Isn't that the question? I chose to take a break for a while - mainly because I feel like my writing quality tends to suffer when I force myself to write, and as I'm not exactly a master of words as is, I have to wait for my peak writing periods :)
Dhaka continues to be a source of never-ending emotions. Sometimes we're overwhelmed with wonder, sometimes frustration, but we're always feeling "somthing" here. The past few weeks, we've been making the international news with the results of the war crimes tribunals being announced. It's been a bit turbulent, but not a lot of disturbances near where we live. We've also been fortunate to host a guest for the past few weeks - a visiting South Asia FAO. Life here gets to be very routine, so we've appreciated the opportunity to talk to another adult on a regular basis (okay, so really, I've appreciated this more than my other half since he gets to talk to grown-ups all the time...).
Life overseas presents great opportunities. Probably the best of those is the school that B gets to attend. Where else could you get someone to pay for your kids to go to a top rated private school? Certainly not anywhere in the US, at least not anywhere we've been yet. But at the same time, there are challenges. Josh has been accepted to 2 grad school programs back in the US, which is likely to be our next stop. All things being equal, we should be leaving here in 3 months to start that new adventure, but of course we don't know which school we're going to, we don't have orders, and we don't know when we might. So the downside of this awesome life we lead is that we also learn to live with large amounts of uncertainty. I tend to view our lifestyle in much the same way that I view my spiritual life - I accept that even when I don't understand the plan, I know there is one, and I just need to be patient and trusting. Perhaps this trust is misplaced when it comes to the Army, but the thought brings me a small amount of peace, so I'm going to go with it. Through all of the ups and downs, we've been well taken care of in our Army career, and I'm sure our next step will reveal itself in time.
On the note of other exciting opportunities we have experienced here in Bangladesh, Josh and I took a trip a few weeks ago to visit the Beximco plant just north of the city. Beximco is the largest private sector corporation in the country, and they manufacture a range of goods from clothing to fine china. Our plant tour took us through the factory where they were sewing multi-colored jeans ready to be exported to Wal-Mart as well as their "factory store" where they sell bone china at significantly reduced prices. For those not aware, Beximco is the supplier for well-known name brand china companies such as Royal Doulton. Since it's kind of the "thing to do" and we'd much prefer to leave our wedding china packaged up state-side when we're overseas, we decided to pick up some new bone china. Our grand total for 12 place settings including serving pieces (and a full tea and coffee service with 24 cups and saucers) just was under $400. That's right. It pays to live at the source - even if only for a year or two. And naturally, everything was delivered to my house free of charge. Did it require many phone calls to "clarify" the order and actually confirm everything? Sure. But I consider that the price of doing business. And in the end, I'm happy with what we got.
So, in theory, our time here is growing short, although it's difficult to see the end when it's some nebulous thing off in the distance. The kids are definitely anxious to see family back home, and ask on a routine basis when we can go ride on an airplane to see everyone. But we're also determined to enjoy our time here to the fullest, and we're not in a rush to get home. One breath at a time.
