wholesale market not far from our place. 

Wednesday 1/11: Language class… possessive verbal nouns (before doing, after doing, on my way to, at this time, etc.) Only 3 more lessons in this 2nd book! We are going to take a break for awhile after we finish this book while we settle into Daniel’s apartment and figure out what we are doing! Then Jared will take the third book about written Bangla script. Went to the clinic for lunch. It was good to do that again! Nurse Miriam is so enthused about our baby coming. She wanted to know how I was doing and when I was due. She was telling me that here in Bangladesh people rub mustard seed oil on their babies instead of lotion. Mustard is grown here so the oil is easily available. Since Daniel’s departure draweth nigh Josna made cabbage patties (borah) and biryani. Biryani is mostly rice with whole boiled eggs and chunks of meat in it. (A dish that would be served for special occasions.) The rice in this dish is a smaller grained stickier rice than what they would use with their curry. It’s easier to mush into a little pile to get it into your mouth. You can use any sort of meat in it but she used beef this time. Jared had it with goat meat a few weeks ago. He said Josna’s recipe was much better than what he had eaten at Farmgate. It definitely was spicier than the regular Bangla food that Josna makes but it was still delicious!! Layton was not a fan of the extra spice but he picked out the meat and ate that at least. “Why can’t we have regular bhat and mugi?” was his comment! He does love his chicken curry and rice. The cabbage patties were good, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was grated cabbage, carrots, egg, garlic, ginger, onion, cornstarch and rice flour. She made it into patties and fried it in a small amount of oil until they were crispy on the outside. It’s one of those foods that grows on a person. By the end of the meal I quite enjoyed them. I want to try making them sometime! They were nice to eat on the side to cool your tongue down. Spent the rest of the afternoon entertaining Layton and doing housework and homework. Jared and Daniel worked on some more papers that the police wanted for Jared’s security clearance. Paperwork seems to be the name of the game here.

Thursday 1/11: Language class… learned how to conjugate verbs to say “used to.” For homework we are supposed to write a story about our childhood. “Use a wide variety of words” she said. In the afternoon Jared and Daniel had their usual Thursday afternoon visit with our brother, Shurov. Amber invited us to come for supper, so that was enjoyable! 

Friday 1/12: Church… Daniel’s last Sunday in Dhaka. Jared and I feel sad for these members having to tell Daniels good bye. Every three years they have to go through this, definitely a grief process. I can’t imagine how I would cope if every three years we would have a complete changeover of support people at our church. Not to mention that when the new ones come they are still clumsily trying to learn the language. Our brother Samir from Kulna was there. He used to work in Dhaka but moved back to Kulna (Trevor’s post) to live with his family. He talks excellent English! Wish we could have talked with him more but he had rode the bus down from Kulna this morning and was “osustho” (not feeling well) so he went to Daniel’s to rest. Bus rides here are notorious for making you carsick. Jared made a comment last night that “I’m glad we can have church tomorrow.” At home we so looked forward to our Sundays off so we could go to church together. I wondered how church would feel here but we always leave the services inspired and happy. I wish we could have a children’s Sunday school but no children come.  It felt good to be back there with everyone. Amber and I sat in the kitchen while the men all visited and watched Josna and Samita chop up their vegetables for lunch. Something I will never tire of watching. Layton told them he liked to chop things up and was eyeing their big chopping blade and I said “don’t even think of it!!!!!” We need to keep all limbs and phalanges intact while we are here. Judging by my family’s history with that it behooves us to be careful.😂 Daniel’s were busy with farewells and this and that the rest of the day so Jared and I got first dibs on the van and went and ran our errands. Layton was one happy boy because he got to ride on the escalators, play in the UniMart play place, and ride in the van all in the same day! Glad he enjoys our “van” day. Jared does so good with driving. Rest of the day was our family time. Playing with Layton, housework, homework, etc. 

Saturday 1/14: Spent the morning studying for our test next week. A “normal” day with nothing that unusual happening.  Jared was busy with paperwork and doing the CSI books all afternoon with Daniel. He ran to another pharmacy in Farmgate to get a few things for the clinic. Layton and I did the usual. (Riding bike, laundry, cooking, etc.) His highlight of the day was being able to WhatsApp his speech teacher at home! He told Jared “she misses me!” 🥰

Sunday 1/15: how is it the middle of the month already? Language class: reviewed some pass content and then learned even more names for family members. Ones for Muslim and ones for Hindus/Christians. Our final for book 2 is due Tuesday. Paninna agreed to let us do it on our own time so we can use our notes. Neither Jared or I feel like we have the mental capacity to write 30 sentences, 11 questions, a 10 sentence paragraph about Bangladesh, correct sentences and conjugate 6 verbs with all tenses without our notes. Our brains are very weary. So after Tuesday we are taking a week off to rest while we move into Daniel’s apartment. After class, Jared went to the clinic and Amber and I and the children went to Farmgate. Lucky (our guesthouse housekeeper) made a meal for us all. She usually does it several times a month on Saturdays but she’s been having to work longer hours at her other cooking job. She made fish curry, the usual sobji mixture, bhat and dhal. She sets the dishes on the table and then we serve ourselves which is nice because then we can have “portion control.” 😂 or at least attempt to. The fish here is full of tiny bones so it takes abit to pick them all out. It was delicious as always! We usually don’t eat until lunch until 1:30 when she cooks so we are more than ready for her “ec number khabar!” Convinced Layton to eat a few vegetables this time as she hadn’t put as much kaj morich (hot peppers) in as sometimes. I’ve been surprised we haven’t had more crummy tummies with the spice here because at home I never made spicy food. Jared said his morning at the clinic was busy. Apparently some old ladies panicked when the street dogs by the clinic started barking at them and they came flying in to the clinic absolutely terrified. The dr finally had to tell them to calm down and stop running.😂 The afternoon was spent baking Layton's favorite cookies (chocolate crinkles) and working on our exam. 

Thanks to all who have messaged this past week! For sure the ones who have sent messages for Layton. He really enjoyed them😀