The normal packing out routine with keeping the washing machine going, cleaning out the fridge, and loading the van.
🛣️ 4 hrs later, Tulshi🧔🏾♂️and Toby🐕🦺 welcomed us back to Feda Palace.
The report was that the power had been off most of the day. Oh, yes, we are back in the village.
It did come back on, got the water filter changed that had turned black during our absence, and the laundry going, in preparation for Fellowship weekend.
Throughout this week there was maintenance to be tended to. In the middle of the night, the water heater rusted through and quite a puddle was happening. Another day the reverse osmosis line had sprung a leak and was spraying away. Rickshaw driver friend Syed Ali came by every day bringing bananas for the girls, taking Lonnie out for cha, washing the van, sweeping the cobwebs from the car port ceiling, scrubbing the slippery mildew from the drive and it’s greenness from the concrete perimeter wall, sweeping the yard, etc. He’s a village-y character but has a way of adding a sparkle to our days in the city.💙
Today, Lonnie wanted to look up a hydroponic supplier he’d found online. It was a dry run(on a rainy day;)
Next stop, North End, for lunch and coffee bean restock. We opted to go to the location where they do all the roasting. They were roasting today:) So that was fun to observe the pristine environment through the plate glass wall https://maps.app.goo.gl/ojiLWv1QFT8j1sSz9?g_st=ic We can almost forget we’re on the other side of the world in this setting. ☕️ 😌
We hit the “airport” UniMart yet
Back at the house, while Annslie napped, Lonnie went to Dumni to look up his friend Habib. Hard times have hit them but also a happy time as the birth of their next child is getting quite near after a recent late term miscarriage, their 1st child is autistic..
When he got back, we met Brian’s and the teachers at Herfy’s for supper. Then they all came over for the rest of the evening. We served Basil seed drinks in little cha glasses. These Basil seed drinks were quite a bit different from what Naton served us last year😅 these were apple and mango flavored and chilled! Made all the difference in the world🙃
Then Brian tuned in to his friend’s funeral back home. A very sad death, a 42 yr old father in a truck accident. After the opening by Brian’s uncle Ron (former BD missionary) they went home to finish listening. It was getting late, as it does when listening to services from the other side of the world..
The big girls stayed in Pink City with Kaylee and the teachers
Appt time 10:15
We thought we’d given ourselves plenty of time but….
Let’s say, my respect for the man stationed in Dhaka that deals with the government officials on a much more regular basis, just went up a notch or 2 after our morning.
These folks/system can be plain impossible!! Very frustrating!!
For starters, last time we’d come we were told, “you have to have an appt before you can park in their gated, guarded parking lot.”
Well, here we come today with our scheduled appt and attempt to turn in to park. But, “Oh no, that parking is only for officials!” So we drive around a bit and everywhere there is “No Parking” and we are waved on. So we finally decided that Lonnie will drop Annslie, Gentry, and I off and I’ll try to get in while he endeavors to find a place to park as we do Not want to miss this appt! I got to the outdoor registration and they started asking me for all sorts when Lonnie had said they told him all we needed was our passports and our appt email, I believe. Well, Lonnie had the email on his phone and I knew he was probably having some levels of stress trying to find parking so I wasn’t too eager to call him and have him share that with me. I pointed out Gentry’s name and appt time on their paper but then they wanted his government birth certificate Not the hospital birth certificate! I told them that’s what we’re here today for!!😡 if I was a foul language using person this would’ve definitely been where I’d have used it🫣
They did let me in finally😌 I hadn’t gotten too far into the depths of the facility when I was told I had to leave my phone in a lock box! I can’t do that! I don’t feel up to what’s ahead of me by myself and the 2 littles and I don’t know how it’s going for Lonnie and if they’re letting him in etc. But. I put my phone in the box and taking the key, I pushed the littles in the stroller down the next concrete corridor… winding around thru the place asking where to go next, till we came to a room full of people. And that’s where Lonnie caught up with me. Wow. Was. I. Ever. Glad. To. See. Him.
We were escorted to the far end of the room, past many observing eyes, to an area that had a picture of Trump hanging on the wall. I took note of how quiet the place was with all those people in there! I’m guessing, somewhere over a hundred people.. But then in our smaller area there were a few babies and a couple of children which naturally helped ease the frigid quietness. We didn’t have to wait long to get called the 1st time to go give the paperwork we’d brought along. And then we had a little longer wait till we could go have our interview that would start the passport process. During that time I observed an 8? yr old girl telling her dad something about Trump, pronouncing it with the r rolled😅 Can you do that;)
The man doing our interview was such a breath of fresh air…soft spoken, fluent English, and such a kind demeanor, it helped put me at ease a bit. He wanted to know why we didn’t have family photos. He asked a lot of questions since he didn’t have photos to verify. He easily accepted Lonnie’s answers and replies.🤍
Wow. Was that ever freeing to have that appt over with!
Back out at the curb I waited with the littles while Lonnie went to get the van. We bought a bag of popcorn and “chips” from somebody walking past.
Back to Pink City to get the girls. Then to Gulshan 2 Chef’s Table and UniMart. https://maps.app.goo.gl/uwcTXz9N9ZvuoqDC9?g_st=ic
At Wok Way we got our favorite ginger teas, fried rice, Kung Pão chicken. Lonnie went to a different vendor to get his plate of sushi. We all enjoyed his sushi also
I went down to UniMart to start shopping while Lonnie and the children hit the frozen yogurt yet.
Supper at Brian’s
Kaylee and Miss Aleigha spent the evening teaching Maddie and Jaira how to embroider💗
I watched the children. Annslie and 4 yr Bennett, who is Downs, played very nicely at times and it was sweet to watch, although at other times Annslie thinks she’s the police and ends up sitting on a chair for an extended amount of time..
In the afternoon we went to get Gentry’s test results. And then get in with the pediatrician to get them read. I stayed out in the van with the children while Lonnie went in. He had to wait an hour to see the Dr and then get in the pharmacy line for the prescription. The results: nothing was detected. So continue with probiotics and zinc and watch his diet closely, introducing new foods one at a time. I’m still detecting blood in every diaper but it feels like the tide has turned and incrementally he is improving.
We went on to do our Jamuna Park Mall supper and shopping.
Takeout: one of the few places we’ve found so far that has hamburgers we can enjoy https://maps.app.goo.gl/oRow9sqeHNnSmPkG8?g_st=ic
Kid’s Paradise for an umbrella stroller and 1st pair of shoes for the boy. https://maps.app.goo.gl/WcNDhMm8UceEmnch6?g_st=ic
Mr. D.I.Y. Such a fun store that has many small practical/fun things for nice low prices👍🏼 https://maps.app.goo.gl/gh7zaQaxhQ8aVUX79?g_st=ic
Wholesale Club: that lovely place where we find a few imported products that have a way of adding sparkle to life https://maps.app.goo.gl/oRow9sqeHNnSmPkG8?g_st=ic
Back at the house later that evening, the big girls and I listened to Miss Shana’s wedding in Scenic Ridge, OH.
We Finally got to Dhaka’s New Market😅 with Brian’s and the teachers https://maps.app.goo.gl/4ZY6e8nnrbvjYC8b9?g_st=ic at the entrance we were enticed to try fresh dried mango and a pc of cheese. The cheese was round white loaves(think artisan bread loaf size) it was a very dry texture and a stouter taste than what we were interested in.
Took note of the watch displays in front of, almost literally, every other dhokan! Then we came to a place where you could shop “inside” under a roof area. Which was a great thing, as before long, it came up a good little rain. We enjoyed shopping for kitchen items, Bangladesh scenes paintings, .. the men did some of their own browsing. Lonnie found a shirt like he’d been looking for and after the rain stopped they found a cha stand close to where we had parked. Us ladies hit the fabric, kameeze sets, and ornas real quick yet and then headed out to the vehicles.
We took the littles home for naps and a quick little lunch
Early evening we went back out with Brian’s and the teachers. First to a park they wanted to take us to
https://maps.app.goo.gl/zTTijqDA4sMNoqJr6?g_st=ic
The 1st sizable expanse of green grass we’d been on in a good little while, maybe even since coming to this side of the world!
They had personnel stationed by the big trampolines to keep the big children off with an age limit of 6!? That wanted to make my girls upset because it looked like something they could enjoy and I wouldn’t have even deemed it safe for the little people because the springs around the edge were not even covered!
But then we checked out the maze. That was definitely a highlight! Like a corn maze but it is shrub hedges. So fun! And perfect for Maddie and Jaira😊 and then the teachers and Lonnie came and found their way thru it too.
The sun was setting as we made our way back to the vans and on to Neela Mkt for kabobs.
Gentry spiked a 103* in the night but by morning it was back to normal. His diapers still have blood but it’s decreased. We are waiting on test results but it’s the Bangladesh weekend, so they said 3 days.
We got to church a little late, but they waited on us🙃 Naton(the Dhaka interpreter) has gotten a job that keeps him from being available for Fri service. So Brian and Lonnie kept it simple and short with Brian interpreting as best as he could.
We decided today would be a good day to take the dad’s to a special place for upcoming Father’s Day. We enjoyed a Bangali style steak dinner at Woodhouse Grill https://maps.app.goo.gl/N7ixC41qFGArmPER7?g_st=ic
This afternoon, Lonnie and Brian met up with our former Brother, Shurav, for a nice visit.
Brian’s and the teachers came to the guesthouse for the eve. The chips I used for nachos didnt stay crunchy😏 and we pulled cookies out. But we enjoyed each other’s company😉👍🏼
1:30 AM found us on the road for Dhaka.
The world was not completely dead, although it was greatly reduced. Just a pedestrian here, a dokhan still open, an easy bike still going from point A to point B, a repair? shop still going strong,…when we crossed the 1st river going out of Khulna we encountered lots of oncoming traffic, mostly trucks, using up most the road 🤯
We rolled into Pink City shortly after 5 am. Thank goodness(and thanks to your $ contributions, a field secretary that deemed this upgrade necessary, and some missionaries that put forth some real effort🤍) for a lovely guesthouse house waiting. Gentry’s diapers were not getting worse and were not as dramatic as the one that sent us up here. We opted to not go to the ER, but unloaded, made beds, and crashed for a couple hours till our pediatrician would be in her office.
The big girls stayed at the house and walked over to Brian’s after breakfast dishes were done. When we got to the hosp., we were informed it would be another 45 min till the Dr would be in. And as is so often in this country, there was interesting people watching to do🫣so that time passed quickly. At the visit, stool samples were ordered, a discussion of his diet, probiotics-zinc-and diaper rash cream were prescribed to be picked up at the pharmacy on ground floor.
We stopped at Apon (grocery store) for yogurt on the way home.
A relaxing afternoon
Lonnie took the stool samples in.
Miss Aleigha sent some Dee-Licious fresh-from-the-oven black currant muffins home with the girls. (Earl Grey Blueberry Muffins H&H Aug-Sep 2024)
These days we worked on a few things in preparation to going to Dhaka Sat for Gentry’s upcoming appt at the US Embassy to get his passport paper work started.
I made bread and cookies, cut out a dress, got the rooms ready for the Dhaka folks who will be staying here over Fellowship when we get back from Dhaka..
Tulshi got the van washed and the interior vacuumed and cleaned
And The Bud has been miserable.. he’s had ongoing diarrhea for 3 wks which we have attributed to a bug that seems to be going around and then he was working on his 3rd tooth (1st one on the top) but it has steadily been getting worse and Ive been wondering if we’ll be able to wait till Sat to leave for Dhaka.. It got to where he would drink 1 oz. and start straining as it seemed to hit the bottom of his stomach and go straight thru. I was changing So many pooy diapers all day and night and the diaper rash…. At 10:00 Wed. eve I changed a n o t h e r pooy diaper. Something prompted me to take it into the light and check it out. I was not prepared for what I saw… a very bloody diaper! I had never seen the like before and it very much alarmed me! I decided to go back thru the collection of dirty diapers from the day, 13 to be exact, to see how long this has been going on. I found 3 more although this last one was by far the most dramatic. By 10:30 we decided we would head into Dhaka as soon as we could get packed and ready.
Gentry is finally learning to crawl!… 7 months 3 weeks. We were wondering if he would just go straight to walking as that is his favorite thing to do, hang onto your fingers and walk everywhere as long as you’ll do it with him! He’s pulling himself up on furniture etc so we’re glad he has learned to crawl
Kobid was here all morning helping Lonnie on this document for obtaining the use of the facility for Fellowship. After lunch, they met with the CSS folks. Side note, while Kobid was killing a little time while waiting on Lonnie after lunch, he was reading children’s books in the living room. The Little Golden Book, Nurse Nancy, lit a fire in him. And he proceeded to share passionately how this book needs to be translated into Bangla with Bangali children in the pictures! And how so many Bangali’s think being a Dr is the best thing to strive for But, what is also desperately needed, is good nurses! And that they need to know it is a very worthy profession!
I mixed up a batch of cinn rolls… recipe from the Love Wears An Apron cookbook that caught my attention.
Kobid came in the evening to help Lonnie with the Bangla notes that had been recorded the night before, as Google translate was not doing a precise enough job. Lonnie had been given the assignment of putting together an official looking letter for the head haunchos of the place where the brethren are wanting to have Fellowship. Here’s a link to the organization https://cssbd.org/index.php and the place where the fellowship is desired to be held is just an 8 min drive from our house https://maps.app.goo.gl/vQ8DJCn9kcaYCYm38?g_st=ic it is CSS’s head office used for training purposes. So our event needs to be under the heading of Training Purposes to fit their criteria🤔 But here again, connections are a valuable asset as well as white skin and an official looking document with the needed details🙃 Our Brother Shanto was part of the staff years ago as head cook and our Brother Liton’s dad, currently works there as yard man, formerly a cook also.
I forgot about writing about our visit to our day guard, Tulshi’s, house last night. We’d been telling him we’d like to come see where he lives and meet his brother’s wife and dau. Now this evening when the children and I went out for a walk, we found Lonnie just right next door at the repair dhokan. And we had the inspiration that maybe tonight would be the night to visit Tulshi’s home. Tulshi agreed to go with us, so we locked everything up and followed. His bro, Bishnu, was not home. Said he would be out till maybe 10:00, as he is a rickshaw van driver. Bishnu’s wife, Eeti and 14 yr old dau., Puja, were at home. Eeti was very friendly but Puja was quite bashful.. their house has a mud foundation built up about 2+ft, low metal roof, 2 bedrooms, a place where their crop of rice was stored in big bags, a “dining room” with a table covered with a plastic table cloth, and tiny cooking area at the end(like really only big enough for 1 person to work in at a time. I thought they kept asking if Gentry ate rice and I would tell them “some” but he likes eggs! Anyway, pretty soon Eeti was squatting in front of her mud oven frying an egg. She dished rice out of the pot to go with the fried egg and wanted Annslie to sit up and eat which she was happy to do, as we had not had supper yet. As soon as her egg was finished she asked for another. Eeti seemed happy to fry another! And then she carefully gathered all the rice that had ended up on the smooth dirt floor, by hand, so it was all nice and clean again. I asked how often they have to “re-mud” their floor. Tulshi said every 2-3 days! That sounded like quite the upkeep to me! I would like to watch it done sometime.. We looked at Puja’s school books she was studying. It’s especially fascinating to look at their English books, partly because we can actually read it😜, and visited a bit then took our leave. Outside, Tulshi tried to show Annslie their ducks or was it chickens 🤔 that were already in their little house for the night. And then their 2 cows which decided to get up about that time, Tulshi said it was their normal time for going into the barn for the night. It was dark and Tulshi walked back home with us.
Today, We wondered if we’d be able to have S.S. because of the rain.?. But children were at the gate and interpreter Kobid was already in Chakrakhali by 8:30! Umbrella in hand, we walked to S.S. We have had a very small attendance lately… 8 visitors and then 2 boys showed up at the end and colored a picture yet. We opted to not go to Chakrakhali S.S. as it would be a wet rickshaw van ride. It continued a gentle rain never getting too hard to down out voices. But we Did play a round of musical chairs at the end as it was still raining and the children would probably be hanging around yet anyway.
Not long after we were back, Kobid Bro and Dipti (our maid) showed up. Dipti wanted Kobid to translate for her.. and her mission today…. Asking for 5 months advance wages!! So she could put on this wedding for her son! The food, tent, wedding apparel for the whole family AND bride-to-be! She remembered how her and her husband had a very poor beginning and he had only been able to buy a petticoat for her, no blouse! We had coffee together before they went on their way.
At the afternoon service, I took note of how nicely Annslie was sitting, it gave me hope.
After church, Shanto, Liton, Kobid, and Espondant came to our house and spent the evening making plans for Fellowship here in Khulna this month. They got a count of all who are planning to attend written down and the menus figured out and recorded. I had to think how differently it was done here with the men doing the food comm. duties😌
Lonnie left at 6:30 to catch the bus for Eye Camp in Chuknagar, an hour West of us. He took 3 boxes of eye medicines and his back pack. Lonnie’s job at Eye Camp is to sit at a table with his laptop and enter each statistic. He told of a group that came in, 1 lady caught Lonnie’s attention as she had a different look about her, when it was her turn to tell her name, age, etc. she says, “Brother, I am a Christian”. It happened another time that morning, where Lonnie observed a man and wondered if he was probably a Christian also. And yes, when his turn with Lonnie arrived he said also that he is Christian… a minority in the land that are often in hiding. But Lonnie could see the freedom on their countenances🤍 The count was Really low today, only 102. The thought was possibly because of the extreme heat. Somebody told Lonnie it was supposed to be the hottest day of the summer! I sure hope it doesn’t get any hotter!
At the house, hanging laundry on the line, I had especially taken note of the heat and oppressive feel of the air also 🥵
I tell you, these vacation days are hard to have breakfast over with by time Dipti shows up🫣 She has been arriving promptly at 9:00 versus her previous 10 or 10:30. I’m guessing it has to do with her own work at home, preparing for the new bride. The wedding date has been set for Aug. 4.
Lonnie left right after breakfast to meet with Brothers Shanto and Liton to go check out a place for Fellowship Mtg(annual gathering with members from all of Bangladesh invited/hosted by the natives)
Today, Dipti made dim (egg) curry, Bangla fried chicken pcs, sautéed okra, and rice. Lonnie commented at lunch that this was the 1st Bangla meal without potatoes! Dipti has often asked me if I want potatoes in the curry or vegetables but I think she was in a hurry today. Her and her husband were going to their son’s fiancé’s home after she left. Fiancé had called them and says the dad is having a medical condition and the mother is also having tonsil problems and is only eating very soft foods.
Music class with Maddie and then Bangla class with both girls. We did a review and flashcards then laminated more flashcards.
The girls and I started off this morning scrubbing the stairway walls. Something I’d been wanting to get to ever since I 1st laid eyes on them! For a long time I kept thinking I’d have my maid do it but after trying to get her to do other little extra jobs it starts seeming easier to just try to get it done ourselves sometime! Trying to teach her how to clean something beyond her norm is quite an act of Congress and then the final product is often still not clean! With the latter being the most disheartening after seeing her scrub for “an hour” on a project😏 I’m still hoping to someday teach her how to clean windows without leaving then smeared. Wish me luck.
Lonnie got the weekly chickens processed. And the weekly pork washed and in the freezer.
The girls and I did our Music and Bangla classes then took a walk, meeting up with Lonnie at Neekonjo, where he spends time with the villagers these days. Got some yummy drinks..a lychee drink and an electrolyte “juice” box.
Today the girls and I started Music Class and Bangla Class. The Music book that went by the wayside when we 1st got to Bangladesh and I thought going thru our Bangla books with the girls might be a good way to give me a badly needed refresher course plus give them a foundation in the language. Also these classes would be a way for me to spend time with the girls. It feels like they have been fending for themselves or left with Miss Christina so much of the time this last year while our time was taken up with Bangla class, toddler, Dr appts, toddler, new baby, just learning the ropes of everything, toddler, new baby, etc, etc.
It feels like Summer Vacation has officially begun with the teacher not being here😄
The power stayed on all day which was a lovely thing as I kept the washing machine busy getting everything sent thru after the weekend. And it was a H.O.T. sunshiny day perfect for drying load after load on the line ☀️
Gentry has started pulling himself up on furniture or whatever else is available. Which is actually quite frightening as he often does not sit down gracefully but ends up falling and hitting his head with that horrific thud on the unforgiving tile floor😫 He also found out that his current happy place is if somebody will so kindly take his hands and walk with him. He has gotten to where if we’re holding him he’ll grab our hands and fuss till we walk with him (is it ever tiring for the one doing that!) but he gives his happy sound( Ive tried to imitate it, but in its exact likeness is beyond me! But he vibrates his lips with air flow like a sound you might make for an engine sound and adds little happy screeches to it🥹) He also loves going on stroller rides💙
Bro Liton had invited Brian and Lonnie to come to his home before he had to go to work at his barber shop, so it was for 7:30.
Here at the house we made French toast and sausage patties for when they got back although Liton’s parents had already served them the whole 9 yards, even if Brian had told them, just cha ☕️.
Teachers and Jaira went for a bike ride as we only have 3 suitable bikes. The Dhaka Sisters, Maddie, Kaylee and I and our toddlers went for a short walk in the village, Brian and Lonnie played Carrom at the house while the babies napped.
We went into Khulna City to Mambo’s for a late lunch then to Babies Dream, an indoor playground we’d been wanting to check out.
The Dhaka folks headed on to Gopalgonj from there so they could spend Sun. with the cong. there. They took Miss Christina with them for a little 2 week Summer Vacation.
We got our weekly shopping done with Lonnie taking a turn going into the vegetable mkt for me🫶🏼
I stayed home from Sunday Schools with Gentry (+ I was having a gurgling stomach and was afraid I had come down with the same thing the littles had, fast forward.. by noon I was feeling better and so thankful!) Kaylee and her little Lars stayed home with Gentry and I while the others went on to the 2nd S.S. It was Such. A. Tremendously. Hot. Sticky. Day.
Grilled drumsticks and thighs, roasted tater/veggie mix, Chinese cabbage salad, watermelon, and flan for dessert.
Just as starting time for our afternoon service was rolling around, a little wind storm came rolling in also! Like it was blustery enough it didn’t feel safe to be out in it for a bit especially when one considers the type of things that fly About in windstorms here…metal roofs, huge palm fronds, etc. the wind died down and we could enjoy the cooler weather it brought with😌 Dhaka brother Brian was set on getting over to church so he could listen to the rain on the metal roof 😉 We told him if it rained too hard we wouldn’t be having a service there!… thankfully that wasn’t the case, but the weather did postpone the arrival of the rest of the afternoon’s attendance! Our crew got the church swept, chairs set up, songbooks put out, and then we sang a few songs before Shanto’s family arrived. We started the service officially then with a couple more songs. Shanto had opening and Brian the message. Interpreter Kobid was stuck in Chakrakhali with the bad weather so Lonnie asked Espondant to interpret. Kobid finally showed up halfway thru the message. But Espondant finished interpreting. Oh! I forgot to say! Antoor brought his girlfriend Tondra to church for the 1st time! They have had a relationship for 1 1/2 yrs..
We invited everybody over after church. We quickly stirred up Rhidoy’s favorite cookie (chocolate oatmeal No Bakes)😉 to go with our cha ☕️ and biscuits. A very enjoyable, jolly time with everybody😄
After everybody left, it was such a beautiful, cooler night the teachers and girls went up to the roof and played shadow tag.
I think it was this night sometime that Miss Aleigha, Lonnie, and I sang a few of my favorite songs and then Brian joined after a game of Carrom with the Sisters and soon I had to opt out to take care of the Bud..
Was very happy to see Dipti show up for work today! As soon as she was done cleaning upstairs, I could go in and make beds on the floor in the classroom for the Dhaka Sisters and the bed for Brian’s in the girls room.
1:00 lunch at Shanto’s. They invited us a month ago, since Rhidoy and Pinky were gonna be back home for the 1st visit, after leaving rather suddenly to go work in Dhaka, back in Jan? They had vacation days since it’s the Muslim Eid holiday this weekend. And the Dhaka folks decided to come down this weekend also because of the long Eid weekend. Was So good to be with everybody again🤗 Shanto’s had others there also.. Pinky’s dad, Shotti’s sibling and family, Shanto’s employees and their wives and children.. served us in 2 settings right there on their concrete floor. Sitting around in a circle. With the dishes of food in the middle . They fill each plate for us.. later they served the cookies I brought and meeshti balls.(kind of like deep fried cake? Donut holes soaked in a sugar syrup?) I don’t know the actual process but that’s what it tastes like🙃 Rhidoy says, “You made Pinky and Antoor’s favorite cookie, but not mine!?” I told him he’d have to tell me what his favorite cookie is! He tried to explain it, but finally found them online…Chocolate No Bake cookies!
Lonnie and Espondant played chess
Then we took the children home for naps.
Later we went up to Bisho Rd for chotputi, fuska, and fallada.
Happy birthday to my little brother on the other side of the world 🎂
Lonnie grilled chicken for the weekend.
Dipti didnt come to work because her son’s fiancé’s family was coming for a visit. So I tried my hand at making chicken curry for lunch.
We started working on washing bedding and the girls moved downstairs to the room next to ours in preparation for weekend guests.
Made choc chip cookies (Antoor’s favorite) for lunch tomorrow
Now that school is out for the summer, Lonnie felt like the girls needed something constructive to do so he went and bought a few plastic buckets and sent them up to the roof with the scrub brushes and squeegees. They donned their swim clothes and got that tile roof all clean again.
I made loaf bread and a double batch of snickerdoodles (Pinky likes) in preparation for the weekend.
Lonnie processed a couple chickens And washed pork meat from Batiaghata.
The girls only had their final Math and Language Test so they were done before noon. That’s a good feeling to have the school year over and a summer vacation ahead! Maddie finished 6th grade and Jaira finished 4th.
In the evening, we went into Khulna City for a celebration supper. To their favorite, Mambos, for burger and fries and then to New Mkt for their favorite blueberry soft serve in a waffle cone. There’s a reason going into town for an evening meal is reserved for special occasions! The traffic is terrible! And finding a parking spot nearly impossible. It was 10:00 when we got home.
The littles fevers are gone but now their food goes straight thru them 😣
We’d bought a chess game for Espondant. He’s told us one time that he liked to play and then I found them at Shwapnos! Nice little foldable board with magnetic pcs.
So Lonnie took it over and spent a couple hours with them this afternoon.
Gentry came down with a fever in the night 😏 💭 I hadn’t even taken him to the S.S.’s yesterday..
But we needed groceries, so we still went into town as this is our weekly shopping day.
Dominos pizza for lunch but they were running on generator so their ovens must not have been operating quite the same, as the pizza was baked harder than normal.
On the way home, I discovered Annslie was hot and miserable with a fever also🤒
I stayed home from both S.S. with Gentry.
Afternoon service Shanto’s family showed up! I wasn’t gonna blame them if they didn’t! Another H.O.T. day. We invited them to come in after church, only if they felt up to it! I thought it might do them good to cool off for an hour or so.. they wanted to come, but bless their hearts! We told then they could just lay down on the bed, they were all miserable with their injuries.. I got Shanto to put his feet up on a stool, looked like the gash that went from his foot, ankle, and up his leg could use some ointment😝. They took turns wincing in pain, Shotti grabbing her face when she smiled too big, etc. Served them tonda cha(cold tea) etc.
This morning when Annslie checked the sticky trap, The mouse was caught! 👏🏼🥳🥳🥳👏🏼 It had made quite a mess of things already😝 getting into my kitchen drawers shredding newspaper and dragging it to the next drawer, leaving droppings all over, also getting into a precious bag of imported Doritos we’d found in Dhaka. So, I had my morning’s work cut out for me! It was 10:30 and Dipti was not showing up🧐 and I was really needing her! Lonnie went out walking on a mission, talked to Dipti’s husband and he said she wasn’t coming but Lonnie thought he’d go encourage her otherwise.
Dipti just shared the big news that boro chele(oldest son) is getting married in a couple months! So therefore they have some work to do before they welcome their new daughter in law into their home!.. New kitchen and bathroom are the 1st on the agenda. Some advance wages and the work has begun with Dipti helping her husband.
This morning Lonnie thought he’d just go over there and help Uttam while Dipti came and helped me. But No Way! They weren’t about to let him help! And Dipti came to work after all.
I was just about done scrubbing the drawer cabinet inside and out and around by time she arrived so she was there then to wash the contents of the utensil drawer.
With my limited Bangla, it sounds like Dipti’s sister suggested this girl, has been to college in Khulna, so an arranged marriage(they do not love each other🧐), when I asked the girls name…she didn’t know!🫣 but she was able to come up with it eventually🫡
So it will be interesting to see if I understood her correctly on these points, time will tell..
This afternoon while Lonnie was out in the village, Bro Liton and his 13 yr. old nephew Mikal showed up. He was planning to come the other day for an iced tea making lesson but something came up so now he showed up unexpectedly. I didn’t think that would be proper for me to invite him into our house of girls without Lonnie around so we sat out on the porch while I proceeded to try to get a hold of Lonnie by phone, no success. So I sent Tulshi on bike to tell him Liton was here. But Tulshi did not give a clear message so Lonnie did not realize I was expecting him to come home.. thinking Lonnie would surely show up any minute and not wanting to just leave Liton out in the heat without inviting him in, I just sat out on the porch and made small talk, which was probably just as bad as anybody passing by the gate could see us 2 sitting and chatting 🙄 the girls did all come hang out with us for awhile tho.. and who knows maybe nobody would’ve thought anything and I overthought everything too much!??! But at any rate, 1 1/2 hrs of sitting in the Hot sticky outdoors with the sweat dripping, waiting on my husband’s return(knowing, if he decided too, he could come home at anytime!) by time he showed up, I was madder n hops 🥵😑 #lifeisrealheretoo So, Lonnie invited him in then. Paste that smile on for me and have ice tea making demo with the nephew videoing. And if a person fakes it till they make it, the smile does become genuine again🙃 Meanwhile, Lonnie was doing a quick clothes change because what had finally got him home was Bro Shanto’s call had gone thru to him (unlike all of mine🧐). They had a motorcycle accident and wondered if Lonnie could take them by gari (car) to the hospital. So he spent the rest of the evening with Shanto, Shotti, and Espondant 1st in 1 hospital and then on to the next. Espondant has a broken right arm/wrist (yes, he’s right handed, plus his Dad has to feed him because this culture does Not eat with their left hand!) Shotti’s right cheek is really swollen. And Shanto got some cuts and bruised up.
The story: they had been working in the rice field. Shanto was really hot and tired and didn’t think he could drive them home but Shotti was needing to get home and she wanted him to try. They were not far from home when Shanto got dizzy, he had slowed but was not able to keep the bike up.
