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!

Hi-ho! Hi-ho!

K with Josh in the hot tub

B riding our transit boat to the Magic Kingdom

We've spent the last week (or 4 days plus travel) at Disney World with Josh's parents - and had an amazing time.  Our drive down was uneventful except for a rather singular experience at Chick-Fil-A.  Perhaps I should explain.  Long days of travel require stops - this much every parent knows.  And when we travel, we prefer to stop somewhere that the kids can run around and play (even if it means we pack up their lunch to eat later in the car).  So we're generally on the hunt for Chick-Fil-A or a McDonald's playplace.  As it happens, there was a Chick-Fil-A in Gainesville which was right around the right place for a lunch break - and it didn't hurt that it was the same exit as the Starbucks that my father-in-law likes to stop at.  Normally Chick-Fil-A is a good bet for the kids, but for some reason, the play place at this one was designed to be virtually unnavigable by children under the age of 4.  There was no toddler area, so essentially, unless one of the adults was there to boost up the kids all the way to the top level, they couldn't play.  Definite fail for us.  Is it wrong to be so disappointed by this??  Perhaps.  It's just unfortunate when things don't meet your expectations.  Chick-Fil-A playplace means the kids get their energy out and settle in for an afternoon of driving, except here - not so much.  Luckily, on the way home, we stopped in Ocala instead and they had the standard setup which was much appreciated (by kids and adults alike).

K on the teacups

Disney was a great experience.  We rode all the rides we wanted, met all the characters we wanted, and had a genuinely good time.  We stayed at the cabins at Fort Wilderness (which was a new location for us) and thought they were perfect.  The cabins had a double bed and a set of bunkbeds in the bedroom as well as a full size murphy bed in the living room - so plenty of sleeping space without everyone having to go to bed at the same time.  We also had a full kitchen and an eating area.  An all-around great value that allowed us to cook for ourselves for breakfast and dinner, but still enjoy snacking while we were in the park.  B seems to have gotten over his fear of mascots (perhaps) and while he didn't love Mickey at first site, he actually asked to visit him again and enjoyed it.  K on the other hand loved them the first time she saw them, but wanted nothing to do with them the second time.  Fickle children?  Yes.

B with Baba and Deda

Hi, Minnie!

Our cabin was right next to a pool and hot tub, so the kids also got plenty of relaxation time when we were ready to take a break from the hustle and bustle of the parks.  Josh and I were fortunate enough to get some grown-up alone time as well - Thanks Baba and Deda! - to get a nice dinner at Sanaa at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and meander around Downtown Disney on Friday night.  We had amazing weather the entire week and only had rain one afternoon.  Sunshine, glorious sunshine!  After over a year in Monterey, I feel like we were definitely due :)

How every great day at Disney should end

B is thinking about riding Star Tours again the next time we go

Mickey!!!

A great end to a great week!!

Florida - Take 1

We spent 5 days (very long days) driving cross country with the kids and cats in 2 cars from CA to FL.  We kept the kids separated and that honestly seemed to be a pretty smart move on our part.  We also made sure to stop for lunch at restaurants with playgrounds as often as possible.  That seemed to help keep them entertained.  Upon arrival, one of our cats went into hiding (likely out of protest over her traveling conditions), but reappeared a day later inside a linen closet much to everyone's relief (well, mostly everyone).

K with her "war wounds"

After a day spent hanging out at the house yesterday, we decided to load the kids up and head across town to the San Luis Mission so everyone could get out, run around, and take advantage of this gorgeous weather.  All was fine and good until K got pecked in both eyes by a chicken.  Admittedly, we were warned that this particular chicken was a bit on the ... restless side.  In fact, the chickens had apparently just been attacked by a hawk that morning, and one of the roosters had been eaten by a fox a short time ago.  Clearly chickens lead a rough life here.  But I have learned my parenting lesson of the week, and we're now ready to move on to other things.

Funnily enough, when the lady who wrote the incident report about the chicken asked if K was up to date on shots, I could without a second thought say that she definitely was.  I suppose that's one benefit of this new lifestyle :)

Seriously.  Chickens...

Almost There!

Well, not almost to Dhaka, but almost to the end of Monterey.  More specifically, almost to the end of the "moving process".  Sure, we have to wait a while to get our stuff on the other end, but the stress associated with that is really minimal compared to the stress of packing it all up.  It's been a long time since we've done an international move, and the last time we did it, we were newly married and had no furniture.  This has definitely been a different sort of experience.

A new set of packers came on Friday and took away all of our Household Good items - that is our main shipment of stuff to Dhaka.  This shipment will go by boat, so it will take a while to get there.  There are many places where this is the case, but the shipping company will not authorize the release of our items here in the US until we are physically living in our permanent house in Dhaka.  So everybody keep your fingers crossed that we get into a permanent house right away, and they can coordinate shipping shortly after that.  While our items could be received in as few as 5-6 weeks, it could also take up to 4 months.  I've heard of cases of each.

We're living in lodging on post right now, but it's not too bad.  The family quarters actually have 2 bedrooms, a sitting room, a dining room, full kitchen, pack and play, high chair, etc.  Other than trying to keep ourselves fed while not overbuying, our challenges are few here.  Of course, we're still trying to clear out the old house, so each day involves some amount of time over there packing things up, throwing things away, and gathering items to donate.  I've found someone locally to take all of our food and toiletry items that we could not pack, and the part of me that dislikes wasting anything (mostly because I'm cheap) is pretty happy to be able to pass along the things we can't take.  Every box we bring back to lodging though makes me wonder how we're really going to fit it all in the cars to bring with us on our cross-country trek.

One last set of packers is due in later this week to pick up our Un-Accompanied Baggage and then we'll really be all set.  Can't wait to finally have all that stuff out of the house.  We're working now on getting boxes put together to ship our "essentials" in advance.  As long as we don't go over our UAB authorization, the government should reimburse us for this.  Here's hoping the numbers work in our favor!

Happy New Year, everyone!  I can't help buy wonder about all the new and exciting things 2012 holds for our family.