Sat. Aug 29

Annslie gave her standard answer to the question, “what do You want for breakfast?” I mixed up oatmeal pancakes.

Got 2 loads of laundry thru but otherwise enjoyed a relaxed morning with the family 

Dipti came today since she’d taken Thurs off. Had her do some extra scrubbing in the bathrooms

She was done with her work the same time as we were ready to go into Khulna for our weekly shopping trip, so we gave her a ride to Chakrakhali.

To Grand Placid for lunch. A very relaxed, good experience. Maddie had brought her book along so she read while Annslie played in the play area. Jaira brought her embroidery along. There were a lot of tables set and ready with food waiting. I hoped we’d get to see the crowd of Bangalis that they were prepared for… sometimes this hotel is hosting a wedding and it’s always interesting to see everybody all dressed up etc., and sure enough the crowd did arrive, but it looked like a minister’s and deacon’s area mtg all but the tie 👔 and as I’ve never actually attended an above mentioned mtg I can only imagine that this crowd was a Lot quieter without the dull roar of conversation😉 a crowd of finely dressed men in their suit coats with nice haircuts and beards… I had the desire to find out what their occasion was but didn’t feel like that would be my place and it was not a shared desire🙃… Steaming platters of rice were brought out and they made short work of the food before them and were gone again before we made our exit..

Shwapno, bank, Safe & Save, Day-7, and the fruit and veggie market where Lonnie took care of the list of veggies and I got the fruit.. last of the season mangoes, a small yellow watermelon to try, cantaloupe, pineapple, apples, bananas,…

Annslie and the Bud were both sleeping when we got home and were transferred to their beds making for a calm, peaceful evening enjoyed by the rest of us after Maddie and I with a bit of help from Jaira made short work of washing and getting All the fruit and veggies into the fridge.

Fri. Aug 28

After Miss Christina’s yummy iaplots(version of crepes) breakfast. We went to Choygoria Sun. School. There was a nice little crowd of about 25 boys and girls, a couple moms, and then a couple old grandmas wanting to see the eye doctor. 

On to Chakrakhali Sun. School, about 7 big boys, Nee-tie(the rickshaw van driver), and the man of the house, Rajib (42 yrs old with salt and pepper hair that’s getting to be more salt than pepper and is like another grandpa to Gentry) always is ready and waiting to watch Gentry during S.S. After S.S. they wanted us to come to their garden, which surrounds their fish pond behind their house, and they picked cucumbers and a papaya for us to take home💛

Rickshaw van ride back to the house where Jaira and Miss Christina helped with lunch prep while Maddie washed up the breakfast dishes

Ham that had been made using tender quick, liquid smoke, brown sugar, and local pork 

3:00 is the scheduled time for doctrine class with Lewis and Purnima but they are always 15-20 min early which makes for a very short afternoon for us.. we enjoy cold tea as we have study the lesson of the afternoon. 

4:00 service

On the way home, one of my friends beckoned to me from inside her house so I went in to see what she had in mind. She was sitting on the bed with her sleeping 15 month baby boy. She says he’s sick with Dengue (mosquito born illness) fevers, shaking,….. she had about 5 medicines for him there and she’d come from Dhaka to be with her family while he got better. It was only a month or 2 ago that it was her husband that was so sick and in the hosp with this illness😏

Lewis is always right on it with getting back to the house and getting his easy bike out the gate. And Kobir and Liton like to catch a ride with him. Shanto needed something so they were hanging around a bit and we invited them in for no bake cookies and leftover ham that we pulled out of the fridge. Pork is expensive in this country and a special meat for those that aren’t Muslim. So the ham was thoroughly enjoyed, Especially the fatty pcs!!😌 

I was glad to see Lonnie walk in the door, after going to the pharmacy dokan with some people that showed up at our gate, as Shanto was asking a question that I felt like I could explain with scripture but didn’t feel like it was my place to point these scriptures out to my brother in the faith..

Thurs Aug 27

 I got a load of laundry in

 Lonnie took Shanto with him and spent all morning picking up the 1,000 Pilgrim’s Progress books from the printing shop.

Dipti did not come today 

I had a time of it trying to get lunch on for everybody while keeping my toddler out of trouble and my baby happy🤯

In the evening, Topu, Nodi, and Attoy came by wanting to go on a walk with the girls. Annslie went along also and I went upstairs and got some mending done. The girls reported that Tulshi had called Topu when it started getting dark and told her it was time to bring them home🤎 

The power went out bout the same time the girls got back and so I had them go thru the showers and we heated up leftovers when the power came back on

Wed Aug 26

 Lonnie washed the pork we’d got yesterday and then got all the pork and fat cut and ground. I seasoned it and got all the bags into the freezer once he’d got it ground the 2nd time and a lb measured into each bag… a joint effort with Lonnie doing most of it🤎

A local pastor (from Mullican Mor) came by for Gospel Tracts

Dipti cooked lunch for us and then was back after lunch with a pharmacy receipt she’s was needing paid for.

We went upstairs to help with the singing after Maddie’s music class..

5:00 doctrine class at Lewis and Purnima’s. She served a couple fried items afterwards, one was a patty made with crab etc. and the other was a Bangla vegetable sliced thin and battered. Then little bowls of Bangla noodles. 

On the way home, we stopped by the tailor to pick up the girls’ kameeze sets and a pair of (kameeze) pants for me and by the fruit market for bananas and a pineapple.

Tues Aug 25 14 years Mr❤️Mrs Koehn

💭 Reminiscing… 4 yrs ago, we were celebrating our 10th anniversary in a quaint cabin in the Smokies with our 2 school age daughters..  4 short years later, we have been blessed with 2 more littles and a term in Bangladesh!?! One just Truly can never guess what kind of turns life will take next! 

The day was full…Mom sent us Happy Anniversary message and more.. after singing with the girls upstairs to get them started with their school day, I got the laundry started, Lonnie took the littles out for a walk and got a new basketball backboard ordered, I listened to 1 of my sister in law’s WhatsApp messages🫂 and later another sister in law sent a lovely message💛, then went into the kitchen to start lunch prep, mixed up a double batch of tortillas, Dipti showed up about that time and I enjoyed visiting with her while she washed dishes and I cut up chicken for fajitas and other lunch prep.. 

Tulshi went for pork meat for us. 

Miss Christina offered to stay home with the children if we would want to go out for the evening. bless her heart💝 We had decided we wouldn’t take the littles out because Annslie has been battling what looks like maybe Hand, Foot, and Mouth virus according to online diagnosing🙃and Gentry has been miserable and fussy.. is it just his teething again or is he coming down with what Annslie has.?. We said we would reconsider tho with her offer.

Lonnie fried the tortillas for me while I got the rest of lunch on

Tulshi washed the van

Halfway thru lunch, Tulshi rings the bell, alerting Lonnie to somebody at the gate needing to talk to him. One of Lonnie’s friends (Pastor Robin, that we supply with Gospel Tracts) has brought another momma with baby that wants to be on our milk program.. Lonnie told this pastor last time (within this last week), “No more babies! We’ve reached our current quota!” But he seems to be turning deaf ears… Lonnie wanted to handle the situation kindly…. Ended up gifting them one box and letting them know they would not be able to participate in our program.

Lonnie worked on his latest brainchild, making his own Bible story picture cards with the story in Bangla on the back and laminating them. 

I hung the laundry out on the roof! A sign that the rains are lessening! All summer/monsoon season we’re back to drying the clothes inside. It still rains at least once every day but we’re having long enough dry times of the day now that we can hang at least 1 load out on the roof… it dries so much faster in the sun and breeze and it gives me a chance to spend a bit of time outside while accomplishing household chores at the same time😊

Lonnie and I decided to just take Gentry out with us for the evening. In the end, we left Gentry and took Annslie as she was so tore up about us leaving…

We stopped by the tailor to pick up the girl’s new kameeze sets that were s’pose to be done yesterday.. he told us, “tomorrow”.

Then looked up Boss Tailors, that missionaries in the past have used for getting shirts sewn. 

And on to supper at Mambos. We were able to sit at a little table by the big plate glass windows overlooking the city. We enjoyed getting something other than our normal burgers from the menu complete with house special mushroom appetizer and brownie sundaes for dessert. Annslie behaved very well and Lonnie and I were able to enjoy the evening visiting as the lights and signs became bright spots beyond the windows of our supper table with the darkness of night blanketing everything else.. We walked down to MiniSo to get little Thankyou gifts for Miss Christina and the girls for staying home with the Bud.  On the way home, we stopped when I spotted an American style broom in a roadside dokan. Stopping again at the dhokan in Neeconjo for eggs.

At the house, Gentry was already bathed and ready for bed💙 The girls told us all about their fun evening making little sandwiches, veggies and dip, fruit and dip, etc and fixing the low glass topped table upstairs in their room up for their little tea party supper🥰

Sun Aug 23

 I spent the morning in the kitchen making 30 minute buns, apple pie bars, macaroni salad, baked beans, and baked sausage patties for burgers. Lonnie took care of the littles.

And Doyle’s came for lunch after their church service in Gopalganj 🤩 It is So good to have them back around! We thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon catching up, the children playing, having Miss Aleigha around again washing dishes, doing some laminating for her classroom, going on a walk with Miss Christina, coaching Maddie on her embroidery,…

Sat Aug 22

 Weekly shopping in Khulna City

Day-7, Safe n Save, Dominos pizza which took Waaay longer than normal because of a group of men ahead of us and only 1 employee taking orders and making the pizza!😳🤔, fruit n veggie market Lonnie took my list and got the veggies… the friendly minti came out to hold Gentry, then took him into the veggie market where Lonnie was, so I got out and bought the fruit. Shwapnos yet cause I was still looking for milk and yogurt-successful🤗

Fri Aug 21

 At Choygoria Sun. School, we had 2 mommas and a grandma with a 3 mo. old show up in addition to the children. The mother and grandma of the 3 mo were there asking for milk from our program after Sun. School was over. The milk program is for babies with cleft lip and/or palette but we get lots of mommas  coming to us wanting to be on the program with the reason being “the mom does not have any milk”… as was what we were told again this morning, but I had sat in the back with her while the children were coloring their pictures and personally witnessed her nursing her baby! The baby had spit up a bit after for proof of nourishment and then fell asleep contented. The baby is fat! So why is she asking to be on the milk program!?! Then they come out with it that the baby has not had a bowl movement for a week, which is their concern. I felt like I could relate with the “Mom worry”… “Is my baby ok?” So Lonnie suggested we step over to the pharmacy dokan and just get a quick check to put this momma’s worry at bay. The “doctor” was told the symptom, he did a quick listen to the baby with a stethoscope and prescribed a “syrup” for the baby and a vitamin for the momma. Lonnie wanted to do a listen to the baby’s tummy also which he said sounded great and he also discovered the baby passing gas so was quite sure the baby was gonna be just fine😅 told the Dr he’d be back by to pay the bill but we needed to go now to the next S.S. I’ll just quickly add here that when Lonnie went back to pay, the Dr said he’d done an eye check(like Pat and Lonnie used to do on their sheep and goats🙃) and he could see she was quite anemic also so he’d prescribed a whole list of vitamins etc for the momma then but wanted to pass it before Lonnie before sending those with them.

Gentry fell asleep on the rickshaw van ride over to Chakrakhali. I wanted to go lay him down inside the house but then I actually didn’t want to just leave him lying on the bed unattended lest he wake and fall off so I was kinda stuck in there for the duration. Which was not all bad as they had the A.C. going😅. Chaity was in there finishing up getting her Sari on, fixing her hair, lotioning her face, and putting her red Hindu “married” stripe on her forehead and the red dot sticker between her eyebrows. Then she sat on the bed with me and continued to visit. When she heard we only have 1 1/2 years left, she got all sad, saying she is already missing us! She loves us,…etc and I share the same sentiments😢 that’s the hard part about spending 3 years on the other side of the world… making friendships and then who knows if or when we’ll see each other again?! But, our lives are richer because of.

4:00 service

Shanto was sick so none of his family was there.. BUT surprise of all surprises!! Bro Shamir was there!!! Along with the other 2 single brethren and James one of Lonnie’s pastor friends that’s going thru a really tough time. And the beggar man showed up also which he hasn’t in awhile because he’s been feeling better.. Because, he’s been taking his medicine that he hasn’t always been willing to take!!

We invited James and the 3 brethren in after church for cold tea and snacks.. chanachud, watermelon, and choc. no bake cookies. James didnt stay long. Kobir was planning to go with us to another Hindu after death feast of another Chakrakhali Sun. School boy (grandmother). But the other men were staying longer than usual, Shamir hasn’t come around all summer and said he was hungry for fellowship! Annslie brought out her fishing game and a rousing game ensued with Jaira and the 3 brethren playing. There was much laughter and fish flying out of the pukar (pond) as they all tried to catch the most. Looked more like 15 yr old boys not 40+ yr olds 😂 But it was good to see them having such a great time!

We finally asked Liton and Shamir if they’d like to go with us to the after death feast. They answered in the affirmative so we caught a rickshaw van ride over to same location as the last after death feast we’d attended at the Chakrakhali school. The food was superior to the previous event.. shrimp curry and a delicious dhal that was not too thin.. But so many people! they had us wait  in a room with a TV going in it. It didnt take long of that and I migrated back out where I could observe the people as we waited for a table. And almost before we were done eating there was a line of people waiting standing behind us ready to take our places. Dudjoy escorted us back out to the road and we said we’d visit the Joy’s(S.S. boy who's grandmother the event was for) home another time… we felt like we’d had a full enough day already..

Thurs Aug 20 The Bud👶🏼 is 10 months

Gentry 

cut his 8th tooth this week

Is all boy.. loves to drive the little John Deere combine, still has big hands in comparison to what his sisters ever had, loves to be outside, 

Waves bye bye, claps, and is able to crawl but hardly does because he thinks he needs to walk but still wants some assistance… begs/insists all the time for someday to hold just one hand and walk/run with him, Tulshi spends parts of most days taking a turn with him outside too.

Round face with dark eyes and light brown hair, smiley with dimples

 In the afternoon, Lonnie grilled chicken for me and we had some for supper

Wed Aug 19

 In the afternoon, Lonnie made a trip into Khulna City  bank, another tire on the van fixed(a screw in it), and picked up a new Bangali style broom for the maid.

The girls and I listened to Ashton and Erica’s wedding

Tues Aug 18

 Lonnie had eye camp in Paikgachha again

Had fun teaching Jaira the difference between homophones and homographs after seeing she’d gotten all of them wrong on the last 2 language lessons. She had such an attitude.. “I’ll never be able to keep it straight!” And then later that evening I asked her to tell Lonnie how to know the difference between a homograph and homophone… she smilingly and confidently was able to tell him🤩

Miss Christina made Poppy seed chicken for supper and Lonnie asked us all to tell the highlights of our day.

Mon Aug 17 3rd 🐘 encounter this summer

 Lonnie went to Gopalgonj to do Doyle’s clinic for him one last time this summer.

On the way home, he stopped and picked up the cabinet/shelf he’d had built big enough for the extra battery on our IPS system

I forgot to write about our evening!

We were needing more chicken meat so Lonnie was gonna send Tulshi by rickshaw van to get a couple  chickens. But then it started raining so he told him to jump in the car and he’d take him. Well, the rest of us were ready to get away from the house too, so we all piled in to go just up the road to Mullican Mor(area where Shanto’s live)😅When we got to the roadside dokan, there was a whack of chickens there, but they wanted to go get boro size for us, “ektu shomoy, wait” . We decided to go get chotputi from a nearby dhokan while we waited. Back at the chicken dhokan we waited awhile longer… a downpour came and went and then a huge elephant and rider showed up next to us in the van! I sure hoped the elephant was well trained and nothing would upset her cause I didn’t feel very safe in the van with that huge creature towering right outside my window😳 the rider was asking for 500 Taka! Lonnie didnt have anything smaller than 1,000. So he offered the 10 that we had in the van but the rider had the Elephant give it back. People started telling the rider to move his Elephant so he went on his way. Eventually we got the chickens and headed home.. But, came up behind the elephant before we got home and this time she blocked the road and didn’t look like the rider was planning to move his Elephant till he got Taka! Lonnie still wasnt willing to gift him 1,000.. Tulshi and some other locals did get him to move his elephant again.

Sun Aug 16

 Fellow Gopalgonj missionaries arrive back in Dhaka, in the wee hours of the morning, after their furlough back home in Canada. Welcome back Doyle and Krystal Barkman, Amaryllis, Raf, Jonas, and Edward!!🤗

Here in Khulna, we’d invited Shantos and Michael for breakfast. Served them cornbread and sausage gravy, boiled eggs, and fruit platter. They ate the different, American food bravely! Discovered they liked it and all had extra helpings😊 Espondant commented that he was so surprised that just 2 pcs of cornbread(with gravy) had Filled him up!😅 We sang a song around the table and Miss Christina and the girls went up to school. The rest of us enjoyed relaxed visiting awhile yet. 9:00 rolled around, Espondant says, “Don’t let Antoor hear, cause he’ll give me such a hard time! But I’m s’pose to be going to school today and I don’t want to!” He also wanted to go with the men to Khulna to the printing office where they spent a few hours going over the details for the Bangali version of Pilgrim’s Progress. Antoor went out to paw thru our recycle bin for treasures😉 Shotti went in to the bathroom, but decided once again, that she couldn’t navigate our western toilet and went outside to use the guard’s squat pot🙃 That was just good Soul Food having them all here. Looking back now as I write this, I believe we have been lonesome, even tho we have hardly recognized it! Because, we are happy here, we love It and are not sitting over here wishing we were at home!

In the afternoon, after Lonnie dropped the men back off at Shantos, a truck was blocking the road home, so he went to Chakrakhali to look up King Kor. He had rickshaw van driver (Dipti’s husband who knew where he lived) take him to King Kor’s home. Only King Kor’s mom was home. So Lonnie had Uttam take him to school where King Kor was staying late helping get ready for a class picnic. The folks there at school thought King Kor should go with Lonnie back to his house. King Kor says, “My mom is gonna be So happy!!” She served some really good tea and then was working on making her masala on her stone while Lonnie and King Kor visited. 

Sat. Aug 15

 Weekly Khulna City shopping trip

Lunch at Grand Placid… Annslie calls it Grand Plastic😅

Safe & Save, Day-7, at the veggie Market the Big Boss was suffering from Dengue(mosquito borne illness). That market is always an experience, something I don’t always feel mentally prepared for, but ready or not, we always come away with enough veggies and fruits to last us most of the week. And now, when the man carries my purchases out to the van, he visits Gentry out there and holds him a bit. Gentry’s not usually ready to get back in the van with us🙃

When we got back home Lonnie went over to Shanto’s for the eve. Bro. Michael from Rajshahi was there wanting to discuss funding for printing more Bangla Pilgrim’s Progress books.

Fri Aug 14

☀️ It was nice to go to Choygoria Sun. School with no question about rain🤗 round 10 boys and girls there today

On to Chakrakhali Sunday School where there was room to gather in the shed again. Afterwards, Chaity was just frying up the little pita balls made of palm fruit and molasses. So we stayed while she made several batches They were really good, hot out of the frying wok😋 we took some out to the men visiting in the shed..

Thurs Aug 13

 In the evening, we went to Bisho road for fuska, chotputi, and falladus 

Wed Aug 12

One of those days when the thoughts have a strong downward spiral, nobody can do anything right, and the “house” is falling down around about us. I’d had a big disappointment this week and maybe some after party blues hanging on with nothing to look forward to..

 Dipti did not come due to sickness… and today is the day she normally makes us a Bangla lunch… my counter is Full of dirty dishes… and now I need to figure out what’s for lunch yet in my terrible frame of mind… there is no ground beef in the house due to missing that item on my grocery day in Dhaka… I have 1 package of Frozen chicken in the freezer…. I had planned to have Dipti fry fish, Lonnie had forgot to get it yesterday and now Tulshi thought our best possibility of a nice fish would be all the way at Gollamari which we were planning to go get until we found out Dipti wasn’t coming. I haven’t fried fish Bangali style yet but I sure could’ve tried🤔 but instead I got the chicken out to thaw..

I shared my mental situation with Lonnie, he offered understanding words and a couple things I could try then took Annslie with him as he had a business errand in Khulna City. 

I got Gentry down for his morning nap

Mixed up a batch of bread

Messaged a couple people

Got inspired to try making a couple Bangla dishes that I haven’t made yet

And thanks be to God, I was eventually able to shake the thought pattern and emotions of the morning🤍

Annslie down for her nap

Singing with the girls after their Music Class

I had a cold coffee waiting in the fridge for Maddie after school and she was able to get the Pile of dishes washed in a much more timely manner than her normal

Video called with Mom so she could see Gentry as he seems to be changing looks again. He is So close to walking independently! He now only needs one hand to be held and nearly runs as he gets around

Lonnie worked all afternoon again putting plexiglass on the stair railing to make it safe for little people.

Mango smoothies, pickles, and popcorn in the evening.

Tues Aug 11

 Maddie’s latest inspiration has been a fairy garden. She’s been getting up early and going out before breakfast working in the dirt under our Huge sago palm. 

After lunch, the littles and I went with Lonnie to get a couple more pieces of plexiglass. Stopped by Shwapno for a few groceries and the vegetable and fruit market.

In the evening, while Miss Christina made supper, Jaira the littles and I walked with Lonnie to Neconjo where he played Carrom with the local villagers. The children and I hung out at the new bridge for awhile visiting with passers by, a school girl who didn’t have anything else pressing either, and the dokander’s little girl who’s just a year older than Annslie.

Sun Aug 9 Aleigha leaves

 Miss Aleigha offered to make breakfast one more time yet. Baked oatmeal, mangoes, and eggs that were fried perfectly☺️

The girls each got a math lesson in and then at 1st recess we got in the car and headed to Gopalgonj.  🎶 On the way over Miss Aleigha says, “Let’s sing “Standing Tall” one more time!” 💛   Brian’s had come down from Dhaka and had church there. They picked up Kacchi Dine and met us at Doyle’s house.

Brian had brought Doyle’s car keys thinking their house key would be on the same ring. But no, not the case and Lonnie hadn’t brought his key because we hadn’t even originally planned to go to Doyle’s. The men tried several different things trying to get into the house, but finally gave up and joined us ladies in the garage. Day guard, John, got the generator going so we could have a fan and we sat in a circle and enjoyed Kacchi Dine takeout.

After lunch, the men put a ladder up, climbed to the rooftop, and put the hose over the edge, creating a waterfall for the toddlers and babies to play in on the sidewalk below. 💦 🪣  💦 🚛 💦 

The teachers and Jaira walked to a dhokan for cold drinks for everybody

And all too soon it was time to part ways and head home.

With sad, heavy hearts we drove home. We had been looking forward to having Miss Aleigha with us for about a month and it got terminated at just over a week when other plans were made for her. I can just hear my dad telling me,“There you go thinking again.” So that tells us it’s been lifelong for me that I don’t handle disappointment very well😏

Lonnie said, “It Feels like summer vacation is officially over now.” I wanted to plan a fun little outing for something to look forward to, but that didn’t fly…

Sat Aug 8 Boro Bazaar

A crepe breakfast cleaned up and we were off to Boro Bazar. The teachers “needed” hijabs 🧕 😉, Aleigha wanted to go to the brass dhokan, and I was not done shopping fabric. 

Lonnie told us to remind him next time that we don’t want to go to Boro Bazar on a Sat😳 As we were inching along in traffic, us girls finally decided we would just get out and head to the brass dhokan, had to be faster on foot! Single file, we wended thru the masses of humanity. Aleigha and I bought matching sets of beautiful, short, brass taper holders. We always like to slip down to the Riverside for a minute where the burly Bangali men are carrying massive loads on their heads down to the boats waiting below. 

At one “walk in/back out” fabric dhokan, I spent enough time and Taka for them to close the sliding glass door, turn on the AC, treat everybody to icecream, gift a pc of fabric for Annslie, and put my purchases in a heavy duty canvas bag😅

To Mambos for hamburgers, fries, and lemonades

Back at the house, everybody got outfitted in their Muslim hijabs and went out to show Tulshi. He got a kick out of the Muslim poribar(family)😂 and said the previous missionary girls had them too😉

Fri Aug 7 A matchmaking quest

 Lonnie left after breakfast to take our Brother Harun (from our Tala outpost) and the men of his family to Jashore to meet a girl for a possible wife for his oldest son Dipto. Lonnie had told him in the beginning that he would be leaving at 2:00 so he could be home for our service at 4:00. But when 2:00 rolled around and he realized that they were actually 3hrs from home, not the 2 that he’d been told…No way to be back in time for our service and they hadn’t even had the meeting with the girl yet!

Back at the house:

Lonnie had arranged for Shanto to lead the Sunday School for him, But it was raining. So Lonnie told Shanto he did not have to make his way over here in the rain.. Sunday School canceled. 1 boy was at the gate and later 3 girls hung out at the gate for awhile. The teachers and us sat in the living room and sang Bangla Sun School songs. 

Chicken Taco lunch

Afternoon service, Only Shanto and his boys showed up (Shotti was at home taking care of her goats. A pack of dogs had attacked them when she had them out grazing the roadside) So we sat in a circle and sang and listened to Shanto’s thoughts on “heaven”(..Espondant interpreting)

I made chicken quesadillas with sauteed peppers and onions while Miss Aleigha made choc chip cookies. Visiting while we worked, ending up sharing our conversion experiences💗

The teachers and girls played soccer

Lonnie got home at 10:00 and commenced to tell us all about his day👂🏼1st stopping at Harun’s brother’s place in Jashore to pick him up and getting served fish, chicken, and egg curry, rice, stir fry vegetable, cucumber slices.

Then on to the girl’s village near Kaligonj where they met with the “go between” and then went to the “go between’s place”. 1st grapes, apples, chanachur, cucumber slices, and coconut water were served. Then they brought in Bangla noodles. And next was hot tea. The 15!yr old girl came in to this roomful of men with head bowed and “like a deer in the headlights” quote Lonnie..😏 female relations gathered at the door to observe the suitor. Now was the time to ask questions! Any question you might have about this girl, her family, etc

They did go to the girls home also.. The father and mother kept themselves very scarce, the girl had a little sister 5? yrs old that Lonnie thought was quite a honey🥰 they were served chanachud and biscuits

Back at the “go between’s” place, the family brought them hot tea(cha) yet.

So guess we’ll see if anything comes from this meeting.. if the parents decide it’s a go ahead and if bargaining terms are met 

Thurs Aug 6

 Lonnie took the gari 🚙 in to Khulna City to get a hole in the tire fixed and ran a few errands including a 2nd battery for the house as our power has been off just as much as it’s been on and the 1 battery hasn’t had enough time to recharge. 1 hour on, 1 hour off has been the pattern these days.. If we get up in the morning and the power is on,.. we quick grind coffee beans and make coffee, blow dry hair, etc.. whatever we’d for sure like to accomplish that the generator doesn’t do too well and then I unthinkingly choose a quick easy breakfast that includes toast. Just before we sit up to the table, the power goes off again, and the toaster is no longer an option😏 So back into the kitchen to butter the bread and toast it on the griddle on the stove. The biggest factor for needing extra battery for backup tho is for the night.. we would wake up all thru the night, every time the battery was gone and the fans quit.. too many terrible nights in a row and the days get pretty difficult to navigate..

Back at the house, I made a double batch of tortillas which turned out well🤩 and Mexico Enchiladas for lunch

Miss Aleigha made Apple Danish which we enjoyed for an after school snack☺️

And then Tropical Chicken Stromboli for supper which has an Alfredo sauce instead of red sauce and extra Alfredo sauce for dipping☺️

Wed Aug 5

Dipti made dim(boiled egg) curry and chicken bhaji (fried) for lunch with rice, dhal(lentils), and shobji (vegetable stirfry)

Doctrine class at Lewis and Purnima’s at 5:00

After wards she served us the best version of her Bangla noodles yet and little fried pita balls made with palm fruit and gur(molasses)

Ran by Safe & Save for an ingredient that Miss Aleigha was needing

Tues Aug 4 1st day of school!

 Maddie is in 7th grade this year and Jaira is in 5th. Annslie tells us she’s going to 1st grade with (TN cousins) Blake… and Kinsley😜

Mon Aug 3

Lunch at Pastor James’, Bangali Christian who we supply with Gospel pamphlets. He is founder of a small,20-25, Christian community in Khulna City. He knows pretty good English which he gives God the glory for🤍 his little community is nice in comparison to some.There’s even some “nice” landscaping (don’t even begin to think American style) No mud now in rainy season, concrete everywhere. 

The girls and I went to the kitchen to see if there would be anything we could do to help and of course Sumita, his wife, wouldn’t let us. She also has a very nice kitchen in comparison to most that we see! She sat us down at their dining room table, another luxury, but to give you a picture… there is a doorway coming into this dining room from the hallway and a doorway on the other side going into the kitchen. There is just enough room to get around the table. A sink basin in one corner a china cabinet in another corner and a fridge in the other corner. She sat us teachers and girls down and served us Sprite and homemade peanut “bars”(peanuts, gur (molasses), and sugar).

After visiting a bit with Jameson, their 13 yr old son who knows English quite well also! We went out with Annslie who’d heard a rooster crowing and was right away interested. Miss Aleigha chatted a bit with a lady out there working over her fire in an outdoor kitchen. And then we migrated back to James’s office where he had Jameson, play a song on his guitar. Then James played several on his harmonium, a Bangla style pianohttps://share.google/YqvLAPMdM5xDzaFfB . James left the room and we pulled up a couple songs on our phones and sang together till we were called to lunch. Beef, chicken, and shrimp dishes to eat over pilau rice(a very tasty, special, fine grain rice), Shobji(vegetable stir fry),…doy (yogurt) for dessert. There was So much food!! “Why didn’t you eat very much?” We tell them, Americans just can’t put away as much rice as Bangali’s!! Then we were shown to a couple bedrooms and instructed to rest while they ate lunch🤦🏼‍♀️ Eventually Lonnie and Annslie made their way back to James’s office and played around on his electric keyboards and harmonium.. the rest of us found our way over there soon also… taking turns trying out songs on the instruments. James, Sumita, and Jameson joined us. Bringing hot tea for everybody. Jameson brought in his soccer ball to play with the littles a bit. We had a prayer yet and then left.

To Boro Bazar for plexiglass 

And Lonnie let us ladies go fabric shopping also😍 Miss Aleigha and I got a matching pc,  I spotted a pc that I thought would make a fine shirt for Lonnie✨, some new ornas, the girls were begging for hijabs🧕 (Muslim head wear) so the girls and I each ended up with one(even a little white one with little pink roses for Annslie, she’s tickled pink🥰 these girls love to dress up like Muslim ladies plus 🤞🏼maybe Kobid will let us come visit his staunch Muslim family if we’re covered from head to toe.?.?. He has suggested maybe it could be possible on those terms.. we shall see..

fruit and veggie market

That night at 10:00🫣,after we got the littles put to bed, we had our 1st school board mtg to go over things and make sure we’re on the “same page” for the the new school year.

Sun Aug 2

 Miss Aleigha made breakfast for us 🥰 eggs and warm chia seed pudding with toppings… sweetened fried coconut, granola, and mangoes.

To Gopalgonj for their church service as Doyle’s are still gone on furlough. At the night guards house?, there on the Church yard, there was a young momma with a teeny tiny 1 wk old baby. And the talking bird on the front porch when we came out let us know very clearly, “khabar nee”(no food)😅

 To Sheema’s cha stall for hot tea after church.

Picked up beef kala bhuna takeout😉 and took home with us for lunch. Lonnie had got the whole 9 yards including rice pudding for dessert and cokes☺️

Sat Aug 1

 To Khulna City for weekly shopping

 Dominos Pizza for lunch

Day-7, teachers and girls went to Aarongs while I ran into Safe and Save yet and hit the fruit and veggie market on the way home

Taco salad with imported Doritos from Dhaka🤩

Fri July 31

 Choygoria and Chakrakhali Sunday Schools

At Chakrakhali, Joyti(lady of the house) was still recovering from a mental breakdown over the Sunday School boy’s father dying. We laid a sleeping Gentry on the bed with her. She made full use of her phone’s camera that morning 🙃

Thurs July 30

 Somebody asked if we were doing “school cleaning”. And no I haven’t. But, I found Miss Aleigha up on a step ladder washing the white tile classroom walls while Miss Christina worked on her preparations🥰

In the afternoon, Miss Aleigha pulled out her water color painting to finish name tags for her classroom. So my girls got their watercolor painting out also and they had fun painting together💗 

I was in the mood to stir up something sweet in the kitchen and Miss Aleigha suggested those choc covered rice krispy peanut butter balls🤤

In the evening, was a Hindu after death feast.. the father of one of our Chakrakhali Sunday School boys. It was hosted at a home at the back of the Chakrakhali School grounds. After giving the wife of the deceased a hug while she cried (I’m guessing she’s probably younger than me.?.) it was a very “soggy” hug🫣… it had been raining off and on.. I guess that’s why.?. Then Dudjoy’s mom escorted us back to a bedroom in the concrete house, past the cooking fires. The guests sitting closest to the cooking area were beaded with sweat🥵. The girls entertained themselves by watching a Hindu girl practice her dancing in front of a T.V. in the adjoining room. Before too long there was a table ready for us and we were escorted over to it. Kobid and Miss Christina ended up sitting next to each other so Kobid turned his chair side ways so the back of it was between them😉😅 King Kor and another S.S. boy were sitting at the table just down from ours, he wondered how we liked the food?… said his Grandpa had cooked all? of it. A clay bowl of shiny 1 Taka coins was brought around and 1 coin was distributed to each guest. We’re supposed to take it home and it would be a reminder for us to pray for the soul of the deceased man…😏I wish it wasn’t too late to petition for his soul… The food at this event was probably some of the poorest? In that each bucket of soupy victuals, was hard to decipher from the last… they seemed all kinda the same… each course is usually a little more definable…rice, potato curry, fish curry, chicken curry, some kind of sour fruit curry, dhal, doy(yogurt) but this time I would ask Kobid, “Why they bringing the same thing by?” So he’d ask the server, and no it’s fish curry this time!

Dipti’s family came in just as we were about to get up and leave so they were able to have our table. New daughter in law Baroti’s little brother Rudro was along with them also🤎