glimpses of the bangladesh...

-the rain refuses to let up, seeing how it is monsoon season i can't complain. just let it happen, as some might say. although, i've discovered there's a hole in the middle top of my umbrella. not the best place for water drainage...

-staying with my principal has proven to be a great success. both for my bangla, my cravings of all food bangladeshi (of which i eat to beyond what i think my stomache's capable), and for understanding a bit more into the depths of the bangladeshi mind. its been great. we've breached a number of interesting and awkward topics through the evenings...everything from homosexuality to george w. bush, to my old boyfriends, to women in th sex trade and how to cook beef biriyani... one night we ventured to the roof to escape the nightly power outage only to run head long into a marriage conversation that starts and ends like many others i've had before..."oh you're from america. are you married." no sir. "oh, why. if you dont get married your life will be ruined. what will you do." well sir, when one good boy becomes availabe then marriage will happen. (obviously not understanding my clear and precise descriptive plan)..."what do you mean, don't you know that your life wont be completed if you don't get married." at this point i was quickly ushered from my new marriage broker's pressence to the far corner of the roof for more enlightening lady talk...

-i've been to undoubtedly one of the nicest aptartments in the area, thanks to a japanese student i've befriended at the language school. her and her bengali husband lavished us with the nicest japanese food and the most entertaining evening. even dhaka looked beautiful from this 11 story studio flat. wow.

-i'm becoming one of the national champions of cockroach killing i think. they're in great abundance at the guest house. hmm.

-just a week and a half more before back to kolkata. i miss it a lot but now that i'm feeling better i'm starting to quit enjoy the folks i've here in dhaka.

more stories to come, now i'm heading out with my principal to meet some of her friends...they've never had a foreigner to their house before, so yours trully gets to make the first impression. lets hope i don't do anything too offensive in the next few hours....

accomplishments/complaints/and props

first of all, props to my dear steal trap and newly named "where there is no doctor handbook in the living flesh" friend, Melissa, proving with 100% accuracy that my self diagnosis is truly for the birds. i was taking almost a full round of parasite meds only to discover no progress. that tends to happen when there's no parasite hiding in there... i've come to see the light, that cipro was the answer to our bacteria needs. and as 85% sure as i thought i was about the parasite...well anyways i won't go into details about it all but things are much better on the explosive end. (thanks for your insights and research melissa!) though none of us seem to feel above par yet. and so the long haul of bangladesh really does feel quite long. but this is not just an entry on complaints, as seen from the above title...

i've come across a beautiful community of folks working here in the city. and gain hope and strength as i look ahead into the coming month for the stories and friendships i'll discover as the month wears on.
i also found directions to the A&W Rootbeer here. yes, its really really weird to walk into an all american diner here of all places, but boy did it taste good. although i'm ashamed to say we all felt so bad we couldn't stomache the burger yet...what kind of american am i anyways...
i also move in with my principal tomorrow. which i'm nothing but excited about. i'm ready to fry my brain with speaking bangla, though i'm not completely thrilled about watching bangla serials (like american soap operas) into the night, as she sheepishly admited the day i got the grand tour. i'm quite ready for a change of scenery and a different perspective on the dhaka life though. where we've been this past week is a guest house beneath our language school in one of the nicest and poshest areas of the city. i know its not a true picture of this city or this country and i see my heart growing restless and judgemental. probably because it emphasizes the things i see within myself already, and its never that fun to see the darkness of our own hearts reflected in the things around us. so i continue to process the poverty and wealth surrounding me here and where my role is found in being a word made flesh among them.

but a good thing about travel is the way it tends to draw my heart back home. and i see that mind keeps stretching towards Kolkata. missing sarah and kristin. missing my SB sisters. and the freedom and confidence that comes with knowing a place and her people.

so more to come. for now i'm trying the one moment at a time approach. and waiting to see all that i'm going to learn in this month. and sarah, i'm working hard on learning 1-100...hee hee...

so maybe this is payback for my cocky entry into bangladesh, my untouchable spirit...but three days in and kyle and both have caught jeardia (spelling?) a nasty little parasite that really kicks back hard. we've both been down for the count now for a few days and hopefully the meds will do the trick sooner than later. but as for my shifting into the principal's house this weekend, not sure explosion fest 99 is the way to make my best first impression although she did practically force feed kyle and i ORS's today (redhydration salts) lets be honest not my first choice in tasty beverages, ever.

so, please pray for us. i can't do much but lay and sleep and eat a little bit of soup. though i did venture to check my email this evening.

and more to come soon from the land of bangla/vicious parasites/and soon to be consumed cheesebugers (i told kyle today that a nice beef patty will be our celebratory meal when will kill these suckers.)

safe and sound.

well i just wanted to say i've made it safe and sound to the land of bangla. with a smooth bus ride behind me and a month of bangla speaking before me, i feel encouraged and glad to be here. i see that my study in kolkata and even my time here three years ago was not in vain as i sometimes believe it to be. and i hope that this month of advanced grammar and family living (which by the way i might get to stay with the principal of the school and her family... talk about getting in with folks, now i'll really have to study hard.) will really cement all i've invested in understanding this langauge. plus, i'll have plenty of time for development and study and i hope to rediscover the space which i seem to loose too quickly in the rush and life of kolkata.
i sense my call back to Christ's side, where i seek him first, and recklessly guard that contemplative and communing space, and i want to answer with abandon.

so here i go, beginning on a blank slate, a month in bangladesh. not sure really what to expect for myself beside eating lots of rice and dhal (which if you know the beth in asia...you know this will feed a sick sick addiction in my life-i hope i don't return to k town with a rice belly...) learning lots of new and random vocabulary, finding the A&W Rootbeer resturaunt here that will serve me a real BEEF, yes, BEEF cheeseburger, and rediscovering the loveliness of space. ha, what a paradox. the discovery of space, in the land of overpopulation and heaving streets. i'd have it no other way.

more to come.