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🤎

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.