“Hi From Bangladesh...2015." ...#2

Things were interesting today. In Bangladesh, right now as I type this, it is 4:55 pm on January 5^th. I have been wondering if I should share this story, because I do not want to send you into hyperspace with worry about me. I am home safe and sound with no scratches or bruises.

I am telling you because I have never experienced anything like this before. At 11am we were scheduled to go to a village called Faridganj which is about three miles away in a three wheeled vehicle called a CNG. They have a small market place there with furniture makers, and we wanted to go to see what they have. Three of our nephews were coming with us.

There has been news of some sort of unrest between the government party in power and the opposition party in Dhaka and that there would be some fighting. We are not in Dhaka and even if we were there we would just not go out on a day we this kind of thing is going on.

So this morning we set off to Faridganj and I am all excited to be able to get some things we need like battery lanterns for when the electricity goes off, clocks for our bedroom and the living room, a couple wastebaskets,  and some other things that we take for granted that we do  not have here. Oops…no fridge or microwave either, but they cannot be bought in Faridganj because it is too small a place…could be compared to some small village with a few stores in the foot hills.

Don’t get me wrong…we have a lot here. All three bedrooms have beds and bed coverings, there are dish sets and tea cups  and pots and pans and tons of food.

(The electricity just went out…grrrr…and I am typing by someone else’s lantern)

Back to my story. So we are on our way and there are people saying that it might not be safe to go to Faridganj. I am saying that I have heard many times that something might happen and nothing has. So we continue on. The CNG driver refused to drive his vehicle into the village so we got out and started walking the short distance. There is more talk of problems, but I point out that the street ahead of us is clear and peaceful. 

Then from a side street I heard shouting and yelling and saw things being thrown into the main road. We were in front of a shop and the shop worker yelled at us to come in quickly. We did and they lowered two of the metal doors that come down like garage doors and left the third one open. We could hear the shouting still in the streets about a half block away. All of a sudden the noise increased and the third door went down closing us in.

There were police in the fray chasing the demonstrators and trying to herd them out of town. Suddenly I heard a bang, bang, bang, and I could hear feet running and lots of shouts.  It smelled like the caps I used to play with when I was a child. However, the smell was not from caps…it was from tear gas. My eyes started to run water and burn even though we were inside. I took my shawl and covered my face to protect my eyes, and by that time my lungs had some issues as well. It was very uncomfortable and quite a new experience for me and for Mustafa.

The protesters were dispersed, and the owner of the shop told us that it was safe to go out. So we went out and walked out of the village to look for another CNG to drive us home. As we walked someone said that the police were behind us. I looked and they were back a way…not right up to us. I also saw that they were wearing helmets. I turned around and did not look back again. For the first time I felt a bit scared. I was thinking about how innocent people get caught in the cross fire. Finally the seriousness was evident to me.

I started o pray. Please God do not let me die here in Bangladesh. Keep my family members with me safe as well, and also put your protection on all the people who are involved in this fray that none may die. We kept on walking. All of a sudden, the owner of the shop where we were came to the road side at the entrance of his house. He invited us to come to his house while we waited for the CNG. We did, and his house was quite nice. In comparison to other village houses it was really something actually. Lots of furniture and doodads on the walls and tables.

We sat there for about forty-five minutes, and then this young man invited us to come into the dining room. There were plates for each of us that had some kind of curry made with something called “cocola noodles” and fried veggies…kind of like the dried noodles that we get in little boxes with a broth and are boiled. They had also made some French toast. It was an odd combo but very appreciated and tasty.

Then the CNG came and we left our host with thanks.

On the way home I was thinking how God was all over it. He got us to that shop where we could be safe while there was danger all around.  And if that was not enough He also saw to it that we had a safe house to wait until we could get home.  God is good. At the end of the day I could see how good He is.

One more thing…I have a cool souvenir from this experience. The shop owner was showing everyone a casing from a rubber bullet that he picked up from the street earlier. What you have to understand is that a lot of the time I am not totally aware of what is going on. I thought one of the nephews had found it. I just looked up and saw the casing and asked for it. He gave it to me. Not a big deal to him but a very big one to me.

The lights just came back on.

Now there is another problem. All the family who came with us from Dhaka wanted to go back to Dhaka today, but there are travelling issues. It is not clear that they will be able to go. There are about seven children here and school started for them today. The sooner they can go to school the better. I will wait to see what God does for them.

End of Part 2

This is the young boy who died.
He is in his mother's arms. 

Mother and grandmother are taking him home.

"Hi From Bangladesh...2015." ...#1

1/3/15

Today, January 3, 2015 begins the first installment of comments
about this year's visit to Bangladesh which is called
"Hi From Bangladesh...2015." 

We left home on our trip just before midnight December 27 and arrived in Dhaka on the night of the 29th. The flight was bizarre in itself because the first leg of the flight took almost 15 hours. Then we had an hour stop over in Hong Kong while they cleaned and serviced the plane. Then it was off for almost five more hours on to Singapore. There was a layover in Singapore for six hours and then we boarded for the final 4 1/2 hour leg that landed us in Bangladesh. One thing that made my life simpler was a result of the injury I had suffered. I required a wheelchair to get around. The best part of this was being able to skip the lines and board early. This was wonderful and helped me to not use too much energy for getting around.

When we arrived we went to our nephew’s house and basically hung around for a couple of days. We were exhausted. On New Year’s Eve we decided to stay in and order food. Mustafa has a sister who is a widow and her son and daughter in law thought she would not want to come and they did not want to leave her alone. They were wondering who to come and stay with her. I suggested that we just order in food (so my neice would not have to cook and still it would feel a bit festive) Then we decided to invite some of my nephew’s brothers and sisters. We got Indian Food…like ordering steak in the US. Anyway it was nice and the food was good. Then all the young kids decided to go up onto the roof to see in the New Year.

Someone was sent back down to fetch me. I was not crazy about going, but the children seemed keen on it, so up I went. When I got up there the sky was pitch black because there were clouds hiding the moon. It felt scary, because some of the kids were 10 and under. They were excited out of their minds and running and screaming and running to tell me to look and that it was soooo beautiful. I was really glad I had gone because it was one of the sweetest times I have ever had. The fireworks were mediocre as compared to July 4, but they were still impressive to the kids. Because I was in Bangladesh which is a tad behind the times they were impressive to me as well actually. 

I loved seeing the joy and excitement on the faces of my little relatives and felt very blessed by the experience.

UP ON THE ROOF...NEW YEARS DAY 2015

On New Year’s Day we went to Mustafa’s baby sister’s house for lunch. Her daughter has been visiting from Malaysia since February and will be going home in a couple of days. It is a regular custom of Bengali women to go to their mother’s house to have their baby. I guess it is also a practice even when the daughters are abroad to also come home. We wanted to see them before they left to go home. She will be leaving on Monday or
Tuesday. Her little girls are very cute, but the new one who is now 7 months old is priceless. You can tell that she has a sweet soul…happy and smiling and not fussing. I enjoyed seeing her and her mom and sister. The little girls are named Myesha and Iyesha.

I had been noticing that I had been falling asleep all the time. It was beyond Jet Lag as I had experienced it in the past. I literally could not keep my eyes open. On New Year’s Eve I slept in two naps about 6 hours. On the day I went to my sister-in-law for lunch I literally could not keep my eyes open. They told me to lie down on the couch and immediately I feel asleep. They woke me up for lunch and after I was still feeling sleepy. In the car I slept the whole time and when I got back to where we were staying I slept for another 3 hours, I did not feel sick, and I thought it could be the meds that the doctor had given me for my rib pain. So I stopped taking them. I later realized that I had had a bug when my lungs started to hurt. I think that was the reason for all that Rip Van Winkle stuff.

Yesterday, we came to the village which will be a subject for my writing #2.

It is a blessing to me to know that people are loving all over the earth. Ever since I became a member of this family, I have experienced a love and respect that has always blown me away. I wondered what I had done to deserve it. It is hard to give examples of the ways they show me they care on a daily basis. Here are a few examples…

• Back in 1970 when I went to Bangladesh they met me at the canal with kerosene lamps and the whole family was there…from that moment on I became a member of the family and was cherished    
• On one of the early visits I was outside and one of the children hauled out a heavy chair from the house for me to sit on. I was reminded of that today when a young son of a woman who works for us  came out with a plastic lawn chair and met me with it to sit in which was quite a feat for this little guy.

         

There is a young girl who is a granddaughter (generationally in the Bengali system…we would call her a great niece.) Whenever she sees me she comes up, gives me a big hug, and says “I love you, Dadi!” This is the word for Grandmother.

This is Joyeeta, and she is six or seven.

As I was writing the things about being honored and loved even though I had done nothing to expect it, something occurred to me. God loves all of us unconditionally. We do not have to do anything He just does. He loves us and the One who deserves all honor actually gives honor to his beloved ones. As in earthly life this is a blessing that we sometimes receive from other people, when you think about it, the love and honor we get from the Creator of the Universe is the greatest blessing. When people show this to other people they are following in their human way the example of divine blessings.

Love you,

Corinne

End of Part 1

"Hi From Bangladesh...2015." ...#1

Today, January 3, 2015 begins the first installment of comments
about this year's visit to Bangladesh which is called
"Hi From Bangladesh...2015." 

We left home on our trip just before midnight December 27 and arrived in Dhaka on the night of the 29th. The flight was bizarre in itself because the first leg of the flight took almost 15 hours. Then we had an hour stop over in Hong Kong while they cleaned and serviced the plane. Then it was off for almost five more hours on to Singapore. There was a layover in Singapore for six hours and then we boarded for the final 4 1/2 hour leg that landed us in Bangladesh. One thing that made my life simpler was a result of the injury I had suffered. I required a wheelchair to get around. The best part of this was being able to skip the lines and board early.