Sun. Jan. 8

 Lonnie and I went to check out a dentist that had good reviews on Google Maps. The 1st route was taking us on one of the roughest, worse roads we’ve been on here. And before we got very far on it, there was a mud hole spanning the whole road so we turned around and drove across Khulna City to get to the other end of the road called Shipyard Rd. Still a road which required quite slow travel, but it was a neat drive along the River with lots of sawmills And we found it interesting that there was quite a population of goats. After observation, it appeared that the attraction for the goats was all the logs that they could eat the bark from! We found the dentist we were looking for, but one glance and Lonnie said, “I reckon, we’ll just wait till we get back to Dhaka.” We could see people waiting in a small waiting room thru the glass front doors and in the adjoining room thru a door hanging open we could see somebody in the dentist chair. We’d seen enough from our slow drive by..

Little alternative route past the Bangladesh Navy Base

Stopped at Aarongs, as there is a birthday coming right up.

Fri. Jan. 30 - Thurs Feb. 5

 What a lovely week😌

Daryl’s wife Brenda kicked right in and took the load of not having my maid coming🫶🏼 (With all the Hindu traditions following a death in the family).. Tues. she showed up tho ☺️ what a welcome sight!!

Our week was full,

Fri. morning Daryl’s got to experience our 2 Sun. Schools 

2:00 a scheduled visit

4:00 church service

Another scheduled visit after church

                             •Saturday •

A trip to Tala to visit Bro Harun and Sis. Joyanti and their 17 yr old dau. Mukta. Bro Kobid went along to interpret when needed. The van was full so the girls and Miss Christina stayed home and had school, also knowing they’d probably want to take a day off yet this week to do something while Daryl’s were with us.

After we got back home we went up to Bissho Rd for chatpoti, fuska, and Brenda introduced us to fallada… an icecream dessert drink would maybe be a good description? A glass of large tapioca (maybe not exactly but something similar) with strawberry ice cream and little bits of dried fruit and nuts sprinkled on top😋 we were impressed!

                                  •Sunday•

Another scheduled visit at 5:00 pm, on the roof. . . Where most of the visits have been taking place with the beautiful weather we’ve been having and a place that offers privacy from the rest of the household, with sunshine as a benefit🌞 

Daryl and Brenda and Lonnie went to Shanto’s for a visit, the rest of the evening.

                                •Monday •

  We spent the evening at our favorite beach by the river.. playing in the sand. 

  Batiaghata Bazaar for street food and to meander thru and see what the market had to offer.

                                 •Tuesday•

No school today, Boro Bazaar, Dominos, Top Ten fabric, and then we stopped for Byriani yet before going home. We’re still parking a little ways from the house, where they’re putting in a new bridge but ran into trouble. Catching rickshaw van and easy bike the last stretch of the way with all our purchases and tired littles and it’s still just a bit chilly on a ride like that in the night air…

Tulshi hadn’t showed up as his health took a turn for the worse after not feeling well for a few days. He ended up in the hosp. for IV fluids after getting dehydrated from too much vomiting🤕

                                •Wednesday •

Tulshi is still on sick leave

Brian’s came down from Dhaka bringing Sister Josna (Sumita was away at a family wedding). This was their 1st trip,(I believe) in their “new” van. It’s another Toyota Noah, dark teal, with side doors that slide like a dream at the touch of a button✨, A.C. vents inside that are still intact😅, and no scratches or dings to speak of💫

Dipti cooked dim (egg)curry and the works for us. Brenda wanted to learn how to make fried cauliflower like she’d just had in Rajshahi at Michael n Monica’s. So her and Dipti made some. It was good, but she said it wasn’t quite like Monica’s.

 Doyle’s also arrived from Gopalgonj bringing Ripon for a 4:00 member’s mtg. Bro Lewis and his wife Purnima, shared how the Lord has been working in their lives. We’re looking forward to starting doctrine classes with them 😌

Brenda stayed home with the children and us 3 momma’s all exited the service before it was over due to the littles we had with us. We pulled out leftover rice and dhal for the children and mommas

After the meeting, everybody came in for spiced cha and strawberry shortcake with ice cream. Badminton was played by a couple men, the teachers, and Josna😊

                              • Thursday •

The rest of the strawberry shortcake and sausage patties for breakfast and Daryl’s loaded up with Brian’s and Josna, back to Dhaka. 

On the detour for the bridge repair. They knocked out more brick wall out so we can go around the project, on the little road they built up for a detour again!🤗🤗🤗🤗 And park the van at the house again!…It just simplifies leaving the house so much!

Thurs Jan 29 cremation and field secretary’s arrival

Tulshi let us know that Dipti’s father died last night around 6:30 and that she wouldn’t be back to work for 13 days! He also told us, today would be a good day for us to go be with Dipti. So Lonnie and I and the littles got on a rickshaw van, with Tulshi giving instructions to the driver. We Thought we were headed to Dipti’s Father’s home but the driver turned down a different road and we just hoped he was taking us to Dipti and decided he must know a different route!? But we soon saw the smoke rising and as we rounded a huge haystack we could see a small crowd, maybe 50,…the cremation grounds. The fire was crackling, Dipti met us and said, “shesh” (it’s finished). She led us to a small pavilion giving the low concrete wall a quick dusting with her hand and we sat with the family a bit. Dipti and her 3 sisters stood in a tight semicircle for us when I asked about her siblings. That was neat to see those 4 grown girls standing next to each other. Their brother was there also. We visited what we could in our limited Bangla while 2 men with long poles tended the fire. Gentry was passed around among the ladies and Annslie was glaring and swatting at each person that tried to pinch her cheek or get her to come to them 😏 When we left, Lonnie slipped some Taka 💴 to Dipti and she helped push our rickshaw van out over the rough path. It made me glad we don’t have to just watch our loved one’s body burn after their life is over💔 

The girls were just heating leftovers up for lunch when we got home.. Lonnie was leaving at 3:00 to go get Daryl’s from Gopalgonj and I was severely missing my maid😳 I had to wash up the dishes, make sure the floors got swept at least, clean the girls’ room for our guests, get laundry hung out on the roof, make supper, plus look after the toddler and baby in just a matter of a few hours🤯 thankfully after school was out the girls and Miss Christina came to my rescue

Wed. Jan 28 evening guests

 Lonnie made tortillas 

I made a couple desserts and got supper started

Music class Singing with the girls

Lamar and Megan arrived at 4:30? for supper and the eve. They are a Southern Baptist couple from Huntsville AL that we met at UniMart in Dhaka last month. They have spent their 1st year in Dhaka studying the lang. and are now ready to go to their post. They were asked to come to Khulna, a 1st for their group, and build a team that would cover surrounding towns… Gopalgonj, Jashore, etc. this trip down,  he and his wife worked to secure a place to live while they are here. Lonnie got them together with Kobid and they were very impressed with the help Kobid was to them.

Lamar’s have 2 small children, Jemma 3 yrs old, just 7 1/2 months older than Annslie and they are a pair! Hit it off right from the 1st hello and had a high o’ time the whole evening!🥰 Jemma is a bright little girl with a headful of blonde ringlets…Baylor the little brother is 8 months. A happy, busy little feller who played all evening on the living room floor, army crawling to get around. 

After discada, cooked apples, and hazelnut parfait, the men took the toddlers on a walk into the village, Megan and I visited while we took care of our little boys. A little carrom yet before it was time for them to catch a rickshaw van back to their hotel in Khulna city.We are looking forward to spending more times with them in next couple years.😊

Sat. Jan 24

 To Khulna 1st stop- Artisan (they have a nice bathroom for a toddler needing a potty break) and we went ahead and shopped. Found 2 sweaters for the big girls… Children’s Place brand with the American tag on it also stating the US price $39.95 the Canada price $57.95 and then another tag with the Bangladesh price 695 which is like $6 USD. Then I got to the checkout and found out they were running a 50% sale so ended up only giving about $3 USD for a nice sweater!🤗

A man was asking Lonnie again for medical help so he called Kobid to come meet with them to get more details. The man is a rickshaw driver so he went off on another run while waiting for Kobid’s arrival. The girls and I went into New Mkt to shop while the men were busy. Kobid and Lonnie found us after waiting for awhile and the man never showing up. So then Kobid shopped with us, happily sharing whatever expertise he felt like he had on fabric and shopping. Seeming to thoroughly enjoy helping us shop for kameeze and panjabi(native women’s and men’s clothing).

Oh, yesterday, at the 1st S.S. one of the little boys, 8 yrs old maybe? Noticed and commented that Gentry has dimples just like he does🥰

Fri Jan 23 Day of Worship

 Today is a Hindu festival celebrating/worshipping the goddess of education. Therefore only 5 children showed up at our 1st S.S. And at Chakrakhali we waited around for awhile, visited with the lady of house and then went home. 

Wed Jan 21

 After breakfast, I got Dipti started on lunch, us ladies spent some time with on the roof while laundry was taken care of up there. Then the whole crew of us went for a walk in the village leaving the men at home playing carrom while the babies slept.

Dipti cooked us up a Bangla feast: rice, chicken curry, dim(egg) curry, dhal(lentils), and Shobji(stir fried veggies)

After lunch the company packed up and we all went to the river to spend some time in the sand by the water. The river was fuller than normal with more boats and some bigger cruise boats that were creating some pretty good sized waves. A beautiful afternoon with rice threshing going on across the road and the men got to help a Bangali who drove his vehicle too far into the deep sand. The 3 white men lifted the front of the vehicle while they backed out.

Then it was goodbyes and once more just our little crew that made our way back to a house that felt a little sad and empty. 

We are happy to have our field secretary’s visit to look forward to tho!