of Tim Horton's and sad goodbyes

This last week we had the special opportunity to give out over 50 blankets to some of the poorest villagers around our compound. A man in town comprised a list the poorest, sickest, and oldest folks and arranged for them to come at 3pm Monday afternoon to get a blanket. Keep in mind that while Bangladesh is a somewhat tropical country (complete with palm trees and coconuts) it is about equal distance from the equator as we are back home. Therefore, it gets pretty chilly at night and these villagers barely have one sweater or blanket to keep them warm. One by one, they filed through the gates received a blanket and retreated through another gate to the side. Some shook hands and expressed humble gratitude while others simply took the blanket and turned to leave. Nonetheless, Elle and I made sure to greet each person with a big smile and a fuzzy blanket. Once again, we were reminded just how lucky we are to have been born in North America--we could have just as easily been born in Bangladesh and where these villagers are today.

And now we're back in Dhaka. Elle had to catch a plane to Madrid today and Josiah and I are trying to figure out our visa situation still. We left Tuesday morning at 7am, which is a big improvement from how early we've left in the past (4am = a very sleepy Jehanna lol). We were hoping that some of the fog would have burned off by 7am but it hadn't! In order to get from our small country road to the main road, we had to use the trees on the side to navigate where the road should be. After a couple close calls, I decided to close my eyes and truly trust that God would keep us safe.

[Not-so-funny story: The picture you see below is a picture of the biggest spider I've ever seen first-hand IN MY LIFE! I noticed it by Banni's bed as we were leaving on Tuesday morning. The outlet by it is probably about 5"x5" and even the biggest circle I can make with my forefingers and thumbs touching is smaller than this massive beast. Not fun.]


The trip to Dhaka was fairly uneventful... I got to check my Facebook and email along the way. That's always so incredible to me that while I'm driving on country roads through rice patties, I still have fairly decent internet. When we arrived at the Dental Clinic, Litton brought in an armful of packages for me :) I was so happy! I got a package from Grandma Niemann, Mom, Brianna, and WallaWalla! Thank-you SO much you guys for taking the time and money to send me something over here--it means the world to me to know people care so much :) I haven't opened the packages yet because I think it will be fun to wait a couple days until Christmas. Then maybe if I close my eyes real tight I can imagine that I'm at home with all the people I love most in the world...


Wednesday morning we headed to the Canadian embassy to get advice from our consulate in how to deal with this visa issue. In order to get in through the gate, you had to flash your Canadian passport and hand in your cell phone and camera. As Josiah and I walked up the steps to the front door, the whole atmosphere changed. For the next couple minutes, it was as if we were back home at a regular office building. It was incredible how different the patio and foyer felt compared to the rest of Bangladesh.

We were told to wait in a room for a consulate official to come talk to us. We couldn't figure out how to turn on the light so we waited in the dark until the official came into the room. He looked at us in a funny way and then asked us to turn on the light. lol We felt like idiots for a fraction of a second... We proceeded to explain our situation to him and he told us what we thought he would: that the Canadian government cannot get involved with these kinds of things and that we need to bring our issue up with the Bangladesh Immigration and Passport Office.

We told him we understood but then Josiah asked if there was anyone else we could talk to--anyone maybe in the Canadian Club or something. We were told that's only for expats thought. Josiah explained that I had brought over some Timmy's coffee and was wanting to share with some fellow Canadians that may have been missing home. As soon as we mentioned the coffee, he excused himself for a minute. After about five minutes passed, he came back into the room with a sad look on his face and said that he had checked the policy and was not allowed to accept gifts. But he completely opened up, offered us more options on how to help with our visa, and even joked around with us a little. It's truly amazing the power of Tim Horton's :)


Wednesday was also Victory Day in Bangladesh so after noon, everything shut down. We decided to go to the local mall (an amazing new 8-storey building) and look around. Most of the shops on all 8storeys were closed and blocked off so we rode the escalators to the top and looked around up there. They had a movie theater on the top floor! Transporter 3 and SlumDog Millionaire were playing but we opted out of sitting in a movie because Josiah wasn't feeling too good. Instead, we found a pool room/restaurant. We paid 100tk to use a table for half an hour and Josiah proceeded to kick my butt at two games. Well technically, I won the last game because he scratched on the 8 ball but I don't count that as really winning.. Nonetheless, we all had a blast chilling, playing pool, and feeling just a step closer to home :)

The top floor had a food court with a full selection of fried food. I know that sounds gross but in this country fried food is the safest because not many germs can survive the hot grease. We chose to opt out of fried food and chose another form of hot grease: pizza! We've had pizza at the orphanage but it's really not the same when made with process cheese. Mmm again, a little piece of home can make your day absolutely fabulous!


Finally the day I had been dreading came today... The day Elle jumps on the plane for her fantastic adventure to Spain. Don't get me wrong, I am totally and completely genuinely happy for her--I just know I'm going to miss my best friend here... Driving back the airport to drop her off made me think back to my first night in Dhaka. I was so terrified of the sights, sounds, and smells. I couldn't believe that I was actually in BANGLADESH. Bangladesh! Who goes to Bangladesh? lol But now, almost three months in, I feel like I can hold my own here. I know the basics of the language and feel more confident walking through the streets. What a difference! Anyways, I'm going to miss Elliot like crazy but I know she will have an absolute blast this Christmas with her family and Jon :)

We had a pretty long rest of the day, ups and downs, and have decided to go back to BanglaHope tomorrow with Litton. At first Josiah and I were going to stay until next week so we could go pester the Immigration Office some more but we're going to look into some other options before we nail this one down. When I make a decision I'll let you know what's going on :)

Happy 8 Days until Christmas,
ami tomake bhalobashi