of Tisha (the real story) and T-2days

Allow me to [finally] introduce you to Tisha. Tisha is in one word: crazy. She is so full of life that it just comes bubbling out of her, yet you should feel so blessed to be around her for even a second. Tisha is in my current grade one class and, when she feels like it, she is so smart! She is the kind of student that will start out colouring sitting down... Then a couple minutes later, she'll be standing up at the corner of her desk colouring... Then a couple minutes after that she's on the other side of the desk, still just colouring away. lol Asking Tisha to sit still is like asking the ocean not to be wet.

Tisha came to Bangla Hope when she was about 8months old and is just about ready to turn six according to her file. One of the teachers at KMMS down south called Mrs.Waid to tell her about a woman who had been caught trying to bury her little baby. The mother was mentally unstable, yet when Mrs.Waid got to the village, she was told the mother had run off with the baby. The husband was busy working as a tradesman and wasn't able to look after Tisha who was the youngest of three. Eventually, both parents came to see that Tisha would be better off at Bangla Hope and gave her away to protect her in hopes of her having a better future.

Tisha has always been the bright spot in my day. Sometimes she is a bit much but I can say that girl knows how to have fun. She knows how to laugh and make the best out of what life gives you. I've learned a lot from her. I was really excited yesterday when Dad caught me and Tisha dancing to Bonno-Fulli Hi (a simple children's dance Elle and I learned) on video. I hope Tisha never loses her spark, her gumption, her passion for life. As long as she learns to control her little diva attitude, she will continue to capture hearts all along the way. She's just... beautiful. T-2days. This morning began the festivities. Most of the medical team left early this morning to head down south to continue the clinics. [Side note: a conservative Muslim woman came by yesterday with a gnarly looking eye that was yellow and so swollen that it actually puckered around the iris. I've never seen anything like it. It was pretty nasty...] Anyways, Banni, Shati, and Papri were all asked to go along to translate for the team. They won't be back up here before I leave on Friday so I had to say goodbye this morning. In some lucky way, it was really early (5am) so we were too tired to fully realize what this meant. I won't see them again for a long time. I know I'll be coming back eventually but... how soon is that really?

We all cried. Banni told me not to forget her, Papri told me not to go, and Shati told me to stop crying and to stay beautiful. I'm going to miss each one of those women so much.

After the last members of the team took off, I headed up to the roof to have some alone time while I watched the sun rise (one of the things on my to-do list). Again, I was really too tired to fully give myself over to the emotions of it all but I sat up there with my thoughts, soaking in the scenery as much as I can before it's gone.

I was cut off for not paying my cell phone bill (they wait like a day and then cut it off, though there is no notice until right before it's cut :P) so Dad, Josiah, and I took a rickshaw van into Jalalpur. You should have seen Dad... He's a natural celebrity. He was waving and saying hi to everyone that we passed. My goodness... LOL. It was roasting hot and by the time we got back we were all just drenched in sweat.

I really can't believe how hot it is here again. Why did I ever complain about the cold weather this last winter?

Speaking of cold weather, I was packing up another bag to send back with WallaWalla people and decided that I didn't need my "South Face" jacket as much as someone here needed it. I gave it to Shoprova because A. I love that woman so much and B. I remember her sweater from this last Christmas was kinda ratty so she deserves something warm. It was worth it to see the look on her face. She was so appreciative. Such a wonderful woman!

So all my pictures are down in my room. All my clothes are either packed away or waiting to be washed in a small pile by my bed. All my toiletries are out of the cabinet. Everything is out from under my bed. My pink lily bag is already gone and heading home. My black bag will depart tomorrow morning with another group and I'll be left with my [aka Auntie Jane's] backpack. It has just a few clothes, toiletries, meds, and misc other things to last me in the last month of my journey.

It's all slowly winding down, coming to an end. Dad and I went to each room tonight and put up glow-in-the-dark letters spelling different messages in each room. "Jehanna Loves You" or "Good Night Girlies" or "Sweet Dreams zzz" or "Grammy Loves You". I don't know how well they worked in the dark but I hope the kids enjoy it. We are going to go in tomorrow afternoon and put up a bunch of glow-in-the-dark stars in each room. Then tomorrow night we are having a party. We are going to crack all the glow sticks that Mom sent along, as well as light the sparklers (with all the kids at a safe distance away) that almost got Dad arrested in Beijing (it's a funny story but you'll have to wait for him to tell it himself).

We also have to make a trip into town tomorrow to pay the "leaving the country tax" at the local bank. Since we are leaving on a Friday, the bank closes at 11am but we don't want to leave until the afternoon. We have booked a bus out of the Indian side of Hili for 6pm Friday evening, then will catch a train in Kolkata on Sabbath afternoon. Dad wrote an old friend of his that is working in Kolkata right now so hopefully we'll be able to meet up.

Other than that, tomorrow is my last FULL day in Bangladesh, my last night at the orphanage. Please continue to pray as I face the hard, heart-wrenching goodbye's ahead of me.
ami tomake bhalobashi