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😊

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!