Sat Feb 21 Dhaka 🚙 💨

 Got to Dhaka in time for lunch at Second Cup in the Centrepoint high rise(by the airport). Hit the UniMart there and had a LOVELY surprise!! Tortilla chips available again!!👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 It’s been a year since we’ve had luxury in that form🙃 and Big American sized bags of Lay’s potato chips in Cheddar & Sour cream and Salt &Vinegar flavors🤩🤩🤩. And they also had a diffuser in stock again🤗🤗 I’ve been wishing for one to diffuse essential oils at night when the stuffy noses syndrome makes it rounds

We went ahead and hit one of things that was on the priority list for this trip into Dhaka… glasses for Jaira!🤓 Which we found at Jamuna Park in the shop just past Slash Coffee on the way to Wholesale Club. 

On to the the guest house in Pink City 🏡 where we unloaded the van and made nachos😋😋😋 

Brian and Lars showed up to say “Hi” and chat a bit.

We made beds, got the classroom set up, and settled in for the week.

Round 11:00 or so, Lonnie went with Brian to get the CSI field secretaries from the airport. dea. Chris and Sondra Koehn NewPlymouth,ID.

Fri. Feb. 20 👦🏾 🐦‍⬛

 After the 2nd S.S. at Chakrakhali was our visiting appt. at the home of our S.S. boy that has spent time in the hosp. recently and has ongoing health issues. Kobid, (translator), older cousin? fellow S.S. boy, and Nee-tie(the rickshaw van driver) all found ourselves just our side of the Chakrakhali rickshaw van station. The mom met us at the road and guided us down the dirt path that sloped down from the road past huts stacked one after another there. We stopped at the doorway of one and stepped in and were instructed to sit on the bed, as is so common here. And quite frankly, there is usually really no other place to sit. Often a plastic chair or 2 can fit yet in the small area that is left, as was the case today. We were served hot tea and rice pudding. As we exited the house into the shared yard and we visited a bit with the neighbors.. one man was there in his wheelchair and we were told the story of how during missionary Travis’s time this man fell from a tree, paralyzing him from the waist? down and Travis had helped him acquire the wheelchair. As we were visiting there a bird landed on our sick S.S. boy’s shoulder. And we were told the story of how this bird has claimed this boy. He just showed up awhile back and has stuck around, he does not like anybody else and will let no one else care for him, hold him, etc. He is a Shalik or Mynah bird in the starling family with that incredible ability to “talk” making him seem like a very smart bird https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myna. And we got to hear him talk while we were there🤗 He clearly said(in Bangla) to the boy’s mom,  “Auntie, who are these people?”😅 To us it seems like another touch from God who numbers every hair on our heads, sees the sparrow fall, and reaches down to this only child..that is full of sickness.. from a low income village home.. in the southern part of overpopulated Bangladesh🤍

Thurs. Feb 19 🏦

 After lunch Miss Christina and the big girls went with Lonnie to the bank. Miss Christina’s visitor’s visa is up and also the month of grace is just around the corner. In Dhaka, Brian has been working with the legal documents for these teachers but not getting very far… they told him now, “If these girls have a bank account,….” So, thus the trip into town this afternoon.

Wed Feb 18 a Shundorban day trip

 Shundorban translates to beautiful forest.. it is the largest mangrove forest, just an hour drive + hour boat ride away. https://maps.app.goo.gl/Jitrkvm8xZNwVU5QA?g_st=ic  

In Mongla, we met Doyle’s from Gopalgonj, at Hotel Pashur. They were able to show us the learned way of going on this excursion, as it was our 1st time. We ate our packed lunch on the boat ride down. Just a hint of cool on the breezy boat ride.. pretty much perfect weather for the day ☀️ 

When we arrived, our boat captain took anything we’d brought along, to a secure place, as the monkeys are quite the thieves. We armed ourselves with sticks to keep monkeys at bay but we actually didn’t see so many. A very nice elevated walk, since this area floods, through the jungle. A couple of towers to climb for a bird’s eye view. After a couple hours of walking and  getting quite warm, we were back at the dock. Just as we got settled onto our boat. A whole crowd of older school age children finished their Shundorban tour, and quickly gathered on the dock to get pictures of the boat load of white skinned people. It’s quite hard to keep a good attitude in those kind of situations but finally just try to pretend we are royalty instead of rare zoo animals🤦🏼‍♀️ We ended up taking an extra little excursion down a waterway into the depths of the forest after a guard in uniform with gun in hand plus another just good lookin Bangali😂took up residence on the front of the boat. The guard was on board because not just anybody is actually allowed down that waterway.. and the other Bangali? Ami jani na(I don’t know)

Anyways, this little extra excursion turned out to be about the most exciting part of the day! We saw several crocodiles in their natural habitat and came upon one especially Large one on the bank . The guess was that he was at least 12 feet long! A very ominous creature😳 And What do you know!???!!! They decide this huge croc needs to move and so the boat is headed to the bank! I am sitting on pins and needles feeling like this is a very unwise decision. The bank is bumped and I’m trying to figure out what my options are if the croc decides to come aboard or attacks🤯 The 🐊 slides into the water and swims away from the boat.. Huge sigh of relief!.. We have survived to tell the story! Come to find out the extra Bangali onboard is a nature reporter and has millions of followers! And he was now able to add more exciting video clips🙃

After dropping our extra passengers off at the Shundorban park dock we headed out for mainland. This Pashur River, that is just up from the Bay of Bengal, is quite large and we came past 1 especially massive ocean going vessel🚢 . 

Back at Hotel Pashur, we parted ways with our fellow missionaries, after bathroom break and delving into the leftover bars, fruit,… from lunch.

Sat. Feb. 14 Happy Valentines 💌

 A year ago, we just about missed this day. Traveling over the time zones we had an 8 hour Valentine’s Day spent in the Doha, Qatar airport with Lonnie sleeping as much of that as was possible🙃

Today, I had the breakfast table fixed up with my black orna(like a table runner) and candles 🕯️. Crepes with sausage, homemade marshmallow cream(since whipping cream powder is currently unavailable locally), strawberry pie filling, and syrups.

We went into Khulna and had a nice dinner at the Grand Placid Hotel

Fri. Feb 13 1 yr ago..

 … we left American soil behind. We have been thinking much of those last days… they are etched in our memory.

Today, is Worship Day

At the 2nd S.S. in Chakrakhali. Our Sunday school boy that’s been in the hosp. with kidney failure, seizures, etc came with his Mom. He’s feeling better but not great. His mom is So grateful for the monetary help from CSI. she wants us to come to her house after S.S. next Fri.(This boy is an only child..9-10 yrs old? And his parents plan to take him to India for better medical treatment when the government situation settles down… they are a village family.. the dad runs a pan(Bangali form of “chew”/tobacco) dokan.

Tonight the girls and I sat down and cut out pink, white, red, and black heart shapes. We wrote things we love about each person in this household on them. Punched a hole and strung them with jute string from the shelf over the coffee and tea bar.

Thurs. Feb 12 Election Day

 We stayed at home today to avoid any possible ruckus. The last few days the military has been enforcing a no crowd mandate. Even out in the village here Lonnie went to play Carrom in the evening. The owner of the dokan didn’t even want them to play, but consented. As they were playing tho, all sudden she pulled the cord to the lights and said, “Everybody out!” Coming down the road was a couple rigs full of military men. There is also a no motorcycle ban on but it doesn’t appear to be enforced.?.

Several parties were campaigning and each party has its own symbol for those that are illiterate. One party’s symbol is 🌾 another party’s a black horse, another ⚖️

BMP won the election 🌾