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” 🐘