Travelling with VIP's

So last month, J and I left the kids with the Ayah and went on a Embassy excursion to a brass making facility.  It's fun to be able to get away together and see what's around.  Of course, there is a lot of traffic, and noise.  One of these noises is this alarm or siren that keeps going off and some loud speaker that keeps repeating something in Bangla.  As we travel,  these sounds continue at the same level, not getting softer as we gain distance from them nor get louder as we get closer to them.  I also notice that there are three large black SUV's traveling the same direction as us.  They seem strange as they do not try to over take us or cut us off.  Slowly I realise, they are traveling with us,  as is the siren and loud speaker.  Why?  

Oh,  I am such a newbie.  The ambassador was in the bus ahead of us, and the black SUV's were armored cars.  One ahead of first bus, one between first and second bus, and one following the buses.  The siren was warning other cars that an important person was coming through and the loud speaker?  well I am sure it was say.... get the hell out of the way!  Or more politely,  please move to the side, we are coming through!  

I have decided that I should invest in my own loud speaker and siren.  It also helps when someone in front of the first armored car takes it upon themselves to beat the heck out of the cars with a wooden stick, to make sure they get out of the way.  Pretty sure that the guy with the stick, just joined in the procession so he could get to where he was going faster.

Anyway,  it made my day,  traveling with such important people,  kind of reminded me of the movie Princess Dairies with Anne Hathaway and that lady from the sound of music.   Oh yea, and the brass making place was very interesting, we bought a brass horse. 

such a different life

The other morning I got to spend some time with my new Ayah, Suma.  She is darling,  full of giggles, grins and hugs.  She constantly is humming or singing, and she loves to dance and clap with Jax.  He loves it!  So while in the kitchen,  she was doing dishes and i was making granola, we talked about her life.  I asked about her daugther,  the only child,  and how she met her husband and how she is a grandmother as such a young age.  Her story is so sad, yet so much joy radiates from her, you would never know.


She is the youngest child of seven, and her Dad's sister only had one son.  Her Dad married her off to him.  Yes, that's right, her first cousin.  She was eleven.  So sad.  She hadn't even hit puberty yet,  that would come two years into her marriage.  She only had one period, and then she was pregnant, at 13.  Her young small body,  she's about 4'10" or so, couldn't deliver that baby easily.  She labored for three days, and the baby was born with lots of damage to Suma with no anesthetic but at this point she was so exhausted she was delirious.  She fell unconscious with the large amounts of blood she lost.  Her mother told her later,  the baby had not cried at birth, also too exhausted from delivery.  What a horrific thing to endure at 13.  She had to feed the baby cows milk, because she hadn't any breast yet, to feed a baby.  


She didn't complain,  it was just the way it was.  She survived and so did her baby.  Her daughter is now grown and married, with a daughter of her own.  She was married at a reasonable age.  She tells me her husband is a kind man, but I have my doubts.  Her sister's husband is NOT a kind man, and tells me either is Suma's husband.  They are lovely ladies and the life they have to endure makes me sad.  I am thankful they are happy and have good employment with our family.


It is illegal in Bangladesh to be married before the age of 18 but I guess when you live in a village,  and live in a corrupt country, people do what they have to, in order to survive.  I was wondering why there were so many people here with birth defects,  missing limbs, club feet, twisted torsos,  but then again, first cousins who marry, are common place here.  Maybe they should try and make that illegal here too.  So sad,  Dhaka is a place that has great potential, but I don't think much has changed here in many many generations.

To Market to Market...

My friend, D and I went to New Market today.  It is a large market in Dhaka, and when I say large,  I mean LARGE.  I think we only hit a corner of it, and we spent easily 3-4 hours there.  First stop was the pet shops.  Oh my pet shops!  cages and cages of birds, bunnies, kittens, and puppies, and tanks and tanks of fish, turtles and snails.  And to all who are reading this, who know me well.... you'd be so proud!  I didn't buy anything.  Not even really tempted.  They even had my favorite birds (gouldian finches).  They did have a Mynah bird, and that would have been the one thing my husband would have let me get, but I didn't.  


Then to the regular market.  It was early and quiet at first. We browsed through china, pashmina scarves, kitchen gadgets, shalwar kameezes, saris, sporting goods, jewelery, shoes, and whatever you could think of.  It was awesome.  As we strolled,  and tried to ignore the Madam, Madam calling,  we did fine some treasures.  I am sure we got taken for a ride, and paid too much for things but D, drove a hard bargin, and bartered with the best of them.  3 pashminas for 1200 taka,  or 5$ each, seemed good at the time, until later we found out that was about double what we could have paid.  I paid 5 times the local price for a tea strainer.  Oh well, it was only a dollar.

It was a great day.  We had a local shopkeeper take us around and help us bargin,  and saved us much taka.  He spent hours with us, and was so kind.  We wanted to pay him, but he was happy just to practise his english with us.  Bangladeshis are really very sweet people.  

At the end of the year.

When looking back on this year, it's amazing how much has changed.  There is the obvious,  a new country and new baby, but also the not so obvious.  Lost teeth, new BIG teeth,  hair grown and cut, kids grown and changed.  B slowly learning to read,  R doing multiplication and division.  Baby smiles and coos.  Small apartment to large large house.  Ease of public transportation in Virginia to the crazy congested hard to maneuver around Dhaka.  Biking, parks and green space, changes to dirt and cement.  Target changes to DIT 2 (market).  Even our names have changed from J and C to Sir and Madam.  My body change from thin to fat to thin again with new saggy tummy bits.  J's body changed from whole to torn, with a ruptured Achilles tendon. Family of four  turns to family of five. 


It's been a good year, and any hardships such as being separated for 2 months from my kids and husband were ok as we welcomed the new addition, Little J. 


Hope everyone had a great year too, and welcomed the changes it brought your way.  Have a Happy 2012!

Slacking off... not really

So I have been horrible at keeping the blog up, but I do have an excuse or two.  In Sept I flew home to Seattle.  I spent the next three weeks, shopping and preparing for baby.  Then lovely Little J made his appearance, and I spent the next five weeks preparing to get back to Dhaka.  With one days notice,  I was told to get back to Dhaka.  Jack had rupture his achilles tendon, and had to medevac to Singapore.  So, little J and I travelled for 36 hours to come to Daddy rescue.  A daddy little J hadn't even met yet.  We got home,  only to see Daddy for a day or so, before he left for surgery.


That is the last 2 months in a nutshell.  I am back home with my family (Dhaka home).  Three kids now, plus a invalid husband who can't walk.  Interesting.  I'm a little tired but thankful I don't have to go back to work until Jan.  I think I would have a nervous breakdown if I was working too.


I will try and post more now that I am home, but with new baby.... time to write is .... well.... lacking.  He's actually crying right now while I write this.  The sacrifices he makes so you all can be updated are tremendous.  LOL

All My Kids!

Phuket for Eid

This past week there was a holiday called Eid and it gave us 4 days off.  So we planned our first trip out of Dhaka.  We decided to go to a resort in Phuket, Thailand, and it was a great plan.  The beach was beautiful, the water crystal blue, sand soft and white.  They had great food, and pools.  For the kids they had a club with lots of activites.  We all had a lovely time.  


R was happiest in the ocean,  and with her Dad she swam and dived under the waves.  She is so brave.  I am scared of waves.  She also got to learn how to scuba dive in the pool,  made her Daddy so proud.  Once again, brave girl!  I'm to scared to breathe through some crazy contraption.  


B loved the pool, swimming and jumping in and out.  He also loved the ocean but liked to stay where he would not be knocked down by waves.  He did eventually, throw himself into the surf so his body would be carried a little way by the wave.  Very cute.


I got a horrid cold on our first day, but it was fine.  The salt air was good for the nose.  I lounged on the beach in the shade, and took in the scenary.  Everyday, a little baby elephant came by for a pet, and some fruit.  He was very cute.  I also gained a lovely 5 lbs with all the buffets, which I was happy with.  The food was so good.


J swam in the ocean and relaxed on the beach with me.  It was a truely lovely holiday. We also went on a little hike to a waterfall, where we waded and swam in a pool at the bottom.  It was in a National Park where they had some Gibbon research center.  Thailand is a truly lovely and beautiful place, and so CLEAN.  It rained one morning, but was done before we finished breakfast.  Within 1/2 hour of the rain stopping, they had men and a tractor cleaning up the beach from whatever the surf brought in, which was pretty much nothing.

 
 

We won't think about the 7 hour flight delay, trying to leave Dhaka, or the lovely arrival back at home time of 3am.  We also will forget that one of travel buddies brought with her, the Dhaka belly bug and ended up in hospital.  The holiday was perfect.  

School

So the kids and I have started school and work.  They are in their classes and I am in my office.  They have a fabulous time each day, playing on the playgrounds and learning all sorts of stuff.  I on the other hand spend my days  leaning over kids heads checking for lice,  filling ice bags, covering boo boo with bandaids, and dispensing tylenol to teachers.  "We are not in Kanas anymore, Toto"  I miss my NICU.  Will I ever get back?  I have to hope that I will one day, or so I keep telling myself.


The school is great,  lots of student 770 I think,  from age 3-18, with many nationalities.  The teachers are all great.  B has a wonderful Kindergarten teacher and he surprises me everyday with what he is learning.  He might actually be smart in that brain of his.  I get to see him have recess everyday outside my office window.  I love to watch him play soccer.  He is so outgoing!  R's teacher is perfect for her.  She is enjoying the focus on reading, and comprehension.  They are working on writing, which she is loving.  She's a great little 'starter' at her writing.  She is clever with her first sentences, drawing you in,  then it only lasts about 3-4 sentences and we are done.  I guess they will work on lengthening the stories eventually.


I really enjoying walking to school with them morning, and I like being done at 3:45.  I just wish I didn't have the in between part.  I guess I really enjoyed my time off in Virginia.  On the bright side, we are going to Phuket at the end of the month, to a resort.  Sounds lovely.  Can't wait!  Then we get back, and I leave to Seattle the second week of Sept.  When I get back, we are hoping Jack can take Parental Leave or R&R and we can go to New Zealand for Christmas.  This all sounds lovely to me!