Sat. Aug. 30 👩🏽‍🏫1st Day back to school 🇧🇩

 Breakfast at 7:30 baked oatmeal and sausage patties and rain pouring outside! No worries, we do not even need to leave house😉

It was a new experience to have the teacher in our home for breakfast on the 1st day of school🤩

Told her, “There’s probably nothing quite like knowing exactly what kind of morning your students have before their arrival in the classroom.”😅 and guessed that it surely was quite a bit less stressful, scary to have 1st Day in this setting!

Girls to their classroom by 8:30 quickly rounding up their pencil, eraser, etc.!🙃 I had not managed to get new dresses sewn for them so they wore their kameeze sets which are still very nice! Both girls have reasons of their own why they only wear them on rare occasions🧐 (I think they are darling and would love if they would wear them more often…) 

It was somehow inspiring for me to have the girls back in school! Maybe it was an earlier morning that helped or a combination of an incentive of the Dhaka families spending a couple days with us after the upcoming Gopalgonj occasion!? And who knows, “nesting instinct” might play a part too😆 but anyways, had a productive morning😊 getting to some extra cleaning🧽🧼✨ , working on several loads of laundry… the 1st taking A L L morning with a couple power outages! Lonnie took the time to babysit/train Annslie on this 1st Day back to school…Another big change in her little life…🗣️ “Maddie, Jairie!”😢 ..And she was not allowed to go upstairs..

The rain stopped by 1st recess and they were able to go outside😊

Lunch at noon and recess then back to the classroom for a couple hours. The girls were happy and seemed enthused about the day🤗 after school they all came down and played Cover Your Assets and then went out side to play for awhile. 

When Lonnie got home from his walk shortly after 5:00 , he pulled the carrom board out and him and the girls played til shower time, stopping for a bite to eat.. while I worked on the spare room, tidying and organizing, in preparation for M. Christina to use while we have guests later this week..

Fri. Aug. 29 Day of Worship

 Jaira told me the other day, “I don’t know if I’m more excited about going to S.S. or the 1st day of school starting again!?” She hasn’t always been so enthused about S.S. here, but she loves to sing the songs! We hear them often thru out the days! It seems like we’ve missed quite a few this last month with being gone last week, getting rained out, or being sick.. And I think she was enthused to have Miss Christina along and be there too .?.

Had a nice turnout with nearly 40 children here in Choygoria. We took 2 rickshaw vans to Chakrakhali S.S. It seemed to be a little calmer today.. although there’s always the 11 yr old son of the family that hosts that’s a bit of a cut up, and the quarters are a bit tight so it’s hard for them to stay out of each others space.. Lonnie asked King Kor if he would not have his mobile out during S.S… he respectfully put it back in his pocket💙 bear in mind.. this boy is 17.. a couple of his friends there are 15, etc. (his friends were in full support) we wondered today if maybe the style of S.S. in Chakrakhali should change just a bit..?. Lonnie does tell the Bible story more to their level, pointing out the lesson in it for us and asking them more mature questions… But we do have a handful of young children that also attend there and enjoy coloring the picture, etc,…

Back home, Lonnie got the grill going and put the drumsticks on while the girls and I made mashed taters, cooked carrots, tea, cut up watermelon, and set table.

4:00 service, everybody showed up!! + the beggar man.. Bro. Shomid arrived while Bro. Shanto was having opening. 

After the service, the 3 single brethren had some things to discuss with Lonnie at great length🙏🏼… 

Shanto’s family,  the girls and I walked to the food stand just up the way. Shanto wanted to buy us some little cups of spicy 🌶️ chick peas with bits of diced cucumber on top. Annslie ended up eating most of the cup that Maddie, Jaira, and I were sharing with her. 

Shanto said he had something he wanted to talk to Lonnie about so I told them to just come home with us while we waited till he was available. Made hot tea for everybody and we sat in the living room and visited.. Lonnie got back in not too long.. About the time they were getting up to leave, almost 13 yr old Espondant, brought up the subject of Pacifism, he had big questions about it, Lonnie tried to explain, bringing out historical examples, etc. the rest of the family was ready to go tho, Pinky’s husband Rhidoy had stayed home with her Dad.. Espondant made exclamation when he opened the door and saw how dark it was out already!! .. maybe Lonnie and him will be able to discuss more sometime on the subject that was troubling him. And maybe only a “born again” heart can truly understand what Lonnie told him we often term as Nonresistance..?..🙏🏼

Popcorn and watermelon

Thurs Aug 28

 Got a load of laundry in

Mixed up and shaped hamburger patties according to Neil Brubaker’s recipe. Got homemade buns out of the freezer. Then we headed into Khulna for groceries. Jaira and I took Miss Christina up the 2 next levels of Safe N Save to show her around and what’s there.

Back home, Lonnie got the grill going while the rest of us made macaroni salad, put groceries away, washed up fruit n veggies, and got the table set. We sat down to lunch by 2:30🙃.. I’m thankful Miss Christina doesn’t have blood sugar problems, 🤪so far she has been rolling with our lifestyle without a squeak (to us..?..) She has been in BD a week now! We plan to start school Sat. morning. Not that we will usually have school on Sat. But that will give them a 3 day week before we head to Gopalgonj for a couple days.

As Lonnie was cleaning up the grill, the bottom finally fell out! He’d been thinking it would last a little longer.. But he said, no problem, Tulshi is already on it! He used part of the shiny metal/aluminum? water heater that we recently pulled out and had the grill ready to go again before evening🤗

Lonnie put Annslie down for a nap then left on his walk. 

I got a batch of salsa going

Supper was a fend for yourself/leftovers occasion after a late lunch and as I was still working on salsa.

Eye camp medicine suppliers came by at 8:00 to restock our supply.

Wed Aug 27 Eye Camp Chakrakhali

 Eye camp here in Chakrakhali. Lonnie left at 8:30.

When Annslie has the play dough out while Dipti’s here, she will often sit down and make something too. Today it was a very good model of a mushroom☺️

Shortly before 11:00 all the girls n I took the rickshaw van that I’d had Tulshi call for us. Dipti had just finished cleaning so she jumped on with us also. And we got to witness eye camp for the 1st time😊 We let Dipti get in ahead of the crowd and the girls and I sat behind a table where Lonnie was entering each patient’s info in his laptop with the translating help of Bro. Liton’s “little” brother. Then Bro. Kobid would give the prescribed,  recommended eye drops to the patient, explaining the instructions. Bro. Liton was there also assisting as needed, like guiding the old women to the room that they needed to go to next😊 .. when the old ladies just wanted to stand there and smile at the bideshis😉 The Press (newspaper reporters) came by also. Maddie n Jaira ducking under the table whenever the camera would swing their way, determined not to be in their pictures!

When Dipti was done seeing the Dr. and got her eye drops, my girls were definitely done also. I asked Dipti if we could come by and see her home? So we waited with her till her husband came by. He is a rickshaw van driver.. I have been wanting to see where Dipti lives and also see her 2 sons! She seemed a bit nervous about showing us where she lived, but Bengalis are very hospitable as a general rule and hopefully it was also an honor for her.. They have a very small property in the line of homes in the village there.. a cow and a calf, with a straw stack, a goose and a nice number of ducks, a nice small pukar(pond) right close there. I asked to see where she cooked.. a small dirt floor shack, with a food cabinet but otherwise very meagerly stocked, her mud oven on the floor with a stack of twigs ready. I commented “bhalo” and she replied, “bhalo na”(not good) she knows so well the standard we live in but her setting is very typical villager. Her husband came back from the dokan about that time with a 1/2 liter of cold sprite and a package of biscuits so we stepped up into her house. That 1st room is also her and her husband’s bedroom. The wooden bed had a vinyl? cover over it, otherwise just a hard wooden bed😳 we sat on it and also on a plastic chair that she brought in and had biscuits and Sprite. Her home consisted of 2 more rooms, 1 for each son. Her oldest came out to say “Hi” and then disappeared back into his dark bedroom, her other son was at school. They brought a fan out and I saw a lightbulb so they have power, but they never turned any lights on while we were there. The 2 boys’ bedrooms were so dark I couldn’t see in. While we visited there, her husband pulled his rickshaw van in the cow shed and waited. A neighbor and then her dau. also came by and hung out with Dipti’s husband in the cow shed, easily visible and able to talk to thru the slats of the house walls where we were sitting… the neighbors showed up just to be there while the bideshis were there, typical…And then they invited us to come to Their house when we came again😉 Dipti’s husband took us home on his rickshaw van then, never letting us pay for our ride.

Pulled out leftover Dominos pizza and Cajun chicken pasta for some lunch.

Lonnie would be having lunch with the Dristidon eye camp crew.

Lonnie was home by 3:30

There were 450 patients today!

209 stopping by Lonnie’s desk..

I did another small trial batch of tortillas with another recommended recipe.. I’m beginning to think the success of these tortillas also lies in the technique of running this particular press..

Lonnie headed out for his afternoon/evening stroll and his typical destination, “to check on the boys”😉 

Pulled out taco meat and the fixings for tacos and had our sweet limes 🍋‍🟩 that are a bit comparable to an orange.

Tues Aug 26

 Lonnie and Tulshi went to pick up pork mangsho(meat)

Dipti made us a curry meal for lunch

I got my ironing done

Lonnie went for his walk, and upon being bidden, played a game of carrom.

Miss Christina played outside with the girls in the afternoon, shooting baskets 🏀, etc

I washed, trimmed, cut up meat into small chunks, and then got it all browned and put in the freezer in preparation for the supper I’m responsible for 1st of Sep. A farewell/welcome at Gopalgonj for Jared’s leaving soon and the new workers and teachers on the field.

A light quick supper of watermelon, leftover cucumber salad, and deviled eggs. Then the peanut butter and crackers were pulled out yet too.

Mon. Aug. 25 💞13yrs Mr & Mrs

 Made Lonnie’s favorite breakfast, cornbread, sausage gravy, boiled eggs

Lonnie went into Khulna to buy the teacher desk chair that we singled out last night and check on the rocking chair.. the 15 days that they’d told us are up, but it was not there yet/available for pickup.

I got busy in the kitchen mixing up a batch of sweet roll dough and flan.

Lonnie came home with a bunch of flowers in a clay pitcher with the announcement that he’d brought me something fun to do🥰 He knows I like to arrange bouquets (plus I’m pretty sure a beautifully arranged bouquet was probably not available🙃) 

Put lunch on the table- grilled chicken sand. on fresh baked buns with slaw. Christina cut up the watermelon for me.

Lonnie put Annslie down for her nap and I worked on flower arranging, ended up with 3 bouquets☺️ So fun! (If any man happens to read this and you know your wife likes to arrange bouquets… you just might try this approach once😉)

Oh and Lonnie also came home with 6 clay pots that he’d found for the plants we’d bought for the teacher’s upstairs veranda. We just need to find 2 more bigger ones.. Tulshi is rounding up dirt for the pots and he says he’s getting some “fertilizer”? to mix in with the dirt👍🏼

Christina spent the afternoon working in her classroom again getting ready for school. 

Lonnie went for a walk and stopped for a game of carrom. He said it felt like the tension was high in the village this afternoon also, maybe if we got the local paper we’d have a little insight to what’s up?..?.. while he was at the dokan, a man came dashing in, taking refuge from his wife? that was in a rage.. I thought in this culture, it would usually be the other way around🤔 …?..

Supper was Southwestern Grilled Chicken Pasta (Down Home Southern Cookin’) and flan for dessert. 

Maddie asked Christina to come play 3 square with them and they spent the rest of the evening out there till shower time😊

Sun. Aug. 24

It was fun to see Dipti’s(maid) reaction upon meeting our new teacher😊 “bhalo. Shundor. Shundor dat, Shundor face. Lomba!” (Good. Beautiful. Beautiful teeth, beautiful face. Tall!)”purush bhalolage”…

 After breakfast, the girls and I went for a walk in the village. In the daylight this time😅 Christina could get a little better look-see of the area. 

Lonnie grilled up some white bbq chicken.

After lunch and Annslie’s nap we went into Khulna. Just before crossing the bridge there was an easy bike with about 5 people around it having a physical fight… something we haven’t actually had to witness much of yet, thankfully! We couldn’t help but notice that, in general, the tension seemed heightened tonight in the city🧐 

Shopped for a teacher desk chair for the classroom

Then to the grocery store, Safe N Save. Christina and Jaira came in with me. 

Dominos for a pizza supper 

Fri. Aug. 22 Back to Khulna

Down to the complimentary breakfast. This time they let us know when we walked in, they had a reserved sign for us on the table that we usually occupy😅🤩 We packed out of our hotel rooms.

 To Jared’s shortly after 9:30 to pick up Miss Christina and our Dhaka groceries.

While Lonnie worked on packing everything in I chatted with Brianna. Have I said this before 🙃 , we’re really gonna miss these folks when they leave! Their end of Sep. departure is feeling quite imminent! But time and change must continue…

We are now 6 in our 7 passenger Toyota Esquire white minivan and our new phase with teacher on board has officially begun. We had a more complicated time than normal getting out of Dhaka with a detour and seriously congested traffic! Quite an initiation for Miss Christina!  Once we got out of Dhaka it was fairly uneventful. Altho, just as we were nearing him home and driving thru Chakrakhali… as we came up over the levee railroad track, there was this lady lying in the middle of the road🧐 about that time she raised up on one elbow and an easy bike pulled up beside her and the folks in it were talking to her.!. We made it home by 3:00.

I gave Christina a tour of the house while Lonnie unloaded the van. We soon discovered a slow drip, drip 💧 from the main bathroom ceiling🧐 and could tell this had been dripping for awhile as the floor was all wet! Not the kind of thing that is very welcoming upon returning from a trip into Dhaka(or ever, for that matter!) Then got the cold groceries put away before we all had a sample of cheese sent from home. This horn of cheese was hugged by cousins Blake and Kinsley before it made its journey over🥰 and yes, the 2nd time we pulled it out, later that evening, Annslie asked to give it a hug on its way to the table😊

Next, was open the suitcase time, as we all gathered around👀💗 special groceries and items from the other side of the world, gifts of sweets with notes from cousins and aunties, sweetest outfits/bibs/burp cloths for “baby brother” from sisters and friends, cards and letters💝, and then this little bundle wrapped in Saran Wrap.. what could It be.?. What a delightful surprise!!! A Stack of Handmade “Day Brightener” notecards! Made by our church family, friends, and family🥹💝 …Maddie and Jaira were immediately occupied for the next while😍 I worked on putting things away and getting supper on, with some help from Miss Christina😊... a quick one of tacos and apple slices. Then while the girls cleaned up supper, I took my turn reading thru the Day Brightener cards, how absolutely special! ..Getting the likes while being on the other side of the world spending the last 6 months adjusting to Everything!!(a land of mostly foreign speech, food that’s not available/tremendously spicy/just doesn’t taste the same as we’re used to/making sure it won’t cause sickness, hard beds, lack of independence as Lonnie is the only one legal to drive…I’m not truly looking to drive these roads  by the way tho either!!, learning how to shop for groceries and essentials… no one stop shop here!!.. or Lowe’s or hardware store.. but dokans specializing in each thing spread across the 3rd largest city in Bangladesh with insane traffic or found 4 hrs north in Dhaka, or not at all!.. and this is Not a list of complaints, btw!😉 just a sampling of adjustment examples! in a new culture..

Where else would I ..

have a day guard named Tulshi 30-ish yrs old, with dark skin and flashing white teeth, very mild tempered, rather shy, soft spoken, that my 2 yr old loves, observed to change sets of clothes several times a day😅 one day I counted 5 different sets! Plaid lungi (wrap around skirt style), white shorts and hot pink T-shirt, gray pants, I don’t remember all the combos anymore just the impressive part of noticing Another change of clothes!..At intervals through the day😅 I could add a lot more details on the day guard subject, but maybe we’ll go on 😉

A sweet short Hindu maid named Dipti. That comes 5 mornings a week and saves me a lot of time sweeping and mopping 2 levels of tiled floors. Spends one morning a week cooking us up a delicious Bangla meal. I’m enthused to let you watch her( when you come to visit😉) as she sits on my kitchen floor in front of a large curved blade that she uses to cut up the meat, peel and slice, dice, or grate the vegetables. Using a stone slab with a stone rolling pin type pestle that she crushes the garlic onion and ginger on..

Visit in the home of Shanto and Shotti and their 3 older boys and sweet, creative daughter in law Pinky. Always good conversation, smiles and laughter and hot tea ☕️ And a scrawny, handicapped cat making her appearance🙃

A tiny church house full of rows of Bengali children sitting cross legged on large mats singing

🎶 Ke akash stristi korlen? Ami na, tumi na, tobe ke?.. 🎵 

(..Oh who can make a flower?)

Or

🎶Buddiman badhilo pashane tar ghor (3x)

Brishti namilo jhom jhom jhom!

Brishti namilo, ban ashilo (3x)

Kintu shei ghor norilo na.🎵

(The wise man and the foolish man)

Then all folding their hands and bowing low as the missionary prays to his God.. unlike the manner in which the Muslim pray to their God or the Hindu to their many gods.. 

listening to a story from the Bible with large picture cards to illustrate. 

And coloring a picture that coordinates with the story that morning

Stopping by to show the missionaries and/or Kobid(translator) their coloring job as they leave..

Oh, shortly after we got home, Shanto called Lonnie from church wondering if they should wait for him or just get started.. (Lonnie had put a message on the local chat saying we were getting home from Dhaka this afternoon and wouldn’t be in church) but they had seen Annslie out playing and I s’pose our van in the carport also. So Lonnie dropped his “dripping ceiling sleuthing”, changed his clothes, and hustled off to church.

 

Sat. Aug. 23

 Crepe breakfast.. whipped “cream”, blueberry pie filling, syrup, sausage, and grated cheese,

So, there is this aisle in Wholesale Club store with random imported Costco items!🤗 some are very pricy but are available! And every once in awhile there is a doable  splurge. This time it was maple syrup 😋 (an example of how overpriced some imported items can be … we have found MaSeCa flour(like what you would make corn tortillas with) for sale. But it’s equivalent to $30 USD compared to Walmart‘s price of $3.98!!😳

Lonnie went searching for parts to get the hot water in the kitchen and main bath going again (The cause of the dripping ceiling upon arrival back home) Took Annslie with him. No success, he would have to go into Khulna after lunch

Baked bread

Sewed a couple seams 

Cajun chicken pasta lunch and salad!😋

Lonnie came home from Khulna with a new water heater and he’d been to Artisan and found a couple pair of pants and 2 of those kind of shirts that we have been admiring over here. Long sleeved, very light cotton, with a band instead of a regular shirt collar… we’ll see how he likes ‘em.

After dark when it had quit raining, the girls and I went for a short walk in the village and stopped at the dokan where Lonnie was playing carrom with a few of the locals. Showed Christina a few more of the dokans that were open and bought some cucumbers. The locals were interested in our notun shikikka (new teacher) and remembered the most recent teacher from a couple? yrs ago, Callie. 1 lady at a food stand gave us some “chips”  crispy fried tortillas.. and we made our way back home stepping to the side to let a small herd of 5 cows walking single file, past.. I don’t think they would actually walk right into you but they never seem to have any intention of moving out of the way for us!🤔

Thurs, Aug 21 our teacher arrives!😊

 Lonnie’s alarm rang at 1:30 a.m. showered, and drove to Doyle’s air bnb to pick him up. That sounds so simple but they had some unforeseen obstacles at that hour of the night! .. in the form of locked gates! Upon leaving the hotel, the 3rd rt down a narrow street finally got him around locked gates. And then Doyle had to wake the guard at his air bnb to get out😅

They got to the airport and the man that had been hired to help the girls thru immigrations was no where around🧐 and Doyle was not allowed in. Another  chance to practice independence in a strange setting(that wasn’t in the plans), as they filled out their paperwork and answered questions and found their luggage. 

Took the girls to Pink City to the Dhaka missionary’s house where they could get some zzzs in. 

Lonnie was back to the hotel by 4:30 a.m. where he crashed for several hours.

Around noon we were back at Jared’s to pick Christina up and take her out for “breakfast” 😉 we went to the UniMart next to the airport. On the next floor up there is a new Cinnabon place that I had my heart set on since seeing their advertisement sign last night🫣 We were not disappointed😌 we also tried their panini sandwiches which rated high also🤗

We went down to shop UniMart a bit and show it to Christina.

Then dropped her back by Jared’s and we took Annslie back to the hotel for a nap to give the best case scenario possible for evening plans. The girls and Lonnie went swimming in the rooftop pool and Christina got ready to do something back at Jared’s, we were 30 min away, and hadn’t thought hanging out at the hotel would be something she would want to do but wished later we would’ve tried seeing how the hotel staff would’ve reacted to having her along and swimming with the girls😏 As Miss Aleigha had ended up hanging out with Doyle’s at their air bnb.. We did some messaging and she ended up walking over to the guesthouse where our new Dhaka couple was getting ready to host everybody for supper after a morning of language class and 2 little boys 3 yr and  3? month old under foot. They said they’d be glad for some help.. we got there around 6:00. Supper was soon on, the children around the dining room table and the adults in the living room. 10 adults, 11 children. Kaylee had a yummy stack up supper.. rice, chicken, and a whack of vegetable options , lime wedges, and an oriental style sauce. Brianna had made apple cake. Us ladies made short work of the cleanup while the men started singing quartets . The teachers were encouraged to go join them and before long the rest of us ladies joined them in the living room also. It was so fun having an American/Mennonite gathering of that size again 🤗 and singing in a group like that again also! The children did exceptionally well with not being wild and loud! The older children playing outside some.. 

Wed. Aug 20

To Pink City to use Brianna’s washing machine

 UniMart shopping

Went to check out Doyle’s air bnb to see what Dhaka has to offer.. definitely had some perks!..was in a nice location, new✨, tastefully decorated, clean, 

Then both of our families went to the tower that has UniMart, by the airport. At the Chef’s Table food court we all got what suited our fancy and put a string of tables together by the play area that the children were thoroughly enjoying. Near the play area, where we ate, is this long bench with a string of airplane windows above it, adding a neat dimension to the dining area..

 https://maps.app.goo.gl/mwwzjFNoJJ6cbPq8A

Sat. Aug 16 👦🏾🤣

 Sewing and mending

Mummy dogs with homemade crescent roll dough

This evening when Lonnie was playing carrom in the village, there was this little guy (6-7?yr old) observing.. It was time to cut the pile with the opening shot.. but just before the player did that another player says,” Wait!” And gets a bit of something off the board just in case that would obstruct his shot outcome. So then when the player was lining up for his shot again, Lonnie says, “Wait!”….. just kidding! That hit the little boy’s funny bone and sent him into gales of laughter🤣 and then it didn’t take much to get him laughing again! 

Tues Aug 19 to Dhaka

 Got left by 8:00

1/2 way there, we got word that Miss Christina’s flight from Memphis to Dallas was delayed long enough, that she missed her overseas flight. So her and Miss Aleigha Froese(her fellow teacher headed to our neighboring post, Gopalgonj) spent an additional 24 hrs in Dallas and caught a flight the next evening.

To Dhaka by noon with 1st stop being Jamuna Future Park (a shopping mall). Up to the 5th floor food court where we decided on a fast food place called Takeout. We were not disappointed! They had the Best burgers I’ve ordered since arriving🥳 finally! No off flavor! Or are my taste buds just now getting adjusted, 6 mo into this.?.🧐 whatever the case, it was a jalapeño smash burger that delighted🤗 they also had some fruit squash-es(icees😅) tangerine and lemonade. That were very tasty also😊

On to Kid’s Paradise to buy an infant car seat. Btw, Bangladesh or whoever the maker is.?. Has Nuna brand definitely beat on lightweight infant carrier!! That’s most certainly the only thing it has it beat on, tho!!😂 a pair of “shoes” for Annslie, and a few other finds. Another store had the lovely surprise of the kitchen trash can with lid that I’ve been looking for that isN’T in the $40 range!🤗 Mr D.I.Y. store for a new dog bed for Toby And some squeegee holders that we’ve been looking high and low for🤗 Wholesale Club store next where I realized another reason why I accidentally refer to this place as Costco often… they have an aisle of actual imported Costco items!! The exact items vary, and are often double the price…

Back at the hotel, Lonnie and the girls went for a swim, the sun was no longer on the water and there was a breeze so was a bit chilly! Down to the hotel restaurant for a bite to eat. The Caesar Salad had an upgraded look this time with a cucumber cut to look like a flower on the side, fresh parsley on the grilled chicken…and we enjoyed the pepper steak again, it is a recognizable amount less dollars than the rib eye and is this thick slab of tender beef😊 although neither are prices you’d pay back in America…

Thurs. Aug.14 🧵🌮 🍉

 Worked on zigzagging the edges of the pcs for the last dress I cut out and also a dress I’ve been wearing that I’d just used pinking shears on and was fraying pretty bad. But the machine started giving me fits😤 Had Lonnie oil it. It sounds much better now but still giving me fits! So, worked on ironing the pcs of fabric we bought yesterday..

Chicken tacos and watermelon 🍉 some tiny watermelons are in season/available now.. so yummy to have again! Nothing says “summer” like cold, sweet, red watermelon🤗

Fri. Aug. 15 Worship Day

 A nice sunny day for a change ☀️ So no question about whether S.S. or not.

Choygaria S.S. here at our church building was 1/2 the amount of children as what’s been normal. Kobid says that’s normal after a skipped week to have less attendance the next week. There were Several new faces in the 20 that were there! I stayed home while the others went on to the next S.S. at Chakrakhali. Don’t feel up to the rickshaw van rides these days…🤔

Got the chicken n potatoes in the oven, picked a flower bouquet from the yard, and put a few extra touches to the table. This is our last Fri. before our teacher arrives and joins our family! Just 5 more days🤗

4:00 service. We got the building swept, chairs set up, lights and fans turned on… Lonnie said, if nobody shows up, we’ll leave in 6 min…4:30. But! The 3 single brethren and the local beggar man did show up then and we had a nice little service. Bro Samir having the opening on “thirsting for the Living water” John 4:10-11 and Lonnie gave some teaching on Matthew 5: 21-22 You are welcomed to join us in prayer for these souls over here.. the devil is just as ruthless on this side of the world. He tempts with jealousy and peer pressure and blinds with pride, causing real rifts in relationships 😏🙏

After the service we took a walk out to the levee. Stopped for cha on our way back. The lady picked us some tiny green persimmons 😝 Annslie enjoyed gnawing on them😅 

Then at the last tea dokan before our place, I stepped inside to say “Hi” to the Mom n Grandma of the chubbiest!! little 3 mo. old baby boy..

Was wonderful to get back home to the A.C.!! 🥵

Wed Aug. 13🧑🏾😊

 To Boro Bazar for more fabric, a couple pcs for each of us. Would like to get a 1st day of school dress sewn for the girls yet.  “warm” lightbulbs and Jaira and I found some string lights also (can’t beat the prices.. comparable to $1 and $2 USD!!),

On Lonnie’s afternoon walk a few S.S. boys followed him a bit. One in particular asked, “Do you have money?”. He soon left them behind. On his way back by, the little feller was back. Again asking if Lonnie had money, holding out his hand, “money, money”. Lonnie told him, “You have to work if you want money.”

“But, I go to school.”

“That’s ok. When you get bigger, you can work for money.”

But, that did not satisfy the boy. So Lonnie told him, “Pick up the trash along the path here and give it to me.” So they walked along, the boy picking up trash and handing it to Lonnie. Two more S.S. boys commenced to help also. 

A passer by asked, “What are you doing?” 

The boy replied, “Jani na.?. (I don’t know)”

So Lonnie explained,”Sundor Bangladesh pori skar” (a few words to say cleaning, to make Bangladesh beautiful).

And then the boys took up the chant, “Sundor Bangladesh!”

One little boy was just pointing to the trash and having the others pick it up, so Lonnie told him, “Only those with trash in their hand got money.”

When they got back to the dokan next to our church building, they put the collected trash by the trash can and Lonnie bought them all a Coke. The shop owner says, “Those are some happy boys!”😊

Lonnie wanted to try his hand at perfecting the tortilla dough. More times than not, we are not 💯 percent happy with the result.. they’re fine, but not the exact perfection we’re looking for..🤔

He also helped me pin in an invisible zipper. They have always been more than my brain can wrap around🤯 I always have to rip one side out and re-pin!!?! …2(brains) are better than one😌🙃

Tues. Aug. 12 Pork Day

 Lonnie went and picked up dim n ruti for breakfast.

Then to pick up the 8 kg of pork we’d ordered Sun. 

Made a 17 lb batch of sausage. So wonderful to have sausage again!  The process took us several hours with 1st washing bone chips off, and cutting out sinew, several door bell interruptions with somebody at the gate or our night guard stopping by with a request, double grind, weighing, and bagging,.. but the process is completely worth it!! We were out for a week and I think I thought about it every day😅

In the eve, we had some things we needed to get over to Shanto’s so we told them we would be stopping by.

Pinky was in the middle of a painting project. So we sat on the concrete floor there and watched her as we visited. It was a long pc of fabric that she was painting a design on for a customer wanting 2 regular sized pillow cases and and one large size. 

Rhidoy showed Annslie the new baby kitties in the corner and she happily bothered them all evening🙃

Mon. Aug. 11 🍪

 Cut out a dress

Dipti made us a chicken curry meal for lunch😋

A load of laundry and Lonnie worked on rigging it up so the water going into the washing machine has a filter, actually a 2nd filter. Hopefully it will help with the muddy blotches that can be quite difficult to get back out of “clean” laundry.

Lonnie went for his afternoon walk…”just a horse and cart on Mulberry Street”-Dr. Seuss.

Made several small batches of cookies, each containing PB. Somehow, over here we’ve eaten more peanut butter than ever in our lives before!.. protein like we’d been used to, is a little harder to come by over here…

Lonnie went for cha(tea) and then him and Annslie to the pharmacy dokan with a woman that showed up at the gate needing monetary help with meds..

Sun Aug. 10 a rocking chair

When Dipti came to clean, she checked out the baby bed and it’s softness and wanted to know again how soon till its arrival

 Lonnie made a trip into Khulna in search of a rocking chair. At a street where they have a whole string of furniture stores he stopped and started by going in the 1st one and then the next etc. What is readily available are some mammoth wooden chairs that take up Lots of room and rock so far back that you feel like your going over backwards and are so large that I cannot rest my feet on the floor!?! I do not understand why such a large rocking chair is so popular when as a general rule, the ladies are small here!?! Anyway, by about the 3rd store a man met Lonnie at the door and wanted to help, he said he was driving by on his motorcycle when he saw Lonnie stop up the street. Lonnie showed him a picture of a glider rocking chair like he was looking for. And the reply was, “No, a nice rocking chair like that is not available in Khulna, maybe Dhaka!” But, the man went with him to the rest of the furniture stores on the street and explained to each one, what Lonnie was looking for. “Not available.” Then this helper told Lonnie, “There is 1 more place to check, across the street. I will help you across.” He turned back across the street once they made it to the other side. And Lonnie went in to ask. The man immediately replied, “Yes, we have that chair.” And he took him up to the 3rd floor. It was there alright! Complete with lime green cushions😂 But he showed Lonnie the other fabric color samples and said he could order one and have it here in 15 days. And that is what they did, so we can have a rocking chair to use for our baby #4😌

Laundry… + bedding and the baby clothes that I have.

Annslie got in the pool a bit but the big girls are not very enchanted by it anymore.. possibly a bit spoiled after the Hotel pool swimming.?.

Sat. July 9 💭 👶🏽

 In to Khulna for groceries. Btw, trips into town are not boring! One just never knows what it will be like This time!? Following a CNG with 3 (not small) women that we could see thru the back window and a man on the bench seat facing them(as they have sometimes 2 bench seats facing each in the back). The middle woman was either upset, mental case, or in severe pain!?… we could only surmise.. but the 2 women on either side of her were doing their level best to control her in the tight quarters.. after observing, we deducted that we never wanted to get on the bad side of a Bengali woman… they were no “pansies”! 

Had Lonnie bring the rattan(cane) baby bed down from storage. The baby jinish(things) in this country definitely make their rounds from post to post with the arrival of each new little person on the field😅 I had fun cleaning it, setting it up, and doing some room rearranging 😌

Fri. Aug. 8 🌧️

 Woke up to rain. So there was no group of children at the gate at 8:00. At 9:00 1? boy showed up asking about S.S. Lonnie had already messaged with Kobid about no S.S. due to the rain. 

We had a relaxing morning. Had a nice long phone chat with my big sister.

Cajun Chicken Pasta and pomegranate lunch

Lonnie messaged with the brethren and no church this afternoon, more rain

Played Cover Your Assets while Annslie napped and Finished listening to Lonnie’s Uncle Raymond’s memories

The sun came out, so we decided to go for a walk. Thru the village (attracting a following of S.S. children that eventually stayed behind) out to the levee where there’s always such a lovely little batash(breeze). At the edge of the village there were 2 S.S. girls playing a game in the dirt. They said it was “tin guti” we are not sure what guti is, but tin is 3… 

Back at the T in the road, Lonnie hurried home with the middle dau. to catch the bathroom. Maddie and I bought cucumbers. Then stopped at the last tea dokan before our home, where the sweet young mom that attends church service and S.S. occasionally, is currently living with her parents and grandparents. I recognized her chubbiest little 2 mo.? baby being held by, who I assumed was the baby’s grandmother. So we stopped and sat on the bench with her and endeavored to converse a little. Yes, this is her grand baby. The mom came out soon and offered to make tea for us, which I accepted. I do So need a larger Bangla comprehension and wish I could wrap my brain around their names! … I have gotten 2 of the 40+ S.S. children’s names nailed now😂 Rahat and Oompa, brother and sister 5? and 8? yr old, they stop by our gate occasionally with their mom to say “Hi” and Rahat always sits in the front row at S.S. and gives a thumbs up 👍🏼 whenever he catches your eye.

Popcorn, crackers n cream cheese with cucumber slice and Tony’s seasoning.

And then Lonnie wanted to play a game with the Cover Your Asset cards that he was coming up with in his head.. he also told us about several of the games he’s observed in the village where they make do with playing pcs. One game they play at the classroom is.. everybody has an ink pen. A line is drawn in the middle of the table. To start, everybody flicks their pen and whoever gets it closest to the middle begins and then the aim of the game is to flick everybody else’s pen off the table with yours using different methods.

Another game he has observed, is using several different colored leaves and sticks that they trade till they get a “set“.

Thurs Aug. 7 🏡 🚙 💨

 At breakfast this morning, the Norwegian family that Lonnie ran into the other day showed up also. Was glad to make their acquaintance! A young? couple maybe 30s? The man is 1/2 Bengali with a Norwegian mother. They spoke very fluent English. Have a 3 yr old and 1 yr dau. Ava and Lisa. The man, Raheem, hadn’t been back to Bangladesh for 11 yrs. We asked if they knew any by the last name of Mastre back in Norway and they couldn’t come up with any, only somebody with a similar name of Matre.. They are Christians and attend a Pentecostal church in Norway. They were very easy to visit with, beautiful family. Lonnie and Raheem exchanged numbers. It was kind of interesting, the other day when Lonnie had met them, the mom needed to catch the elevator back upstairs and the little girl was not wanting to go with her back up to the room so she opted to stay with Lonnie til her mom got back!?! Trusting mother and child!

Uneventful trip back to Khulna home. As soon as Annslie recognized we were almost back she threw a fit saying, “other home!” And we got it out of her that she wanted to go to her Pink City home and Shania…. It’s gonna be a sad day when her little friend goes back to KS end of Sep. But, she seemed happy to hang out with Tulshi(guard) once we got to the house. Went and found Toby’s(dog) kettle of rice n eggs and was ready to feed him. Later, as soon as she was done with supper, “Visit Tulshi”.

Got suitcases and Dhaka purchases taken care of, crashed a bit, and made a quick supper of beef sausage gravy over rice and cooked carrots.

Wed. Aug. 6

 To my appt. In the past they have always gotten us right in, but this time we waited a whole solid hour!! All is well and we even got a 3D sneek peak at little mister Koehn!🥰

Caught North End for drinks (their blended coffee drinks, that we love, are called freddos, Jaira and Annslie get hot chocolates) and roast beef sandwiches and back to the Hotel. Another swim in the rooftop pool. This time the sun peaked thru the clouds at times. We even got a little sun-kissed!

The girls and I crashed for awhile in the hotel room then we decided to go check out a park for a place to let the girls play. As soon as we walked out the hotel doors we wondered how this would go, the street was packed with cars and motorcycles, CNGs, and rickshaws! This street had not been like this yet! But, we inched our way out and joined the teeming masses, where are all these people going anyway!?! Well, the traffic never got better and eventually we came to a road that we needed to take that was blocked off. Our options were quite limited and we ended up heading back to the hotel. There we ordered supper, Greek salad, rib eye, pepper steak, and hamburger n fries. Note on the Greek salad.. we’d ordered Caesar salad the other night and really enjoyed it..

 btw, lettuce is not something we eat here. I have seen it for sale, but very small heads. I’ve seen iceberg and leaf on occasion but we’ve had some precaution to even buying it when available due to what it’s been seen growing in..?.. So anyway, when we saw Caesar salad on the menu, we knew we would be ordering that! The picture looked so amazing! The salad that was brought did not look as amazing🙃, like not the bright dark green fluffy lettuce, but the dressing was a good flavor. Although it did not have that nice whang of traditional Caesar dressing, it tasted more like our LaHa dressing! So anyway tonight we tried to order again but it was “Not available”. 

Another quick side note here, that “not available” Is something we have started making a joke of as that has been the reply so many times when ordering something off a menu😂 just because it’s on the menu, does not mean they ever even have it! A little like this hotel’s spa options or the one vendor in Chef’s Table food court that has crème brûlées advertised on their sign but no they never have them🤣

Anyway, back to our Greek salads that we did get for supper… we did ask if they could put the Caesar dressing on the Greek salad for the girls and our waiter said, “I will try”. Bless his heart! In this land, they will not usually stray from their menu and do anything customized. But they did, this time😊👏🏼 they even did a few other changes to it to make it more like their Caesar salad which the girls really appreciated! These “salads“ tonight consisted of medium sized pcs of diced bell peppers and cucumbers with just a sprinkling of not very nice looking lettuce, black and green olives, and feta cheese cubes.

As we have been frequenting this restaurant for breakfasts and dinners we see a lot of the same waiters, etc. the waiter that serves the table where we sit always says “angle” when talking to the girls. It took us a bit to figure out that he was saying “Angel”!… His attempt at English endearment😅! 

Tues. Aug. 5 🛌 🍴 🛍️ 🏊‍♀️

 After a luxurious night in our lovely hotel we went down to the complimentary breakfast buffet. I had personally never experienced such an extensive hotel breakfast. Several cooks were standing ready and cooked us scrambled eggs and omelettes with an array of add ins to choose from. We also enjoyed egg fried rice, noodles, chicken and veg dishes, dhal, wedges of fresh mango and pineapple, pastries, and fruit juices, which were just a sampling of what was offered😂

Out to get some shopping done. 1st to Aarongs, then on to Jamuna Park where the guard at the 1st entrance said they are closed! Today AND tomorrow!😟…due to a recently proclaimed national holiday commemorating the fall of last year’s government. Oh well, hit North End(coffee shop) and Artisans(to shop for little baby boy clothes, it’s So exciting🥰). 

Back at the hotel, we watched 6 different protest groups going by on the street below. They varied in distinction. One group was all wearing white baseball caps. The most spectacular one we heard coming for a bit as they seemed to have a band of sorts, drums and bullhorns along with their chanting etc and the ones in front were wearing oriental style straw hats.

 Lonnie and I tried out the spa. It was fine, bit of a joke, not quite as amazing as the advertisements and actually only offered 1 option from the whole array on the pamphlet😂! Then Lonnie took the girls to the rooftop pool. It was lightly raining but that certainly didn’t deter the girls any!

Supper at the Hotel restaurant

Mon. Aug. 4 🚙 💨 Dhaka

 Lonnie woke me before 3:00 this morning😵 said he couldn’t sleep and wondered if we should just get up and finish getting ready to go. My 30 wk appt is due in Dhaka this week and so we thought we go early and do our shopping the day before my appt so we could get back for church on Fri. Bout that time the power went out. Then it wasn’t too long after Sunil (night guard) turned the generator on, that it died, so Lonnie went out to help get that started again. By time I finished a dress, put breakfast on the table, finished packing, loading the van, etc. it was almost 7:00 when we hit the rd.

1st stop in Dhaka was the “airport” UniMart. Just as we descended the steps from the parking garage we spotted a Menn. lady!!?! Just know, this isn’t KS, MS, etc where this would be normal😜 it didn’t really look like Brianna, and come to find out, it was our new Dhaka family. What a random mtg place😅 our reason for stopping at this particular UniMart was their yummy chicken dogs wrapped in croissant dough. But alas, their machines were having some technical issues and it would be an hr + before they would be ready. We browsed and shopped then went up a few levels to their Chef’s Table food court. We got tacos from a new vendor that were just the best Mexican food we’ve had on this side of the world!🤤 actual corn tortilla street tacos and some fresh squeezed fruit juices from another vendor which paired so perfectly👌🏼 The girls also enjoyed the very nice play area complete with swings! https://maps.app.goo.gl/EAMu7W1auTSBHRFU8?g_st=ipc 

On to finalize our search for a place to lodge while we’re in the city. Our new Dhaka family is here occupying the guest house so this is our 1st experience with finding other lodging. After several tours, we booked at the Golden Tulip. https://maps.app.goo.gl/oTRKZKXNFLUtwdCAA?g_st=ipc

Then on to Pink City/Jared and Brianna’s where they let us have the opportunity of staying with their children while they went out for the evening.. celebrating their 12th anniversary🌹 Lonnie met with a couple of his local friends and went for tea in Dumni. Then Brian and Kaylee + boys (new Dhaka family) came and hung out with us part of the evening😊

Sun. Aug. 3

 Dipti(maid) back today to wash the floors. 

Lonnie made a run to the Boro Bazaar for formula for the milk program and the bank.

Put a couple loads thru the laundry

🗣️ 🎶 While I was upstairs at the sewing machine the girls were in their room and Jaira was belting out Bangla songs. 💭 It was still quite fresh in my mind how when we started singing these songs, especially the Sunday School songs here in Khulna. Wondering how we were ever gonna wrap our brains and tongues around some of these tunes and words when it was so hard to follow with no written music. And then just a different style of singing that had surprise repeats and sudden slurs. And when we were singing The Wise Man and The Foolish Man, they are all sudden chanting in unison instead of singing on the 2nd verse!?!

📞 Daryl called with exciting news, Miss Christina’s(our teacher from Henderson,TN Dan and Rhonda Yoder’s dau.) ticket to come, is finally booked!! Arriving in Dhaka Aug. 20 👏🏼 👏🏼Now we can start the countdown🤩

Sat. Aug. 2

 A wonderful day “back on my feet”🤗 

Started off with a crepe breakfast. Lonnie fried while I got some toppings around… fried/crumbled sausage, cheese sauce, whipped “cream”, mango jam, syrup,..

A load of laundry.

Later baked bread, and got the last of the misti kumra baked and pumpkin muffins made with it.

Roast beef salad wraps for lunch and roast beef sandwiches for supper🙃

Annslie’s current favorite books are the Franklin books (about a turtle and his friends) there’s a small stack of them here that are getting well read😌

Fri Aug 1 Worship Day

 A day of convalescing for me. Was able to get in the kitchen today tho👍🏼 Annslie stayed home with me for the 1st S.S.

There was a misunderstanding and our translator didn’t show up for the 1st S.S. So, no story and the singing wasn’t the best.. the girls reported..

The girls all went along to the 2nd S.S. And Kobid, our interpreter, was there

Roast, mashed potatoes, mango/pomegranate/grape platter lunch

Lonnie went by himself to the 4:00 service. Then he spent the rest of the evening visiting Bro. Liton at his home. Lonnie said when they arrived, Liton’s mom? (He was a little unsure of the exact relations of those at the house that evening.?..) anyways the mom was sitting on the front porch catching fish in her front yard! Now in monsoon season, their yard is covered in a foot? of water, easy fishing👍🏼 and a log to cross over the water with a bamboo pole for a railing to hang onto.

It was bedtime by time he got home

Thurs July 31🤢

 Came down, in the night, with what seems to be the same symptoms Lonnie was experiencing last Fri🤢

Told Dipti she didn’t need to come.

My family really kicked in with dishes, sweeping floors, putting food on the table❣️