Mon. June 30

 Lonnie was scheduled to meet Kobid at 10:00 to clean at the clinic.

Dipti arrived late, after 10:30. And then with a request to dry their rice on our concrete slab in front of our house. Her husband helped her spread out some blue netting fabric. Then they dumped their large white gunny sacks of rice on it and she proceeded to spread it out with her feet. 

The girls spent awhile on the roof in the water, set the pool up, up there.

Late pizza lunch.

Rain.

Lonnie went to hang out at the local classroom. He studied Bangla while they worked on their studies.

Maddie worked on her craft stick creation… she made a set of bunk beds with pillows made out of cotton balls and napkin yesterday. Now, today, she was working on “weaving” a jute cover for the bed. 

I made honeybun cake and put a load of laundry in.

In the eve. Rhidoy messaged Lonnie and asked if he could come over. So we spent an enjoyable eve with him and Pinky (they’re Shanto Brother’s young married son) taught them how to play Qwirkle, visited, and ate honeybun cake.

Sun. June 29 “wedding“

 Lonnie opted to go to Boro Bazaar by himself in search of a sewing supply dokan. Which he located and was able to find everything on my list!🤗 zippers, elastic, hand needles, straight pins, buttons, thread… I’m So happy these items are available and have been located!

Late afternoon, Lonnie took us on a walk thru the village to the outskirts and I think we’ve found the best walking trail yet(have I said that before🙃 and then we discovered and even better one😅) I’m looking forward to taking you on it when you come to visit!🤗 maybe you’ll get to take more than one path😜

We came across a momma cow staked near the path that had a brand new baby calf lying on the path.

All day they have been setting up, preparing for a “wedding” they told us, across the rd in the grassy area in front of our house. The father of the bride invited us to come for the food at 7-8:00. Close to 7:00 when Lonnie went to investigate thru the gate, the bridal pair came to the gate to visit and also summon us to the event. He is 30. Grew up in Bangladesh but lives in India now. She is 24 and went to school in India maybe? Was a little hard to get the exact straights of it, but they met thru Facebook. Come to find out they are already married but this event is just a feast in her village in their honor? Lonnie and I did end up going over for the 2nd setting. Our guard, Tulshi, was helping serve. Started out with rice parka dhal(a thin lentil dish) , potato curry, “lemon” (lime) wedges, then egg (whole egg boiled) curry, amra (we’re not exactly sure what that is), and then a sweet rice and milk dish.About that time it started to rain and the groom used a plastic chair to poke the tent roof to drain it and keep it from getting too heavy. That seemed to be the end, but the groom said he was heartbroken that we hadn’t brought the girls and insisted on sending food home with us for them, so we went back to the house with platefuls of rice and curries. An interesting aspect to this feast is that the bride and groom were busy helping serve! I thought that was kind of neat💭 and then they could visit a bit also. The aunties were feeding the groom chunks of potato from their plates of curry😅.

Sat. June 28 Tala

 10:00 we picked Kobid up at Zero Point and went to visit our brother Harun and Joyanti in our outpost, Tala. The last time we’d been it was very dry but this time it was a very moist rainforest, and Very muddy at Harun’s ! Which made it a bit tricky for the girls as the only place to stretch their legs after the 2 hr drive was the S.S. room where the men were visiting, the porch where the ailing grandmother lay with a fan blowing on her, or the path up to the levee rd that was not inches of goopy mud but a bit treacherous still.. 

Joyanti and her teenage dau. were busy in the cookhouse preparing lunch, I sat on the front porch on woven leaf mat and watched them thru the doorway. Everything is done on the floor, no table or counter, the stove is just mud built up with a hollowed out dip and the fire is underneath fed by manure cakes. This rainy season just makes daily life more difficult with getting to and from the cook house, house, and water pump navigating thru the mud… I told Lonnie later, “ I’m afraid I would have a hard time being cheerful/thankful if that’s what I had to live with every day/if my daily tasks had to be done navigating that kind of mud😬🫣”. 

The pastor of a 7th Day Adventist church showed up for the afternoon also. 

They served us up a feast of rice, match stick potatoes, curried chicken, and then Kobid told us they have a surprise for us at the end! They brought out jack fruit! It is not as special to most? Americans as it is to them😕 I was thankful Maddie came to my rescue and took the chunk off my plate! I have had it when it was not too bad, although the texture is something to get used to, but today, just didn’t think I could stomach it😳 Surprisingly, Maddie loves it!

After lunch they offered we could go for a walk thru the village. Sounded good to me! We were told the men would go separately from the ladies..?.. so after a bit we followed the men. An enjoyable walk thru the village stopping to chat every so often with groups of people sitting by the path. And we tried to let the men stay ahead but we ended up catching up with them and walking the last stretch with them. Got back just as it began raining. We all gathered on the front porch of the house this time, where the grandmother lay on her woven leaf mat. A few more folks joined us. Lonnie was asked to have a prayer, praying especially also for the ailing grandmother. Then we were asked if we’d take one of the couples, that had arrived at the last there, to their village which is on our way back home. We agreed. Joyanti had them come to her cook shack and eat a plate of leftovers from our meal before they left with us.

As we entered their village they wanted us to stop so they could show us a historical sight. A low brick walled area with a monument? This place was where 14,000 low caste Hindus were killed by a Pakistani army💔

We drove a little further, to their destination, they asked us to come in to their house for a bit. Kobid encouraged us that this would be a good thing to do. So we followed. They have a nicer concrete house and served us “coffee” (strong tea, not unlike tea brew🙃) and “biscuits” So we visited and held their daughter’s sweetest, chubby baby girl.. Angel Jessica… 4 mo. old, that was such a happy baby, cooing and smiling. Just a pair of thin, loose cotton shorts that made this momma a bit nervous, never knowing when we might get wet🫣. As we made our departure, they gifted us with a jackfruit🙃 Maddie can’t wait till it’s ripe! And I’m wondering who we can share it with!? By the way, these fruits are massive! This particular one is 15” tall and pear shaped.. they grow from trees, amazingly enough! How they stay up there with their size is something God designed, for sure!

Fri June 27 Worship Day

 Rain, but it cleared off in time for Sun. School. The crowd continued to trickle in clear to the end. We doubled in count from last week. And ran out of pictures to color😏 Lonnie went home to quickly print more til his printer ran out of paper and he wanted to hurry back. So the last few that showed up at the end  didn’t get a picture. The count was just over 40. And a few men came in and observed also. We gave out water bottle stickers at the end. Thanks to Miss Shana and her surplus when school was out.☺️

On the walk home, a native that shows up a lot and works for another NGO group, has another S.S. in a nearby village on Sat afternoons wanted to have tea with us. So we stopped along the road. A young momma that we’ve met before there, came out, Kobid says she used to come to our S.S. Now she’s married and has this sweetest roly poly little 1 mo. baby😌 Annslie always begs to hold the babies and they are very tickled to let her(with help)☺️

Then Kobid went with us to the place where we hope to start the Chakrakhali S.S. back up. It is a Hindu fam. that the lady of the house has fond memories of going to a S.S. (not ours, is how I have it) as a child, and wants to do what she can to help us with it. They have an outbuilding that was used for the occasion before and when they get it cleaned out again in 2 wks? They’ll be happy to have S.S. start again! We started our afternoon by gathering in a SMALL, full room! A China cabinet, old fashioned sewing machine on a stand (sewing is a hobby for the lady), a bed full of musical instruments, and then there was room for about 4 plastic chairs in the middle, the lady’s very outgoing sister sat cross legged on the floor and then whoever else could stood in there. They served us bananas from their tree and roasted peanuts in the shell. A nice snack! The lady of the house is a singer, has won a Nobel prize supposedly, and she teaches music.. has about 35 students. Her and her husband have one son, looked to be in the 9-11 yr old range and then several of her students were there although they were not having class today due to construction going on the road front of their property. The teenage girl that was there had been friends with the previous family’s Brandi daughter… the children and the Mrs. sang a song for us, they had us sing one for them, then the lady said she’d play a song for us. She had her husband run the drums and she ran the piano that had an accordion on the back that she ran with her free hand. Then she gave us a little demo on the native stringed instrument made out of a large gourd(maybe 5’ tall). Then it was time for a tour of their farm. A couple of fish ponds with fruit bearing trees and garden vegetables growing all around them. They wondered if we could use anything? They gave us a few kacha morich peppers.. the little boy called out to his mom in horrified surprise when Lonnie took a bite! They are very hot little peppers! The boy and his friend went in search of some ripe papayas. And we headed back to the house to have a papaya prep lesson. We gathered in their bedroom where they have an A.C.! The son and his 2 friends were on the bed playing video games. And that’s where we gathered also and the 2 ladies on the floor. The Mrs sister lives in or near the Sundorbans(national mangrove forest) and invited us to come visit sometime. They followed us down the path back out to the rd where we’d parked. The husband was out there helping the crew with the beginnings of a 3 story structure on the road frontage of their property. That they plan to rent out.

Back at the house we put bbq meatball and mashed potato lunch on.

4:00 service soon rolled around with the 3 single brethren, Lewis. wife n dau., reg. attendee, .. we were to the message already when Lonnie’s teacher friend showed up with another man. Before the service was over he got a phone call and left tho.

Thurs. June 26

 Into Khulna in search of a certain lady at the Bank.. we were directed to a different branch with no success. Ended up going to the Boro Bazar location before we could withdraw. To Safe n Save for another 5 kg of those banana mangos.

Lonnie went out walking and visited the classroom again. They study till 5:00. At 20 til 5 they asked if he wanted to play a game and then played for an hr! 

The game: cut pcs of paper for the same number of players. Draw an eye on one pc. Then fold all the pcs, shake them up and each player takes one. The one with the eye, signals(taps bysitter, winks, nods,etc) to another player and that one calls out “signal” or “I got a signal”! The rest of the players, starting next to the the one who received signal, say who they think gave the signal. Counting points: the receiver of the signal-20 pts. The signal giver- 10 pts for every wrong guess.

Made a batch of bagels and cornflake squares.

Started cutting out a dress.

Dad called and visited awhile

Wed. June 25

 Crystal (my big sis) called just as we were finishing a late breakfast. Good to chat with her awhile😊

Lonnie had a patient from the milk program scheduled to arrive here at 9:00. They have a child that is 3 yrs old so would not normally be receiving from our program still so Lonnie asked them to bring the child by. I did not go out to investigate. The report was rather gruesome and we’re glad to help out! The child’s head is way oversized, just sockets with eyelids, a hole where the nose should be with teeth protruding near there, deformed limbs, has to be fed with a syringe,…💔

Dipti made Bangla noodles for our lunch since we were still eating on last week’s curry 😅

Lonnie took Kobid and met with the landlord of the clinic here then on to Chakrakali where the 2nd Sun. school has been in the past but we’ve haven’t Got started back up yet. Nobody was home so they’ll go by there another day.

Later Lonnie went to check on the progress of the men at the trench. The river, where it has been just cow pasture since we’ve been here was now 20 ft across covering the trench area he’d helped with yesterday. He stopped a couple other places upon being bidden. One there was a lady on the porch studying algebra in a Math book. She was working to get her Master’s Degree, her husband is a Hindu singer currently in the Sundarbans(An expansive national park south of here). Another stop was at a school room that he’d noticed before..metal on the roadside mosquito netting on the pukar(pond) side. He could hear it was occupied so decided to visit. About 8 students, 2 teachers, Classes 9,8,&7. The one boy that seemed aloof surprised Lonnie and asked if they could be friends?! So Lonnie asked him what it meant to be friends in Bengali culture? That made him think 💭 he spent awhile typing a nice sized paragraph on Google translate then erased it and said it meant to “communicate, talk”. And one of the teacher’s said it meant “to come by here and visit”. 

Later Lonnie took the rest of us on a walk. Stopped at a dokan just past our church building as it had started to sprinkle. The dokander gave Annslie a duck shaped sucker. The rain didn’t stick around long and we were soon on our way again, Out to the wide open space at the edge of the village along the “river”.  A mother and daughter walked up to the main path about that time to pick up a couple new end tables so Lonnie offered to carry them to their house for them. And we trailed after. The husband was there with a new chicken coop also on his rickshaw van. The mother right away picked up one of her young ducks for Annslie to pet trying to get Annslie to let her hold her. She let the duck go and proceeded to call the small flock of young chickens and ducks which came running to her immediately when she called them.. pretty impressive☺️ Of course they wanted us to stay for tea, we declined and told them we were on a walk. Continued walking along the “river” back on the village  side. Men sitting on the levee and the homes over here seemed to have better kept yards, huge trees, giving the feeling of a campground😌 at one spot on the narrow levee path, a momma cow and her calf weren’t about to budge so we went down the bank and around them. And on to the trench Lonnie had helped back fill yesterday.. the water had receded again so it was easy to see where they’d been working. We’re still trying to figure out if this river is affected by the tide, a dam, or what? Made a little loop and came back thru the village at a different spot, past some young boys,10 yr olds? by a pukar (pond)One boy had a long cane pole with several prongs at the end.. Lonnie asked him if he was spearing mach (fish)? He replied with his back to us, “frog”. So I repeated “bhang”(frog) back to him and he gave a huge shy grin. It was kinda funny how we were each using the other one’s language but at least we knew we were on the same page😌 These folks, especially the young ones, like to try out their English on us.. 💭 but Rhidoy told us the other day, “English words are meaningless.” Even if he can often definitely get his point across in English. I imagine it feels a little like us trying to use their words to relay something verbally…

Tues. June 24

 Did a trial dish of our 1st chunk of pork since we’ve entered the country. Chili Verde turned out delicious 😋 👏🏼

Baked a batch of bread.

Got a dress finished altering.

Lonnie went out walking again today. Helped some locals with back filling a trench.

Mon. June 23

 Got out and went grocery shopping.

Picked up another 5 kg of mangoes. The man in the produce part of Safe n Save says they are called Banana Mangos. They are a longer narrow variety that the peel turns yellow as they ripen with a very thin long narrow pit which makes for a nice amount of “meat” on one mango. Good flavor and texture😌

Annslie’s nap was minimal since she only slept while we were in town. But then fell asleep for the night by 7:00. So the rest of us took advantage of a quiet, toddler free evening and played a couple rounds of Canasta.

Sat. June 21

 Served coffee cake and scrambled eggs breakfast yet before Lonnie left with the field secretaries to meet Jared halfway back to Dhaka.

Sounded like they had an interesting trip back to Dhaka .. upon spotting a Gypsy camp, Carl wanted to see if they had a cobra or a monkey. They ended up checking with another Gypsy group also, with no luck.

I rested while Maddie worked on a belated Father’s Day project.

Then the girls played dress up with the ornas… Muslim ladies parading through the house at intervals. Which reminds me, often after Annslie’s shower and I put the towel over her head and wrap her up, She says “lady”. It took me a bit, the 1st time she said it, to figure out that she felt like I was dressing her up like a Muslim lady😅

Later in the afternoon Lonnie went on a practice drive with the motorcycle.

Fri. Day of worship

 Lonnie get dim and ruti for breakfast.

Sun. School at 9:00 but we had a gathering of boys at the gate by 8:30 hollering “brother!”

The group size was double what it’s been with 20 children, ages 4-14. One of the grandma’s of 3? of the children came and sat in for awhile. And right at the very last 2 more children showed up, little girl and boy. We got them each a picture to color and they got busy, but we did hang out there a little while extra after the other children had left, while these last 2 finished up their picture. Carl left to have tea with another (native) man, that works for an NGO group, that showed up. This last little girl that showed up, when she was finished coloring her picture, came and shook each of our hands, very politely! just the sweetest, mannerly, not too shy girl🥰

Carl and Kobid left to go for a visit.

Judith found a recipe in the Bangla Khabar cookbook for spiced tea. So we relaxed with cups of cha and a round of Qwirkle.

When Carl got back, he wanted to take us out for a meal, so we went into Khulna to the Grand Placid Hotel. Sondra remarked that she felt like Alice in the Wonderland stepping into this place! A different class than the streets we’d just stepped off of!

https://maps.app.goo.gl/1qBgzSZmShiAMYiW7 Vegetable rolls, beef sizzling, rice, garlic naan with a bit of fresh cilantro on top. After our meal they brought these little packets that had fennel seed, tiny bits of dates, etc. for after dinner breath freshener.. Judith says they have referred to this mix as birdseed😜 it was our 1st experience with it! 

Back home in time for 4:00 church service.

Liton had gone to Dhaka. It was just Shamir, Kobid, the local attendee, and Byan(the older Australian) beyond our group, until our neighbor lady that lives behind our house showed up (she is the lady that has cooked for our group when there has been a revival or fellowship gathering here in the past, is what we have been told.) After church she invited us to come to her house. So us ladies decided to follow her back to her house while the men continued their discussions. Toby (our dog) had escaped out of our gate when we were leaving, and he was waiting for us when we got out of church. So he trotted right along with us. But with each dog we encountered along the way there was a snarl! 🐕 🤨 Then when we got to this lady’s house, he immediately was in hot pursuit of her chickens! Which brought their dog alive and more dog fight! We finally decided we would never be able to stay and headed back with Toby dog fighting with each dog on the way back home😤. We were very hot and sweaty and Annslie was pretty tore up about Toby🥵 The men had all gathered on our porch so we went in and cut up the mangos our neighbor has given us and served them with cups of water.

Later after our guests left, we popped popcorn, and pulled out the Skor cake (minus the Skor 😉), Judith ran upstairs and pulled out beef jerky😋 and pkgs of cashews and almonds from her stash and we relaxed and enjoyed our last evening of being together and tried not to think about them leaving the next day. Jaira wondered, “Why can’t they just stay another week?” …We thoroughly enjoyed their visit!

Thurs. June 19

 The men worked on trying to figure out why our battery back up doesn’t work… No success yet😏

After lunch, Lewis brought his wife and 7 yr old daughter over for a visit.

In the evening, we went to Shanto’s for supper. We all sat around on their concrete floor and were served by Pinky and Sotti. Dhal with pcs of chicken that we ate with little rounds of fry bread that they call ruti. And then a small whole fried fish(minus the head) lots of tiny bones to navigate but it had a very delicious flavor, not fishy! 

Wed. June 18

Baby that lost its mother at birth was brought by to receive formula. Carl and Judith, Chris and Sondra, and Jaira also went with the caretaker to buy a bottle.

Dipdi made us chicken curry, rice, vegetable stir-fry, and dhal for lunch.

Scheduled visits here at our house with each of the members. In the evening, Shanto brought his whole family over. Otherwise the men had most of their visits out on our front porch sitting in a circle on plastic chairs, Kobid interpreting. 

Throughout the next couple of days there was lots of rain, power outages, food prep/cleanup, visiting, and games of Qwirkle. Got in a couple walks in the village.

Tues. June 17 field secretaries arrive 🤗

 In the morning, Dipdi informed me that there is pork meat in Batiaghata. So Lonnie took Tulshi with him to have him show him where exactly. Come to find out, s supposedly they butcher and have pork meat at this location every Tues.!! That is Very exciting news!! Lonnie only bought a 1kg chunk to try it out and see what we think of it..

 After lunch, Lonnie met Doyle 1/2 way from Gopalgonj and brought the 2 field secretaries to our house. Carl and Judith Giesbrecht (Princeton,CA) are going off and they are initiating Chris and Sondra Koehn from New Plymouth ID. Carl being Lonnie’s 1st cousin is a benefit we are enjoying, we have looked forward to this visit😊

We enjoyed Christmas in June🥳 with the things brought from America!🤗🤗🤗 Cheese!, choc. chips, little bags of candy, gifts for each of the girls And the 1st baby items for little brother!! Qwirkle game, knife sharpening set, American spices!, etc, etc. Many thanks!!!

The men went out to grill and us ladies cut up fruit while we visited.

After supper, as the jet lag was wanting to overcome our visitors, but they wanted to hold out a little longer so as to not start their night too early. Us ladies and Jaira played a round of Qwirkle...something that didn’t take too much brain power.

Sun. *June 15 Father’s Day

 Made Lonnie’s favorite breakfast… cornbread and gravy… thanks to fellow missionary wife that said she had enough cornmeal to share🤗… cornmeal is not available here.

Lonnie replaced a couple more puck(inset) lights. These Bengalis groove out on colored lightbulbs… red, green, blue, purple,..🙃 but it’s just not the atmosphere us Americans are looking for😏..

Then took the girls with him in to Khulna to finally pick up this replacement mirror that he had cut! Plus a few more groceries for me. I worked on laundry and altering a dress. 

Later got the van vacuumed

Roast beef sandwich lunch. Maddie thought that was the best food she’d had in a long time😅

Rhidoy and Pinky came over to give Lonnie a motorcycle driving lesson. So while Rhidoy and Lonnie were gone, Pinky and I sat on front porch and visited, thanks to Google translate.

*4 months in BD, 1 month at our Khulna post

Sat. June 14

 Woke up feeling So much better than yesterday!! Was able to get back in the kitchen and cook up a good meal for my family again🤗 Waffles with schmogus(German carry over from Lonnie’s family.. homemade pudding sauce made with waffle batter😋) fried eggs and sausage-i-fied beef patties. 

Went in to Khulna to get glucose test results and thought to pick up this mirror that we’ve been waiting to get finished, stopped by a streetside vendor that had some good lookin pineapple and other fruit.

Got some extra tidying and arranging done and sat at the sewing machine a bit.

Tulshi(our guard/yardman) went to the roof top and cleaned the water tank.

Fri June 13

 A day spent convalescing for me as I take my turn with the vicious head cold virus that’s making its rounds.

The big girls went with Lonnie to S.S. this morning. The report was 9 children. The 2 Muslim girls were back with their little brother. The story was about David and Jonathan.

Was thankful for a roast in the crockpot last night. Lonnie got potatoes going and then mashed for us. Maddie and Jaira made a double batch of cornflake squares.

Lonnie went by himself to the 4:00 service with the 3 brethren, 1 of Shamir’s friends, and the reg. attendee. He didn’t get back home till bout 6:00.

Thurs June 12

 Into Khulna 1st thing this morning to redo the glucose test after fasting. 

Picked up dim and ruti on the way home.

Couple loads of laundry

2 hrs later we’re back at the hosp. to do the lab work after the 2 hr fast. Annslie fell asleep on the 20 min drive so Lonnie just dropped Maddie and I off at the door. The place had certainly filled up since this morning, but we took the 2 flights of stairs and were done in no time flat.

We went back to Boro Bazar for more milk powder formula. Lonnie had only taken enough taka for 1 box yesterday.. and we hunted for that certain fabric area again, And Found It🤗 and 2 pcs of fabric😊. While Lonnie ducked into the dokan to buy the milk powder the girls and I stayed in the shade across the street and bought a kilo of mangos from a vendor sitting in the street there. I hadn’t brought my money so had to wait till Lonnie was done for him to come pay. So we stayed right there and attracted a nice😮‍💨 little crowd. The vendor proceeded to try to feed Annslie more of his products

A late lunch of chicken curry leftovers.

Sat at the sewing machine while the girls played their latest favorite.. dressing up as Muslim ladies with any ornas they can round up, and soon we can only see their eyes, with their heads neatly dressed.. fixed nice and tight around their faces with the aid of bobby pins.. and then a tea party in their attire.

This evening after the sun went down I was sitting on the front porch/carport while Annslie played outside.. it was So hot and sticky still! Weather app said 91* Real feel 104*! I wish I had checked the temp this afternoon when we were trying to shop Boro Bazaar out in that heat!.. the van thermometer said 38*C which is 100*F. If the Real feel was 13* higher than actual temp this evening… no wonder we didn’t want to spend too long shopping in Boro Bazaar🥵

Tonight for a “light” supper/little something to tide the girls over till breakfast in the morning, we made pb and j’s. And in an effort at a healthier version… we pulled out the leftover oatmeal pancakes and used those instead of loaf bread! We were impressed😋

Wed. June 11

Oatmeal pancake breakfast

Pulled out the sewing machine today and mending

Ran errands in Khulna.. Boro Bazaar for milk powder for the milk program, grocery store, to the Khulna hosp for a look-see with plans of doing a follow up glucose test… when the place smells like a sale barn and you’re anticipating lab work😱, dropped off a mirror to get a new replacement.

Tues. June 10 Feda Palace contracted till 2031

 10:30 Meeting with our landlord to sign a contract on this place where we live here in Khulna. Our landlord, Pikli, works for the police force. She brought two witnesses with her- a colleague and his brother in law. Doyle, from Gopalgonj, came for the occasion also. We are happy to have the contract signed for another 6 yrs!🥳🤗 Doyle brought his family and they stayed for lunch and the afternoon. The children enjoyed playing together and the adults benefited from some good conversation again!

Mon. June 9

 Went thru the classroom supplies so Miss Christina knows what’s here. Did some organizing and cleaning in the classroom.

Jaira and Annslie got in the pool

Taco and mango lunch. Made cornflake squares.

Made another trip into Khulna, searching for a few more groceries, with a good amount of success. On the way in we pulled over for a whole convoy of motorcycles and then a black mini van with a man standing up thru the moon roof smiling and waving, shaking an occasional hand. I s’pose, some important fella in Bangladesh… and behind followed more motorcycles with their rider’s phones raised high to capture the moment.. the traffic changed to CNGs and then rickshaws and soon we were on our way again.

Sun. June 8

 Made a grocery run. Didn’t find everything we were looking for but at least the grocery store was open on this day after Eid and we were able to find a nice amount of crucial items! Did see a couple cows being butchered along the street, due to the holiday. Lonnie commented that, “we always think it needs to be cold to butcher”🙃 

Spaghetti lunch

Lonnie finally found a language learning app with Bangla, to continue language study.. It’s like Duolingo, not sure who copied who.?.

Another Annslie tidbit… Guess she’s the one that keeps our life interesting some days… some days it’s a little more interesting than we’d prefer like when she gets in the cupboard where extra glass jars are stored and proceeds to drop one on the tile floor where it shatters, reaches for her sisters mostly full cup of tea and dumps it… sticky everywhere, and rips the labels off 6 canned goods so I don’t know what’s in them! … all in 1 afternoon🤦🏼‍♀️…as I write this, I wonder why I didn’t search for the labels so I at least know what’s in the cans even if I don’t know which is which🤔

But the tidbit I was gonna write about, is the stage of “making a house” she will often announce “make(ing) a house” and the sky’s the limit with What she’s making a house with!… magnetic tiles, couch cushions, books, just her hand cupped, her pak n play,….

She’s also been loving her doll “Benny”, asks for it at nighttime, before she got out of bed this morning, will wrap him up in a blanket and rock him in her arms.. But also, any random object, like a mango, will suddenly be her baby and she’ll be walking around rocking it in her arms… something she possibly picked up from her Shania friend back in Dhaka.?..

 Taco supper

Listened to Al + Leah’s wedding.. So happy for them!🤗 Jaira commented, ”So there’ll be a new girl in our congregation?” And I’m thinking, that’s just 1 of the new things that have and will transpire over the next couple years!

Sat June 7 Happy Eid Day!

 Here in the mostly Hindu village not much ado is to be seen. But back in dominant Muslim Pink City, Dhaka, Brianna is keeping us informed of the hoopla going on there! We’d thought we’d like to show back up there to observe, maybe one of these years we will.?.?. But cows and goats have been arriving this last week, being tied in people’s yards, festive tinsel tied around the necks and feet. Rickshaws of hay hauled in, and then today, the butchering day under makeshift tarp lean-tos in the streets!

Here, we had French toast breakfast. 

Then went to Shanto’s jobsite that’s about a 20 min drive in a different village. This has been an ongoing job for about 9 yrs.. finishing out the inside of this spacious concrete multilevel home.. and whatever else odd jobs they have him do. Yesterday it was making concrete steps down to their pukar (pond), he showed us an unfinished project of tiling a mosaic design on a low brick wall encircling a tree in the front yard, today he was finishing puttying nail holes in a door frame and was planning to varnish an upstairs bedroom door with some homemade varnish that he showed us and told us what it was called.. The owner of the house, an elder gentleman and his wife. His son that had gotten married the past year but 5 months in they separated and he now spends the majority of his days sleeping, according to Shanto… after a complete tour of the house, all 3 levels that were in various stages of being complete, we moved on to the next brother’s house, His sister was there also as well as his son’s wife and 2 daughters which were Maddie and Annslie’s ages. The 2 yr old, a beautiful little doll of a girl, with absolutely gorgeous big black shining eyes had only a string with 3 silver bells strung around her waist… until her mom came in from washing the cow and put a pair of shorts on her. These 2 yr olds were immediately drawn to each.. the dark skinned one with black hair feeling Annslie’s blond braids and Annslie touching this little girls black hair and then grabbing my hand and wanting me to touch this little girl’s black skin also😊 The mom served us fresh mango chunks.. a very delicious variety, then brought out jackfruit… our 1st experience eating it!.. it had the flavor and color of cantaloupe but the texture was slimy, stringy, with a sizable seed pod.. and then Jaira was the only one that braved a sip of warm milk that was brought out next. Time to move on. But, as we were headed out the door, the mom grabbed a pretty little dress, slipped it on her toddler and wanted a picture with Annslie … they were a very adorable pair, the same height with their arms around each other’s shoulders..😍 Now with the 2 sisters in tow.. and the 10 yr old making every effort to hold Annslie.. back to the 1st brother’s house where the 3rd brother joined us with another toddler that got a pair of shorts slipped on also🫣. Cha was served and “biscuits” and the common spicy crunchy mixture. Lonnie and the 2 big girls were more than ready to make their departure by this time!… Lonnie’s head cold was getting pretty severe with sinus pressure, etc, but Shanto said.. just one more place and he lead us to the 3rd brother’s house and were shown his 2 lime green pet parrots. Of course, Annslie was immediately intrigued and wanted to hold them! We’re thankful for Annslie on outings like this when the big girls are quite reserved and the adults don’t need much food and can be unsure sometimes how “safe” it is… Annslie is usually always ready for biscuits and the animals usually put her at a degree of ease.. they wanted to feed us here also, “you like mangos?” Well, yes, we like mangos… and Shanto our tour guide says, this is Bengali culture.. but Lonnie put his foot down and said we’d just eaten and we’re ready to leave… Shanto and the 10 yr old followed us out to the gari(car) and told us where we could turn around. We drove on down the trail and found another smaller trail where we could back into and get turned around. Shanto and the 10 yr were still standing by the trail and waved to us as we came back by👋🏼😁

Fri. June 6 Worship Day

 We had a handful of school age boys at the gate this morning hollering, peering thru, ready to go to S.S. even before the appointed time. 

They walked with us and shared our umbrellas.. 3 little boys to an umbrella with their arms around each other as it started to rain.. 😊

5 of the Preschool-14 yr old girls, from last week, showed up today. The story was David and Goliath.

It rained intermittently. Took note that Every boy colored David’s “shirt” blue and lungi(skirt) green.. these children mostly take great care with their coloring,  making their picture beautiful and then a percentage of them will bring their picture to show Lonnie or I or both when they are finished😍

Home to put bbq meatballs, mashed potatoes, cabbage salad, and sliced orange and mandarins on for lunch.

4:00 church service

Bro. Lewis showed up, says his (only, I believe) dau. is sick, has been for a month, doesn’t have an appetite.. asked for prayers. Otherwise it was just the reg. church attendee, Kobid, and the rickshaw van driver.

After church we made popcorn to go with rasp. bars and then we went to Shanto’s for the eve. Antoor was out of town, visiting in his grandmother’s village where there are other Christian young people. Just like people told us, we always enjoy being with Shanto’s family! They are just enjoyable folks to be around! Pinky(Rhidoy’s wife) showed us more of her creations… 2 bracelets and a candle she’d poured. After cha, “biscuits”, and chips. We sang a few songs, Shanto read a portion of scripture then Lonnie read it in English and asked if he had an inspiration on it.. he proceeded to open up his heart and share.. we leaned heavily on Espondant, the youngest son, for interpretation. He says translating normal conversation is no problem but when it comes to matters of the heart it’s definitely harder! By the time Shanto was done sharing, Espondant got up and said his head was dizzy from all that!!🤯 and something I found humorous.. was that as Shanto shared things that were close to his heart and Espondant was struggling to translate, they were both “bouncing their legs”, crossing their ankles, and Rhidoy sitting next there on the bench, putting his 2 bits in to try to help Espondant.. curling the rug up with his feet…. With their nervous energy. And poor Shotti, the wife and mother, was about beside herself trying to get them to quit their nervous energy! She finally came and sat down on the floor by me! But then pulled the rug away from Rhidoy so he couldn’t curl it with his feet anymore!😂 Their nervous energy didn’t bother me one bit, and I probably wouldn’t have even noticed if it hadn’t been bothering Shotti! But, I could definitely relate!!😅

Thurs June 5

 Lonnie went scouting for a light dokan (store) and then the A.C. repairman showed up again with a new control panel for the girls’ A.C. Hopefully it will stay working now for awhile! He spent the rest of the day on the computer making a spread sheet that’s more user friendly for recording all things income and expense for the Khulna post here 💻 🧾🗃️

A day in the kitchen for me..a batch of bagels

 poor man’s steak and gravy for lunch

 4-loaf batch of bread

Miss Shana’s Raspberry White Choc Streusel Bars

Roasted a kilo of Anaheims in the oven for Mexican dishes that have been lacking green chilies 

After dark we walked with Lonnie to the dokan to get pictures printed for S.S. tomorrow.

Tulshi(our guard) showed up after his shift was over and bought us all cha(tea)🤎

When Lonnie was putting Annslie to sleep, she suddenly pointed to the wall words “A, apple!” and told Lonnie it was on her (Leap Frog) computer (that she’d been playing with that afternoon)!

Wed June 4

 Baked Oatmeal breakfast with mangoes.

Dipdi made lunch for us.. chicken curry, rice, veg stir fry, and dhal (lentils). Was So yummy😋 

I worked in the spare bedroom/storage most of the day, more rearranging, decluttering, and making more usable for a bedroom. By the end of the day I was happy with the results of a cozy bedroom.😌 Long time goal for Annslie’s room, short time goal, for the big girls to use when Carl’s come bringing the new CSI field secretary, here in a couple weeks. 

Lonnie was occupied a good share of the day helping the A.C. repairman in the girls’ room upstairs. They found 3 fried geckos on the control panel!

Tues. June 3

 A good little thunderstorm during the night⛈️ Annslie was the only one that mostly slept thru the ruckus and power outage.. and we still haven’t got our battery backup working, so eventually Lonnie went out to turn the generator on.

We are in mango season. And one way to eat them, tried this morning, was in a crepe with a little vanilla yogurt, then after it’s rolled up, drizzle a little homemade caramel syrup over top 😋 our family loves peaches fresh or frozen with our breakfast food and certain varieties of mangoes make a good replacement! Btw, there are hundreds of varieties of mangoes and they vary in sweetness, texture, and size..(something I’ve learned since coming here)

The A.C. repair man came today to get the girls’  bedroom A.C. up and going again.

Caribbean Jerk Chicken lunch.

Just as night was coming on we went for a walk in the village. Bought some produce and Annslie tried on footwear at the shoe dokan 🩴 

Mon. June 2

 Doyle and Krystal (Gopalganj missionaries) told us to come at 9:30 and stay for lunch.

Well, we didn’t have a pin 📍 of their place so didn’t give ourselves enough time to begin with and then a stop at the fuel station and a stop with the police when we thought the speed limit was 80 km/h instead of 60😏 we arrived at Doyle’s an hr later than the arranged time😏 

The girls stayed at the house with Doyle’s children and Sheema, the maid. 

Side note here: Sheema is the same maid that worked for Lonnie’s sister LeAnne and Flynn Smith and family for 3 yrs.. 8+ yrs ago😊 it was fun to meet her and make the connection😊 She proceeded to name off their 3 children.

 Lonnie and I walked with Krystal to the clinic where Doyle and their 3 yr old Jonas were. They run a milk program for cleft lip and palette babies and refer eye and cleft patients on to Dhaka for operations. Very interesting to observe! And it’s so wonderful that there is hope for these babies and truly amazing how some of them have survived! One 7 month old had a lot of other things going on as well 😏 The way I got it, He’d had intestine surgery shortly after he was born, so was able to have bowel movements thru his belly where they had a pc of cloth wrapped around his middle, holding a rag over it, to protect it! His one hand for sure, was turned in at about a 90* angle from his wrist (kind of like pigeon toed on a foot..) he looked like a happy, cared for baby tho!! His grandma and young aunt had brought him… his mother was working in Dhaka…

After seeing all the patients, we walked back to Doyle’s where Sheema had lunch cooked.. chicken curry, rice, okra and dhal. After lunch, the children played outside till they were too hot and sweaty. Had doy(yogurt made in clay pots) and then the girls washed the dishes. 

The adults went to the rooftop to visit and the children got into their swim clothes to play in the garden hose water. The men stayed on the rooftop visiting and Krystal and I went down to the a.c. in the living room where Edward, the 1 yr old, was put down for a nap. Before we knew it, it was 5:00! Time to head home so as not to have to travel in the dark.

Sun. Happy June🌞

Biscuits and gravy and then Lonnie agreed to brave Boro Bazar!

We had the parking street marked on Google maps and the fabric too, we thought. But it wasn’t the same area that we’d been to with Doyle’s that we were really wanting to get back to😏 we did a lot of walking and answering the important question to so many passersby, “What country you from?” And their happy faces as they repeat with a smile,”ahh… America, America”- rolling the r sound. We did find a couple treasures and enjoyed the sights, sounds, and even some of the smells!🙃

Day-7(groceries) and the bank, on the way home.

Made a late pizza lunch.

Sat. May 31

 After a crepe brunch we ran into town for groceries, a  stop at the bank, checked out the Aarongs here in Khulna city to see what they all had.. Jaira came in with me and I tried on 7 dresses and left the store with 1 of them for about $12 USD😊 

Back home, Jaira took responsibility for washing all the fruit and veggies, while I put leftovers in the oven, and Maddie hung out the next load of laundry. 

The evening found all of us with our noses in a book. It has been probably years!?! since I sat down and read a book for pure pleasure. But these houses over here are nicely stocked and I pulled this one out and it immediately piqued my interest…

Annslie has just recently gotten to where she’ll count. Like, the girls were counting something “1,2,” and then Annslie volunteered “free!” And later when the girls asked, “How many balloons in the picture?” She answered correctly!? 2 yr olds can be so ridiculously impossible at times and then So fun and sweet too!