of kisses and awful internet

The days since my last post have been pretty easy going. Life at the orphanage is almost the complete opposite to that of Dhaka. There is no rushing, pushing, or busyness. Yet at the end of the day, I'm always exhausted. Friday night I gave my vespers talk on the importance of praying without ceasing, hoping that something would click in my own head to do the same thing. Somehow, even in the country I get distracted from the things I've planned to do. For instance, I wanted to have devotions every day, work-out every day, and journal every day. Ask me how many of those I have consistently done. Wait, maybe that's not a good idea after all...

So the rest of Sabbath was peaceful for the most part. I caught up on some emails and took a nice nap :) The people here at the orphanage have a strange fascination with badminton but I haven't played yet. Mostly because the bugs are disgusting as they crowd around the lights and after breathing Dhaka air, I don't think my lungs could survive "poka" inhalation. I may try after a winter frost kills all things that crawl but we'll see.

Sunday was frustrating for the most part. Again, someone was greatly overexaggerating when they explained how good the internet was here in Bangladesh. Even with my SIM card adapter messages through facebook, email, and skype take forever and [sometimes] a day to deliver. This is the worst when all I want to do is talk to someone back home just to say hi and I miss you. I think it's all a big conspiracy because it seems the times I get the best connections is when I have five minutes before I have to leave for class or at 3:45am when everyone back home is asleep. Sunday afternoon the internet just stopped working all together--that was a treat. Elle and I had to get Jason to drive us to Hazrapuh so we could pay our bills (about $15USD a month) at a little tin shack they call the cell phone place. I really think the whole village, or at least a good portion of it, came out to watch us do this monotonous task. I'm not kidding when I say there were about 70 men, women and children just watching us. Or maybe it was "White People Day" and we just missed the e-vite. Either way, next time I go into town I'm thinking about calling ahead and then charging people admission to stare. haha just kidding... But seriously it's going to be weird when I'm back in the States and all of College Place doesn't gather to watch me pay my Verizon bill!

Sunday was also laundry day--aka a basket of clothes, some soap, a 5-gallon bucket, and some serious muscles. Ugh. I will never take my washing machine for granted ever again. Simple pajama t-shirts weren't the problem but washing hoodies (yes, I've worn hoodies here but it was more of a comfort thing) and sweatpants were the problem after they soaked up the whole bucket of soapy water and I had to try to wring them out. AND, Mom you'll be proud, I even washed my blankee. Yes, I brought my blankee to Bangladesh--I need it more than ever here! lol

Today I wasn't feeling well so my normal breakfast of rice and dhal wasn't snarked down quite as fast as it usually is. I took it easy for the most part until my English class at 10:30. Ah, the short vowels. I'm actually starting to learn them. The only one that got me was bag because Mrs.Waid was teaching them b-aa-g and Canadians like yours truly say b-A-g. That's alright, the kids didn't mind the confusion. When Mrs.Waid is gone I'll bring them over to the dark side :)

The internet decided to work for a couple minutes, again after everyone was gone to bed, and I sent out a couple emails that I had neglected the last couple days. Then I flicked on a movie and layed in bed while I rested. I didn't sleep at all last night, mostly because I couldn't turn off my mind from running circles and marathons for that matter. AND I met a cockroach in the hallway on the way to the bathroom at 2am. Those things still freak me out.

What really made my day though was going to say goodnight to my little friends. My first stop is always the boys' room because well it's first in the row of rooms and I just love those kids. When I first walked by, they were all kneeling on a bamboo mat praying. It was so adorable--I wish I would have had my camera with me. When they were done, I went to say goodnight and give hugs. One little boy, David, kept pulling on my orna saying "Ah-puh, ah-puh." My response was "Boo-gi-nah" (which means I don't know). One of my students pointed to his cheek and said "kiss" when he saw my confusion. After that, my cheeks were literally wet from all the kisses. It was so so so sweet of them. Bartholomew even gave me a little flower after he gave me a kiss on the cheek. Then they all crawled into their little bunk beds draped in mosquito nets and "Jehanna, Teacher, ah-puh" rang out through the room as they each wanted to say goodnight. So I went one by one to say goodnight to my little boys. Danny, one of my grade one-ers, in English which is pretty impressive because we only taught them that today, said "Jehanna, please sing us a song." One of the other boys started to sing I like Bananas, but Danny asked for a new one. So as they were sitting with their little faces pressed against the netting, I sang them the first two verses of Oh Lord You're Beautiful. ahhh it was so cute. Afterwards, thank-you's came from each dark bed. On my way out and as I said goodnight, little Mark said "ami tomake bhalobashi." As soon as I reciprocated his sweet endearment, voices arose from the dark repeating the same phrase. I couldn't keep up! Caleb, another one of my students, even said "I love you Jehanna." It was so precious.. I love those kids..

Anyways, there is always a silver lining even to the crappiest of days right? Right now I'm laying with my orna stretched over me and my computer because the bugs were flocking to my screen. It's an interesting world here in Bangladesh. And that's to say the least--it's definitely one of those things you can't fully describe, you can only experience.

wish you all were here...
ami tomake bhalobashi :)