With the kids on vacation, Brittni and I haven't had much to do. We worked some more in Handicrafts for a day or two but then some new girls came to take over--yay as far as I'm concerned! lol I'm glad to help but Handicrafts is definitely not one of my gifted areas. So I've been working on stockings and other Christmas presents, as well as trying to organize a Christmas program with the kids.
By the way, the village school kids LOVED their gifts. I didn't realize this, but not many of these kids have ever opened a wrapped present before. Wrapping gifts isn't too common in Bangladesh I guess. Most of the kids were so hesitant to ruin the pretty paper so it took some prodding :) lol My kids sang beautifully, only slightly bumping over the last few lines of Oh Little Town of Bethlehem.
After working on the stockings for hours and hours (104 is a LOT) I took a much needed break. In a fight for some Christmas spirit, I had an idea. I grabbed a sheet of green construction paper and got to work. After cutting up a square of yellow paper and a bunch of red and green ribbons, my Christmas tree was complete. I even cleaned off my bedside table to display my art and put my presents on. I grabbed a couple of extra stockings and made one for me and Brittni, later Josiah and Elliot's stockings joined the bunch :) While my paper one couldn't compete to the beautiful tree we usually have at home, this little one helped the next few days to feel more like Christmas days instead of just normal Bengali days.
Just then I was talking to Mom and she told me she wanted me to open the package she had sent me. She was curious to see if everything had made it intact through customs and such. After reluctantly ruining my gift setup (just kidding Mom) and opening the package, I was shocked as to what I found! The customs people had made a nickel sized hole in a package of Mr.Noodles so there were pieces of dried noodles dispersed among the whole thing! Not only that, Mom had made my FAVOURITE Christmas cookies, ginger molasses cookies, and put them in a special tin for the journey over. Well the tin looks like someone hit it with a baseball bat and the customs people put the can in upside down so most of the cookies fell out! So not only were tiny pieces of noodles all over, but everything was coated with a thin layer of sugary ginger molasses cookies crumbs. Awesome. lol But I'm so excited and thankful for what was in the box :) I got a couple cans of Fri-Chik, candy cane hot chocolate, a few wrapped gifts, and A BOTTLE OF MOCHA STARBUCKS! Heck yes please! Jehanna has been coffee-free since Oct.5 when she had her last cup of Timmy's--not for long!
Last night was Christmas Eve (of course lol) so after saying good night to the kids, the Waid's had a special surprise for the caregivers. Mrs.Waid had bought a variety of seloar kamees fabrics and sharis for each of them. Hence, Brittni and I got to model each piece as people would call out when they saw a fabric they liked. I was trying extra hard to get into the Christmas spirit so I put on my red petticoat and blouse (what you wear under a shari) over top of my green seloar kamees outfit and put red and green ribbons in my hair :) Everyone laughed at me because I looked ridiculous but laughing somehow brought the joy into Christmas Eve. Anyways, we had a good time modeling the fabrics and afterwards I did the dance the kids taught me--again probably looking like a fool but who cares :)
I had brought down all the stockings with me so I had some of the housemothers help me matching the stocking to its owner. I don't think it had the intended surprise that I wanted but I think the kids enjoyed it :) I heard some of the boys got up in the middle of the night to shi-shi and ate their chocolates :P Nonetheless... haha the tradition of stuffing stockings remains! On some level I think it helped me to bond with the housemothers too--I've always tried to show them that I care about the kids, hoping actions really do speak louder than the words I don't know. Call me crazy, and it might just be because it was Christmas, but some of them seemed a lot friendlier with me today than in the past.
Mrs.Waid gave the housemothers another special treat last night too. They got to make pita. No, we are not talking about the wonderful Greek bread that goes really well with hummus and tzatiki (mmm I'm pretty sure I want that to be my first meal back!). We are talking about a sweet batter that is dropped into a deep-frier, then grated coconut put on top. I didn't have the finished product--but the freshly deep-fried (and scorching hot) batter is freaking delicious! They were also mashing up this almost caramel-ly substance that would also be mixed with coconut, and then wrapped inside perogie shaped shells. The caramel stuff tasted like gritty caramel-flavoured sugar--not bad in other words, but not that great lol.
I didn't stick around the whole time because A. I was getting cold and B. I was wanting to come back upstairs and write a blog post about my day and message some people on Facebook to say Merry Christmas. Well, upon turning on my computer, I was informed that I needed to pay my internet bill... Shoot. The sucky thing is that Friday's are the Muslim day off (aka today) so I couldn't go put money on and then tomorrow is Sabbath so that won't work either. Luckily Josiah is having troubles with his computer's internet (well not luckily... but it worked out well for me lol) so this afternoon he let me borrow his internet card until I put more money on mine. Really, it works out well for both of us because I need the internet card and he needs a computer to use internet on so we end up taking turns :) BUT I did open up one Christmas present last night (thanks Mom, I love the black and white damask post-its!) as per tradition! Tradition is not put on hold by being in Bangladesh... let me tell you! :)
Anyways, back to Christmas... This morning I woke up and went down to breakfast in my comfy WallaWalla sweats. All I could think of was homemade pumpkin waffles with hot apple syrup like I know my house will be having in a couple hours. Don't get me wrong, our food is FANTASTIC here--it's just hard not to compare :P I also had "Happy Christmas" by John Lennon playing in my head over and over... "So this is Christmas, and what have you done...? Another year over, and a new one just begun..." Over and over in my head.
But I realized this Christmas isn't about me. Right after breakfast we handed out winter coats to all the kids because it has actually gotten quite cold here! If we weren't in the dry season we would definitely be seeing a lot of snow here. Or... maybe it's just that I have like two pairs of socks, two hoodies, and uber-thin pants here... Something along those lines.
When that task was done, we ushered all the kids into the cafeteria and handed out presents. All the boys got new shirt and pant sets and all the girls got a new dress :) The boys also got a bouncy ball that lights up when it's hit and a toy car. The girls got a cute little doll set :) They were all SOOO excited :) I couldn't help but be happy along with them!
I headed back up to my room to open up my presents because I knew Mom would be calling soon to A. see if I liked what I got and B. remind her what she sent lol. I really feel blessed and spoiled at the same time. I know how much it costs to send packages over here and for that I feel guilty--but I really wouldn't have it any other way... So thank you to all who sent letters and packages. I also got to read all the notes that WallaWalla had sent me from an SM vespers a couple months back. And I just got the package--yay for Bengali mail systems :P I'm so grateful though to all my friends who wrote notes of encouragement, love, and even updates from the Valley :)
Just as I was getting to Abby's and Michael's notes (I know their handwriting so I saved them for last lol) I started to tear up. I miss everyone back home so much--especially today. I miss making memories, laughing, taking road trips, going for walks, going for coffee... all that amazing stuff. And for some friends back at WallaWalla, this is their last year and are moving on to bigger and better things--how I will miss them :( I have to keep reminding myself that this is 6-8months of my life, one Christmas of many... I remember my kids' faces and things begin to come back into perspective :)
After opening presents, I cuddled up with my tin of half broken cookies and watched the Grinch like a good girl :) I didn't make it through the whole movie but even the first part just made me happy... Again, I'm a tradition kind-of-girl :)
I didn't watch the whole thing because I had to go downstairs to work on the Christmas program. Oh man... the Christmas program. We've never actually gone through the whole thing and I'm not quite sure the kids even know how they are supposed to act the story out... but I'm going to fall back on their cute faces smiling and singing and Brittni narrating the story.. This would be a lot easier if they spoke English--or me speaking Bangla.. either or! So church tomorrow will be interesting to say the least... oh dear! lol I'll let you know how it goes down!
Anyways, to all who are at home with those they love most in the world, hold onto that--cherish every moment... Have a wonderful Christmas and save some turkey for me!
Merry Merry Christmas,
ami tomake bhalobashi
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