Middle School Camp

Back in January the Middle School went on their annual overnight camp in a village about 2 hours south of the city. It is an opportunity for the city kids to see the countryside and a chance for the students to bond with one another. Brian was one of the camp directors (in charge of activities). BJ and I also had the opportunity to attend the camp as well! Here are some pictures of our Middle School Camp experience:

BJ blowing Daddy's whistle to get everyone's attention.

The theme was "Amazing Race", refering to the race of life. Brian was one of the speakers during the lecture segments.

One of the games was to use a rickshaw to transport your entire team from one side of the courtyard to the other. How fun!!

And what fun would camp be without relay races?! (Did you notice Daddy holding his little helper?)

How many kids can you fit in a hula-hoop?

An "aerial" view of the courtyard.

Here are some pictures of the actual campground. It was absolutely beautiful. I was a little concerned about mosquitos (and malaria) but, honestly, I saw more mosquitos in the city than I did here!

This is the home of the camp caretaker's family.

This particular dog lives on the camp compound. However, EVERY dog here looks exactly like this one (or they are brown and white).

The mommy and baby cow. If you look into the trees you can see the building where the conference room was.

So many people to feed means so many dishes! Nothing like sun-dried dishes!

While Brian was mostly involved with the middle school students my attention was focused on BJ. Here are some snapshots I was able to take of BJ and the fun we had at camp:

BJ walking with 2 of the middle school girls. They loved him!

BJ and a middle school boy playing soccer.

Just taking a stroll.

Playing in the rubber tubes.

I HAD to take a picture of BJ with the cows. He loved the "moo", especially the baby. At one point the calf left his mother's side and literally chased me and BJ. After that we didn't get too close to the cows:) Oh, BJ really is smiling in this picture!

BJ and the photographer looking out the window.

One of our first family pictures since we've been here.

Badminton Tournament

Badminton and Cricket are HUGE here. We see cricket matches in the open dirt areas all the time. I even saw a badminton match going between two neighbors, using the wall between their properties as the net!! There was a badminton tournament scheduled for MS Boys and MS/HS Girls in January. This was Brian's first event as Athletic Director at the school. BJ and I joined in the fun after his nap. Here are a few pictures of the action:

MS Boys waiting for their matches.

More boys (and a teacher)

This tournament is a rare opportunity for the girls to participate in sports.

The girls tournament was postponed because only 9 girls showed up from the 25 that signed up!

One of the hazards of having a tree in your badminton court.

I love how BJ copies Brian!

If you're wondering why I didn't take any pictures of the boys playing badminton, this is what I was doing....

Gotta love the playground :)

Adjustments

Today is February 1. We have been here exactly one month. This past month has been an experience that we will never forget. We have had A LOT of physical/cultural adjustments to make (and are still making) that we wanted to share with you. Some adjustments we expected, some adjustments we were expecting but really didn't turn out to be an adjustment at all, and some adjustments came out of the blue.

Expected Adjustments:

1. Time Change. I remember in the Fall when the clocks turned back an hour. I remember being concerned that BJ would wake up extra early and therefore I wouldn't get enough rest. Let me tell you...I will NEVER be concerned about a measily 1 hour time change again! This 11 hour time change was a piece of work. They say that you need 24 hours to recover for every hour of adjustment. That pretty much summed it up for us. It took about a week and a half for BJ to get on track. The first night we were here BJ didn't go to sleep until 4am (local time) and only slept til 8am. He took a 4 hour nap in the afternoon (we had to wake him up) and then fell asleep at 8pm. I thought he was down for the night. Nope. He decided to get up at 10:30 and stay up til 1:30 in the morning! Whew...what a rough few days! Thankfully, BJ and I didn't have much planned for the first few weeks we were here so we were able to take naps at odd hours (and even more than 1 nap a day if needed!). However, Brian had to be at work just 2 days after we got here. He was just exhausted!

2. Transportation. I'm not going to lie to you...the traffic here is terrible. People drive where they want to drive, when they want to drive there. Some streets are terribly narrow (like the road we live on) and two cars can barely squeeze by each other. You'll have a traffic jam just because 2 cars are having a stand-off to see who will back down first! There are rickshaw drivers who are very slow, mini-taxes and motorcycles darting in and out, and cars that drive fast (well, faster than I would like them to). There are no traffic lights or stop signs. At busy intersections there will be a "traffic guard" who will walk into the middle of traffic and put his hands up to stop traffic, which allows for the other direction to go. Would NOT want his job. Being a pedestrian is also eventful. It's like frogger trying to cross a street. They say you can just put your hand out and the cars will stop (like the traffic guard does). I really don't want to try that! We normally just wait until there are no cars in site and dart across the street. You can usually run faster than a rickshaw and even minitaxis. Oh...did I mention cattle?! There will be the occasional cow, goat, or horse being walked down the street as well. BJ likes that :)

3. Language Barrier. Before we came here we knew that English was spoken in the school but not elsewhere. Although we were aware of this I don't think I truly understood how great an obstacle language barriers can be. It's very difficult to have a conversation with someone when you have no idea what they are saying! And English and Bangla are nothing alike! I can't even guess at any words! We are starting language school next week so at least we'll learn the basics needed to function. It is very common, however, to be walking along and hear "hello!" or "how are you?" being shouted. Those who know English are very excited to try it out:)

4. Clothing. I was actually looking forward to wearing the cultural outfit. The ladies look so pretty! I have purchased a few outfits to wear out in public. The outfits consist of 3 parts: shalwar (pants), kameez (top), and ornah (scarf). The shalwar-kameez is comfortable; the ornah takes getting used to. It's a little hard to wear the ornah properly while carrying around a toddler. BJ thinks it is great fun to pull my ornah off and run around with it. And I am constantly forgetting it when I go out (I tend to remember once I walk outside...so I get my exercise walking the 4 floors up to our apartment to get it!). It is nice to be able to wear my American clothes inside our home:) Brian and BJ are able to wear their regular clothing here.

5. House Help. I don't particularly care for cooking and cleaning. I do it because it needs to be done. I was looking forward to having someone to do all of that for me! And honestly, I LOVE it!! It's wonderful having food on the table that I didn't prepare and then the dishes magically get cleaned. The bathroom and the floors get cleaned daily. Even the laundry is washed, dried, and ironed!! Lovely! The adjustment comes in having people always in our house. Our cook and our bearer are married and fellow believers. It took BJ a good week before he would say hi to them. It still gets a little awkward when I need something from the kitchen (because I have no idea where anything is and sometimes I have a hard time communicating what I need!). But as the days go on it does get easier. BJ has played soccer with both our help and says "good night" when he takes a nap. He even signs "I love you" to our cook. So sweet!

Unexpected Adjustments:

1. BJ sleeping in the same room. BJ has been sleeping in his own room since he was 4 months old. On the occasional vacation we would all sleep in the same room but we were thankful when we could go back to our own rooms. Coming here we figured we would be sharing the same room with BJ for a week or so. Well, it's been a whole month now and we are still sharing a room. Why? Because BJ has learned to climb out of his crib!! Before we came he had NO idea how to climb out. The crib he slept in while we were at the guest house was designed for an infant (it was only 15 inches deep). The first time he was put in the crib he quickly stood up and put his leg over the rail. The floors are concrete here so we were scared that he would climb out, fall, and hurt himself. We pushed his crib up against our bed. Every night from then on he would climb out into our bed at some point. Fast forward to our new home....we were waiting for our crib to be delivered so BJ slept in our room in a pack-n-play. When Brian and I went to bed one night we found BJ sleeping in our bed! We are currently having a crib made by a carpenter that is deep...very deep! It should be here Saturday. I can't wait for our own room back!

2. Our daily routine. When we lived in the US, BJ and I had a set schedule for the week: Monday was food shopping and the toddler gym; Tuesday and Wednesday was cleaning, other errands, or spending time at home; Thursday was library and the park; Friday was Ladies Bible Study; Saturday was time with Daddy; and Sunday was church. I assumed that we would very quickly fall into a new routine here but I have realized that it takes a bit more planning and a lot more creativity. At least once during the week BJ and I go out with a friend and run errands for an hour or two (picking up household items that we need). We also visit Brian at school about once a week (they have a playground in the back!). We have a small yard with a swing set that we use sometimes. I still attend a Ladies Bible Study on Fridays. (The weekends are actually Friday/Saturday here and church is Friday night.) In the very near future BJ and I are going to have playdates/Bible study with another mother and 2-year-old boy. I also am researching about helping out in an orphanage once or twice a month. The biggest adjustment with our routine is that I can't just get up and go...I need someone who speaks the language to go with us. But that's okay because it helps me develop friendships quickly!

Not really adjustments at all:

1. Food. As we were preparing to come here we prayed that BJ would be able to get the nutrients he needed to grow and develop according to God's will. We knew that there would be digestive adjustments and that the food would be much more spicier. I'm am pleased to say that we have recovered from a brief time of adjustment and are ENJOYING our food! Granted, we really haven't tried any Bengali food. We are blessed to have a wonderful cook who makes us whatever we want to eat. We have had chicken nuggets, french fries, ravioli, chili, fried chicken, granola, french toast, pancakes...the list goes on and on! Mind you, EVERYTHING is made from scratch. And the meat is fresh. Real fresh. Yummy!

2. No car seat! This is BJ's favorite adjustment :) He LOVES not having a car seat. It's not really such a big deal here since the cars barely go 10 miles an hour. BJ loves just being able to sit like a big boy. He can even lie down and fall asleep if he wants! He is NOT going to like being restrained in a car seat when we get back.

3. The Weather. It is absolutely beautiful here! It's about 75-80 degrees during the day and 60-65 degrees at night. It's perfect! I'll let you know in a few weeks how I feel about the weather. It typically gets very hot very quickly in the middle of February. (Brian probably has a different perspective on the weather since he sweats bullets everyday teaching PE!)

And then there's the religious adjustment. This is a predominantly Muslim culture. Several times a day you hear the "call to prayer" blaring from the mosques. You will witness men praying on the side of the street, in the corner of a store, any place they are at that moment.

Some Pictures

Now that we have internet at our new place I promised myself that I had to post some pictures on the blog. I gave myself 15 minutes to do it. An hour later I am still trying to get this posted! The internet is a little slower here and I've had quite some difficulty getting these pictures posted. I did post some of these pictures on Facebook already but there are a few additional ones here as well. Enjoy!


One of the first pictures I took when we got here...a horse on the back of a truck!


A view of the city.


The view from the roof of the guest house to the traffic circle below.


Winter-time is the prime time for fruits and veggies. There are fruit stands everywhere you look. Any fruit or veggie that we eat needs to be either peeled (like an orange) or soaked in an iodine wash (for grapes, lettuce, etc).

More Pictures

This pictures should have been included in the last post. For some reason they were deleted. Wtihout further ado...Here they are!

The store where I purchased some of my outfits.


Winter is the dry season, which means there is dirt EVERYWHERE. This picture was taken after BJ was playing indoors. If you look closely you can see dirt smeared all over his face. Can anyone say "bath?!"


BJ playing in the yard at the guest house. In the background you can see the room we stayed in (where the a/c unit is).


BJ and mommy at the playground at the school.

BJ finally learned how to drink juice boxes by holding the tabs! No more messes from squeezing the juice box!!

Sweet Blessings

We are adjusting to life here. Although life is vastly different, there are still sweet, unexpected blessings that pop up in life. Because we are new to this culture and because everyone we know works during the day, BJ and I have stayed within the guest house walls. There is a small yard in the back with a swing set and sand. BJ loves to play out there. At first I wondered about companionship for BJ. We haven't been in contact with many children BJ's age (mostly the kids we know are in school). During the day, BJ has befriended 2 of the workers at the guest house: Sunjit (the day guard) and Moitul (the bearer - aka laundry/cleaning person). BJ just lights up in the morning when we go to breakfast and he sees his favorite people! It is a blessing to me to see these grown men show their love to BJ. I can sit and drink my breakfast tea while BJ runs around with these men, playing and exploring. The men speak limited English but BJ doesn't really mind. Playing is a universal language!

The other morning BJ and I were playing on the swing set. There was a little girl, about 8, hanging around. Although she didn't speak any English you could tell she was eager to play with BJ. I invited her over using gestures and she and BJ hit it off! They were swinging together, playing in the sand, running around. At one point she ran inside the servant quarters and BJ was not allowed to follow. He got so upset! But as soon as she came back out BJ went RUNNING to her and gave her a big hug! She brought out a plain piece of paper and created a paper boat for BJ. It blessed my heart! We found out later that her name is Esther, she es Sunjit's daughter and is in class 3 of the free school (affiliated with WCA but for poor children).

Brian took BJ outside to play last week. There was another little girl outside and she played with BJ. Once again, she didn't speak English but that didn't stop her and BJ from playing. Turns out, she is Moitul's daughter, her name is Naomi, and she is in Kindergarten at WCA! We actually saw her at school and BJ remembered her!

I'm so glad that BJ is making friends with the children here. It helps my heart to know that BJ is adjusting well. God is blessing me by sending little children (and adults!) to play with BJ!

BJ having "tea" with Sunjit (left) and Moitul (right)

We are here!

God is so good! We are so thankful that God called us to South Asia. After several days of traveling we finally made it to our destination. It seemed that as we got closer to our destination our reliance on God increased! At one point at the end of our trip we were totally, 100% dependent on the Lord as we were waiting in an airport with no way of communicating to those around us due to the language barrier, and no way of communicating to the people who were meeting us at the airport! We were in God's hands! But more about that later. I wanted to share with you details of our journey and some pictures of our time so far.

December 30th, 2011

After much anticipation this day quickly approached. Our plan was to have at least a day of relaxation before our travels but unfortunately we were still packing until 2pm. We left for JFK at 3pm so we really had no time to relax! My parents drove us in 2 separate vehicles...my dad drove our 8 trunks in his truck while my mom drove me, Brian, BJ, and our 5 carry-ons. On the way to the airport we stopped to pick up some money for traveling. I am SO thankful we stopped at the bank! When Brian attempted to withdrawal money we found out there was a hold on our account (due to the money we were spending in the past week to prepare for our trip). After about 30 minutes with the bank everything was cleared up but I am SO thankful we found out while we were stillin the States and not when we got here!

We made it to the airport about 4 hours before our flight, thinking we would check in our baggage and then relax for a bit. However, there was only 1 flight going out of JFK for our airline and they didn't feel the need to open the counter for another hour! We used this time for my parents to spend a few more moments with BJ :) We were able to check our trunks with no hassle. One piece of our carry-on was too heavy so we ended up checking it.

Our flight took off around 11:30pm. BJ feel asleep around midnight and only slept til 6 am. It was VERY difficult for him (and us!) to get comfortable on the airplane. Although he didn't sleep his normal 11 hours he was still a trooper and hardly cried at all! We entertained him with movies, games, and the flight attendants (they absolutely adored BJ).

December 31, 2011

We arrived in Doha, Qatar at 7:30pm their time (which was about noon Eastern time). This was the first time (and, as we'd soon find out, the first of many) that we really felt out of our comfort zone and remained in constant prayer as we navigated the airport. As we exited the airplane we had to take a shuttle to the terminal. We had to make sure that we exited at the correct terminal, which really isn't a big deal except that we're in a different country at night! There were many signs in English and since it was an international airport many people spoke English. After some help from the airline staff we made it to our gate for our connecting flight.

We had a 5 hour layover at Doha International Airport, from 7:30pm to 1:35 am. Because of the time difference it really felt like the afternoon for us. I'm sure people thought we were crazy having BJ up at this late hour! We played, walked around, had dinner. BJ ended up taking his nap around 11:30pm.

January 1, 2012

When the clock stuck midnight BJ was fast asleep. I snapped a quick picture of the 3 of us to remember what we were doing for the New Year (like we could ever forget!). To celebrate, the people around us started clapping and cheering. The loud noise woke BJ up and he ended up crying for about 20 minutes after that :( He ended up falling back asleep in Brian's arms.

At about 12:50am it was time to board our next flight. We learned quickly that lines don't really mean anything in that culture. Although we were in line, people would just walk up and cut in wherever they wanted. That's just something we'll have to get used to.

Our flight to Bangladesh was basically uneventful. BJ did a wonderful job during the flight. He really is a blessing! As we approached Dhaka International Airport our nerves began again. Because we had to go through customs and immigration we were very nervous that everything would go smoothly.

Unlike the Qatar airport, not very many people spoke English. Signs were still in English though. The airport itself was markedly more dirty than the other airports we had visited in the past day. BJ was very antsy and wanted to run around but I didn't want him touching things! We stood (and silently prayed) in the immigration line for about 30 minutes. When it was our turn we simply handed our passports and visas to the official and basically kept our mouths shut. Brian has a work visa and BJ and I have family visas. The visas are good for 1 year. After just a few minutes we were approved to enter the country :) Thank you, Lord, for no complications!

We acquired two luggage carts and made our way over to baggage claim. On the way to baggage claim we noticed area that was FILLED with baggage. Apparently it's the lost baggage area and it had literally hundreds of bags. I started praying for our bags at that moment:) Thankfully, our 8 trunks and 1 extra checked bag made it quickly out onto the belt. Many people stared at us as we piled trunk after trunk on our carts!

As per our instructions, we quickly made our way out of the airport, not stopping for any check points. Apparently, if you look like you know what you are doing no one will ask any questions! As we made our way outside we quickly spotted our driver amongst the throng of people (he had a sign that read "Brian"). He flagged down the van, put our trunks in the back, and away we went!

It was 11:30am as we made our way out of the airport. We got our first real glimpse of the city. The buildings were no taller than 5 or 6 stories. There were rickshaws, baby taxis, cars, and pedestrians all fighting for space on the road. Honking (or ringing bells on a rickshaw) is a constant noise as drivers communicate to one another. Because it is the dry season, dust and dirt are abundant. It struck me funny that many of the billboards were in English, advertising things like liposuction and beauty products.

We arrived at the Guest House around 12pm where we could relax, take a shower, take a nap, etc., until our next flight. We were very thankful for the break in travel! We put BJ down for a nap ASAP and we organized our carry-ons for the last leg of our trip. Our original plan was to stay at the guest house until our hosts, Jim and Marilou, arrived. They were flying into Dhaka at 1pm from Christmas break in Thailand. Unfortunately, their flight was delayed and they wouldn't be arriving in time for our flight to Chittagong. We didn't know what to do!! There was a communication barrier between us and the staff at the guest house so it was hard to find out what was going on. So we did all that we could....we prayed.

Our 7:30 pm flight ended up being delayed as well. We headed back to the airport at 8:30pm in hopes that Jim and Marilou's flight would get there before our plane took off. We were dropped off at the terminal and, once again, we were totally in God's hands (which I know we always are but this was just a time that you are REALLY aware of that!).

Security at this airport was, well, not that great. We stepped through a metal detector and our baggage was screened but I really don't think the guy was even watching the monitor! We were able to bring water bottles in our bag and I know that I wasn't following the 3-1-1 rule for carry-on liquids! When we got our boarding passes we didn't even have to show any ID!

At this point we learned (thanks to a wonderful man who spoke English who took it upon himself to make sure that we knew everything that was going on) that our flight was again delayed til 11:30pm. Many people were upset but I was SO happy because that meant that maybe Jim and Marilou would get here in time!

At around 11pm our flight was called to board. Boy, do I wish I had my camera ready! We walked outside, and walked under a bridge, and walked up a flight of stairs til we got to the plane. We sat in GREAT seats (lots of leg room) and then waited. And waited. During this time the people on the plane were getting VERY upset. I mean, we almost thought there was going to be an uprising. Men were standing up and yelling at the flight attendants. Thanks to the English speaking man next to us who informed us of what was going on, it turns out that this particular plane had come from Dubai. They had been delayed 5 hours already and were not fed nor were they allowed to use the restroom. It's easy to see why they were upset! Thankfully, the plane we were waiting for had arrived and they brought Jim and Marilou!!! It was such a wonderful relief to see them walk onto the plane!

Honestly, from here on out was a big blur. I think it was because we were exhausted from being on such high alert up to this point and having someone else to guide us the last leg of our trip meant that I could just turn my brain off :)

We arrived at our destination around 1:00am. We called our parents to let them know we were okay.

That's the story of our arrival. We have been here for over a week and I have SO much more to write! Thanks for your prayers for our safe arrival!

BJ posing by his favorite plant at Doha International Airport in Qatar.

Happy New Year from the Deschaines! (You can see BJ is stirring from his nap. This is right before he woke up screaming!)