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.
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
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