Life Before Crocs

I spend a considerable amount of time wondering how it is that I managed to grow up without a pair of Crocs.  I distinctly remember that I spent lots of time barefoot (and had many stubbed toes), so I guess the best alternative to these wonder-shoes is actually no shoes at all.  Santa brought brand new Crocs to the smaller members of the family this year for Christmas and while they have not really started wearing those yet, I'm thankful that Santa had the foresight to realize how essential they would be to life here.

Streets here are full of dirt.  Not like "red clay" dirt or "potting soil" dirt.  More like "fine sand" dirt.  And it gets everywhere.  Since we don't have any sort of sidewalks here, "taking a walk" really just means wandering around in the streets hoping not to get hit by the cars and rickshaws.  In the short time since we've been here, the kids have already developed a routine of walking in the front door, taking off their shoes, and heading straight to the bathroom to wash hands and feet.  Luckily, like in Korea, we have a sprayer attached to the wall that allows us to easily do this without making a huge mess.

Last night we had our first rain storm since our arrival (the first of many I might add, since the rainy season is approaching) and I got to see what happens when "fine sand" dirt mixes with water.  We avoided all major puddles and still came back looking like this:

K was in a stroller which is why hers look so nice and clean still.  And no, my shoes aren't Crocs.  I went in to have my Birkenstock's resoled and I discovered that they make an "outdoor" version which will likely stand up to the weather here a bit better than my suede ones.  So I immediately bought them even though they only had them in blue.  They are my new favorite shoes, and I will even forgive them for giving me a small blister - after all, I've been wearing them non-stop since our arrival.  While I think Crocs are adorable and perfect for kids, I have yet to find a pair in grown-up sizes that I think looks normal on my feet.

Travel?

It might seem strange since we just arrived here (and aren't even in our permanent residence yet), but we're already making plans to do some travel.  A big part of the In-Region Training year that we're spending here is supposed to be focused on getting out to the other countries in the area and "absorbing" some culture.  And hey, we've already been living out of our suitcases for going on 2 months - so why not?

We're hoping to visit the beautiful island nation of Sri Lanka before Josh starts school.  We'll be back just in time for some real HEAT here in Dhaka and won't miss any of the in-processing that Josh has to do before he gets started.  All in all, fairly good timing.  The climate there is a bit more tropical than it is here right now, so hopefully we've got enough appropriate clothes to last through the trip.  If not, I might have to <gasp> go shopping.

K is screaming to let me know she's done with her nap (what was I thinking trying to do any sort of "creative" writing before the kids were in bed for the night??), so I'll need to wrap this up quickly.  The family is over the worst of the initial sickness here and I've managed not to kill anyone with my cooking thus far.  Power outages are quickly becoming a way of life after only two weeks.  Now, when all the lights go out, the kids and I sit together and see how high we can count before they come back on.  Our apartment is on the ground floor and subsequently gets very little sunlight even during the middle of the day.  When we lose power, it's pretty noticeable.  The counting seems to take everyone's mind off of their fear of the dark and focus on something menial.  Score one for mom.

Morning Adventures

This morning, we decided to venture out with the kids and do some driving.  Since the car seats haven't gotten here yet, I usually ride in the back middle seat with the kiddos (to prevent fights more than protect them) which means I don't generally have a great view of what's going on outside the car.  Today, we figured we'd put up with the screaming so I could help navigate.  We made a small-ish square exploring our neck of the woods.  The map at the right shows the section of Dhaka that's closest to where we live, so our route today took us through Baridhara, Gulshan, and part of Banani.  We managed to not get lost, picked up some groceries, and still made it home in time for Peter Pan on the Disney Channel (after all, we have to have SOME priorities).

K enjoying her ramen.

B on our roof.

Lunch today was Maggi Masala - the local equivalent of ramen - because I've been watching commercials on TV for it since we got here and it looked pretty good.  Luckily, it turned out okay and even the kids enjoyed it.  The photo above of B on our roof was from this afternoon when he went "exploring" in our building.  You'll notice the construction project in the background - it seems as if half the neighborhood is under construction.  The noise is almost constant as landlords tear down single family homes to put up high rises (and increase their profit since land is at a premium here).  The kids don't seem to mind the noise though, so I'm at least grateful for that.  We've got a construction project going on right next door, but the noise mostly comes in through the bathroom that Josh and I use.  Every now and then, I'm convinced that bamboo poles are going to come right through the walls (or something worse).  More pictures of the neighborhood to come as long as I remember my camera the next time we go out for a walk.

One Day at a Time

This was the name of the recessional hymn at Ash Wednesday mass earlier this week and it really struck a chord with me.  Seems like a perfect opening not only to Lent but also to our new life here.  We'll just take everything one day at a time.

As we've been here over a week, it was time to do some maintenance cleaning.  All of the air conditioners needed to be cleaned, all of the carpets needed to be vacuumed, and all of the floors needed to be swept.  I probably would have tried to clean out all the bathrooms as well, but we don't really have all the supplies for that as of yet.  I'll add that stuff to my shopping list for this week.  Last on the list for today is cleaning the distiller which I'm not really looking forward to because there seems to be a very small hole in the top through which all of the cleaning has to be done.  Maybe I'm missing something and I'll be pleasantly surprised, but I'm not hopeful at this point.  

I did some shopping yesterday afternoon with our military sponsor and picked up some local tunics and pants.  The pants are fairly baggy, but are extremely lightweight and comfortable.  Certainly something I look forward to putting on when it gets hot outside.  I say "gets hot", but really it's been almost 90 outside for the past week.  It doesn't feel terribly hot yet however for which I am thankful. I have been told over and over again that the heat is coming.  

I also picked up an outfit for B which he put on as soon as I got home and didn't take off until dinner time.  Unfortunately, I didn't have the camera out, so I didn't manage to capture him in his finery.  While there were many cute little girl outfits, I couldn't find anything in the right size for K, so I will have to stay on the lookout for something for her.

We're doing our best to try to normalize being here by keeping up some of our routines from state-side.  It's Friday here, but the first day of the weekend, so we had pancakes and sausage links - our normal Saturday morning routine.  We were pleased to discover that the commissary here carries the same breakfast sausage we used to get back home.  While the consistency of the pancakes isn't exactly the same as what I'm used to, that might have more to do with the milk I'm using and adjusting to a gas stove than anything else.  All in all, I think we're doing an okay job of keeping as many things constant for the kids as possible during this "adjustment" phase.  We're all set for Friday night pizza and movies tonight as well (which maybe I'm looking forward to more than the kids).  

We headed out for a morning walk to get some fresh air after the cleaning (and to allow the A/C filters to dry) and were pleasantly surprised to find the path by Gulshan Lake almost deserted.  It's tree lined, so remains relatively shady and breezy even with the sun up.  Beside a tree near our gate to the park, there were three kittens only a few weeks old.  Made me think about our cats back home - Tiger was only 3 weeks old when she was taken in off the street in Korea.  I'm not going to lie.  I was sorely tempted to pick them up and carry them home with me.  Luckily they were up and moving by the time we came home showing me just how hardy they were even at such a young age.  

When we returned home, Josh got a call that the barber had arrived to give him a haircut.  The man travels around the diplomatic enclave relying on word of mouth to get new customers.  But he does such a good job, I have to imagine he does not have too much trouble keeping clients.  The haircut was just over $7.00.  Oh, and I'm being told that also included a scalp massage.

Water

Simple topic I suppose, but one that's pretty important to life over here, so it will be the topic of my second "in country" post.  While people who are born here are generally able to handle the bacteria that lives in the water here, it can cause significant problems for visitors.  That being said, even people who have lived their entire lives here can still fall victim to water-borne illness.  With the rainy season quickly approaching, the ICDDR, B (International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh) is preparing for a drastic increase in cholera cases among others.

For the average westerner, life is pretty easy.  I have a large distiller in my kitchen that automatically prepares fresh drinking water for me.  I can then use that water for cooking, drinking, brushing my teeth, etc.  Showering and bathing in the local water is safe as long as you can keep the kids from drinking the water, but general kitchen routines have had to be changed a bit.  Fresh produce (which can be contaminated) has to be soaked in a mixture of distilled water and bleach, followed by plain distilled water to get off most of the bleach (which will also cause diarrhea) before it is safe for consumption.  Luckily, our military sponsor had a drawer full of fresh produce already cleaned and waiting for us in our fridge when we arrived.

We wash our dishes in local water (with soap), but then take all of the freshly washed dishes and let them soak in a bleach water solution followed by plain distilled water, and then air dry them all.  Luckily, our family is pretty small, so this task is manageable.  While Josh has now succumbed to illness as well, I have to believe the only reason I'm still well is that I spend a significant portion of my day hanging out with the bleach bottle.  What better way to kill all the germs around the house.

Everything was fine and good until our distiller ran out.  Apparently the distiller is supposed to refill itself automatically any time you use water.  Since we're new here, I didn't know that.  I assumed that maybe once it got close to the bottom of the tank, it would start refilling, but we never reached that point.  So after a quick visit from maintenance yesterday, we're back up and running.  Of course, the heat generated by having the distiller run for 24 hours straight in a non-climate controlled kitchen is pretty significant.  I'm definitely happy that this happened now (during pretty mild weather) rather than during the heat of the summer.

I'd also like to tack on a small historical note to this - hope no one minds.  Today is a pretty important holiday on the Bangladeshi calendar - International Language Day or Martyr's Day.  Pardon my limited knowledge of local culture thus far, but one of the biggest reasons Bangladesh exists today as a separate nation (and no longer East Pakistan) was that Bangladeshis wanted Bangla to be an official language of the country, and West Pakistan only wanted Urdu.  A group of political activists and students protested this decision on February 21, 1952 and were killed in the course of the protest by police.

Travel and Our First Few Days

The weekend before our departure, we headed out to Bryce Mountain (about a 2 hour drive from my parents' house) to relax and hopefully see some snow.  The winter has been unseasonably warm this year - in fact, the temperatures were in the mid-50s most of our time in VA.  Our first night at Bryce however, the temperature dropped into the 20s and we had snow.  The kids were excited, and managed to go sledding (very briefly) before the sun came out and melted everything not in the shade.

We made it home and got all the bags packed up - 8 checked bags, 1 bag of checked strollers, 5 carry-ons, a purse, and 2 pillow pets - after doing quite a bit of bag rearranging.  We left out at 9:45 pm which is clearly well past the kids' bedtimes, but they were only interested in watching movies as soon as they got on board.  Couple that with the fact that the airline wanted to serve us a meal as soon as we were at altitude, and we were in for a seriously delayed bedtime.  The kids were pleasant enough for a time, but all good things come to an end...  B slept nicely, but K has a requirement to completely stretch out her body in order to sleep - not something that comes easily in an airplane seat.  So what did I do?  I put her on the floor.  The gross, yucky floor where who knows what is ground into the carpet.  And you know what?  She slept.  That is, until one of the flight attendants saw her and told me in no uncertain terms that she could not be there.  Oh well.  So that made the rest of that particular flight a lot of fun.  She eventually passed out for about an hour or two before our last meal.  

Arrival at Doha was relatively smooth, but we ran into a small problem when we tried to get off the plane.  While we had very smartly chosen luggage that stacked and rolled allowing us to carry as much as possible, the Doha airport does not have air bridges to their planes.  All passengers have to disembark down a long stairway, board a bus, ride about 20 minutes to the transfer terminal, and then return to the land of ramps and elevators.  We ran into the same issue on our way back out further complicated by the fact that we had to wake both kids and convince them to proceed through check-in.  Neither one of them wanted to walk, and K - being a bit of a screamer - was indulged.  Upon boarding our connecting flight (which departed at 1:35 am local time), we were served another meal.  The food was excellent on all of our flights (even the "traditional" chicken meatloaf that I was originally a bit suspicious of), but the turbulence following meal service on this second flight significantly delayed the pick-up of trays requiring the lights to stay on for the first hour and a half of the flight.  Naturally, K did not want to sleep with the lights on, so instead, she was cranky.  Not that B was a model traveler by any means, but he certainly looked great when compared to his sister ;)

Our flight into Dhaka was otherwise good.  We arrived shortly after 9 am local time, waited only about 45 minutes for our bags to arrive, and only had one person (that I saw) whip out their cell phone camera to immortalize my children.  We were driven to our temporary quarters (a 3 bedroom apartment) and then Josh promptly left to begin his in-processing.  Jet lag hit hard in the early afternoon, and I succumbed sleeping until dinner time.  The incumbent IRT family had us over to their house (which is ginormous by the way) for dinner that first night which was a huge relief since I hadn't even really given much thought to how and what I was going to cook.

Thursday was eaten up by unpacking, and by Friday, illnesses had already begun.  B woke with a 102 fever and vomiting while K just had a runny nose, but it made it much easier to encourage lots of sleep.  Unfortunately, the kids and I missed a BBQ in our "honor" that evening, as I was home tending them, but I'm sure Josh represented us well.  All of that cleared up relatively quickly however, and while stomachs are a bit tender all around, we're managing to get out and do a bit of exploring.

My initial impression is actually pretty good.  The people here are friendly, our housing is decent (although I am looking forward to having somewhere permanent to live even after only a few days), and while shopping seems to be expensive, I'm a bit oblivious to how much I'm spending since I can't really do that sort of advanced math in my head.  We've had great interaction so far with our sponsors, and look forward to getting more involved in the local community.  We're also looking forward to hearing that the pool at the American club is refurbished, as it is currently closed and I know the heat is quickly approaching here.

One last note before I sign off - sleeping under a mosquito net (and successfully navigating out to go the bathroom during the night) is really much more difficult than one might think.  Okay, two last notes.  We had our first noticeable power outage this morning.  Naturally, I was using the bathroom when it occurred.  We now have a small flashlight in our bathroom.  So the next time you're showering, be happy and thankful for continuous, reliable power.

One Week to Go!

Well, the title just about says it all.  We got a package a few days ago containing all of our passports with visas - not a moment too soon.  I know this will come as a shock to all of you who have dealt with what I will generously term "government efficiency" before, but our visas were supposed to be mailed directly to us since they were being completed so closely to our departure date.  Naturally, instead of doing that, the State Dept shipped them to CA only to have the Travel office there overnight Fed-Ex them right back to our current location - a whole 20 miles from the State Dept.  Seriously.  Your tax dollars at work right there.

We received an update a few days ago as well that the housing situation for us is not exactly ironed out.  But really, who needs a place to live? ;)  As it happens, "adequate" housing is a bit hard to come by where we're going, and we'll likely end up in some sort of temporary living quarters while our arrangements are finalized.  So, I know there were a lot of people who wanted to come visit right away, but sadly, you'll probably need to wait at least a month or two for us to get settled.

Upcoming projects include packing the rest of our boxes that we need to ship and packing/weighing all of our bags at least 3 or 4 times.

On to Washington!

Well, we finished up our visit with family in Florida and started our drive to visit the other side of the family in Virginia.  While before we had been in two cars (and able to keep the kids separated thus cutting down on the total noise and craziness we each had to deal with), since we left Josh's car with his parents, we were down to one car for all 4 of us, the cats, and all our luggage.  We rented a trailer and made the drive with no real issues over the course of 2 days.

We've been here for almost a week now and it's been nice to settle in to a bit of a routine.  I'm still looking for things that got packed in CA, repacked when we left our hotel there, unpacked in FL, repacked when we left FL, and got unpacked "somewhere" when we got to VA, but hopefully all of those missing items reappear magically before we need to repack again to get on the plane.

We've had good weather so far (ridiculously warm for VA in February) and are trying our best to take advantage of it.  We visited the National Zoo yesterday and other than a bit of rain shortly after we arrived, it was a great visit.  We pretty much had the place to ourselves - guess no one else wanted to risk the weather.  This morning we visited Frying Pan Farm Park and got to pet some lambs as well as see pigs, horses, sheep, peacocks, goats, and cows.  There were chickens as well, but we gave them a bit of a wide berth :)

This afternoon will be filled with cooking and other preparation for my sister's wedding shower tomorrow afternoon, so hopefully the kids will be able to entertain themselves.  10 more days until we leave.  Every now and then I wonder what exactly the future holds, but it looks like we'll be finding out fairly soon!