Wed July 29 back to Khulna 🚙 💨

 All the sheets and towels washed, breakfast, and the ice chest and van packed.

Then to Brian’s to pick up the teachers and take them back to Khulna with us

We stopped by Shima’s house in Gopalgonj as her mother had suffered a stroke. Shima was currently at the hospital with her mom. So we used their outhouse and we’re gonna leave but about that time Shima and her husband and mom drove in on easybike, just getting back from the hosp. They carried her mom into the house. And we headed on, telling them we would be back in a few days.

Dipti had just finished cleaning when we got back so she came back inside and held Gentry while we put groceries away

a quick supper of sandwiches, veggies and dip, and apple slices

Tues July 28

 Lonnie went with Brian to his clinic day.

Couple loads of laundry

Syed Ali came and spent a couple hours scrubbing the driveway. His wife joined him after awhile. She spent a little time inside with us but Gentry wasn’t allowing her to babysit him and I was just making some fresh salsa to go with our leftover taco meal.

In the eve, we ran to Apon to get a few guesthouse restock supplies. Then drove thru Bashundhara’s new construction where a Mall of Bangladesh is going up and a huge amusement park and on to Neela Mkt for kebabs and their XL, hand tossed, paper thin, tortillas. We got enough for supper back at the house and another meal.

Mon July 27 Dhaka shopping day 🛒

 1st stop Jamuna Mall. Lonnie took the children to Ocean Joy Park https://maps.app.goo.gl/Dj4tSxzUTSeYRLJP6?g_st=ic while I shopped Mr D.I.Y. and Wholesale Club. Then on to Gulshan 2 UniMart where we started with lunch at Chef’s Table https://maps.app.goo.gl/qLC3K9qjnMneiGGM7?g_st=ic egg fried rice and iced ginger teas from Wok Way, plates of sushi from another vendor, and popcorn chicken and tenders from Crisp.  

In the evening, Syed Ali took Lonnie and Annslie to Dumni for cha and bananas.

Sun July 26

 Lonnie worked on house maintenance after going for tea with Syed Ali…. A melted AC outlet replaced, a spraying kitchen faucet, a squeaky ceiling fan…

Then we went to pick up Gentry’s passport, finally! And his “Born Abroad” document. Now we have the legal documents for when we leave the country. It was always a stuck feeling before, knowing that IF all sudden the need arose to leave the country, we would not even be able to without Gentry’s legal documents!!

North End coffee shop for lunch and coffee beans. This location we had not been to yet, so that was fun 🤩 there are 11 locations here in Dhaka, and it has been awhile since we’d been to a “new” location.. I don’t know if we’ve hit them all yet or not. Sometime I might have to do a little research and see

In the evening, we went to Brian’s for perogies 💛 They had worked all afternoon starting with making the fresh cottage cheese…and we felt privileged to enjoy the final product with them🫶🏼

Sat. July 25 recuperation

 We decided we would just sleep in even if the maid would be showing up. We enjoyed a leisure morning with brunch closer to noon.

Syed Ali washed the van and took Lonnie out for tea

At 4:00, Lonnie and Brian went to meet up and visit with Shurov where he takes a walk everyday.

Later on, the children and I walked out the Pink City gate to get eggs and onions.. chatting with Samuel, one of the guards we know… his baby girl is 4 months old and they have named her now, “Shotti”👶🏽🎀

Fri. July 24 Worship Day

 Our church service was scheduled for 11:00 to give the men a little extra time to rest.

The 3 single brethren had spent night at guesthouse here with us

So I got to make breakfast for them 😊… breakfast burritos, fruit platter, and coffee. We heard for the 2nd time now about how Bangalis do not eat pineapple and milk together as one of the men had put milk in his coffee, so he wouldn’t be able to eat any pineapple… It will make you sick!…Our forefathers have told us. He did end up having some pineapple saying he would report back to me! And I’m thinking, this may not be a fair trial as these men have just been on a grueling journey and are probably not feeling 100% anyway!!

We did tell them about other parts of the world where Piña coladas are a specialty drink and do not have ill effects…

My little dream/wish/hope came true!!!… Shanto and Espondant came up from Rhidoy’s (Rhidoy and Pinky had to work) and the 3 single brethren all stayed for the church service at the clinic! Special 🫶🏼 Shanto had the opening and Ripon had the message. 

Brian and Liton made a run to get pizza and Kaylee and I and some of the children walked down to a dhokan for Cokes, cucumbers, and limes. Sumita helped me make sliced cucumber with lime juice and salt.

After lunch, Brian’s took the 3 single brethren to the bus stop and we took Shanto and Espondant to Rhidoy’s apartment bout a 1/2 from Pink City. They live in a Muslim area with a  mosque and courtyard right there. Espondant tried to explain that these are a little different branch of Muslims and today was one of their holidays. We came in right past a large water buffalo bull that was tied up with a rope strung thru his nostrils.

Rhidoy’s have a room on the 4th floor that has a t.i.n.y. Kitchen area and a wash room. They have 2 windows to the outside and a ceiling fan.

The eve. turned into an endurance test for me as our family has all been taking turns with a cold virus. Shanto’s family had been having it last week and now it’s our turn… as the evening progressed my throat got more painful till it hurt to even try to talk.. the apartment also continued to get hotter as Pinky worked on making us a full course meal. We did go up to the rooftop several times where there was a nice breeze😌 and the landlady brought us another fan. We had Gentry in only his diaper… 

The landlady brought up a bowl of fresh😉 water Buffalo kichuri(rice and lentil mix) from the celebration below in the courtyard. The chunk of meat was very similar to beef roast, nothing bad about it! Except the spiciness of it burned like fire on my sore throat😩 When Shanto asked if I was not feeling well, I told him about my sore throat. He went to his backpack and scrounged up a tiny mauve colored paper bag with clove buds and told me to chew a couple of those! I must not have swallowed soon enough because they just ended up numbing my tongue instead of my throat😏 anyway they said you can make a tea out of clove also or add it to my hot honey lemon water that I’d told them I’d been making at the house..

4 of Rhidoy and Pinky’s colleagues showed up for supper also. They were all single boys about Rhidoy’s age, 26-ish, that worked at the same place. Pinky cut up some huge mangos yet for the last course of supper. The 4 friends took their leave. Leo, Pinky’s cat, was retrieved from the sitter where he had stayed while their apartment was full of guests. Annslie was ecstatic to see Leo, sadly Leo did not share her enthusiasm.. we soon took our leave also. Coming down those rough concrete steps looking out into the night thru arched windows of the stairway, made it feel like I was in Bible times.. the sky was starry, the Muslim mosque and courtyard below, …

As we drove back out the very narrow alley…Courtyard to the right, dingy concrete apartment buildings to the left, we drove thru a lighted arbor tunnel✨

Thurs July 23 3rd day of CDR

8:00 in the morning found some of us bagging up the supplies and some going to a nearby dokan for dim and ruti. We spent a busy morning bagging up rice, lentils, and potatoes. Once again, we put everything in the bags and got it ready to hand out. We were done at exactly 10:00. But alas the people were not there. By 11:00 most were present. The pastor’s helper had every sit in the church and we had a few words and a prayer. They had handed out tokens to all the participants. It made it very simple to know who was to receive a bag. By calling their names to receive their bag, it was well organized. In thirty minutes we were ready to head for home. It seemed that the Lord had lead us to each of the three places where we had went and showed God’s love.

Here in Dhaka, I made tortillas, loaf bread, and got a couple loads of laundry thru. 

Kaylee and the teachers came over for a tacos, rice and beans, and fruit platter supper, as we spent the last evening waiting for the men’s return.

The men got in at 1:00 am

Wed. July 22 2nd day of CDR trip

Up at 8:00 to find breakfast and look up contacts that Ripon had made. After many false starts we were able to find a man to take us into a small community that was effected greatly by the much rain and flooding. Many of the homes were made of mud dug from ponds in the area.  The walls were 16-18 inches thick but after being soaked by constant rains the foundations started softening, this caused the walls to settle and collapse. Some homes were a wall here and there and some the whole house was destroyed. We made contact with thirty people in that village. We told our contact man to have them all meet us at a certain time. We went to the market and bought rice, lentils, potatoes, and salt to add to our biscuits, vitamins, saline, oil, and tracts. While the supplies were being packaged for us, we went and got a bite to eat. We came back and put the supplies in their separate bags to hand out. 

We met at the time appointed and handed out the bags to the people we had made contact with. It was getting on in the afternoon by the time we finished our project. Now what? Head for home or do some searching? With out a contact to point us in the right direction we would need a whole day just to go around and check the different villages in the flood effected areas. Ripon had an area he wanted to go check but no contact. He had been in contact with a Baptist pastor earlier in the day but was not able to meet him. Taking that as an idea, a Baptist church was called in the affected area that Ripon was interested in checking. The pastor answered the phone right away and spoke English very well. He readily agreed to have us come and meet with him at his church. 

Another hour and a half of normal Bangladesh travel we found the church. We could see that this was an area that definitely had seen some water!! The road leading into the church had a couple of spots that were nearly not passable. As we got within five minutes of the church we could see people walking out towards us with bags of supplies. We found out that it was the last of fifty people that received supplies provided by the church to which we were going. 

We weren’t sure about the road leading in, so we parked and walked the last little way. 

We were once again warmly welcomed by the pastor and his accomplices.  That’s when we found out about their relief packages. The pastor shared with us about only being able to help fifty families, when the need was so vast. He told us they had been praying about it that morning. We asked him if it was possible to get another seventy-five families together that needed help. He assured us that he could. We told him we would get the supplies around if he would arrange to have the people there by 10:00 the next morning. He agreed. Then we discussed night lodging. We asked him if there was anything in the area. He said no unless we were open to sleeping on the floor in the church where we were having our meeting. We readily accepted, not looking forward to the long drive back to the place we slept the night before. 

At that point we headed out to start buying supplies and get some supper. We had the supplies delivered in bulk to the school room near the church. 

After supper we made our way back to the church and bedded down on the church floor. 

Back in Dhaka that day.. us ladies and children made the brave and independent 20 min drive thru the city to the clinic where Sister Sumita had made us a yummy Bangla lunch.(Josna was not back from her visit to her village home) Then we sat around the table and sang for a half hour or so. On the way home, we stopped by Cinnabon/Carvel for cinn rolls and ice creams.

Tues, July 21 CDR trip

The men were scheduled to leave at 5:00

The rest of the household slept in. Keeping the curtains drawn and the door locked so Syed Ali didn’t come in before we were ready for the day. He swept the yard, etc and left.

In the evening, Kaylee n boys and teachers walked over and wondered if we wanted to go to Herfy’s with them. The men have Brian’s van so we would be taking ours.. So…. I braved Bangladesh driving for the 1st time in my life and the 1st time going beyond the house behind the wheel since we left America 1 1/2 yrs ago😳

After spicy chicken wraps, chicken nuggets, fries, fruit fizz drinks and ice cream at Herfy’s, we stopped by Apon to do a little shopping. 

We made it safely back home! Amazing.

Flooding in the Chattogram district, CDR destination, Google maps location….https://maps.app.goo.gl/xksLZmkjUvyQv3sr5?g_st=ic

Lonnie wrote up a report of their CDR trip:

Santo, Ripon, Kabir, Liton, Spondon, Brian and myself, left shortly after 5:00 am from Pink City. Traveled a few hours and stopped for dim and ruti. 

Ripon had a contact, so we scheduled to meet a man in Amirabad. But because of rain he did not meet us but told us where to turn. We traveled down an old brick road. The bricks were past recognition it was more pot hole than not. The holes sizing from 2’ to 10’ across luckily were not too deep. Because the van was loaded with supplies and men it bottomed out at regular intervals. After traveling down this road for almost an hour we met the man and he continued to lead us ever deeper into the hill country. 

The road we traveled had an uphill slope to it. It started getting narrower as well. Somewhere, as we traveled, the road became a narrow paved road. The road became very hilly and curvy. The trees were not big, but many, and the understory was thick. We could see different places where someone had cleared large areas. As we neared our destination there were places we could see where the run off had cut large ditches beside the road and a couple of points it had run over the road. At these places the road was almost impassable. With some speed we were able to make it over each of the three points. We made a turn and the road was a nice but narrow brick road. There were a couple of box culverts that stuck up high enough to cause an issue. One we actually got high centered on. The men got out and pushed the van over. The bricks were slippery with slime from the tropical environment. There were a couple of hills that some of the natives got out and walked. They were afraid we wouldn’t make it. It was a little bit like driving on an icy hill. But we made it to within an hours walk of the village. The man we were following, said the road was not passable even with a motorcycle, so we parked and walked from there. It was a slick brick road for a few minutes then changed to a clay trail. It was steep and slippery, it was raining off and on as we walked. It was finally not worth trying to keep the flip flops on. A couple more natives joined us as we walked. As we would top a hill that had been cleared we could look out over the valleys and it was absolutely gorgeous!! The deep green of the bush and the dark sky made a beautiful view. We could look down on the man’s village. It was still a ten minute walk down to the village. 

   We had a warm welcome by about ten villagers. As we came into their fenced compound and were invited to wash our feet at the village water tank.  It was a debate whether or not we went inside a small community house or sat on the porch. We sat on the porch and then decided to  go look around the village at flood damage.  The water had come up very fast and washed through their community compound. It washed a lot of their fish out of the main pond in the village. It also carried away six cows and covered their new rice plants for three days. We went to the public meeting house and told them we appreciated their hospitality and ready welcome and that we had a gift for them back at the van, if they would send four men to carry it back. 

    It was growing dark and we had to traverse the slippery clay road back the walk we had come early. It was uneventful except for a few backward glances at the beautiful scenery. As we walked we were told that we were the first foreigners to walk back to this valley. It was quite a feeling to experience what some of the pioneers must experienced! We got back to the van shortly after nightfall and immediately loaded the native villagers down with some oil, powdered milk, and some biscuits. 

Now we faced the challenge of retracing our tracks but this time in the dark. Once again with some speed, finesse, and prayer the road was overcome. We only made one wrong turn and after conferring with a native was pointed in the right direction. The road didn’t seem as long without some of the weight in the back of the van. We were able to make a lot better time going back. 

We made it back to the main road but had to make the decision on where to spend the night. We checked a few hotels but they didn’t meet our requirements. We finally found one an hour and a half away. 

After eating a late supper and bedding down, it was 1:00am.  Needless to say we were ready to drop.

Mon. July 20 Dhaka 🚙 💨

 Babysat a feverish Bud 👶🏼 thru the night and all day … We did discover the 3rd tooth on the bottom has come thru making a total of 7 currently! 9 months today. 

 After breakfast and van loaded, we were about 15 min late to our appointed time of 7:30 at Bisho road to pick up Kobid. And on to do Doyles’s clinic day in Gopalgonj. (They are still on furlough back in Canada) The girls and I stayed thru the 1st several patients so they could see what goes on there then we walked to Doyle’s house. Talked to the chickens and swung Annslie while their day guard, John, toted Gentry all over. When their maid Shima arrived and unlocked the door we went in where Annslie found the toys. The bookcase caught the rest of our attentions… keeping us entertained the rest of the morning.

A quick stop for a late biryani lunch before leaving Gopalgonj

On to Dhaka which was uneventful😌

Coming in to Dhaka, Kobid started talking about how terrible Dhaka is. He lived here years ago, or in the outskirts and worked in Dhaka.???.. anyways, he could not appreciate the city life, only seeing skyscrapers and smog, etc…“If I had to live here, I would die! I’ve got to be able to see the sky, and rivers, and green,…”

This is his 1st time coming to Dhaka since the mission and guesthouse have been moved to the gated community of Pink City.

It was a different tune he sang, when we pulled up to Pink City… “Unimaginable! This is like Batiaghata(an area in the country near us in Khulna) Unimaginable.”

We dropped a little girl that had been needing the bathroom for quite a stretch already off at Brian’s and went to the guesthouse to unload the van and make beds. Kaylee, Bless her, invited everybody to have supper at their place💛 The men all gathered for a meeting to discuss the shopping list for their upcoming “CDR” trip. Right after supper, they all went to the market to buy the supplies. 

Shanto and his 15 yr old Espondant stayed at Brian’s for the night and the the 3 single brethren, Kobid, Liton, and Ripon, spent the night with us at the guesthouse. We had 2 rooms ready for them, but they opted to all stay in the one little room with 2 beds

Sun. July 19

 Shanto’s have been wanting to exchange meals at each other’s houses, so they invited us for an 8:00 breakfast this morning. A very delicious and filling meal. Paratha(fry bread), eggs (whisked with or without hot peppers and onions) and fried individually in a wok of oil, dhal (lentils), and a shobji mix of potatoes diced small and borboti (green beans). We gifted a platter of fruit for the occasion and then it was topped off with dudh cha!

We didn’t even need lunch😅

Lonnie made a trip into town, taking our rocking chair in for a repair, since it would still be under a 1 yr warranty.

Couple loads of laundry

Dipti came in late, noon, because her new daughter in law’s parents and brother were visiting her

When she was leaving, she told me about the Chakrakhali Sun school boy’s(that has the liver problem that CSI helped earlier this year) father has died!

In the eve, we went back to Khulna to pick the rocking chair up, supper at Mambo’s, picked up just a few items at Safe N Save and Day-7, and then fruit at the market.

Back home, we packed for our trip into Dhaka tomorrow, I got several mending and alterations taken care of, and the big girls Really helped with getting a few hot spots back into organization.

Sat. July 18 Tala outpost

 8:00 picked Shanto up at the end of our road and Kobid at Zero Point.

In a little town not far from Harun’s there was another elephant!🐘 this time a very large gray one! It looked a bit dangerous there on a side street, towering above All the people right around and the flimsy dokans that the elephant would be able to cause Great havoc to if she got it into her head!

We drove thru rain bout the half hour before arriving at Harun’s. And I was thinking, it’s pretty stressful to navigate the mud at Harun’s and now we’ll add rain to the experience!😟 Thankfully🤍 the rain stopped just before we got there😌 Today, was the 1st time being there since Harun’s mother passed away.. it also was a better experience in a few aspects.

• Sister Joyanti didn’t spend the whole morning in her cook shack making lunch. She had buna kichuri already made

• the food this time wasn’t so spicy we couldn’t enjoy it.😊 Joyanti had me come in the cook shack, taste it, and tell her if it was too spicy

• Joyanti seemed more alive this time. Other times she goes about with her eyes half closed and sleeps thru the service. This time, she only slept the last part of the service.

•Had a good Sun School. Brother Harun had said we wouldn’t have Sun School because of the rain, but a local “handicapped” boy was insistent on Sun School and went thru the village rounding up children😊. He looked like a fine boy, I don’t know what his handicap was other than behavior. Bangali culture often neglects any type of handicap.. thus this boy was always picking a fight. He sat by Harun thru Sun School tho, who had a nice quiet way with him💙… when he would get distracted and start talking and pointing outside during the story…

On the way home, we stopped for dudh cha(milk tea) Shanto says this is the Best kind. Not made with powdered or canned milk, but fresh cow’s milk with cream and then boiled for a long time so it gets the scalded film on the top, #1👌🏽. I said, it felt like medicine (just what I needed) after the hours at Harun‘s … navigating mud with the toddler-taking her on bathroom trips,etc… sitting thru lunch, Sun. School, and church service cross legged on a thin mat on a dirt floor while holding and taking care of my 9 mo old.

While traveling, Gentry spent a good while with Shanto and Kobid. Reaching his arms out to them. Shanto calls himself kaka (uncle) (Bangali culture) to Gentry but I think he’s more of a Grandpa to him💙 it’s So sweet, I’m So glad Gentry has him in his life! He has been taking a real “shine” to our guard, Tulshi, also and vise versa😉 Gentry cries to go outside and when Tulshi sees him, he calls to him. Not the normal “Asho, Asho!” (Come, come) but “Gentry!” And then he holds Gentry’s hands while he walks/goes exploring… still Gentry’s favorite thing💙 somebody.?. I think maybe it was Pim (Peem) predicted that he will be walking by himself in a month.. Ami jani na, time will tell… 

I can hardly stand to think that we will leave all these dear people behind, maybe to never see them again😣 They are enriching our lives🤎 taking the “in person” place of uncles, grandpas, etc back home for this time, especially for Annslie and Gentry

We are currently in the middle month of our term.. 1/2 way thru our stay already!?!

Fri. July 17 Day Of Worship

 Kobid called at 7:30? and wondered if he should plan to come or not. It was currently raining and he didn’t want to travel in the rain.. without a personal gari, rain makes local traveling very miserable. So Lonnie said that was fine we could cancel.

By Sunday school time, the rain had stopped and there were children at the gate asking about Sun school. Lonnie went out and talked to them.. it was only 3.. he told them only 3? No Sunday School. So they left and pretty soon they were back. They had rounded up 2 more. Lonnie said Ok, give us 10-20 min. He came inside and called Shanto brother, who lives not far away, … he was not home but could be there in maybe 20 min. So they sang and prayed and Lonnie had Shanto tell the story… He’s a natural🫶🏼 and is very interactive,..having them repeat the character’s names, asking them if they understand, asking them other questions.. and then they colored the picture and got a small roll of mints for showing up.

Lunch of BBQ meatloaf, mashed taters, veggies and dip, apples and dip

Lewis, Purnima, and 8 or 9 yr old Leeza arrived at 3:00 for doctrine class. Leeza is So shy when she comes and despite all efforts, she remains firmly planted between Dad and Mom…

Church service at 4:00. Lonnie shared about “Vision” …. Where there is no vision the people perish…

After church, Purnima and Leeza needed a drink and wash room and Liton caught a ride with them in their easy bike. Lonnie asked what Shanto’s family needed as they were still at our gate waiting on a rickshaw van. …Nothing, but when Lonnie mentioned cold tea.. they Did need that!😉 So they came in for tea, chanachud, Antoor and Lonnie played a bit of carrom, and visiting.

Thurs July 16

Tulshi had let us know last night that he would be late coming to work in the morning. Argentina supporters were having a picnic and watching the game in the wee hrs of the morning. They were serving kichuri (rice/lentil dish). He reported later that there were probably a hundred there at the picnic. There was another group watching the game in the middle of the night just up the road from us on their Bill board sized screen. It was an estimated crowd of 150 over there.

This morning before I got up, I was thinking about the day and the coming days…. Today, would be the last of those “carefree” summer days/ the calm before the “storm”. Our schedule from tomorrow on is full and we’re planning to start school Aug 2.. I didn’t want to put anything in the day that Had to be done beyond the normal survival essentials of cooking, laundry, etc. 

When I told Lonnie about it later while he was doing book work. He said “ya, that’s what I’m doing…” listening to his book while he organized files on the computer for the DC officer.

In the morning, it finally came to me what I could do for the young momma asking for milk for her 1 yr old. Later that evening, we took a walk to her mom’s house, taking the baby cereal and food that Gentry no longer eats but I still had around, wondering where I should go with it. Inconveniently, Lonnie’s friend from the repair shop was coming by just as we were headed down the road. And he was being very nosy, wondering what was in the bag and who it was for. Of course he followed us right to the house and stayed there till we left. Truly a different culture! He showed us what was in his bag tho, which was quite interesting! It was a baby shalik bird that he was taking home to have his hens take care of till it was bigger. These birds are special in the way that they can learn to talk. Anyway, I took the baby food inside and explained that our milk program was not for (healthy) 1 yr olds but I did have some baby food that my baby does not need anymore and she was welcome to see if her baby would eat it. And to be quiet about it so onek grame lok(many other villagers) would not be at our gate asking for baby food. She right away shared the instruction with her mom standing there… guess we’ll see if  there are ill effects from that scenario. I do try to learn what I can from previous missionaries but it also seems like a live and learn situation at times. Looking back/thinking about it now, we could’ve had our guard do the delivery with a little less ado maybe

Wed. July 15

 Lonnie had Eye Camp in Phultala. A good turn out. They stopped receiving patients at a count of 389. Lonnie says he doesn’t know the reason why the boss shuts it down when there is still a line of patients, but figures they have their reasons.. 

Here at the house, Dipti cooked a lunch of Maddie’s choice.. chicken curry, rice, and dhal. This summer, Maddie’s been having fun watching Dipti cook lunches. With notebook in hand, she writes what Dipti is doing.

In the evening, we walked to the T just up the way for dim chop, peyag patties, and spiced cha. We’ve tried dim chop other places, bigger towns. But we like this lady’s the Best! Like the others we’ve had, we wouldn’t even go back the 2nd time for🫢 Anyway, this lady takes a boiled egg, covers it with a seasoned potato mash and then dips it in a batter and fries it crisp🤤 Tonight a customer and then somebody on the phone was talking about somebody being sick… come to find out, it was the lady cookin, she’d stumbled upon a hornets nest and got stung 10 times😳

We walked out to the levee yet. On the way home, the 2nd to last tea stall before our house, the daughter (young mom) was visiting again from Dhaka. She was concerned about her 1 yr old who hasn’t been gaining weight. He used to be the roly poliest, fat, little baby! Now, he just looks healthy. Didn’t look concerning to me, he’s walking now.. But she says he only eats chira(flattened rice) and kept asking for carton of dudh(milk) Told her, “He can drink cow’s milk now” “Don’t have a cow” was the reply. 🤔 She is only here for a week then she’ll be back to Dhaka. Says the water is knee deep there with all the flooding.

Tues July 14 neighbor’s village homes

 In the evening, the 3 village girls that like to come by and give Tulshi a hard time, were here again, I was outside when they came by, so went and visited. Finally learned their names! Topu, who speaks some English, just turned 20 yesterday and her friends, Atoy and Nodi are 17. Annslie was being shy cause they kept asking for a selfie with her and like that’s the best way to Not befriend for her🤔 but these girls must’ve won her in some way cause she said she wanted to go to their house. We didn’t have anything else pressing and Lonnie was out and about doing his own thing so I called my big girls to join us. Having you to their home, seems to be the best thing for them, So they were delighted to guide us to their homes! 

We traversed a flooded road on sand bags and made a detour thru a few people’s yards to avoid another low spot. These 3 Hindu girls are neighbors, but live in vastly different circumstances.

At Topu’s place they have a normal dirt yard with brick stepping stones for monsoon season. They have a nice sized yard, bigger than some. S e v e r a l cages of baby birds.. chickens, ducks, geese?, and Maddie saw turkey, Topu says they have 2 incubators that they hatch the eggs in.   One place, but separated and shared with her uncles family. Topu says her family will be moving to a different place, bordering Tulshi’s, due to “financial problems”. It’ll be a year or 2 tho before they get their house built.. so the cows at the barn, 2 cows and a calf are Topu’s family’s and the other 2 cows and calf are her uncle’s. Their concrete home with dirt floor, 2 rooms for each, and out at their spacious covered kitchen area…2 separate places to cook over mud ovens on the floor. A walking straw pile delivered to the cows… Topu said that was her ma and we got to meet her a little later. She gave up her career as nurse to become a housewife.

On to Atoy’s home. A 3 level, concrete home with concrete floors! Atoy’s room was on the 2nd floor. A paper/plastic? floor covering that was s’pose to look like tile. But legit bedroom furniture.. a four post bed and dresser, her own adjoining bathroom with western toilet, shower head, vent fan,..

Right outside her room was a deep freeze and tucked back there was an honest to goodness kitchen! With sink, counter space, and 2-burner counter top cook stove! Outside, they still had the outdoor cooking area also with a table and chairs, fridge, mud oven on the floor that is fueled by poo sticks which Topu tells me are called Bori.

And then to Nodi’s home. 1st off, right there by the road/path is their cow shed with a couple cows and beginnings of a new house.. just the concrete foundation so far. Straight in is a guard’s shelter where her dad sleeps at night to guard their fish pond there. To the left of that is their cook house. And to the right is another building. As you enter, there is a wooden “couch” with a thin mat on the seat. I noticed hinges on front of it and they said, Yes, it opens up for a bed! Genius✨ Then it’s just this open room with a guest bed and another for Nodi and her mom. As we departed, I made a language goof up. We met Nodi’s dad at the cow shed and for small talk, I said the 1st thing that came to me… “ bhalo basha!” Which as one word means “love”🫣 Topu quickly explained, “Good house! Good house!”😅

When we were about back to the house, Topu tells me she will have to give me Bangali name because mine is too hard for Bangalis. And I’m thinking, I know what yer sayin’ girl. I have the same problem with so many of these Bangali names!!

Sun July 12 🧑🏾‍🔧 🚙

 The plan was to pick Shanto up at 8:00

So after breakfast, everybody loaded into the van. Lonnie drove out the gate and proceeded to shut the gate and untie the dog.Meanwhile, the van left battery mode and started missing like crazy with terrible exhaust.

The brethren were let know that we would not be going to Gopalgonj for service today. Everybody unloaded, changed clothes and Lonnie proceeded to see if he could get the van into Khulna for repair. Taking the back, round about way thru the village, it’s pass-ibility is getting to the questionable stage also! 

At Auto Dynamics, https://maps.app.goo.gl/hdzEFDzM7572nFUG7?g_st=ic

he was told it would be a 6 hr repair job. So Lonnie caught easybike home.

Dipti back to work after a week off over the wedding time and a couple all day rains

Life is different in her home with a daughter in law now🥰 Baroti had made Bangla noodles for them that morning and she likes tea Every Day! Fast forward: But then Baroti was back to her schooling, she’s in college. And then her college had a few day vacation and Baroti spent that vacation back at her father’s home! 

That evening, the whole family caught easy bike to Bissho Rd for a little supper. Tried the momos and had fuska. Then caught another easy bike to the repair shop

Back in the gari, Lonnie took us to New Market for ice cream cones😊 we decided to try the from a different vendor nearby, but alas, nobody was selling ice cream because the power was out! But this vendor was working on getting his generator out and going. About that time, one of my girls is getting quite adamant about finding a bathroom, Now! So, Lonnie stayed at the icecream booth and the girls and I went in search of. One stranger directed us to one in the depths of New Market but it was Really dark in there and I didn’t even have my phone with me! So off to the Other end of New Market where I knew of a decent one in Artisan. The ladies there wanted to know where my baby was🥰 By time we got back across NewMarket, the power was back on and Lonnie was visiting with an upper teens? boy that knew some English. We decided we liked these cones better than the other place. He had yummy blueberry icecream also😋

Another little instance that’s so common, don’t even think to write about most of the time.. Is the little beggar children at NewMarket.. this evening, one quieter, little bit older, girl followed us back to the gari, She said she was 11.. was Not scrawny and demanding… was selling flower wreaths…. Would Love to know her story… why is she on the street at night begging🥺 it was not hard to slip her a few Taka as we were leaving and it wanted to haunt me… all the Why’s and unknowns of why she was there… I wish she didn’t need to be there… why do some children have to do those kind of things…???….

The girls were wishing for more easy bike adventure. But it was time to head to the house. We planned to just park the van before the bridge and catch rickshaw van to the house. Some of the bricks from the detour route, that’s now under water, had been moved to the new bridge’s sand approaches. They made brick paths wide enough for the easybikes and rickshaw vans but not garis. Now, tonight, when we came home the locals said yes, you can take your gari over. So Lonnie went for a look-see and he could see that a gari had passed over successfully and it looked doable although definitely a temporary situation. So over we went! 1st time over the new bridge… a project that has rocked on much longer than they had planned and has complicated travel to and from our house many times.

Sat July 11

 Our routine grocery run into Khulna City.

When we got to bridge just up from our house where we take the temporary detour while they build the new bridge. We see water flowing over the detour . Is it safe? Is there deterioration happening underneath that we can’t see? but bystanders say it is ok. So we prayerfully cross. Just as we get to the other side we scrape terribly on one side once we were on good road again, Lonnie got out to assess the damages. The sliding door still opens👍🏼

So on to get our grocery shopping, stopping by the tailor for the girls’ new dresses and Miss Christina’s 3 pc kameez, and Dominos pizza

At the vegetable market, Lonnie offered to take my list while I shopped for fruit💙

Back at the bridge on our way home.. water is still flowing over the detour, has deterioration progressed too much? The decision was made to cross again😱 Aaaaaaaand……………………………………………We made it safely to the other side🤍

Friday July 10 A Day Of Rest

 It rained all night… No thunder, no lightning, no strong batash(wind), just a gentle steady rain.

At breakfast, Kobid said he wouldn’t be coming because of the rain. It cont. to rain, so no Chakrakhali Sun.School either.  

After lunch, it was barely misting so the girls went out and entertained themselves by scrubbing the bricks in front of the guard’s shack that have gotten quite slick. Gentry observed from his stroller.

3:00 was suppose to be doctrine class, but that was canceled due to “heavy rainfall in Khulna City”

And 4:00 service got canceled also..

An all day rain, a day of Rest for us,..

We did invite everybody to join us in Gopalgonj Sun for their service.. travel expenses paid, lunch provided. One brother took us up on the invitation and our interpreter Brother said he was available also.

Thurs July 9 🐘

 Lonnie spent some time with the neighbor at his repair dhokan 

Late afternoon, we decided to catch a rickshaw van to go for some veggies. I was looking for cucumbers in particular for our “Sunday” lunch tomorrow. Nee-tie was our driver this evening… we didn’t see any cucs in Chakrakhali so we went on to Sausa Bunia. Successful. On our return trip, what do we see?! But an elephant! Walking down the road! With a man leading it. Nee-tie turned around so we could get a better look and visit with the owner. He had the elephant tell us “Hi” she obediently trumpeted for us🤩 he told us the elephant’s name,  but these Bengali names… some of them are just beyond us to remember. The smallish brown Asian elephant was 5 yrs old. Told us, for Taka, he’d give rides. Nobody jumped at the chance.. A motorcycle with man, wife, and child stopped to observe also. We both gave a little Taka which the elephant took from our hands with her trunk and gave to her owner😍 Then she obediently told us “Bye” 🐘 

Tues July 7 Shubho and Baroti’s wedding cont.

 Time to get into the wedding garments!! Right there on the roof! A white Punjabi and white lungi now with his white wedding hat. The astrologers say 12:11 a.m. is the perfect time tonight to perform the marriage rituals. So, back down to the bottom floor under the 4 posted structure with the priest. 

Many pan leaves were used throughout the rituals.

To begin with, a long white cloth was tied on to cover Shubho’s face while his bride-to-be was brought in. She came in holding 2 pan leaves in front of her face

They stood in front of each other, under a white cloth, an oil burning candlestick held between them😳 while they took turns reaching around the burning candlestick putting a dab of red between the eyebrows of each other. The veil and flame were removed.

They both held up a wreath of white flowers and took turns moving their wreath thru the other wreath and up over their partner’s head and back off and thru again. A bit tricky with Baroti’s tiara and Shubho’s topor 🙃They each repeated the ritual several times.

Cross legged on the floor across from each other with the priest on the middle side reading from his handbook. One or both of them would be mumbling a repeat. Little bits of grasses, a banana, etc, etc would be picked up. 

At one point, Baroti looked about to cry and I wondered what was going on or why. Otherwise she looked happy or excited. Another time, she beckoned for her friend? to come to her aid… her nose hoop ring had come unclasped and was dangling by its gold chain from where it was attached in her hair… The priest, never skipping a beat

There was the ceremony where Baroti circled around the area and Shubho 7 times stopping each round to dab the top of each of Shubho’s feet with oil?. Then Shubho’s helper woman would place a pan leaf over his feet till Baroti made it around again. It appeared like the leaves were to keep track of the rounds. Baroti took great care as she made her rounds.She had a narrow path with all the ceremony jinish(stuff) in the middle with candles burning setting there on the floor, yards of floor length Sari skirt, and then the ring of observers.

Then there was the ceremony where Shubho and Baroti reached across with her hand on top of his and the priest reading from his book and putting things on top of their hands… little bits of stuff?, flower petals, etc, etc. this part seemed to go on for quite some time especially considering they were sitting cross legged across from each other and it was a full reach to meet in the middle. By this time, Baroti’s eyelids kept falling shut as the priest droned on. Lastly he wrapped banana leaves around the whole stack and their hands, tied it with something and sprinkled more oil, flower petals,..

After this, a cloth was tied from Shubho’s lungi to Baroti’s Sari and from then on they performed the rituals side by side

Shubho then proceeded to put the red stripe from her forehead up into her hair parting that symbolizes marriage in the Hindu culture. Also the white bangles and other bracelets were donned on her wrists.

They got up and took a break, hung out with their friends a bit while the next ritual was prepared. 7 circles were drawn on the floor in a line. The priest made a small fire and then the bridal pair came back. A rice sifter with a pile of rice grains was placed in Baroti’s hands. She put one foot on a small club that was positioned at the 1st circle. Shubho stood behind her with his hands on her forearms and put his foot right behind Baroti’s as she slid the club along the line of circles stopping to dump a little rice on the fire every so often. Made me think of some of the relay feats we try to perform on School Year End Play days😅

So all thru these rituals, Baroti had a lady assisting her also… right there prompting her, helping the priest prepare and Baroti to perform the rituals,.. 

another thing to note, was the atmosphere of the place… It was not quiet or formal.. guests visited and moved about at will, children would walk right thru the ceremony tent. 

At one point, the lady assisting Baroti stepped up to me and asked when we were going to sleep as their rituals cont. and the hours slipped by.. the crowd got less but there were still some that stayed to the end. 

The final ritual for the event was the blessing of the womb… the last part, they needed a baby for. Gentry was sleeping in my arms and they asked if he could play the symbolic part, but I would need to wake him as he needed to be awake. I said, he’s out! It’s 3:00 am! She decided to try and placed him in Shubho’s arms, who passed him on to Baroti. Gentry squirmed and fussed a little and Baroti got him quiet again and then they were supposed to feed him misti balls(down the line of a donut hole) but he is sleeping! So Shubho just touched the misti ball and dabbed it on Gentry’s bottom lip and then he was passed back to me.. 

and that was the end and we made our way out, stopping by Baroti’s family home but everybody was sleeping except a couple guests. Back out the alley to our van. The streets were dead compared to when we came in! We dropped Kobid off. at his alley. And drove the fastest down that road home as we probably ever have as it was so empty! 20 min later, Shunil opened the gate for us. Everybody in bed by shortly after 4:00 am!

It was noon before everybody was awake for the day.

Threw a load of laundry in

Made a hearty brunch

Worked on Jaira’s new dress making it more user friendly😉

Another rainy day, so we were notified that the “wedding” meal at the groom’s home wouldn’t be till 5:30 pm. Earlier when I had asked Dipti what time to go, She had told me “Shob poribar Shodda din” (all day) But then when I pressed her further for a better idea.. morning?, No.. afternoon 2-3:00.

Fine by us as we didn’t mind having a little more time between the 2 events. We walked in from Chakrakhali, water completely covering one stretch of the road.

At the groom’s home(Dipti’s) the whole yard was covered with a canopy, tables and chairs set up. The cow was no longer in the shed and they had a couple holes dug in there for cooking fires with huge pots

I found a chair in the 1st room of the house where I held Gentry almost the whole evening. So many people in such tight quarters! It was fun to be with some of the same people again tonight that we’d just got acquainted with and spent hours with at the wedding🥰 Baroti’s mom and 12 yr old brother Rudro, who was quite a charming little fellow. Dipti told me later that he is a hard working little guy, running his Dad’s dokan for him since his dad’s been sick for an extended amount of time. Two other very sweet ladies. One taught school for 8 years there in Khulna City and has been married 2 months now and lives in Chakrakhali. She knew just a bit of English so that helps for a little better communication. Other mom’s with babies were in there also stationed in front of fans.. we were going to finally go out to the tables and eat but we weren’t aggressive enough to get places at the tables and get in on that setting either, so Dipti’s sister told us she’d serve us inside. Cleared the bed and standing on it used a rag to dust it clean(little different standard of cleanliness going on here🙃) but her efforts were appreciated. 

After rice, dim curry, chicken curry, and doy(yogurt)

We took our leave. Darkness had fallen and our youngest 2 seemed to have had all they could handle

Out to the path, we are told we must wait for rickshaw van, it’s coming! We tried to wait a bit but we knew our littles would be much more manageable if we would keep moving,  so we slowly walked a ways. The rickshaw van did meet us before we got to the spot where we’d have to go thru the water again.

Mon July 6 Hindu wedding

 Got Jaira’s dress sewed and a wedding gift wrapped and ready

Lonnie finally grilled the “birthday” steaks today🤗 ..baked potatoes and lettuce salad for sides 

Dipti had told us 8:00 pm for a wedding time 8:00 - midnight

But Kobid had mentioned the other day how Hindu weddings can go to 3 and 4 in the morning with all the rituals and the astrologers know when the planets line up just right for the perfect time to perform the wedding rituals…which is often in the middle of the night..

We needed a few things in town. So went a little early, telling Kobid we’d meet up with him at 7:30

Well, I guess both sides weren’t fully informed so when Lonnie finally got a hold of Kobid, he was at Dipti’s house back in Chakrakhali and we were waiting at New Market in Khulna City for him! Anyway, he said the wedding guests should all come to the wedding by bus, with the wedding party. But now we should just wait where we were and we could follow the bus to the brides home which was in Khulna City, Nirala to be exact, not far from the Gollamari bridge. He kept us updated as they waited for the bus. Lonnie went after paratha(kind of like fry bread) for our hungry girls while we waited. 

It was 9:00 before the decorated car carrying the bride and groom and the bus with the guests showed up at the appointed meeting place!

The bus dropped the guests off to walk the last stretch of the way and we followed the decorated car to the alley. The wedding car drove on down the alley yet but we parked and followed, walking with everybody down the alley to the decorated and lit up gate at the end. 

Shubho(the groom) and Baroti(the bride) got out of the car then. Tradition is that the groom would be carried to the gate from the car. But nobody was willing and we weren’t quite catching on at that time what was going on. At the gate, the guests were supposed to give money(to help pay for the wedding, is how I got it) so only when enough Taka was raised were the guests welcomed in!

Dipti’s sister, Dipali, came and found us in the crowd and escorted us around so we watched the goings on from inside the gate. 

Shubho was wearing a yellow punjabi (long sleeved, knee length shirt) with matching lungi(wrap around man skirt), a white wedding hat https://www.google.com/search?q=pic+and+meaning+of+topor&client=safari&hs=tCaV&sca_esv=6fd337b2c9137bab&channel=iphone_bm&source=hp&ei=radUaqvPLKK_seMPmIKlwA0&biw=375&bih=449&oq=pic+and+meaning+of+topor&gs_lp=EhFtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1ocCIYcGljIGFuZCBtZWFuaW5nIG9mIHRvcG9yMgUQIRigATIFECEYoAEyBRAhGKABMgUQIRigAUiosQFQ2xFY-ZsBcAJ4AJABAJgBggKgAdcNqgEFMC42LjO4AQPIAQD4AQGYAgugAq8OqAIOwgICECnCAhAQABgDGLQCGOoCGI8B2AEBwgIQEC4YAxi0AhjqAhiPAdgBAcICBxAAGIAEGBPCAg0QLhiABBjRAxgTGMcBwgIJEAAYgAQYExgKwgIGEAAYFhgewgIIEAAYFhgKGB7CAgUQIRifBZgDEvEFwnsVJbSZRse6BgQIARgKkgcFMi41LjSgB-UjsgcFMC41LjS4B5cOwgcHMC4xLjUuNcgHSoAIAA&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-hp

About this time, I asked about Dipti, “Where is she?”. We’d seen Shubho’s immediate family, a couple cousins, an aunt, already….but not Dipti!? Her sister informed us, “It is tradition that the mother does not attend the wedding.” I am so accustomed to our ways that it seemed really sad to me that Dipti could not witness her son’s wedding..

 When sufficient Taka was received, Kobid mentioned 2,500 Tk.?. Shubho was carried a few steps and we all followed up the wide concrete steps to the bottom floor of the multi level, concrete, housing structure. There on that 1st floor, were tables and chairs set up, where we would eat later and a 4 cornered structure(mandap) decorated with flowers and stalks of banana leaves where the couple and priest would sit later while the marriage rituals would be performed. We were guided up another 4 flights of stairs to the roof that had been professionally decked out for the occasion. Quite a large area of white structure decorated with flowers. A red rug/heavy fabric covering the whole area and a cream colored loveseat just big enough for 3 people. On either side was matching cream colored arm chairs with their own flowered arches. This whole set up seems to have been solely for the groom and his pictures. The guests all took turns sitting with Shubho for photographs. Here again, I thought about Dipti and wished she could be with her son in this lavish setting. They come from such a poor setting with their dirt floor, 3 room shanty with cook shack beyond, and tiny yard is thick soupy, slick mud now during rainy season..

We spent a good while up there on the roof.. meeting the parents and a few others, chatting with just a few, visiting with Kobid. He answered our many questions.. and shared with us what was going on and why. One thing he said, is that these Hindu weddings are focused on the bridal pair and their friends… the parents just observe and enjoy…We enjoyed the night air with an occasional slight whiff of a breeze, observing the constant movement of photographers and guests and what appeared to be a very nervous Shubho tugging at the collar of his Punjabi, dabbing the sweat off his face, checking his reflection in any available smart phone screen to make sure everything was in place for these monumental photos. Meanwhile, pretty much never did see any more than a faint hint of a smile, sober as a judge! Every so often, the bride’s little brother 12yrs, would connect a smart phone to a couple loud speakers for some loud music, which never lasted long. Thank goodness, cause my little boy was trying to catch a few zzz’s. A normal Hindu wedding according to Kobid and our observations of all other Hindu occasions would include a nice amount of drumming and music but this wedding was being hosted by the benevolent landlord of the bride’s family, as they are not wealthy either. And the landlord is Muslim, so no drums and music allowed.

After awhile, it was time for Shubho to go down to that main floor where he had a time of rituals with the priest. Back up to the roof until it was time to go back down for the meal. It was a delicious chicken bhaji(fried)…nice meaty chunks, rice, fish with potatoes curry, dim (boiled egg) curry, “salad”.. that was seasoned the most perfectly here that I’ve ever had..with lime juice and salt, and shodda doy(white… which means it’s not as sweet as the brown, yogurt, our favorite) After the meal, on our way back up to the roof, we were invited into the home there on the 2nd floor. Wow.What.a.Nice.Home. Clean, tile floors, high ceilings, spacious, minimally But tastefully and actually modern-ishly🙃 decorated. We sat on couches and before long they brought a plate of jackfruit, which most of still cannot really appreciate. Dipti’s sister, who was there with us, took one. And served us glasses of a most delectable fresh lemonade🤤

 we followed Shubho back up to the roof.. just a few guests and his friends. I haven’t mentioned this part yet, but there was this woman helping/being Shubho’s “right hand man” making sure he had tissue to dab sweat away, prompt him for what he was supposed to do next, etc.. he would call on her if he needed anything..

Sun July 5

 Lonnie said he was feeling 90% better🤗

Got Maddie’s dress finished and Jaira’s cut out and zigzagged

Sat. July 4

 Lonnie had come home last night with a headache also, but by the morning he was feeling Really terrible with the chills, headache, etc. topping it off with a rib out of place. He spent the entire day in bed😳 certainly a very rare occasion

The rest of us went about our day

Laundry, bread to bake, and I decided if the girls were gonna have something nice to wear to the upcoming wedding of our maid’s son, i’d have to get busy sewing! Their dresses we’d finally been able to drop off at the tailor to be sewn wouldn’t be ready till next Sat. And I’d left their newest dresses with the tailor for measurements! I don’t mind them having a dress or two sewn by their momma anyway😉

I’d brought a tenderloin for steak from Dhaka to grill up for Maddie’s birthday, then after our change of plans figured we’d have her birthday meal the next day, but with Lonnie under the weather we weren’t going to be grilling steak. I ended up slicing some of it really thin and pan frying it. Putting it in a quesadilla with sautéed onions, bell peppers, and a little hot pepper.. yum 😋 

I kept that machine humming after everybody was in bed

Fri July 3 Our Maddie Jane turns 12 and a native funeral

 We left at 7:00. eating sausage patties and banana muffins on the road, picking Kobid up at Zero Point. 

It is certainly Monsoon Season which makes visiting natives a real event. especially with small children and all the mud everywhere. I always wonder if everybody will be able to stay upright this time. 

Beauty’s mother’s name is Miriam and she lives with Beauty’s brother and his wife and 8 yr old dau. Genia. Their house is at the back corner of a 200 yr old cemetery. So actually a very nice location considering they have a huge concrete walled in “front yard” with all their neighbors being 6 ft under, giving it a peaceful, quieter atmosphere than most of Bangladesh city living. The story was told today of how years ago the family rented this house as it was low rent. Thru the years, the rent got less! And now they do not even have to pay rent anymore! Not a very common trend🤔

 I had a surprise, I had not realized that Khokon and Beauty had a son! But he(Opu?) and their dau. Orpita met us out by the highway when we arrived. And showed us to the house. We stepped thru the doorway into the 1st small room, where Miriam’s body was lying on the bed. Her sister, which is our Sister Elizabeth from Kaligonj met us there where she took up residence on the bed next to Miriam. In the next  room, Beauty and her children hung out with other visitors coming and going. And serving dim, ruti, and dhal for breakfast.

 Beauty has been staying there with her mom and brother for this last month. Her and Elizabeth both seemed especially sad all day.. we were escorted thru another small room in the front of the house across from Miriam’s room where a laundry line was strung and floor beds were rolled up for the day. Into another bedroom with a bed, loveseat, and bathroom adjoining. Kokhon was hanging out in that room… I stayed there for a bit but soon found my way back over to where Beauty was, to sit with her and visit some and then spent some time in the front room with Elizabeth and Beauty’s brother and wife. At one point I stepped up to Elizabeth stepping on the burlap rug at the end of the bed. Squish. It was very soggy🤔 remember..everybody is bare foot, leaving their shoes outside the door…it was raining just outside the open doorway but only later did it fully dawn on me what I’d probably stepped in😳… I have not been acquainted with dead bodies that have not been embombed😝 but to these folks, it’s a natural part of life and death.. Later, I observed a couple women ringing the rug and rags out into buckets, no gloves, no ado….

Somehow None of Gentry’s pacifiers came along with us! So that presented it’s own challenge for the day😫

After awhile, Brian’s, Miss Aleigha, with Elizabeth’s husband, Boli and son arrived. 

I walked out in the cemetery with Gentry to where the grave was still being dug. The cemetery was quite overgrown so couldn’t walk around too much beyond the path from the front gate to the house…we were warned of snakes..

Walked back to the house about the time they were bringing Miriam’s body out in the bed sheets to a covered area where they proceeded to wash and dress her. The daughter in law set to wailing… this lady died of cancer and was only a very small skeleton by this time. The casket⚰️ actually shaped just like this emoji! Was covered in black fabric, a couple narrow satin ribbons like green and white maybe 💭 all the way around with a few coordinating satin flowers here and there.

Sometime in here, Kaylee and I decided to go buy some flower bouquets. I’d taken note of the florist shops not far away, on the way in. Brian helped us hire one of the rickshaws waiting in line on the street side of the cemetery. We took Bennett and Annslie with us. The flower dokans were farther away than I had remembered, but not too bad. It didn’t take long to buy 2(one for Beauty and one for Elizabeth) already prepared, nice sized bouquets, for a total of 900 Taka(about 9 USD)

Back at the house, Miriam was already arranged in the casket there in the front yard. The flower bouquets were put in the casket with her for picture time. Perfume and scented powder was sprayed all around and over her…a prayer..and then the casket was carried to the cemetery.

On the way, the lid that was just loosely resting on top, was accidentally knocked askew🫣

The husband, that had been buried 14 years ago, was unearthed. A sheet covered his casket that was not holding together too good any more.😳

So the smallish crowd gathered around led by a robed priest? Supposedly not Catholic, but Church of Bangladesh, although the performances felt very Catholic🧐 1 or 2 Bangali songs were sung. A couple different times the crowd was lead in crossing themselves. The priest read from his book. Elizabeth and 2 other ladies were called on to speak… could hardly hear them… were they sharing memories?? The lid was moved aside, holy water was sprinkled, the bouquets were removed to be placed on the grave later. The lid was nailed down. And she was lowered by ropes and the husband next. We were given chunks of dirt and marigold petals to throw over them.

As we had agreed to stay for lunch, we were escorted back to the house, back to the room with the loveseat, bed, and adjoining wash room. Instructed to rest 🤔 After awhile individual boxes of kichuri(rice and lentil mix) with a boiled egg were brought in with apologies for the wait time. It felt so backward… the family serving us. China plates and glasses again.. after lunch we invited the family in with us. Brian’s had brought a few Bangali hymnals. So we stood with the family and sang 5 or so songs. Boli and Elizabeth’s married son, I believe, took Gentry during this time and kept him happy till we were ready to leave. What a Godsend, as Tylenol was not kicking my headache and there was a tired Annslie around also.

Lonnie shared a scripture and some words then Brian’s turn. He had the same scripture in mind as Lonnie, but he shared words of comfort with the family also. Then Boli shared memories and we had a prayer. 

Miss Christina went with Brian’s from there as they had invited her to come spend a little more time in Dhaka this summer with them and Miss Aleigha. And we took Kobid and Orpita back to Khulna with us. Lonnie and Kobid kept up a steady stream in the front seat. After a little small talk with Orpita. The whole crew of us fell asleep in the back of the van. I was feeling nauseous by this time with my headache🤕🤢 At Bissho Rd, Lonnie and Kobid  helped Orpita catch the bus on to Gopalgonj.

Back at the house, Lonnie, Jaira, and Annslie went to Shunil’s to pick up Maddie’s birthday cake. I showered, then fixed the table up a bit.

After our little birthday party, Maddie commented, “That was a fun birthday!” Which made my momma heart glad! As native events can be a bit much for my girls sometimes. But it seemed like she handled the sudden change of plans and big day well✨

Thurs July 2

 I sewed today

In the evening, Ripon from Gopalgonj, called with the word that our Sister Beauty’s mother had passed away. She passed at 5:00 that morning and the funeral would be tomorrow morning 9:30 at her home in Jashore 2 hrs from here.

I finished my dress

Wed. July 1

 I cut out a dress for myself

 This evening 5:00, was scheduled to be our 1st doctrine class with Lewis and Purnima.

We went in to Khulna City a little early so we could stop by Aarongs for wrapping paper and the grocery store for a few essentials, the tailor boss was not in,.. and then on to Lewis’s where Purnima was making noodles over her low mud oven, even tho we’d told them, “we don’t need food”. 

While she finished up, I offered to wash the china dishes and glasses she’d gotten out by the water pump. My offer was declined so I went out the gate to visit with the neighbor ladies that had gathered. 

There was a 1 month old baby there in Lewis’s compound that was crying and crying(it had gotten a vaccination shot that day) and the mother had taken it out to walk with it where it finally fell asleep and she wanted me to hold it. The baby was not named yet.

After the class, and noodles with tiny bits of meat (that tasted a lot like liver.. they’d received from their Muslim neighbors at Eid🫣) we made our way back thru the alley to where we’d parked out by the street. While I waited for Lonnie to move the van away from the curb so I could get in. I visited with some chatty children who’d gathered. One informed me that one of them was Hindu, one Muslim, and one Christian😅

Lonnie stopped back by the tailor dokan for me and the boss was there 🤗 finally! I left 2 pcs for dresses for the girls and Miss Christina left a 3 pc kameeze to be sewn

Mon June 29 the cupcake story 🧁

 Lonnie made a trip into town to get a small battery backup system for the guard shack and to run the yard light. We’d been having Such interrupted nights with all the power outages and our night guard turning the generator off and on several times during the night, for a fan in his quarters and a yard light. Fast forward: it has made such a wonderful improvement to our nights 😌

I sat down with Jaira’s music book and remembered, Today! We were suppose to make cupcakes for the lesson on blending our voices while singing. The instructions in the lesson call for a cake mix which we do not have the likes of.  I thought, “Well, I guess I’m of the hook.” But about that time, I remembered a Basic Mix I had in the freezer. So, into the kitchen Jaira and I went to apply the lesson to making cupcakes. Added a few sprinkles to make them fun and piped green cream cheese frosting on.

Later in the afternoon 2 boys that like to come by were at the gate on bikes. I went out to visit with them. They usually don’t have much to say so I end up asking whatever questions I can come up with to say in Bangla. After awhile, Tamim quietly says, “It’s my birthday today.” 14 years old. So I asked if he would be having a birthday party. 

No.

Why not?

We are too poor. And having heard Dipti lament the same thing. I believed him.

So, what does a birthday party mean to you? Cake? Balloons? Friends?

Yes.

So, if you had a party tonight who would you invite?

My friends and cousins.

I made cupcakes today, I can give you.

And then I went to the shed where Lonnie and Tulshi were working on installing the IPS system to see if he had any advice .. Lonnie questioned if it was actually even his birthday, cause how would we know if he was actually telling the truth.?. True… But what if he Was telling the truth!? And I have the cupcakes sitting right there on my kitchen counter! The reason for being careful, we’ve been told that when giving things to the villagers, it spreads like wildfire and then their neighbors and friends will need “cupcakes for their birthday also!”

So, I decided if I gave him only 1 cupcake it wouldn’t be overwhelming if other village children needed a little something to celebrate their birthday with.

I went in and put 1 cupcake in a paper bowl(as bad as I would’ve loved to send the whole pan), pulled out a small package of birthday candles that were here at the house when we arrived and Saran wrapped them on the bottom of the bowl.

They were still waiting by the gate wondering when I would give the cupcake? So I presented it to him, “Shubho jon modeen” (happy birthday) and telling him to be quiet about it so the rest of the village would not be at my gate asking for a birthday cake! 

Then he and his friend happily took off, taking turns holding the cupcake

It felt like the music lesson today with the cupcake object lesson was a little miracle from God so that I could be prepared to share a birthday cupcake🤍

I am often reminded of the Sister back home sharing in S.S. how maybe we are like Chess pcs in God’s hands…. being moved about, coming in contact with people according to precise timing, and I had to think even prompting us throughout our days… I do not always have a Basic Mix in the freezer and it would have been very easy to have the music lesson without baking the cupcakes, I do not always notice or go out and visit those that come to the gate, etc., etc., 

And who knows, maybe it wasn’t Tamim’s birthday, but I felt blessed anyway.. and it felt like a faith builder of just doing the things as they come to us..

We get used to the poverty all around us and then things like today, will all sudden, unexpectedly hit really hard! It was difficult to sit down and enjoy all the rest of those cupcakes… it wanted to make me feel guilty… life is so…..uneven.

Sun June 28

Pikli, our land lady, came for a visit. More legal documents… the struggle for ownership of this property with her ex has supposedly been settled in court now.

Later she returned with a couple men. One of them being from the local power company. She has instructed them to put a larger transmitter to this location. When the current system was put in place it was based on a certain amount of electricity being used. Since then, 3 more A.C.s have been installed in this house pulling more of a load than had been planned for.. maybe the cause of excessive power outages recently. They’re planning to have the new installation by middle of July. So we’re s’pose to use less A.C.s till then. Which hasn’t been as much of a problem as our teacher soon went for another stay in Dhaka and the girls have been using the bedroom on the main floor this summer. Plus Monsoon Season has arrived with some spells of not such extreme heat

We went for a little outing to the river this evening. A new stretch of the river for us. We parked at the same place as where we’d gone with everybody after Fellowship, but this evening we walked on down along the river a ways. Definitely a local attraction with dokans here and there selling food and drink. People lined along the bank or down by the waters edge taking pictures with folks up top videoing those below! Rather appalling as I don’t believe the people below knew they were being videoed.?. 🤔

Lonnie stopped and helped a man who was working on his easy bike. We spent that time nearby at the river’s edge.

Back at point A we watched the moon come up over the river as the night arrived. Of course a crowd gathered around us. All beckoning “Asho, Asho” to Gentry as they all wanted to hold him. They were declined but gathered Very near, visiting and getting Gentry to play with them from my arms.

One boy there tonight was named Lion and another was Tiger 😅

Sat June 27

Weekly shopping day

Dropped Miss Christina and Jaira off at Aarongs to shop for an upcoming birthday while I did some grocery shopping.

Mambo’s, for hamburgers and fries and lemonades 

At the fruit and veggie Market I ran into our Muslim neighbor whose home we’ve visited and saw in Khulna city another time. Told him Lonnie was waiting in the car if he wanted to talk to him. By time, I got back to the van, the neighbor was holding Gentry and a little crowd gathering. Veggie market boss was trying to get us to go have byriani across the street but Lonnie had just picked up kabobs and naan to take home for a little supper,  cause I’m ever on the lookout for something similar to what we love from Neela Mkt in Dhaka. …the kabobs- Too much maSala and spicy. The naan-we realized after we were almost done, had bits of the clay oven it had baked on… it Wasn’t bits of bone from the meat after all😝

Fri June 26 Worship Day

 At Chakrakhali, Lonnie, Kobid, and the man of the house sat down on plastic chairs in front of the S.S. room and visited. I went to see what the lady of the house was cooking on her outdoor/back porch mud stove. Chicken curry, while her Muslim maid used the horizontal mortar and pestle to make pastes for her. The lady of the house’s sister was there also. They were going to be attending their parent’s wedding anniversary! That was interesting to find out they celebrate like that💕(they are Hindu..) The lady went inside then so I meandered back to the pond where King Kor was fishing. A middle grade S.S. boy showed up and then 18 yr old Dudjoy who carried Gentry around. He told me Gentry is hot, he needs his shirt off. I haven’t totally followed these people’s thinking yet…?.. cause I’m thinking “you and I are hot too and we’re not shedding our “shirts”..?.. but it does ever seem to be a concern of theirs when they see Gentry’s head wet with sweat…. I have continued to observe and take note that they do try to keep their little people cool by putting an available fan to blow on them(while napping or sitting somewhere), take their clothes off, and wipe the sweat off…

Anyway, we never did have S.S. Most of the children including Taritro (hosting couple’s son) were off playing football (soccer). That’s a whole ’nother subject that I’ll briefly touch on while we’re here. This country is Brazil and Argentina supporters during Soccer season. We see Brazil and Argentina flags and shirts e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e.  Our guards have asked several times to take off for a couple hours to watch a game. Just up the road from us in an open grassy area, a HUGE  screen, like think bill board size, has been put up. The villagers bring their plastic chairs and watch the game from 10:00 pm till 1:00 am…. Outdoor theater

After the afternoon service, Liton needed something and Shanto’s were waiting on Lonnie for something also. We told them they could come in, but no, they were busy tonight. So I went in and bathed Gentry. By time I was done, Shanto’s were sitting in our living room ..?.. So, I served thanda(cold) cha, chanachur, and the coffee cake Miss Christina had made for breakfast. 

Mon June 22

 Lonnie had Clinic Day in Gopalgonj 

Sun June 21 Father’s Day

 Lonnie met with Kobid at the clinic and waited for the social services officer, who is over the N.G.O.s to arrive. She never did show

I had Tulshi go buy a flat(30pc)of eggs for me

Lonnie went to check out an option for another clinic location as a FOR SALE sign has been posted on the current facility that we rent. (Fast forward… the owner took the For Sale sign back down.. he is building a house and needed money, but found another way without selling the office space..)

Then he and Shanto went to CSS to settle up

The girls fixed up the supper table with cream tablecloth, black runner, brass candlesticks, coordinating paper plates with black and gold design,..

I made a Cajun shrimp pasta dish

🕯️ That night, the girls turned out the lights in the living room, set candles around his chair, and gave him a foot spa 

Sat. June 20

 Last day of Fellowship 

To CSS for dim, paratha, and dhal breakfast

9:00 service

11:00 Cha break but our service only lasted till 10:30 and some of us were really “needing” cha, Now!😅 so we went to the dining hall and they were already preparing and were glad to serve us early ☕️ 😌

Members mtg: round the table sharing. This is where our smaller group was really nice as we went around the table sharing our hearts. It was a special time. Bro. Kobid had a full weekend of interpreting but it makes such a difference if both nationalities get more of what’s shared and not as much guessing at what each is probably saying at times.

Dhaka brother made a phone call last night to make sure the man on the other end of the line was aware of what all was going on this weekend😉 and so our brother Shamir, who’s been tied to his work schedule, showed up for lunch.

One last meal together, which these natives consider the grand finale and make it a little extra special. They’d wanted beef curry but the establishment has a policy against beef and pork to accommodate all possible guests ..Muslim or Hindu. So it was mutton curry with rice, Shobji, “salad”, Coke, and doy (yogurt). Truly one of those weekends where one never actually gets hungry before there’s another meal to sit down to or cha to partake in.

One or so of the native brethren had the desire to walk down to the Rupsha river yet with whoever wanted to. So we did that. It is a nice wide river with lots of big boats And there was a lovely breeze blowing, making it quite pleasant. 

And then it was over, and we parted ways again.

Lonnie had to go clean the clinic for an upcoming mtg. He met 3 of our single brethren Kobir, Liton, and Ripon on his way over there. When they heard what he was headed to do, they said they would come help! What a blessing🤍

The Bud 👶🏼 is officially 8 mo old now. He is chubbing up again after his rounds of being sick. He is down to about 6 dirty diapers a day and 2 at night, about 1/2 of what it was at his worst. But now we can see that he currently has 3 more teeth on top all pushing at the same time😩 which makes for a miserable baby, terrible nights, flaming red bottom, survival mode for Mom and Dad🫩

His fine light brown hair has a reddish hue and is getting long enough in the back that it’s got a few hints of curls

He crawls, but he would just as soon cruise on 2 feet! He pulls himself up all the time, pushing anything he can manage to push… rocking chair, coffee table, footstool, dining room chair,…Loves to go outside! His hair is quickly wet with sweat, but that doesn’t bother him if he’s entertained. He is not a quiet boy, makes lots of sounds. Gets So many bumps and bangs, hitting the hard tile floor on his head Way too often for my liking😣 he’s our squishy, lovable, chubba bubba that we all love dearly, but gladly pass him on to the next person after taking care of him for awhile😉

Fri. June 19

Lonnie made the grocery run for the day with Shanto at 6:??

 8:00 Breakfast at CSS

We rolled in about a half hour late with everybody standing around waiting on us🤦🏼‍♀️

A Bangla breakfast of kichuri(rice and lentil mix) boiled egg,

9:00 assembly time in the conference room. A normal Bangla church service with singing, opening and a message. 

Side note: both the conference room and dining hall have A.C. 👍🏼👍🏼

Another note on the attendees: only a fraction of the members showed up this year😏 3 households have seriously ailing family members, a couple have work schedules that are quite binding, etc. But we did have a few guests with Miriam from Dhaka, Shanto’s employee’s family (a younger couple with 2 young girls-6 yrs and 2? Yrs., and Eric a young man who hung out with Antoor(Shanto’s 18 yr old son). Eric’s teenage sister was around for the meals(my understanding is that their parent (s) were the cooks..?.) Eric’s sister reminded me So much of my oldest sister’s boro meye(oldest dau.) a dark haired, brown skinned version with such similar looks and mannerisms🥰

11:00 tea time. Back at the dining hall, which is in the same building but a short walk outside, we were served hot tea and “biscuits” (little boughten cookies).

Kaylee and I also took this time to go to the Sisters room to have them help us put our Sari🥻 on. They had helped the teachers put theirs on at breakfast.

Members mtg till 1:00 lunch.

Rice, curry, and  “salad”(cucumber slices, lime wedges, chunks of red onion, whole hot peppers 🌶️)

Afternoon break… the missionaries went back to the house to put the littles down for naps.

Back at CSS for 4:00 tea and biscuits

As we started gathering for the evening service there was all sudden some racket and commotion coming from the A.C. up on the wall.. And What Do You Know?!!? It’s a snake!! Wriggling around up in there getting descaled. The grounds men were notified and they came in with their clubs😅 It took a bit to extricate but then we were able to continue with our service

7:30 supper.. another delicious meal… Rice, fish (pongas) curry that was absolutely delightful, Dal, and “salad”.

Back at the house, we enjoyed another late night visiting with our fellows

Thurs June 18 Fellowship guests arrive

 Lonnie had some errands in town. I sent a small list with him. He ended up driving Shanto around rounding up supplies for the chefs at CSS to make the meals for our group. A little different experience than food committee shopping back home. The Day of the event.. going to one dhokan to order the cooking firewood, the market by Gallimari bridge for all the food supplies… fish, chicken, mutton, rice, lentils, vegetables, all the spices,etc…

Dipti cleaned

We had fun making a Welcome Back Miss Christina banner as she has spent 2 1/2 wks of summer vacation with Brian’s and Miss Aleigha in Dhaka.

Also, anticipation of guests, is always a good incentive to get some needed tidying done.

The van load from Dhaka arrived a couple hrs before supper time at the CSS meeting place. They had brought the 2 Dhaka Sisters and the clinic nurse Miriam with them. On the way down, they stopped by Gopalgonj, as Miss Aleigha wanted to check the P.O. She had a pc of mail and Lo, and Behold! Surprise!! An envelope for me also!!!! Our Very 1st envelope to make it to us💛💛💛💛 … a birth announcement of our newest nephew in the Frase family🥰 So fun and enthusing!! It made my day!! Miss Aleigha said again, that they get mail all the time… so, you’re welcome to to use our neighboring missionary’s address at Gopalgonj to send to us if you get inspired💫

P.O. Box 10

800 District Gopalgonj 

Gopalgonj, Bangladesh

7:30 supper at CSS https://maps.app.goo.gl/pWcg45DMdKewCHsi7?g_st=ic 

It was raining so we were thankful for their covered parking area😌 enough umbrellas were brought forth to keep everybody mostly dry as we all trooped to the office where we needed to sign in. Then to a waiting area till everybody arrived for supper.. At 8:00, we decided we’d just go have supper with those that had showed up, so back out in the rain to make our way to the dining hall. A welcoming aroma met us as we stepped inside. Carefully set tables with China plates and actual drinking glasses. A yummy Bangla meal of chicken curry, rice, and shobji(vegetables). 

The Dhaka Sisters and Miriam stayed on the premises with the other native members for the night. 

Our fellow missionaries came back to our house with us. The teachers and my big girls sat around the table and wrote many Who, What, When, Where, Why stories with much laughter and enjoyment. I mixed up a batch of Choc Chip cookies that we enjoyed fresh out of the oven with cups of milk☺️ the men played carrom and the evening got late as we enjoyed each other’s company😌