tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19879678254002576712024-03-05T21:52:23.446-08:00Scaling Back and Moving Oncarriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17692022164962830616noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1987967825400257671.post-48456134770156795002015-03-18T14:55:00.002-07:002015-03-18T14:55:37.002-07:00A Prevously Unpubshished Draft From the Blogfiles of Dhaka circa 2013<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Tonight is a very, very strange night. We are waiting to find out if the first or one of the first war crimes persons gets executed at one minute past midnight through a war crimes tribunal. His name is Abdul <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Quader_Molla" target="_blank">Quader Molla</a>. It is eerily quiet except for a car or siren here or there, which is the norm as of late. Normally there are parties, horns blasting, rickshaw bells ringing, but tonight you can just feel it. It is a first for this country to hold a war crimes criminal accountable. The most surprising part about it all is that is was announced a couple of hours ago that he will be hanged at a minute past midnight all of a sudden. He was found guilty for war crimes in a controversial trial several months ago and given life in prison. After <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Shahbag_protests" target="_blank">Shahbagh</a> staged a huge multi-week protest against the "life in prison" verdict, he then along with his lawyers did the equivalent of an appeal and he then ended up with "death". How you can appeal a verdict and end up with a verdict worse than what you had originally been handed is beyond me, but it happened. So now it is 90 minutes from when Qadar Molla is to be executed by hanging here in Bangladesh. I have only lived here for two years, so this is new to me. I know that people are executed many times over in the U.S. and other countries, however this person's execution is particularly ominous. The UN Envoy has been here for several days trying to get both sides of the political party to come to some agreement in order to hold fair and free elections and he even extended his stay. As I type this I got some information that the execution is <a href="http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2013/12/10/sc-halts-quader-mollas-execution-at-last-minute" target="_blank">delayed to around 10:30 am. </a> </div>
carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17692022164962830616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1987967825400257671.post-58349092867418249462014-05-14T12:36:00.002-07:002014-05-14T12:36:28.716-07:00Love thy Mother....and Grandmother a bushel and a peck<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My Father loves his Mother and there is no denying that and after reading <a href="http://www.chicagonow.com/when-you-put-it-that-way/2014/02/love-thy-mother-when-theyre-gone-youll-regret-if-you-didnt-123/?fb_action_ids=10152042445338759&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%5B246767348837031%5D&action_type_map=%5B%22og.likes%22%5D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D" target="_blank">this blog post</a> that resonated in so many ways to me, I felt compelled to finally revisit the story of going home to be with my Grandmother for her last week on this physical Earth. <br />
<br />
My family is amazing. I don't just mean the ones I am descended from and biologically related to and knew before I had kids of my own, but the family that I have been welcomed into through marriage and created with my husband and his unending support is amazing. I was able to go be home with my "original" family thanks to my nuclear family and husband maintaining things as usual as much as possible while still in Dhaka. <br />
<br />
I think I left off my last part of the story about seeing my Gram with her beautiful smile and surprise at seeing me. I had to pretend that I was coming anyways to see her because I couldn't make it for her 98th birthday the week before, but everyone (and I am pretty sure she did, too) knew I was there because her health was deteriorating in a way that could not wait for me to visit in the summer as originally planned.<br />
<br />
My Father is an only child and so is my Mother. My Mother's Mother has passed away when I was very young, but I remember her, or at least I think I do. Stories and pictures can do a lot to create a memory and I am glad for that.<br />
<br />
My three sisters and I once I arrived had a rotation that evolved as the days and sleep and work and everyone's nuclear family needs required. I have to say I was the weakest one of the bunch. I provided Gram with a sounding board and humor that was wonderful to share because we "got" each other. She has always been a funny lady. I get my sarcasm from her and love her for it, no matter how much others may not like that personality trait that is so ingrained in me.<br />
<br />
There were terrible times and beautiful moments that I must memorialize here because I am afraid my memory will escape me. One of the most poignant times is when I was leaving to go to my parents house to sleep and my sisters were staying with her for the night and it was the last time her older great great grand children were saying goodnight to her that when I said I was going to go to sleep at my Mom and Dad's house (her son's house) I told her I loved her and she sang "I love you a bushel and a a peck." and she asked me if I remembered it and I got to sing the rest of it to her. She smiled and I saw it even with that terrible oxygen mask on her face. <br />
<br />
...........................................................................................................................................................<br />
<br />
I am now re-reading this post after sitting on it for months, but want to post it, finally. Today is the last day that my sister who cared for her in most ways that were superhuman,will be at her house. My grandmother's house sold very quickly and we are fortunate that it seems to not be going to get knocked down and turned into a McMansion as so many are in the town she and my parents live in. I am not sure what awaits us when we can only drive by "her" house this summer when we are home on R and R and go through so many emotions again. Some will be new for my kids because they didn't get to be with her those last days and I know there are plants in her garden or the new owners' garden that we grew from seeds or seedlings that are there and she loved, along with the rose bushes she transplanted from her yard in Chicago when she moved to be closer to us in the 'burbs. I will want to dig them all up and move them to really nowhere because I don't have a permanent home anymore. I hope that the new owners love those plants, our only visible evidence of us there in her heart as we will drive by, as much as she did. My Grandmother was the reason I gardened and became an animal lover, vegetarian for years and became a farmer and eventually a world traveler that took me away from her and my family, yet allowed her to live her dreams through our experiences and stories and pictures. She was without a doubt our biggest cheerleader for travelling the world.<br />
Kay Calhoun, you are an inspiration to all of us and will forever be in our hearts and with us on all our journeys, great and small. I love you a bushel and a peck and hug around the neck. </div>
carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17692022164962830616noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1987967825400257671.post-29997814229595442292014-02-04T06:09:00.001-08:002014-02-04T06:40:42.474-08:00130 days...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Did you know there is a site for calculating days between two dates and you don't have to hold a calendar in your hands and count? Of course you did or you knew I was a dummy for never realizing that such a thing would come up with a simple internet search. We have 130 days left to live in Bangladesh if we leave the Saturday after the kids are finished with school. What the Whaaa??<br />
<br />
I remember so vividly the arrival and how overwhelming everything was. This was our first time living overseas and we didn't do Peace Corps or work for NGOs or the FS like so many people in our lifestyle had already done, so wow, it was eye opening. <br />
<br />
We could actually not be living here and be somewhere else had we not extended, but it we did it all for the kids. We want to get them on the moving cycle where they arrive at the same time most kids are starting the school year at post. So Andy somehow made that work out and we are now in the countdown phase.<br />
<br />
It hit me today at a work meeting this week when it was brought up that I would be leaving in June and one of my coworkers asked if it was THIS June. Ugh, it is so hard for everyone and to have people you work with day in and day out know you are leaving, it is like the worst break up ever, times a million.<br />
<br />
I have finally gotten pretty comfortable with Dhaka and my own rhythm and the rhythm of our household. Knowing we are leaving and going to a new continent all together is pretty intimidating. I am now realizing all the things I take for granted here when considering moving.<br />
<br />
What I am going to miss:<br />
<br />
My job and the wonderful people I work with.<br />
The community of expats that is closer than any we will probably ever find and that is why people keep coming back.<br />
I am bigger than most of the people here, so it adds an extra feeling of security.<br />
I have wonderful help that don't steal from me.<br />
The people here are very nice.<br />
I am treated like a "madam" for the first time ever, and while it took a long time to get used to, I do appreciate it if I am being honest.<br />
Travel in Asia: Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Turkey, Thailand, Laos (in April)<br />
Random, funny stuff that I would never, ever see anywhere else (a dog sitting on a trash rickshaw seat, paws on the handlebars in the middle of the most insane traffic on my way to work).<br />
Affordability and very cheap goods--we are at the source.<br />
<br />
Things I am looking forward to leaving behind:<br />
<br />
Not having to feel ashamed for having a female body.<br />
Open sewers.<br />
Men peeing in the gutters..<br />
Getting sick all the freaking time and my kids getting sick a lot.<br />
The beggars and the system that perpetuates this and takes total advantage of their situation and malformations.<br />
Getting stressed out about going shopping. No parking, people stalking me in the store bugging the crap out of me.<br />
Not being able to drive myself more.<br />
Hartals (this one belongs in the other category a bit because I don't mind working from home, but it is horrible for the country and the people I know work so hard to just get by and make a living and make their country a better country).<br />
<br />
I cannot think of any others, but I am for certain that I need to enjoy every last little tidbit in the next few months because time is going to just fly by. <br />
<br />
Live in the moment, remember the past, and look forward to the rest.<br />
<br />
Carrie<br />
<br /></div>
carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17692022164962830616noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1987967825400257671.post-85542087851075861642013-12-15T05:35:00.002-08:002013-12-17T05:19:11.974-08:00My help is trying to give me stuff...!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
If you live in Bangladesh and you are not living in a slum, chances are you have help. Additionally, if you are in the development world you most likely have help. It has been such an adjustment for me because I was working class, actually a lower working class American my whole life and I didn't even know anyone who had help or at least they didn't say they did. I suspect looking back that some of my friends had a housekeeper/maid person that came a day or two a week or a month, but not us. <br />
<br />
I eventually got used to the idea and even comfortable, and now way I am way too comfortable with it. There have been conversations that started with "What are we going to do when we move back to the U.S? We have really ruined ourselves and our kids." Other discussions with other spouses that have been "this has saved our marriage" or "Yikes! We hardly ever talk anymore because we aren't fighting about who has to do dishes/laundry/pickupthedanglegos". <br />
<br />
After only two interviews, because I am lazy and was new to this whole thing, we started out with an ayah/nanny who really is a housekeeper that gets the kids off the bus and keeps them pretty safe. I was fortunate enough to start this lifestyle when my kids were older and they "knew better" and so most of the ownership was on them if they misbehaved or they broke an arm (yes, it happened and she still has a job with us). I also had a hard time coming around to the idea because I was working from home teaching for the first 8 months and it was just weird. Now I am working from home again, thanks to the <a href="http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/" target="_blank">political instability of Bangladesh </a>and I have embraced the "help at home" lifestyle.<br />
<br />
There is no way I could keep my house as "clean" as it was in the U.S. mainly because pollution here is just off the charts. It is no <a href="http://beijing.usembassy-china.org.cn/aqirecent3.html" target="_blank">Beijing, b</a>ut everything is covered in this nasty black slimy soot, even in closed closets, plus we leave dishes and clothes and shoes all over the place.<br />
<br />
One of many reasons that I enjoy it is because of what happened today. A few months ago we hired a woman to cook for us part time. I basically have stopped doing anything for myself or my family (I say cynically, but not really) since we moved here and my husband recognized it and hired her so they can eat. Our ayah could cook and actually enjoys doing so for us, but we just don't<i> love </i>her cooking. It's "hard" when you are not at home and have to call and try and get it across what you and especially the kids want for dinner. It would often times end in disaster to the point that my kids loved chili that I made with the McCormick packet. I do rock that out, but that's MY go to dinner, and she'd probably ruin it with extra chilies or mutton.<br />
<br />
Our part time cook "C" was here for the afternoon and our ayah checked the time clock early (just kidding, there is not time clock, we just weren't as messy today). I got to talk to my cook for a while and it was heartbreaking and inspiring as most stories are from someone from Bangladesh. C speaks much better English than our ayah and she reads and that is awesome. Another thing I have come to terms with is that I will have to be hardcore when hiring help at the next post because I like to leave lists of tasks, stuff to buy, people that will be stopping over, and the occasional text. We will see if that actually happens because I am not so hardcore in that way. Music, sure. Helping people make their way in the horrible, crappy world they were handed, not so much. <br />
<br />
So anyways C and I were able to chat because our ayah wasn't here at the time. They seem to really enjoy each others' company, but I don't know what they are talking about. I don't even want to think about it, considering we have been super sick around them and who knows what else is on the radar for them.<br />
<br />
It all started with her worried that she was going to go to her village about a 10 hour drive on a good day home and that she wouldn't be able to cook for us while she was away. I reassured her that it was no big deal. She got even more concerned because we are returning from our little trip right around when she would be leaving. We figured out the meals and she would come in the day before we returned and cook us stuff and leave it in the fridge. <br />
<br />
Then it all got interesting. She, her husband and daughter were going to be taking a bus to Jessore and I was now worried about her doing that, and she reassured me they would be safe. Then I asked if she would be visiting her parents and brothers and sisters.<br />
<br />
I knew that C has a tween daughter and she does all she can for her. She works for us part time in addition to full time for another well paying man, plus her husband works, too. It is a rare situation to have help where both parents work and focus on their DAUGHTER. Then C answered all my questions that I had and I was amazed. Her mother had raised 5 of 6 young kids after her husband had died, he just got sick and died here as it happens. Her mother was fortunate enough to work for some ambassadors and other expat folks and sent most of her kids through at least 8th grade. C's siblings are either working as house help or teachers in local schools and one brother is a bearer (custodian in the US). He goes and teaches as the local school with his 8th grade education and then goes and works as a custodian at my kid's school.<br />
<br />
I was so happy to hear that they are all such wonderful giving people and asked what her mother is up to and if she will get to see her when she goes home.<br />
<br />
Well, she won't. I learned that her mother was hit by a bus when she was at home and all of her adult children were here in Dhaka about 5 years ago. My sweet C got a call that horrible day and made it back to Jessore after at least a 10 hour bus ride only to find out that her mother had died in the hospital.<br />
<br />
I have rarely seen a Bangladeshi person cry and the first time that I remember vividly was when I told my driver he didn't need to come to work the next day because I was going home to see my Gram because she was not well. He asked if she was going to be okay and I had to tell him because our communication between our languages was so bad and had to be blunt, so I let him know that she would maybe die, he cried. I couldn't hug him because it wasn't culturally okay, but we both wanted to. C was somehow smiling when she was wiping tears from her eyes with her apron while she told me the story about her mother. <br />
<br />
The rest of the time she was at my apartment she offered me her saris that she cannot wear because she is "too fat" and then took a salwar kameez for a pattern to get me another one or two made. She figured out what patterns and colors I like and will get another one fixed that got ruined from being washed. Another thing, as if you didn't love her enough already...I asked her to go out and get some soda water for the grown ups and she came back with that and root beer, coke, seven up, and sprite, because she loves our kids and is always thinking of them. </div>
carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17692022164962830616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1987967825400257671.post-75917043765141319092013-12-13T02:23:00.002-08:002013-12-13T02:23:47.052-08:00Arrival<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I flew on Qatar Airlines for the first time ever for this trip, and it was the quickest and most efficient way to get to the U.S. I paid a nominal fee for an upgrade to business class from Dhaka to Doha because I wanted to sleep a bit for the 5 hour first leg of the journey if possible. I departed around 3 am I think, and after worrying so much and not sleeping, I got a glass of champagne (complementary with said upgrade) and slept like a baby until we landed. <br />
<br />
Once in Doha, I only had about an hour to get to the next plane and tried to see if I could get an upgrade again and what it would cost. They were not so friendly at the counter and said MAYBE...but it would cost $2,500 cash to do so. Not happening, I don't normally carry around that much cash and if you do...I'll send you my address and you can share. Thankfully I was able to convince the unfriendly lady at the counter that I was not comfortable travelling alone from Doha as a single woman and could she please at least get me a seat between myself and the next passenger. She obliged with a nice eye roll and as we departed I noticed that it was a pretty empty flight and several people even had no people sharing seats and could lay out across several economy seats. I probably could have been one of them had I not opened my fat mouth at the ticket counter! I had one seat between myself and nice gentleman who's wife was across the aisle from him. I wasn't worried about any funny business and was able to rest against the window and drool and snore as much as I pleased. You may be thinking I am a bit paranoid, but I have read stories about women getting harassed and groped on flights no matter the locations and on some flights I have taken in South Asia, it is not uncommon to have people having very loud conversations standing up while leaning over your seat inches from you to the person next to you. I wanted to avoid anything like that considering I was flying for 14 straight hours from Doha to Chicago and just wanted to sleep.<br />
<br />
I arrived at O'Hare and got my bags and went outside to try my luck at finding my ride. I was hit with a blast of cold air--November in Chicago, Duh Carrie--I had the equivalent of thin pajamas on and flip flops. My awesome brother-in-law picked me up and knew right where to find me, which was awesome considering I had no local cell phone and had just enough quarters to call and leave a message with my sister that I was through immigration and would go outside the international arrivals doors to wait. My ride even gave me a little siren "alert" pulling up with his fancy police vehicle that made me happy!<br />
<br />
He gave me a crash course in what to expect and dropped me off at my mom and dad's house so I could pick up a car, the convertible my dad no longer drives because he was in a terrible car accident while working and driving a minivan several years ago and broke his neck and miraculously recovered, but is not comfortable with driving anymore. Can't say I blame him and that is a whole other story of arriving at a hospital to an uncertain situation.<br />
<br />
It sure was great to see my dad and knowing that his mom was not doing well made it a bit hard at first, but I was so glad to be there for him and her and knew that I was ready to help in any way.<br />
<br />
I went to the hospital and into my Gram's room and I was greeted with the most beautiful smile and look of surprise (no one told her I was coming, and she was totally with it and knew I was living in Dhaka) and oh how she was so glad to see me and I knew I was in the right place at that very moment.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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</div>
carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17692022164962830616noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1987967825400257671.post-43975269667065347032013-12-07T07:26:00.003-08:002013-12-07T07:26:45.076-08:00What's November 2013?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I lost the entire month of November and so now this is my attempt to try and remember. It all started with a voice mail message on Skype that I needed to call home and I cannot honestly remember if anything was mentioned about the situation back in the U.S.in the voice mail. I do know that when I called my sister back that the news was not good. My Grandmother was in the hospital in the ICU and had been for a day or so. I thankfully caught my sister at a moment where she was not in the room at the time and was able to talk to me honestly thank goodness, because nurses were acutely caring for my Grandmother. My sister explained what brought my Gram into the hospital and it was quite a story as most of them are when our loved ones are independent, strong-willed, my Gram, and 98 years old. <br />
<br />
My Gram had been living in her own home (split-level home, no less) thanks to my sister, despite many, many serious illnesses and setbacks over several years. You have to understand that this meant that to go the restroom she had to go up or down stairs, and the electric chair lift didn't arrive until the last couple of years. Maybe it helped her health by having to walk up or down to do the most basic things. Who knows? <br />
<br />
So what brought her to the hospital? Compression socks. She had many quite serious ailments, but her most recent ICU hospitalization came down to something that is supposed to be helpful and preventative. On a day or time of day that my sister wasn't there with her, she was trying to get a compression sock off that was stubborn and pulled a muscle with a dramatic move when the sock was already loose, and maybe caused more damage than anyone realized. In any case, it started a cascade of events that would not be good.<br />
<br />
Gram called my sister and told her, and my sister was there in a heartbeat as she always was. My Gram refused to go to the hospital for days and tried to find comfort at her home. A comfortable position to sleep in, sit in, anything, and that would be the case for days. Finally, after she celebrated her 98th birthday with a party several days later with the rest of the family, she finally admitted she should go to the hospital. <br />
<br />
So, back to the phone call. I learned that Gram had been unable to get comfortable, to the extent that she was hollering out in pain a lot. This is totally uncharacteristic of her, a very composed and together woman. I could tell that it was wearing on my sister and when I said I would come, the reaction I got from her told me that I needed to be there. There were no words exchanged. <br />
<br />
Within about 12 hours I was able to get my flight scheduled and then within 24 hours of that I was on a plane to the U.S. My Gram is really the only Grandparent I knew. Both my grandfathers passed away before I was born and my maternal grandmother died when I was either 2 or 4. I can't remember which because she died, and my Gram's brother and sister-in-law died in that time frame and for a toddler, it seemed to blend together. Both my parents are only children, so we have had a very close relationship with my Gram. She was always there, and more than a grandmother, great-grandmother, or mother, she was EVERYONE'S friend and confidant.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYLdld_GnxY3R-obKiTqp2bZ8B4wAa5wvpRkj0jLBVWU10WTjIytLb2FhZeYHQPyCli3O2HoYWUyjuonwt5bbBLjA97WJFayuilOgc60oI2eYLtYQwht4Buo0wgW_fIJuhyphenhyphenjJS5GQwRZtD/s1600/Gram+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYLdld_GnxY3R-obKiTqp2bZ8B4wAa5wvpRkj0jLBVWU10WTjIytLb2FhZeYHQPyCli3O2HoYWUyjuonwt5bbBLjA97WJFayuilOgc60oI2eYLtYQwht4Buo0wgW_fIJuhyphenhyphenjJS5GQwRZtD/s320/Gram+1.jpg" width="274" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fredericka Mary Catherine "Kay" Calhoun</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Next post...arriving in the U.S. in November from Dhaka and helping take care of my Gram<br />
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carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17692022164962830616noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1987967825400257671.post-58497638051380041932013-12-06T09:51:00.000-08:002013-12-06T21:21:08.296-08:00Surprises<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
After Andrew bidding his heart out for our family to go to the best place we could imagine given the bid list that existed, we found ourselves in shock today with the actual assignment. For most of you that I know personally that read my blog, you are most likely as unfamiliar with the process of "bidding" for a USAID employee as I was until this all happened over the last several months. What happens is a list comes out around August/September with possible open positions in your field and the employee has to advocate for him or herself to get the best match for their qualifications and personal life situation. We had a few good looking posts considering we will only be going to development posts, but the very scary reality of it all was that there were fewer positions for bidders and at least, and maybe half were for Afghanistan or Pakistan, and a little Haiti thrown in the mix. <br />
<br />
Andrew did a great job of reaching out to posts he was interested in and did nearly ten phone interviews, and had "air kisses" with at least one. That means they put him first on their list and he did the same. There were others that wanted him to put them first, but he didn't and put his top 8 or so posts in ranking order.<br />
<br />
We thought we were going to the "air kiss" post up until today when the list is sent via the intranet and he logged in and we read it together and were shocked. Not to say that we weren't happy, but we were just shocked because we thought we were going to the "air kiss" post.<br />
<br />
That being said, we are happy to find out after processing the news for about 13 hours that we will be moving to Nairobi, Kenya in August for the next 4 years. It has started to sink in and thanks to the positive support from family and friends, I really do think that this is the best move for us and that career-wise it is great for Andrew. <br />
<br />
Here in Dhaka, the political situation has been deteriorating day by day and gas stations are running out of gas, shelves are starting to get bare, and the people in power don't seem to care that they are making a pathetic living situation for most regular folks, many of whom are lucky to live on a dollar a day that much more unbearable because they cannot go to work because there are no safe transportation options because buses are getting set on fire and people are getting caught in the stupid thuggish crosshairs of "rebellion" and definite agitation and aggression. This is not making it into the main stream media, but here is a brief history of the reasoning behind this nonsense, plus two local online newspapers if you would like to keep up to date with the state of affairs here and now. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/05/world/asia/two-leaders-enmity-stokes-concern-over-vote-in-fragile-bangladesh.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ref=world">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/05/world/asia/two-leaders-enmity-stokes-concern-over-vote-in-fragile-bangladesh.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ref=world</a><br />
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<a href="http://bdnews24.com/politics/2013/12/06/ershad-sets-new-conditions-to-go-to-polls">http://bdnews24.com/politics/2013/12/06/ershad-sets-new-conditions-to-go-to-polls</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/">http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/</a><br />
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Another thing to seriously keep in mind is that this is a country where most people are lucky to make the equivalent of 80 dollars a month working in a garment factory as chronicled on Planet Money's latest story of Planet Money Makes a T-Shirt. It gives you some perspective of the process and the people that it takes just to make a t-shirt. <br />
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<a href="http://apps.npr.org/tshirt/">http://apps.npr.org/tshirt/</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/12/03/247360855/two-sisters-a-small-room-and-the-world-behind-a-t-shirt?utm_content=socialflow&utm_campaign=nprfacebook&utm_source=npr&utm_medium=facebook">http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/12/03/247360855/two-sisters-a-small-room-and-the-world-behind-a-t-shirt?utm_content=socialflow&utm_campaign=nprfacebook&utm_source=npr&utm_medium=facebook</a><br />
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Much love to you all out there and I hope I can keep posting and most of it will be retrospective because nothing much is happening these days to write about due to countrywide strikes and blockades.<br />
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carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17692022164962830616noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1987967825400257671.post-43223108809890728892012-09-12T06:47:00.001-07:002012-09-12T06:47:40.914-07:00Deep Breaths<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have been meaning to write a post about our lovely trip home to the U.S. for our R & R and our stops in Istanbul and Sri Lanka, but those posts have been trumped by some horrible, terrible, sad events playing out in Egypt and Cairo.<br />
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I also quit my job, which is a whole 'nother story all together. I'll hopefully come back to that at some point in the future.<br />
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Right now my heart is breaking in so many ways for the tragedies that have unfolded yesterday against fellow diplomatic families like ours.<br />
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I did not know or ever meet J. Christopher Stevens or the other Americans that have yet to be named as victims in the attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Bengazi, nor the ones that are suffering in Cairo. I can tell you this much, though. When something like this happens, it makes you really think about what your family is doing, and that it could happen to any of us in the Foreign Service. They are people just like us.<br />
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I am going to cut to the chase here. First and foremost I do not condone, understand, nor make any excuses for the violence inflicted on the people at the U.S. Embassies. That being said....I cannot believe (or maybe I can and that is even more sad) that a person would produce a film that does more than antagonize a fanatical movement in such a way that he puts us in more harm's way. Sam Bacile, the director/writer/whatever of the film that was supposedly the reason behind these protests has gone into hiding. Must be nice, jerkface. Here you have men and women (and their families) doing such hard work trying to build relationships and restore trust and diplomatic ties in countries where it is so badly needed and you get to go into hiding. <br />
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He has even been <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/12/sam-bacile-in-hiding_n_1876044.html">quoted as saying from his hiding place </a>that the U.S. Embassies need better security. That may be true, but what are you doing about it mister? Are you testing it by putting out this film? What a favor you have done for us. Yes, freedom of speech...I am a huge proponent of that. But someone acting so ignorantly and getting 5 million dollars in funding to create the film is beyond me. <br />
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5 million dollars could do a lot to bring people together and teach them about each other's religions and tolerance, if not acceptance. I do not in any way want to be associated with the fanatical Christian movement or Zionist movement that was responsible for the film that has been mentioned, nor do I think of the Muslims I meet and hang out with every day to have views similar to fanatical Muslims. Bangladesh is about 90% Muslim and 9% Hindu and the rest are "others" according to <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bg.html">this source.</a><br />
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While the sacrifices we/our spouses/families make are tremendous and seem to be dangerous at times, I am even more confident that our family is in the right place at the right time. Right now my husband is on a field visit for three days (and I am home making sure kids are happy, healthy, seeing friends, and doing homework) assessing whether or not microfinancing for farmers would be good for them. He is doing the work and I stand beside him and want nothing to do with the dude sitting in hiding in his bunker in California somewhere. Good luck to you Sam Becile....you will need it.</div>
carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17692022164962830616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1987967825400257671.post-28364064855245521592012-06-06T05:23:00.000-07:002012-06-06T05:24:46.496-07:00Iz is 7! (almost)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Look at who is 7 tomorrow! Isobel Grace is the person that made me a mother, Andy a father, and taught me what "love beyond words" really means. Happy birthday to my smart, thoughtful, compassionate, outgoing, and beautiful daughter. You are such an amazing big sister and your brother loves everything about you, even when you are mean! We cannot wait to celebrate the day with you!<br />
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May you always find joy like this and know that you are so loved!</div>
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<br /></div>carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17692022164962830616noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1987967825400257671.post-89645816948241668382012-05-19T23:28:00.000-07:002012-05-19T23:43:52.608-07:00Sri Lanka<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I am really on a roll here, so rather than get ahead with some of my work, I am getting everyone somewhat caught up on what has been our lives here in Bangladesh.<br />
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One of the perks of the assignment here, is that you get to travel to countries and cities that would be a once in a lifetime experience. For us, it is a wonderful thing to get to decide where to go for school holidays, stops on your way to your R & R, or for us especially in Bangladesh, for Eid holidays. The "common" stops for people here in Dhaka are: Vietnam, Cambodia, Bali, Kuala Lampur, Phuket, Singapore, and Hong Kong. <br />
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Andy and the kids had off school around Easter and we took full advantage of it. I had to work part of the time they were off, but since I teach online as long as I find a decent connection and some privacy, I can teach over my skype-like program that we use for our live classes. We decided to go to Sri Lanka for the long holiday based: 1.on the recommendation of a friend, 2. on the direct flight, and 3. low price. We were in no way disappointed, and in fact Sri Lanka surpassed all our expectations. We had such a great time and found the perfect spot on the beach, that we are returning to that exact spot in August on our way back from R & R and for one of the Eid holidays that the kids and Andy are all off for.<br />
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When planning the trip, the goal was to get to the southern part of the country to the beach town of Unawatuna. You have to fly into Colombo, which is about a good 3 hour drive from that beach. I made the plans and used a lot of tripadvisor.com and lonelyplanet.com to guide me. This was the first time I actually planned out a trip, it used to consist of throwing stuff in bags and the car, and seeing how far we get, or staying at youth hostels the one time we went overseas pre-kids. Planning was going great until I went to make reservations everywhere I had picked out and they were all booked for the first few days of our trip. Come to find out there was a big cricket match between Sri Lanka and the U.K. and close to 8,000 people dubbed the Bamby Army were following their U.K. team so everything was getting booked. Cricket over here is another thing all together.<br />
<br />I finally got a reservation at an historic hotel called the Galle Face Hotel in Colombo for the first night and had reserved two different cabanas and rooms for the remainder of our trip down on the beach. <br />
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Galle Face Hotel.</div>
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Saltwater swimming pool at the hotel--very nice!</div>
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The ride down to Unawatuna was nice--wide open spaces, hills, mountains, water buffalo and egrets everywhere. They just finished a new highway and we were lucky enough to get to take a shorter drive because of it. I hear it used to take 5-6 hours to get down there. Phew. <br />
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So we arrived at the most beautiful beach I have ever seen in my entire life. I have been to Hawaii, California, SC, and Florida's beaches, but this blew them out of the water! It is probably the equivalent of being on a caribbean beach, but I haven't had that experience. By the way, we ran into one American the entire trip, and wouldn't you know, he grew up in the same neighborhood as my dad about 40 years later. Crazy! Most of the tourists here are from Europe. </div>
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We were welcomed to the cabana we were staying at the first two nights with fresh mango and guava juice. The place actually got some pretty negative reviews on tripadvisor, but we were pretty happy with our experience. The four of us shared one small room in the cabana with a fan and a bathroom. We were perfectly content. We spent all of our time outside anyways, so as long as it was clean and suitable for kids, we liked it. While exploring along the beach we met a man fishing, that we later became very good friends with and ended up staying at a place that he helps operate. He and his partner are from the U.K. and have partnered with a local family that runs two cabanas on their property right on the beach. After getting to know them and the local family, we decided to scrap the rest of our plans and stay at their place and it was awesome! The family consisted of Pearly and her husband, Sunil and their three boys. Sunil's family owned the property that they live on and built the cabanas on. Sunil is a fisherman and Pearly worked for 17 years in a shoe factory before taking a leap and running the cabanas full time. She had a dream of having cabanas and she started it, but got stalled out when she ran out of money to finish building. This is where our friend comes in and has helped by partnering with them and then he can come stay when he wants to, as well. A great arrangement. They are loving, joyful, caring people and we feel blessed to have met all of them. We cannot wait to return in August! </div>
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Spotting a sea turtle!</div>
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The sea turtle comes to the surface (see lump in distance)</div>
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The cabanas--lower with bunk beds and queen bed, top with queen bed.</div>
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There are so many things that we enjoyed besides meeting new friends and relaxing. We went to a spice garden (above) and saw in person spice plants growing in their natural form. One of the prettiest flowers there was the ballerina orchid (below).</div>
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After touring the spice gardens, we took a boat ride on Koggala Lake. On the lake there are several islands. One has a buddhist temple and monestary, another is called cinnamon island and has a family that has lived there for over 200 years growing and harvesting cinnamon. <br />
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Processing Cinnamon.</div>
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Wife and daughter, so sweet.</div>
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Cinnamon growing off of plants that are over 100 years old. New shoots are harvested each year off a main "trunk".</div>
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Some other fun things we did were stop at a turtle hatchery so we could all hold a baby sea turtle. </div>
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<br />We went to the historic mansion in Galle and saw insane amounts of antiques and beautiful gems. Got our dead skin nibbled off by some fish at a foot spa. </div>
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Hand polishing gems. Sri Lanka is home to mines for nearly every single type of precious gem.</div>
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He had his icecream and he was done.</div>
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Ate delicious food, drank Lion Beer and Arrack (alcohol from coconut water: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrack">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrack</a>) drinks....</div>
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And Surfed!!!!</div>
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See you soon Pearly!</div>
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</div>carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17692022164962830616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1987967825400257671.post-33341753286636475952012-05-19T20:35:00.000-07:002012-05-19T20:51:27.026-07:00Srimangal Trip February 2012<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Some of Andy's friends from work that are from Bangladesh organized a trip to an area of the country called Srimangal. Srimangal is home to many tea plantations that have been in existence since at least the beginning of last century. We took a train to get there and the experience was one I will never forget. I don't know if it is Asia or Bangladesh in particular, but people don't do cues very well (at all). The tickets were purchased well in advance by one of our local friends, and we got to the train station and waited. While we waited we were surrounded by about 60 or more people staring at us, since there were several white people in the group. Nobody talking to us, except for an occasional beggar asking for baksheesh (donations). Just staring, and staring, and some picture taking with their cell phones, ugh. <br />
The train pulls in and there is nothing written in English anywhere at the station on the train, nothing. I don't know how non-Bangla speakers can get on the trains here. One of our friends spotted the car we needed to board and we started pushing our way through the crowd like everyone else and then I about lost it when I realized Hollis was down there and getting shoved just as hard as I was and he is half my size! So I start screaming and cussing and pick him up not worried about who gets an elbow and literally hand him to our friend that is already on the train over the heads of people. <br />
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So, once on the train we get settled in and we got private 4-6 person cabins. The doors are supposed to latch shut from inside, but still every so often someone opens it trying to sell us food, newspapers, or beg for more baksheesh.<br />
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About 4.5 hours later, we make it to the train station in Srimangal and are whisked away to our new digs at the Tea Resort and Museum: <a href="http://www.teaboard.gov.bd/Admin/notice/Brochure4.pdf">http://www.teaboard.gov.bd/Admin/notice/Brochure4.pdf</a>. <br />
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The Americans all kind of freaked out because it was so quiet and we hadn't experienced that in 3 months. It was really lovely to just hear silence. We got settled in and then went into town to eat at a local place. We went back and hung at the plantation for the afternoon, took a beautiful drive to a lake, drank some tea, then went back in town again to get some "world famous 7-layer tea". I use quotes because I seemed to be the only one who had never heard of it. The tea was really cool, though. Each layer had a different density and stayed put and had its own individual flavor to it. We lost track after about the 3rd layer in, but there was one that was ginger, one that was cardamom, and one that was lemon/honey flavored.<br />
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We capped that night off with a bonfire and had a great time listening to music and mixing drinks. Everyone talked the talk that night that they were going to go hiking in the morning at the national park down the road in order to try and see some wildlife. My alarm went off at 6 am, and I went out to meet the van and only I went (see picture!). Not feeling my best, but I was determined to see some Asian wildlife. We didn't even make it out of the place we were staying before the driver pointed out a troop of rhesus macaques (look close at the second picture)! I was pumped! Then he stopped to point out a mama jungle fowl with her chicks. <br />
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My main goal besides R & R was to see a Hoolock Gibbon, which is endangered and found only in a few parts of Asia, one of them this national park in Bangladesh <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoolock_gibbon">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoolock_gibbon</a>. If you didn't know me in my pre-wife-of-a-diplomat life, I was a zoology major, and once started a masters in Anthropology, so this was quite a big deal to me! The driver got me to the trail head and he and I were the only ones there along with a guard that took my money to be let in. My driver didn't speak English so I asked him in my made up sign language if he thought I was safe to hike in there by myself or if I would be killed by motioning a throat slashing on myself. He chuckled and reassured me I would not be killed. We exchanged cell phone numbers so he could check on my in case I took too long or got lost or worse...He checked on me when I didn't come back at the right time and I reassured him I was on my way. I felt glad that he was looking out for me!</div>
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The bamboo was huge in this rainforest, I had never seen nor thought of anything like it. It was a peaceful hike and it was literally raining on me as rainforests do. This girl from the suburbs of Chicago was thrilled. I did not see my Hoolock Gibbons, but I did see some more rhesus macaques, which suited me just fine, and I ran into a lovely indigenous lady who was walking near her home with her baby. Totally surreal experience and one I will treasure for my life. We did return later with the group to hike and the place was filled with busloads of school children that were obsessed with taking our pictures, beggars, and sellers of all sorts of junk. I was so glad that I got up so early, and got out and enjoyed the beautiful day in a beautiful forest. </div>
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Later that day we checked into a dive of a place and I can rough it, but this place was too much. When your kid is crying because they have to go to the bathroom but the bathroom is too disgusting, you feel like a failure as a parent. I turned in early and was happy to be leaving the next morning with the experience under my belt.</div>
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Somewhere in this trip we also visited an indigenous group of people, who's name escapes me. They were lovely and showed us some of the weaving they do. They had a lot of animals and the kids seemed happy and healthy.</div>
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The trip home was less than stellar. The benches in our cabin were wet from the air conditioner condensation leaking, and it stunk really bad, and the door wouldn't latch. There was a lot of yelling at people as they would open our door and try and sell us stuff or try and bother us. We finished up the rest of the booze and were surprised to hear ourselves say, "I can't wait to get back to Dhaka, I mean get back to our apartment that is in Dhaka."</div>
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Until next time......................................</div>
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</div>carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17692022164962830616noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1987967825400257671.post-63104659110763928702012-05-19T19:39:00.000-07:002012-05-20T00:07:43.662-07:00What's goin' on?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I really intended to keep people more up to date on this blog with what has been going on here in Dhaka, but time has not been on my side. <br />
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I will do my best to give you the crash course of our lives here over the past few months, if that is even possible, but maybe I can start with some highlights.<br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Our new to us car arrived in February and it is suiting us nicely. We bought a Toyota Probox: <a href="http://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%E1%BA%ADp_tin:2002_Toyota_Probox_01.jpg">http://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%E1%BA%ADp_tin:2002_Toyota_Probox_01.jpg</a> None of the cars have the same name here. I have seen a corolla, but that's about it. This name has gotten some mileage! The first day out I got into an accident and was standing still, yet I got yelled at by the driver that I owed him money. I couldn't do everything they say you are supposed to do since the driver boxed me in and there was bumper to bumper traffic. I did have the embassy number on me, and told him to F-off and call them and see what they say. As I was dealing with the driver and the occupant who spoke english and was a local, a crowd of about 40 onlookers gathered. Eventually one of the guards standing nearby had been entertainedn enough by the foreigner, so he sent me on my way and made the other driver move for me. I found out the other driver called the embassy, and he was told to call back the next day once they had a chance to find out my side of the story. The dude never called back. Extortion. </li>
<li>We went on a mini"vacation" to Srimongal and visited some tea plantations and I saw real live in the wild monkeys, while hiking in a tropical forest at 7 am alone (heavenly, I tell you) (separate post to hopefully follow) </li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEqAsekgSBaU9b-sHGhKCQ_T3qkNnsGlGqClabiqXP8J5NW6ku3p9rXk9pNZ59roPUEbbvSB1nJHcyeyZQM5HLBRA22rmLM5SkGtMY9mn-yXZBcIZmd4_L3Rr6Vx9NL3Lf5udcXMRLg5MO/s1600/DSCN2246.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEqAsekgSBaU9b-sHGhKCQ_T3qkNnsGlGqClabiqXP8J5NW6ku3p9rXk9pNZ59roPUEbbvSB1nJHcyeyZQM5HLBRA22rmLM5SkGtMY9mn-yXZBcIZmd4_L3Rr6Vx9NL3Lf5udcXMRLg5MO/s320/DSCN2246.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Hollis turned 5 in March and we had a great party at the American Club. Bounce house, pizza, cake, adult beverages. I hosted the party while fighting off a sinus infection that resulted from one of many flu bugs.</li>
<li>Kids got lice! at two separate times. I am itching just thinking about it. We are using tea tree shampoo regularly as a preventative and performing weekly or semi-weekly nit checks. We used the traditional chemical treatment the first go round, but I took some advice from a friend and school nurse to use plain listerine. You put it in a spray bottle, spray dry hair until saturated, put on a shower cap and let it sit for 2 hours. You shampoo and condition normally and comb with a good lice comb. The key to lice is the comb. Usually the one that comes with the shampoo sucks, so I ordered this gem over amazon last month: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Terminator-Professional-Stainless-Treatment-Removes/dp/B000HIBPV8">http://www.amazon.com/Terminator-Professional-Stainless-Treatment-Removes/dp/B000HIBPV8</a></li>
<li>We went on a much needed vacation to Sri Lanka, which started out with a hilarious, albeit, somewhat pathetic story. Hollis woke up vomiting in the middle of the night, but we were determined to go. He would be better off being sick in Sri Lanka, was my view. So we thought he was going to be ok and checked into the airport and our flight was delayed (which is pretty normal here). We had our carry on luggage with us and then Hollis got that look and said it--"I think I'm going to throw up". Andy did his best to run with him to the nearest (very far) bathroom, but on the way as he was carrying him out in front of him, he yacked! Then, since Andy was running super fast, he wiped out on the puke on the tile floor. Poor Hollis was covered from head to toe in puke, Andy somehow managed to not get any on him, and nobody else got puked on. I am sure this is not the first time people have been seen leaving Dhaka puking. With all our clothing packed and CHECKED ALREADY, I looked for clothing at the two dinky shops with clothes in the waiting area. This is happening while Andy is trying to clean poor Hollis up in a disgusting bathroom with no paper towels, only a chip of a bar of soap, and bio hazard tap water. After three trips to each store and finally resorting to rummaging through the storage area myself, I finally found a t-shirt and two pairs of shorts. We threw out his clothes and had to wash his flip flops off. </li>
<li>After all that we made it to wonderful, lovely, Sri Lanka. (separate post to follow)</li>
<li>We have had no fewer than 3 earthquakes that I have experienced while in the 4th floor of our building--not fun!</li>
<li>Got up close and personal to Madam Secretary--Hilary Clinton when she was in Dhaka for a whirlwind 24 hours! The kids got their picture taken with other Embassy kids and her, and Hollis of course stole the show and told her a 10 second story that she actually listened to. Still waiting on video of that....</li>
<li>Isobel got giardia, and was sick for at least 2 weeks, then recovered.</li>
<li>Andy and I got giardia and are on medicine and are on the way to recovery.</li>
</ul>
Needless to say, I am looking forward to getting back to the U.S. for part of the Summer and can't wait to do many things that I took for granted before moving here, such as:<br />
<ul>
<li>driving a car where there are rules and stop signs and stop lights</li>
<li>walking down a sidewalk without worrying about stepping on feces, piss, or loogies</li>
<li>breathing fresh air</li>
<li>going shopping and not being hassled by the zombie patrol of beggars, and feeling like a jerk because I cannot give everyone of you money</li>
<li>going shopping and just being left alone to think and shop</li>
<li>eating fresh fruit and vegetables and not having to disinfect the crap out of it</li>
<li>brushing my teeth with tap water</li>
<li>going to a park and not being followed and asked a gazillion questions every 30 seconds and having my kids pictures taken by strangers</li>
<li>taking a train without the fear of my kids getting crushed by people just trying to get on the thing</li>
<li>no earthquakes (hopefully)</li>
<li>having family close enough that if I wanted to I could get there by driving a car for 6 or 10 hours</li>
</ul>
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So, in a nutshell, it has been a wild ride so far and the kids are very happy. They are super resilient, much more so than this chick. They love their school and their friends and make our time here fun and interesting. I have neglected to post for so long mainly because I felt that all I would do is complain and I don't want to be that kind of blogger or person. Often times, this city is too much, but the people we have befriended have made it so much more bearable and enjoyable. Already we are getting ready to say goodbye to friends in a few weeks that will be off to their next assignment. That is a reality of this lifestyle and one that I definitely can say without a doubt, I do not like. There is always the chance to meet up again in the future, in a new place and for that I am grateful.<br />
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Until next time...............</div>carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17692022164962830616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1987967825400257671.post-26863713801165963472012-01-28T10:40:00.000-08:002012-01-28T10:58:18.187-08:00Comedy Club in Dhaka?? Who knew?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Tonight Andy I went out with two other couples to see some stand up comedy in Dhaka. The man that was the feature comedian came from Chicago (where I am from) and did some great and well needed comedy for a great mix of folks at a comedy club here! I was not really sure what to expect, but it was indeed hilarious and just what all of us needed. He was on a tour that was sponsered by the State Department from the little that I read and heard about it. He had been all over India doing his thing and then made it over to see us! The crowd was a mix of expats and local Bangladeshis. I highly recommend that if you get a chance to see him wherever he happens to be--mostly Chicago area, that you go see him. Here is his page: <a href="http://www.azhar.com/">http://www.azhar.com/</a><br />
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One of our friends that we went out with made a great observation about our group that was going out. This time last year, minus a week, we were all together watching the Superbowl in Silver Spring, MD. How awesome is that? We have friends that have stuck together and have formed a lasting bond. It is what makes this lifestyle so wonderful. We also have made great friends that are living in our building that makes it really feel like we are living in a college dorm. We share drinks, dinners, playdates, and meet at the bus stop twice a day.<br />
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I have been on a break from my teaching online and it has been really wonderful. My back problems have been nearly gone since I am not sitting at my computer all the time. I am feeling like I can really enjoy living here more and more just by having some time off to go out and about more. I have intended to get caught up and finish some other writing projects that need editing so I can get paid, but I have one more week left of break. I will give it the old "cram it all in at the last minute" try.<br />
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Andy has been out of town a lot lately and he has gotten to see a lot of Bangladesh while he was out visiting project sites. He also leaves tomorrow for Chittagong, which is an area to the southeast for a whole week. He is a part of something called "America Week" and I am honestly not really sure what that entails.<br />
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Here is what happened when he finally came home from visiting Jessore and Rajshahi last week in the first hour. Kids had just gotten home from school and he had just gotten home from an as usual crazy, stressful 8 hour drive.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRLXdY2tkZAqSwNAyync0aJMjSs1HXvjHHXF2dgXQ3oUuVgPkz7N72ZCn50UrFc9YRzCKBNKVkOZHSthl9q0qbGL5BF-H_b4ocmX95mGBjMXW9tehSWepk1y-eEkGW9Yqd_KdbLurzwh-e/s1600/DSCN2170.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRLXdY2tkZAqSwNAyync0aJMjSs1HXvjHHXF2dgXQ3oUuVgPkz7N72ZCn50UrFc9YRzCKBNKVkOZHSthl9q0qbGL5BF-H_b4ocmX95mGBjMXW9tehSWepk1y-eEkGW9Yqd_KdbLurzwh-e/s320/DSCN2170.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Some very exciting news is that we will be going to Sri Lanka for the kids and our Spring Break and are thrilled. I haven't left Dhaka or actually our "diplomatic enclave" area since we got here in December. It gives us something to look forward to, because you really are never alone here. Just going to the park is different. We get followed and stared at and asked questions constantly. The people are well meaning, but it is not why we really go to a park. There are the Expat clubs for us to go to, but you know you do the same thing, and eat off the same menu and that too gets old. So, a new place with a beach and some peace and fresh air is sounding so awesome. Andy will also get to go to Budapest for training in March, and I am totally jealous!<br />
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Tomorrow our HHE shipment (comes by boat and comes later than the UAB, which came by air) arrives, which is usually a big one and I am not sure what all is coming other than a few exciting things: a pool/ping pong table, kids toys, cuisinart, and kitchenaid mixer. And...in about a month the car that we bought sight unseen from Japan arrives!!! <br />
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Here are some pictures of Andy's adventures out of Dhaka to Jessore and Rajshahim.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3vMdY7QQTN8/TyQ-km8cSgI/AAAAAAAAC20/8xWVjxn03yg/s1600/DSCN2107.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3vMdY7QQTN8/TyQ-km8cSgI/AAAAAAAAC20/8xWVjxn03yg/s320/DSCN2107.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Above--on a ferry crossing a river.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GzxX8cE9LTY/TyQ-oHRsluI/AAAAAAAAC3I/-vnqwnJUl30/s1600/DSCN2109.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GzxX8cE9LTY/TyQ-oHRsluI/AAAAAAAAC3I/-vnqwnJUl30/s320/DSCN2109.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> The ferry, the Keramat Ali.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_tyEayHD6ak/TyQ-oZj4EHI/AAAAAAAAC3M/M1hBeuJ_Zqs/s1600/DSCN2110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="180" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_tyEayHD6ak/TyQ-oZj4EHI/AAAAAAAAC3M/M1hBeuJ_Zqs/s320/DSCN2110.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Man on the ferry.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfBXMPNdOyoEPqEZ2189OUoDzuxHsUQyyiAzCThCrgo1vQ4KhIGd04uw2AhyphenhyphenoP3cL5jexmvvPtqjqNy8WQdI1Ocy4prRG2S1AfpGBxmk09u7Im8gEidZ7aOU7PYwxlJPrFIY-LdmYjRNFQ/s1600/DSCN2112.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfBXMPNdOyoEPqEZ2189OUoDzuxHsUQyyiAzCThCrgo1vQ4KhIGd04uw2AhyphenhyphenoP3cL5jexmvvPtqjqNy8WQdI1Ocy4prRG2S1AfpGBxmk09u7Im8gEidZ7aOU7PYwxlJPrFIY-LdmYjRNFQ/s320/DSCN2112.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Nope, don't need to use the bathroom thank you. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-moVsU3OIpNA/TyQ-wwDYhDI/AAAAAAAAC4A/53-_4GcPAtA/s1600/DSCN2115.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-moVsU3OIpNA/TyQ-wwDYhDI/AAAAAAAAC4A/53-_4GcPAtA/s320/DSCN2115.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> View from hotel room in Jessore.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fLWRJfOWXQ4/TyQ--AXdrFI/AAAAAAAAC5M/ZghIsWDUb7k/s1600/DSCN2125.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="180" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fLWRJfOWXQ4/TyQ--AXdrFI/AAAAAAAAC5M/ZghIsWDUb7k/s320/DSCN2125.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Driving here, trucks coming at you, always.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfTUsalrIZ4qj9XLhBgMrCJfTz-0TTaLhf0Og2H8D6pqklaLinzZjm9ACKilgDKqbkw1jpxt-fvOYalfqt47WYFEqsD-bQYew7X0NlCke-Vuiekj7QF4FfQg-MOKD-j1PKBVMihaNWAHRJ/s1600/DSCN2132.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfTUsalrIZ4qj9XLhBgMrCJfTz-0TTaLhf0Og2H8D6pqklaLinzZjm9ACKilgDKqbkw1jpxt-fvOYalfqt47WYFEqsD-bQYew7X0NlCke-Vuiekj7QF4FfQg-MOKD-j1PKBVMihaNWAHRJ/s320/DSCN2132.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> More driving.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOahsX8NhwR_eN3UuE5dDmV-ZWGqQv3Sq13GO-2ehxsmJtV2SOKCDOOEEbjpu2e91MENoZBG9wG5tA6GSx699SvS7_Pzwr4q7TZ2TGjPlDHQg-dcQ13I3xFEHwkH9w-uyhlWo3OqINRdy3/s1600/DSCN2139.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOahsX8NhwR_eN3UuE5dDmV-ZWGqQv3Sq13GO-2ehxsmJtV2SOKCDOOEEbjpu2e91MENoZBG9wG5tA6GSx699SvS7_Pzwr4q7TZ2TGjPlDHQg-dcQ13I3xFEHwkH9w-uyhlWo3OqINRdy3/s320/DSCN2139.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Group of men happy to get their picture taken, maybe.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IMwpPpTF3NQ/TyQ_V3ZVAEI/AAAAAAAAC7Y/VG2plpSlL0Q/s1600/DSCN2140.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IMwpPpTF3NQ/TyQ_V3ZVAEI/AAAAAAAAC7Y/VG2plpSlL0Q/s320/DSCN2140.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Not uncommon, glass being hauled on a rickshaw.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N2BiliQBt_o/TyQ_Wfq7wKI/AAAAAAAAC7g/BNJjEUcclXo/s1600/DSCN2141.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="180" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N2BiliQBt_o/TyQ_Wfq7wKI/AAAAAAAAC7g/BNJjEUcclXo/s320/DSCN2141.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> There's the glass in the front, and some kids behind them on their own rickshaw.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GRYoeOBk2YA/TyQ_exW4NPI/AAAAAAAAC8Q/X16mZr_h9ZY/s1600/DSCN2147.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GRYoeOBk2YA/TyQ_exW4NPI/AAAAAAAAC8Q/X16mZr_h9ZY/s320/DSCN2147.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Road construction, by HAND!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6SmEQvQaZTVdwmjNYJijvHbyFlef5dthyzjBFi_r5Y6cUvXHrTjlgXLOBTP9DUHkvBZcrDgTNsYDTJ34mzXZNyXW0s5mMPRAtihd2H0wWKxesCtISoBMzlXhDwAUtgc0qrM6yEmPUfUQ8/s1600/DSCN2149.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6SmEQvQaZTVdwmjNYJijvHbyFlef5dthyzjBFi_r5Y6cUvXHrTjlgXLOBTP9DUHkvBZcrDgTNsYDTJ34mzXZNyXW0s5mMPRAtihd2H0wWKxesCtISoBMzlXhDwAUtgc0qrM6yEmPUfUQ8/s320/DSCN2149.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Another truck playing chicken.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2-tfKvwRW7c/TyQ_s1jevDI/AAAAAAAAC9k/Q8SWoP_hWAg/s1600/DSCN2157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="180" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2-tfKvwRW7c/TyQ_s1jevDI/AAAAAAAAC9k/Q8SWoP_hWAg/s320/DSCN2157.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> His hotel was actually called Nice Hotel in Rajshahim.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZBctubUQS4Jm-NZCA9rFKO106350uOMprmgQydHZGGpsJTuN3SOK69_mMfKNMM8wzmEO2_PluMieVRBQ0BVwwenfizVfdtiM8ubjf4_TabqQ2zWPmGEOIlXnFjRFDOTuKEzzFvS9Sc76T/s1600/DSCN2159.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZBctubUQS4Jm-NZCA9rFKO106350uOMprmgQydHZGGpsJTuN3SOK69_mMfKNMM8wzmEO2_PluMieVRBQ0BVwwenfizVfdtiM8ubjf4_TabqQ2zWPmGEOIlXnFjRFDOTuKEzzFvS9Sc76T/s320/DSCN2159.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Lovely bathroom with a lovely polka dot curtain.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi61JSy-xDnspW3SD09rjgOGfm23Qj3HCzEAxunH15NCozpkjjFbDh5xXLk2Xn5VCxNDgxOTc09LfprFGvYdysB6l2MDCXpTbv3p1UPAE_dy2orV-7SwUYsZgQTBDZF2bfFCzljmbA9eOdw/s1600/DSCN2163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi61JSy-xDnspW3SD09rjgOGfm23Qj3HCzEAxunH15NCozpkjjFbDh5xXLk2Xn5VCxNDgxOTc09LfprFGvYdysB6l2MDCXpTbv3p1UPAE_dy2orV-7SwUYsZgQTBDZF2bfFCzljmbA9eOdw/s320/DSCN2163.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Just moving my cattle.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg57yU34J1csyigye8Qiwn58y5bVLWlPb7z6NliuHhUevokJbAv161Q5xF3pcGTZ7_RBLQWmdwXOIx8uQs3Ds1HrFXyPx_YzZJ9WtPmUIdTV7zRQ-Ny9Rv5blhkrEtIzmPPKpMEF_WmetO/s1600/DSCN2161.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg57yU34J1csyigye8Qiwn58y5bVLWlPb7z6NliuHhUevokJbAv161Q5xF3pcGTZ7_RBLQWmdwXOIx8uQs3Ds1HrFXyPx_YzZJ9WtPmUIdTV7zRQ-Ny9Rv5blhkrEtIzmPPKpMEF_WmetO/s320/DSCN2161.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Child moving his cattle.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYkpO62JFx8RLtU9suQoCn7j-6-OrYSHBvcbPXgWiX0oFmBVibH7XvKpXfZoNdoZi4tV6U-c8raFXDZKUdKE4fRrntL40VboiRZIR9O1PhZMoKU8dEeO3iJbTR0RdtRtGaTKZq0J5fHKWU/s1600/DSCN2162.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYkpO62JFx8RLtU9suQoCn7j-6-OrYSHBvcbPXgWiX0oFmBVibH7XvKpXfZoNdoZi4tV6U-c8raFXDZKUdKE4fRrntL40VboiRZIR9O1PhZMoKU8dEeO3iJbTR0RdtRtGaTKZq0J5fHKWU/s320/DSCN2162.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Not sure, but not odd to see.</div>carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17692022164962830616noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1987967825400257671.post-33949072683785948912012-01-14T09:41:00.000-08:002012-01-14T09:46:49.238-08:00Sour Cream<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLfvlhJUQ1TeMxsFYUhiCRvgJDvUgDDF_mlGAYuoYr4OApBlV0pDKXcZ_muYYS-BbhOo5wX9lA02GapbD5oasy1txj-0FJhsahQqgaFSRDJV1CO5uReOWWJkQ05jOfYu5CSkT6gMgR1vjz/s1600/sour+cream.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLfvlhJUQ1TeMxsFYUhiCRvgJDvUgDDF_mlGAYuoYr4OApBlV0pDKXcZ_muYYS-BbhOo5wX9lA02GapbD5oasy1txj-0FJhsahQqgaFSRDJV1CO5uReOWWJkQ05jOfYu5CSkT6gMgR1vjz/s320/sour+cream.jpg" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Yes, I know this is a strange title for a post, but this is something that has made me very happy today and kind of is a way for me to convey what it has been like a little in terms of little things that make me happy these days.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Since we arrived we have had all sorts of experiences buying food. There are several options for us as Americans and where we live. We are able to go to the commissary and buy American foods that we have become used to. To honest, it is hard to shop there because they have no fresh veggies and most of what you get is expired. It has to be shipped by boat and is travelling half way around the world, so I don't get bothered by it. Also, you cannot be picky, even though they do have a great assortment of some things that are more natural-ish. They are way too expensive though for me to swallow. For instance, an Amy's pizza is 6 or 7 dollars. I wouldn't even buy it in the U.S. for 4 or 5 so I don't feel like I am missing out when I get the Tony's instead for less than 2 bucks.</div><br />
We have a housekeeper who also cooks and babysits for us occasionally. I have really enjoyed having her cook and shop for us. She knows where to go and what things are supposed to cost. I felt like going to the market the other day to check out the produce for the heck of it. MY LORD. It is the most annoying experience. The vendors are shouting <u><strong>constantly </strong></u>at me "Madam, madam, madam" do you want ___________? or I have ____________. Come here and buy _____________. Too much for me to handle. I am such a slow shopper, where I need to check it all out and figure out what the best deal is and, to be quite honest, I suck at haggling. I don't want 20 men yelling at me in sort of English while I shop.<br />
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So...back to the title. I have had a heck of a time finding sour cream and yogurt that is decent. There is absolutely no sour cream at the local stores that I have checked out and the yogurt is outrageous if it is decent yogurt. For example, I bought a six pack at a local market of the little flavored ones similar to yo-baby for 5 dollars. Then, there is some at the commissary and it is not going to expire for a year, so I figure it is probably not worth buying. They finally had sour cream at the commissary that was of course expired, but I figured, hey it's sour cream, how bad can it be. Well it was bad. The texture was horrible and it was too expired. I tried to console myself with the fact that it was probably frozen and that was why the texture was so off putting, but I couldn't do it for more than one meal. I only wasted a few bucks, but had gotten my hopes up. Apparently I can add "sour cream addiction" to my growing list. <br />
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The solution to the yogurt problem was to order a yogurt maker from amazon and I am awaiting its arrival in a couple of weeks or maybe month. <br />
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Sour cream, I probably could make myself, but that is surely not as easy. I have made ricotta before just with milk and vinegar, but there are probably some different cultures I would need to have for the sour cream to work out just right. I think I actually had sour cream starter when I made goat cheeses back in Missouri, but I don't think they would ship here since they were on ice.<br />
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I finally found this place that is called the "German Butcher". Why I say "found" is that it just is a room in the first floor of a residential apartment building with absolutely no advertising. You really had to know where to look. We had an address, but still weren't quite sure where it was. Once you had that it really wasn't that hard to find, but you really need to know the exact address. I went there last week to buy some lunch meat that has been really good--salami, ham, and chicken slices. I was asking about sour cream because he had a sign up for it, but you have to buy it by the liter. Plus the guy is super intimidating. A true gem of a German crabby pants. <br />
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I needed sour cream today and could eat it everyday with chips and salsa, so I made it a point to get there today. There was a local Bangladeshi man working and a maybe Chinese? lady taking money. No crabby German in the store, and he was outside visiting with someone. They were so nice and the lady was so sweet to the kids. I paid my ten dollars for my liter of sour cream and I couldn't be happier. It truly is the small things that matter. We had enchiladas tonight and I can't wait to eat some chips and salsa with sour cream!</div>carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17692022164962830616noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1987967825400257671.post-83388537969966207722011-12-27T10:22:00.000-08:002011-12-27T11:18:08.146-08:00Welcome to Bangladesh--Idiot! Part 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BxG1mbW0Q8A/TvoO6IzNlZI/AAAAAAAACwY/er3C9HUhpbc/s1600/DSCN2086.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" rea="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BxG1mbW0Q8A/TvoO6IzNlZI/AAAAAAAACwY/er3C9HUhpbc/s320/DSCN2086.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>I feel like I should explain my "Idiot!" part of the title. I feel like I was an idiot coming here. Not that I was an idiot TO COME here. On the flipside--I had no idea of the level of poverty of Bangladesh and especially Dhaka, the capital in which we live. I am not sure the area that we live in should be billed as a Diplomatic Enclave. It is definitely an "area" where I feel safe and there are so called checkpoints, but....<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2surRNXlN78/Tt8nJ4T1sWI/AAAAAAAACqQ/K4G7cEBfdsQ/s1600/DSCN1988.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" rea="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2surRNXlN78/Tt8nJ4T1sWI/AAAAAAAACqQ/K4G7cEBfdsQ/s320/DSCN1988.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
There is a separation, I suppose, but not really. This might seem like a whiney point, but it is kind of a big deal when it is your first post. Most seasoned foreign service people look at us with pity when we tell them this our first post and "no, we haven't worked for an NGO or done the peace corps." They say, sympathetically that, "it only gets better," or "the next one will be nothing".<br />
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We are living in many of the same conditions that are prevalent in this country, yet can go to our nice apartments with electricity, internet, and running water. When you walk outside you are confronted with all that is Dhaka. I have not done peace corps like many of my husband's USAID collegues. I did live on a farm and grow vegetables (shoveled sh*t) and cut flowers to sell, and most of the time did it with horses and mules instead of a tractor, so I thought I was prepared. Not so much. We had infrastucture. By infrastructure I mean, gravel roads that sometimes flooded and washed out, two lane highways that sometimes washed out, bridges that disappeared. People weren't pooping and peeing directly in the gutters and we didn't use human and untreated animal waste to fertilize our crops. <br />
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Even though our road collapsed <em>occasionally </em>it was functional most of the time. Here there are roads in the city and there are no rules of the roads. None. Did I mention we haven't even gotten to the rainy season!<br />
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We are here in the dry season, which I was surprised by because it brings mosquitoes because there are open nasty gutters along every sort of sidewalk you walk down. It brings cold weather, that the people here are not prepared for at all. No rain to move the water, either, thus the mosquitoes. There really are no proper sidewalks. I am constantly worried that we will get hit by a car, rickshaw, bicycle, motorcycle, taxi, or step on a dead animal. I am not kidding. I wish I could show you a picture of the dead rats or other random dead things I almost stepped on.<br />
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I am surrounded by wonderfully happy-seeming people. This includes everyone. Locals, expats, you name it. Even the dogs wag their tails next to the dude sorting trash because he is happy he might get a scrap. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Jcqkj4egIhA/TuyVon8KoWI/AAAAAAAACt8/g5z-IwgaOK8/s1600/DSCN2045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" rea="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Jcqkj4egIhA/TuyVon8KoWI/AAAAAAAACt8/g5z-IwgaOK8/s320/DSCN2045.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>This is a picture of a woman that wanted a picture with Isobel and her friend. <br />
My kids are rockstars and if you don't know it you better move here. Hollis (curly blonde not in the picture because he is not cool about pictures) is the one that they target because it is mostly men that are out and about, and maybe there is a cultural thing about accosting girls. Isobel gets it sometimes, but the men have to feel comfortable enough to say in front of me that "she is pretty and her skin is like honey". This was said by a very well-meaning man that we will interact with again. He was super sweet and his intentions are "golden". You have to understand, here and in India, there is a huge emphasis on light skin. There are products and treatments that you can have done in salons and commercials promoting such things. It sounds weird to us, yeah, but....but....we use tanning beds for our white hineys in the U.S. <br />
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</div>carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17692022164962830616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1987967825400257671.post-51523017509818412252011-12-24T05:44:00.000-08:002011-12-24T05:45:17.447-08:00Welcome to Bangladesh--Idiot! Part 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">So...I am finally getting around to writing my blog post after three weeks of being in Dhaka. It took at bit to get to the point that I could admit that I was so far away from my loved ones and in a totally shocking place that yes, last time I checked is still on Earth.<br />
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Our trip here was very interesting and I should probably start there and maybe I will not feel like I have written to much after that tale to say what we have experienced in the last three weeks. Three weeks, really? That's all. It seems like months since I have left the U.S. Call it culture shock or jetlag or suvivalism, but I feel like I have been here for much much longer than three weeks.<br />
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We had issues getting out of country. Mainly they involved visas and people that are not really knowledgeable of travelling to or through certain countries, namely India. Noone could tell us if we needed a visa and when it became apparent in the final hour that there was a chance we could get stuck in India without visas that would take at least 2 weeks to get, we went into survival mode. No, we are not going that route and if you didn't tell us we needed visas when that was a possibility, we will fly a different route. We had no home and were not staying in a hotel for 2 weeks to wait. The eventual plan was not to go through Dehli, but go from D.C. to Japan (13 hours) for a quick switch, then to Bangkok (6 hours), sleep for 5 hours and fly to Dhaka (2.5 hours). <br />
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We did it. I got over my flying thing b/c security and making sure your bags weigh right and having children to keep happy kind of took precedence. Dying in a plane crash was not on the radar. <br />
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The kids were amazing flyers and did great. Only Isobel melted down on the Japan to Bangkok trip because she was overtired and could not get comfortable. This was about 8 am U.S. time and she had maybe had an hour nap the whole night. <br />
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The flight included a drunk guy that had cussed at the flight attendant because she would not serve anymore because he was waayyyy drunk. She came back with other flight attendants and who I presume was an air marshall. He got handcuffed for a bit and passed out. Then later I noticed him stumbling around. He had to have brought his own hooch on because I am pretty sure I only was offered two drinks the first flight. Then, of course he showed up on our flight to Japan, still stumbling but happy to pass out and sitting right behind me. I then commented to Andy, "Wow, there sure have been a lot of single dudes on the plane to Bangkok." He said, "Duh." Oh yeah, that is something I hadn't really thought of...yuck! <br />
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We arrived in Bangkok safely and went to the closest possible hotel, the Novotel that had a shuttle. We were spoiled for sure, which was perfect because I couldn't have done anything for myself at that point, let alone my kids. The carried our bags, got us to the room and showed up at 1am local time with room service. All we could do was shower, eat and pass out.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUW_1xUC-Uvg_i3KYB8zSsWELxZlAk4qqf8aWUm-NgQwkS4Ckpb_xBmH5RWb5Hq-lHXk3AJEdEE3i9jPP_FoRWOIsS3HSa7utXY2ouAu_GAt3uhVt-tXhreJOd5y1Uza8kBhUTdBJO9cLf/s1600/DSCN1932.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUW_1xUC-Uvg_i3KYB8zSsWELxZlAk4qqf8aWUm-NgQwkS4Ckpb_xBmH5RWb5Hq-lHXk3AJEdEE3i9jPP_FoRWOIsS3HSa7utXY2ouAu_GAt3uhVt-tXhreJOd5y1Uza8kBhUTdBJO9cLf/s320/DSCN1932.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is our only photo of Japan. Yes, were were there, really~</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkZ10n5uuh-KGQOqB_boI8RIfkjJrS0rT9M7-yo_gL2ArMr4uT4GGMEExw5RrliXXWINF_KeWgoz2iDmF20d0xa0HMYVLcGmrtKTSXDS4JjhNmMSW4yoXnXXmgavKrXansueIa1IKmUbKG/s1600/DSCN1943.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkZ10n5uuh-KGQOqB_boI8RIfkjJrS0rT9M7-yo_gL2ArMr4uT4GGMEExw5RrliXXWINF_KeWgoz2iDmF20d0xa0HMYVLcGmrtKTSXDS4JjhNmMSW4yoXnXXmgavKrXansueIa1IKmUbKG/s320/DSCN1943.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Then we woke up early to catch our flight to Dhaka.....oh the supense. </div>carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17692022164962830616noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1987967825400257671.post-62611654783898009592011-11-03T21:27:00.000-07:002011-11-03T21:27:33.973-07:00The calm before the storm...maybeThis move is very different from the <a href="http://scalingbackandmovingon.blogspot.com/2010/10/auction-madness.html">last one</a> when we had to unload so many pets, belongings and all that you acquire from having a farm for 10 years. <strong>I love you awesome friends that took in our sweet pets! </strong>Now we are moving out of a 3 bedroom apartment and don't need to take any furniture with us or figure out what to do with pets. Our new digs in Dhaka will be furnished so that means that when the movers come, they will take all of our furniture and put it in storage and then we are left so sort the rest into 3 "piles". We will have one set of belongings we will take on the plane with us, which will include all our essential documents and some bedding and clothing. The second set of materials will be a UAB (unaccompanied air baggage) of which we can take up to 700 lbs. that way. The third set is our HHE (household effects) which includes anything else and we can take up to 7000 lbs., I believe. We will be lucky to get 500 lbs. in our HHE. The UAB arrives about 2-3 weeks after we arrive and the HHE arrives 2-3 months after we arrive at post. <br />
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I am definitely more laid back about this move and actually looking forward to a road trip for a week and a half where we will live out of a car with our luggage and get to visit family and friends in the Midwest. I think this life will suit us because DH and I get antsy when we are doing the same thing in the same place for too long. I like living "light". It really helps you to realize you are not what your belongings are. We essentially started over here a year ago--new place, friends, furniture, toys and are just as joyful as ever. I know that with the world being so connected now more than it has been before that we will be taken care of and find what we need. I am so grateful for our amazing friends that we have made here and hate to say "goodbye", but we know that new friends are waiting for us (literally) and we will make even more when we move. <br />
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I have been making the silly obligatory trips to costco and amazon.com to "stock up" on stuff, but really we would do just fine if I didn't have my Kissmyface soap and Toms of Maine toothpaste and deoderant. We can also get things shipped to a US address that will be sent over to us every two weeks, but I hear you can't get liquids sent to you. Not a big deal. We will manage. And I am honestly thinking we might manage better over there. Help is inexpensive--by help I mean "help". Like a maid, cook, nanny, driver, etc. Yes I am going to get a maid and a cook (hopefully the same person) so I can still work my teaching job that I have and give someone a safe place to work with a decent salary. Don't think I'll hire a nanny since the kids will be in school and I don't want to share when the are home. They will go to an awesome international school and make friends from all over the world, too.<br />
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I cannot help (there's that word again) but think that DH's and my experiences living w/o electricity or running water for a year each and running an organic vegetable and flower farm has prepared us in some way for living abroad in a poverty stricken country. I cannot imagine the extent of the poverty, and we will be living quite well by even most American standards in an area that is separated from the extreme poverty. We will be able to come home to a cool house with fresh clean water and food, which may be the hardest thing because of the good ol' Catholic guilt. DH is in development work, so I am hopeful that his work and all the similar work that others do will have a lasting impact on the wellbeing and survival of the people of Bangladesh. I have said this before, and I will say it again "we needed to live in a third world country to be able to live like we are middle class". We have never wanted for anything thanks to being born to parents that were able to and did all they could to be sure we had what we needed, and often times wanted. But it is tough these days to have two parents working (and in the past farming, too) to be able to make ends meet, and it shouldn't be that way in the U.S. or anywhere else. We have graduate degrees for goodness sake. We are different only because of our luck in being born where we were to whom we were when we were and we were able to get credit.<br />
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On a completely separate, materialistic note....DH took our daughter to get her first pair of Chucks and I couldn't be more proud.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlO4lt_kcCI-7ZTPIKjSqrfcEHK5caTfTO-BcuiOejHxIgtlYTR_yP-6DKmVL2LNV0t1OTV6yEycwyvpjQ7UC6FvCBh5UooSvE1gi2F1_629uKM2hmpflddoLOOBQykd-EYjcCKfMXVGcz/s1600/chucks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlO4lt_kcCI-7ZTPIKjSqrfcEHK5caTfTO-BcuiOejHxIgtlYTR_yP-6DKmVL2LNV0t1OTV6yEycwyvpjQ7UC6FvCBh5UooSvE1gi2F1_629uKM2hmpflddoLOOBQykd-EYjcCKfMXVGcz/s320/chucks.jpg" width="240" /></a></div> carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17692022164962830616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1987967825400257671.post-90590079190150336922011-10-29T20:48:00.000-07:002011-10-29T21:01:55.163-07:00One Month and then the Big Big Plane RideI just went back and read my last post from April! I haven't blogged since then since we have been living a VERY regular suburban life and loving it! We have been living in an apartment in NOVA (Northern Virginia for those of you not in the "know"). I laugh because I had never thought of NOVA before a year ago! It is definitely its own culture. I love it for many reasons and laugh at myself for living here for many other reasons. Here are the reasons I love it: <br />
<ul><li>access to AMAZING libraries, and I have access to at least two within 3 miles of my home. I have completely rediscovered my love and passion for reading thanks to them. My kids love it too, and it is such a change from the horrible library lady we had in Owensville, MO. Yep, I hope she gets her just desserts. I grew up with an amazing library experience in Elmhurst and this lady ruined it for me and my kids in Missouri.</li>
<li>diverse population. I go to the grocery store and am guaranteed to hear AT LEAST 3 different languages, one time I counted 5.</li>
<li>grocery stores. I have within walking distance 3 grocery stores that carry anything and everything I can imagine. I used to get excited when I went to the discount grocery in Rolla and scored some organic something or other. I also have access to a Trader Joe's and Whole Foods within 15 minutes and now sometimes that seems too far, can you believe it?</li>
<li>schools. I know this should be first, and technically it is, but I was thinking about me for a minute. My daughter goes to an amazingly diverse public elementary and my son goes to another amazingly diverse Christian preschool where all the kids are loved and encouraged to play and learn. My daughter's school is 30% ESL, so she has met friends from all over the world already. </li>
<li>Museums and a great park district. We have taken full advantage of many, and no where near all. There is so much to do here. We have made it to the Smithsonian Art, Natural History, American History, and Native American museums, and the kids have taken several wonderful classes with the Fairfax County Park District. <a href="http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/parktakes/">http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/parktakes/</a> Look at all the stuff they have to enjoy! I also played volleyball with an awesome bunch of women that was not associated with the park district: <a href="http://www.chantillyvolleyballclub.com/womens-league.html">http://www.chantillyvolleyballclub.com/womens-league.html</a> Can you find me? I am in the Winter 2011 Champions picture!! </li>
<li>no farm. This will also be on the dislike list, but it has been like a vacation not having to tend to a greenhouse and a couple of acres of vegetables and flowers.</li>
</ul>Here are a few things I am not so into:<br />
<ul><li>it is expensive. Very, very expensive. I am looking forward to moving to Bangladesh so we won't have the killer rent that we have here. Here is the cost of living analysis comparison (for someone making 50K) saying we lived in St. Louis, which we were 100 miles from and moving to this are is: <span id="ctl00_well_DefaultUC_lblTotalIncome">Equivalent income in the city you are moving to: </span><b>$77424.50</b>. <span id="ctl00_well_DefaultUC_lblPctDecrease">Percent increase to maintain standard of living: <b>54.85%</b>.</span> When I looked at the average home price it was 200K and here it is 670K. It is nuts. Most of the people where our daughter goes to public school live in apartments, townhomes, or got a great deal on a single family house. The families at the preschool are a bit more upper crust, but still down to Earth, for the most part. I wish I had a camera in the minivan the first day I dropped my son off at preschool in my "ancient" 2001 Nissan Quest and followed the Land Rovers, BMW's, and Acuras into the lot! </li>
<li>having a yard to send my kids out into. For their own good and mine. I miss their ability to run off and go into the pool while I was working around the yard, or playing with their pets, or digging in the dirt. When my husband and I did play tennis the kids inevitibly found a mound of ants, or climbed a tree or hid in their fort of bushes, but it wasn't quite the same. I have to say that our son learned to ride a bike a 3 years old thanks to the parking lot, though, so that is awesome!</li>
<li><div style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">Farming. I do miss being able to grow my own food and provide it to others. 'nuff said. I'll get too sad because we had a great farm.</div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">Pets. We didn't move any of our pets and I am so gracious that we had wonderful friends take them in even though they were not young at all. They have the best life they could have and are not having to stay in apartments and get flown all over the place, so that is good, but still. We all love a little cuddle from our furries.</div></li>
<div></div><div></div></ul><div></div>Well, we are getting ready to move on in less than two weeks and get back to visit family in the Midwest. I am hoping I'll be able to keep you all up to date more as the days pass. We fly out at the end of this month and can't wait to see our friends on the "other side"!<br />
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</div>carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17692022164962830616noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1987967825400257671.post-34222522836820178022011-04-14T07:08:00.000-07:002011-04-14T07:08:59.933-07:00Why I cannot teach in person.<img height="260" id="il_fi" src="http://0.tqn.com/d/shoes/1/0/U/D/1/silver_thong_sandals.jpg" style="padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="260" />I have just gotten back on my blogger page and started reading blogs after taking at least a month off and was inspired. I read a blog from <a href="http://www.vodkamom.com/2011/04/mermaids-arent-only-in-neverland.html">http://www.vodkamom.com/2011/04/mermaids-arent-only-in-neverland.html</a>. <br />
I got to go play volleyball all night and come home and am not able to sleep and then her post got me thinking, brought a tear to my eye. I have hardly been able to write a blog since I was really working hard writing an online science course. I was associating the computer with work rather than pleasure or enjoyment. I sent one semester's worth of a course in and met my deadlines and am working on 2nd semester at a more reasonable pace....it is time I dive back in. I feel like I am in a confessional...thank you Catholisism.<br />
I took my kids to mcdonalds on Monday and then to the park under the power lines. Yes we have a really nice network of paths and parks, but they are located under power lines. Also, our apartment is extremely close to one, and probably not the best for our health.<br />
But I digress...they really really loved it. I got some coupons from my sister to spoil them with, and she made sure it was cool to send them. I am not a perfect mom, my kids know all about mickey d's. I know it is even worse since I had this organic farm and such, but we don't live in a vaccuum. <br />
So we were going to mcdonald's, but it was also perfect timing for kids getting out of the high school right across the street from it. I knew we were in for it when I saw a crossing guard there. That is really good though, to make sure kids don't get hit by cars and that they drive a bit more carefully coming out of the parking lot. <br />
We got our order in at mcd's at just the right time before it got all crazy and busy. And then I got in a huge hurry to get out of there. All I remember is a girl in a short skirt and her thong hanging out the front without any acrobatics--no bending over picking up her science book or dropped change. Just out and--OUT OF THE FRONT. Seriously??? This is o.k. with her parents and the school? Obviously it was fine with the 5 boys she was hanging out with. ugh. <br />
I decided right then and there I am no longer looking into teaching here. I was really kind of considering it at least on a part time basis, but oh how that changed things.<br />
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And then I read that wonderful blog post today from a teacher that had a girl donate her coveted mermaid dolls to kids in Japan. How do we get from that to thongs???? IN THE FRONT.<br />
I know--not the same girls, not the same parents...but...but....Seriously, why can't we have a more empowered female culture here. If we don't do something about it, someone else will. What happened to all the work the women did in the past century? I am sure they didn't work for that? And those of you that know me, know I am by no means a prude. I just think many of our girls have lost a sense of pride in themselves and their bodies. They have so much more to offer the world. They should take a lesson from the sweet kindergartener in vodkamom's blog. If you get a chance, really read this post and all of the rest of her posts. She is a kindergarten teacher with a seriously twisted, sweet sense of humor!carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17692022164962830616noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1987967825400257671.post-69407048020479276642011-03-10T07:19:00.000-08:002011-03-10T07:19:31.520-08:00Hollis is 4!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGboBd4lIYjsZTAFgAVYb3XV8Tt5tUsdHwMvTZnXZjxe7fQZl8wtOltsmXDeqic7F_Vbf3xxERXNnEnRNnErI0RD_uuxDt1QmUOw9Byt1J_aR6A9kMsihaIobEbZZAxi1dq3U3shGMuRcY/s1600/DSC01130.JPG"><img style="CLEAR: both; FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGboBd4lIYjsZTAFgAVYb3XV8Tt5tUsdHwMvTZnXZjxe7fQZl8wtOltsmXDeqic7F_Vbf3xxERXNnEnRNnErI0RD_uuxDt1QmUOw9Byt1J_aR6A9kMsihaIobEbZZAxi1dq3U3shGMuRcY/s320/DSC01130.JPG" border="0" /></a>I cannot believe this little guy is 4 years old today. He is my second 8 pound bundle of love and is as happy and loving as the day he entered the world. We are so blessed to have him in our lives and he entertains us constantly. Happy birthday big man (but you will always be my baby).<div style='clear:both; text-align:LEFT'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17692022164962830616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1987967825400257671.post-33829754770339692772011-01-19T15:43:00.000-08:002011-01-19T15:43:49.960-08:00Updating--plus---we have our assignment!I have been so uninspired to write a blog mainly because I feel like our life is kind of going along as normally as it could. I am also writing curriculum and it gets to be a drag so that I don't even want to write for enjoyment. I will however update you all with what has been going on since the last post.<br />
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We had a very nice holiday here as a family and enjoyed not having to drive 6 hours to grandparent's houses for them. We also missed them and the rest of our family members enormously, although it didn't really hit me (I mean really hit me and make me sad) until after New Years for some reason. Because we didn't have to drive anywhere, the kids were able to do the entire Christmas thing with the cookies and milk for Santa and we got to see them open their presents in their own home in pj's. It was really sweet and will probably be a tradition for years to come while we are hours away by plane from our families.<br />
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Andy graduated from his training and they had their flag day. Usually flag day is when they give you the flag of the country you are going to, but they had so many without confirmed appointments, that nearly everyone got an American flag! Then the holidays hit, which meant noone was working or working at the same time others were working in order to make a decision of where to send everyone. On Friday a couple of weeks ago, Andy surprised me with a bottle of wine and the kids with some root beer. He found out where we are going through word of mouth--hardly the ceremonial revelation I was expecting. <br />
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And we are going to........<br />
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<br />
Bangladesh!!!<br />
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We are very excited and understand that it is a tough post, but the International Schools there are excellent and our R & R that will happen twice a year will be in Sydney, Australia! Our wonderful friends are also going there, as well, so it just keeps getting better and better! I have a feeling we will also be making small trips to some of the weekend getaways that seem very affordable and look amazing! <br />
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I will update with more as soon as I know more!<br />
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Wish us luck~carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17692022164962830616noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1987967825400257671.post-33225381689224080312010-12-02T15:55:00.000-08:002010-12-02T15:57:26.538-08:00Defeated by the blogosphereI thought I would be able to update on Chicago and bring you up to speed by now so I will include highlights of Chicago and our trip out to VA with some bullet points:<br />
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<ul><li>saw one of my best friend's pregnant belly and got to meet her newborn son</li>
<li>ate chicago pizza</li>
<li>ate at portillo's---hot dogs are to die for if you are not familiar</li>
<li>ate more pizza</li>
<li>ate some more portillo's</li>
<li>visited with my other BBF in Chitown and her kids and hubby</li>
<li>ate some more pizza</li>
<li>hung out with my parents, sisters and their families</li>
<li>celebrated with most of my family my grandmother's 95th birthday!!!!!!!!</li>
<li>ate some more portillo's</li>
<li>ran into the gal that I used to walk to school with from kindergarten through 12th grade and met her twins</li>
<li>trick or treated in downtown Elmhurst, IL with my kids</li>
<li>ate some more port...just kidding...just checking to see if you are still reading</li>
<li>in the midst of all this, had our van break down and had to give it it's first tune up eva--at 160,000 miles, not bad I say, expensive yes!</li>
<li>drove to our new place and paid about $50 in tolls, who knew that it would cost to avoid a mountainous drive</li>
<li>got to drive through a tunnel in PA mountains</li>
<li>arrived at our new place</li>
<li>bought most of our furniture off craiglist and at IKEA</li>
</ul>All in all we have adjusted well, settled in, and Bank of America loves us.carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17692022164962830616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1987967825400257671.post-45661303664927309792010-11-18T12:57:00.000-08:002010-11-18T12:59:17.646-08:00Where I left off....I think I left off telling everyone about our unaffordable apartment that we love. After we decided we wanted this place and signed the lease the world was our oyster. It took me a second application and lots of white out to complete the application since I hadn't eaten and was done like a turkey on Thanksgiving. It was really quite embarassing and Andy was no help because he was even worse off than me and he doesn't know my ssn. It was just easier since at least I knew both of ours for the application. <br />
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We drove to a delicious Greek restaurant that had a Salvadorian section on the menu called <a href="http://www.deliaspizzeria.com/">Dehlia's</a>. Did I mention yet that the food choices here are unbelieveable? We had a great lunch and called back in with the leasing agent before officially leaving town to make sure that everything was on the up and up. I was a little nervous with the mortgage still on our credit and if other stuff hadn't registered as being paid off yet since the auction that our debt/income ratio would be bad. We got confirmation that we got the place and hit the road. <br />
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Our general idea was to go south and head to Richmond and go west from there. It looked like more of a straight shot that way through all of the mountains. We got stuck in traffic almost instantly and had a sort of head start only because of the carpool lanes for 10 miles of it. I think it took us 2 hours to go 20 miles, seriously. We made it through Richmond and then it started getting dark. Those of you that really know me, know how paranoid I am about driving at night or being a passenger in a car at night. We were doing great until we were on the 2 lane highways that were up and down and curvy. All I could think about was huge deer. About 4 hours into our drive we pulled off at a town called Farmville. No joke. We found a sleezy motel and got one of the last rooms since it happened to be a college town (who'd of thunk) and it was homecoming. <br />
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We tried to plan the next day and since Andy bought a book at that fly fishing store a couple of days before, guess what we did? Found a place to fish or really I should say for him to fish. After driving on the BlueRidge Parkway for a while and enjoying the scenery, we got to where we were going. We drove to the cute little town of Buchanan and found where we could camp at the North Creek Recreation Area and did a little hike. Hiking in VA reminded me of some of the places we would bikeride in Southern Illinois with a lot more up and down. It was really pretty and there happened to be an Adventure Race of some sort going on. I had just started hearing about this kind of thing. They involve 3 events and are usually done in teams from what I can tell. It was neat to see all these people, some of them families, mountain biking after orienteering their way to their bikes.<br />
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Camping was the usual fun except it was cold. I am such a wimp when it comes to cold. It got down to 42 and I have a not so insulated bag, so I really wasn't warm until Andy went fishing in the morning and I put myself and my bad inside of Andy's and the sun was out.<br />
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We got going that day and went to get directions from anyone that would offer them at the local gas station/Burger King. I literally got the "you're not from around here are you?" What do you think goofball that I am and just need to know how to get out of here. I really wasn't offended because it was a sweet old man that asked me this and gave me great directions that I had to decipher once I got back in front of our map and could makes heads or tails of what words he was saying. On the way to our next stop, we stopped and ate a cute little restaurant in a small Virginia mountain town. Ma and Pa's:<br />
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From Covington, we decided we should probably get back to our kids and we drove the rest of the 6 hours to Indiana and were grateful that they were in such good hands while we were gone. During this part of the drive, Andy managed to rip the handle off the drivers side back sliding door, which has yet to get fixed. The kids were happy to see us and we had a great time staying and visiting in Indiana for a few more days. It was nice to not drive anywhere. Next time: Chicago.carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17692022164962830616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1987967825400257671.post-91773725491764306402010-11-17T12:50:00.000-08:002010-11-17T12:50:01.979-08:00New Lease on Life (and an apartment)!Has it really been a month and a half since I last posted??? <br />
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My friend Lori asked if I was still doing the blog and it jogged my memory, "oh yeah, I was going to do this blog to keep people up to date more and to have a sort of diary of our new adventures." We are settled in very nicely into a two bedroom apartment in an area of Alexandria, VA called Kingstowne. Andy and I dropped our kids off with his wonderful parents in Indiana while we came out here together to find a new place. The drive here was more mountainous than I was expecting and we went a different route home to avoid all the up and down on our poor little Nissan Quest. If you ever drive here from Louisville, I recommend coming the more southern route that is more straightforward. <br />
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We arrived after a 10 or so hour ride and got here just in time for D.C. traffic with no exact plans for a place to crash for the night. Did I mention the traffic yet? I have been in some rush hour stuff in Chicago and St. Louis but this was unreal. Later we would meet people that described their rides as, "My ride in is only 45 minutes, but my ride home is 3 hours." We knew moving out here we would only have one car, and since we sold the other one at our auction and are not rolling in the dough, but sheesh 3 hours??<br />
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Our criteria was simple for our future home:<br />
<ul><li>safe</li>
<li>close enough to a metro station so we could walk/bike to the metro</li>
<li>in a ridiculously low price range for around here 1600 max</li>
<li>2 bedrooms, but 3 would be nice</li>
</ul>We got an expensive cheap hotel room at the Econolodge in Falls Church that first night and then found a local bar to chill out after our drive. <a href="http://dogwoodtavern.com/">Dogwood Tavern</a> was just what the doctor ordered. They had a large variety of microbrews that I had never heard of and heavenly food. After making our way back to the hotel we continued our search online and with our Apartment Guide courtesy of the Washington Post that my friend Paula had gotten for me. We picked out a few that looked good, mostly by price and size and we were kind of sticking to the Falls Church area since I thought that was where a lot of homeschool activities were going on. <br />
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First place we looked at the first day the price was right, it was a bit far from the metro so that meant a bus ride of some sort and it was just so congested in the area. We got a tour of a model, which I would later find was the way it goes. They show you a model that looked pretty, clean, odor-free and then you had to go on blind faith that the one you signed your lease for was close to the same condition. I did not like this and made it known that if you can't show me the inside I at least want to know what unit it will be so I know if I am next to the trash compactor or sewage plant or whatever. When I did this at the first one, I felt Andy look at me like "what are you doing, you are being a little pushy". Pushiness pays off because we were shown a model on the "garden level" also known as a basement. The garden level apartment model we looked at was on the main floor and walked right out to the grass when you went out the sliding doors. The unit that we would be getting when we went to look at it, was a stinkin' basement. First one we looked at was the last on my list already.<br />
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We saw about 4 or 5 that day and most were either "garden" basements and one was too expensive and didn't really seem very kid-friendly, more college/grad student/bachelorish--but it was hardly a block from the metro. This one was the top of the list that day. We regrouped--Andy went to a fly fishing store he spotted and I went to TJ Max and bought some clothes that I am wearing now nearly every day (two shirts and a pair of boots) that's my wardrobe. I have some jeans that I alternate with to really get 5 different outfits. You know I am joking right?, but not really. While I was at the Max, Andy got online at Panera and got a deal on a room at a Hyatt or Hilton but we had to pay for internet there. Crazy, right? Several adult sodas later, we mapped out a new list that included an apartment complex that had some townhouses in our price range, but had this review on apartmentratings.com: "It is a great place to live as long as you don't mind living in a retirement community". When we took the tour that about summed it up, plus too far from a metro and guess what? We would again be offered a garden apartment with one of the townhomes we originally wanted above it. I guess you have to wait until someone dies to get one of those. <br />
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The second place we went to, Andy had aparently said a secret prayer before we went to. We were going into territories unknown about 7 miles east in Springfield, VA. We were done with the Falls Church area. It was too pricey, and so congested with construction still going on everywhere. So, on to Springfield with no lunch or breakfast and coming off yet another lame tour. I was just going along with Andy, I was out of ideas. He said, "I know this is going to be the one". "Sure, whatever", was my attitude. I thought we were way to far out to be near a metro. We showed up at lunch and only one rental agent was there and she was just signing a lease with someone so we had to wait. We ate the offerings of cookies and coffee gratefully since we were starving and this was going to take longer than we thought. Finally our turn arrives and we got the schpeel and toured a 2 bedroom that would be the actual one we could move into that day. We loved it. Then we started talkig about a model one she had just shown us that had a sunroom (sort of) in it and asked her the price of that one. She said that if we were considering that one we should spend about 20 bucks more a month and do the 2 bedroom with a loft and extra bathroom. We mulled it over looked at the floorplan on paper since one would not be available for a month, which was when we wanted to move in anyways. Then she told us how her husband rides his bike to the metro that is only a mile away and takes the metro to work in D.C. And, she tells us that there is a bus stop that is only a 5 minute ride to the metro if you don't want to walk or bike. I don't know if it was the hunger pains, the continuous circle of crappy apartments with one that was nice and met our criteria, or the prayer--but we signed a lease that day. <br />
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The apartment is over our price range, but the $1600 one was over our price range to begin with considering we still are paying our mortgage in that farm we still own back in Missouri. Eh-what's another couple hundred when you can't afford the first 16? I know it is bad Emily Post manners to share financial information, but I wanted to share with you and remind myself later how much it costs to live modestly in the D.C. area.<br />
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So, we went back and retrieved our kids. I will fill in those blanks in the near future.<br />
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Day 3 of looking <br />
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We arrived aftercarriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17692022164962830616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1987967825400257671.post-34953807279653046522010-10-04T10:20:00.000-07:002010-10-04T10:20:27.469-07:00Small RequestI am enjoying a wonderful day babysitting my friend Kelly's little guy today with my kids. It is a win, win, win, in many ways. My kids get to sit on furniture other than a bed. My kids get to spend some quality time with their little buddy. And I get to do laundry not at a laundromat. This is huge! <br />
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We sold our washer and dryer at our auction and last week I went to a laundromat in downtown Rolla that was absolutely disgusting and mostly not functional. I pulled one load out of the 5 washing machines I was using and just threw out half the clothes. They were worse than they were when they were put in. Seems wasteful, but you would not believe how much stuff I have been able to throw away. Don't worry--plenty has been donated and/or repurposed...but a girl can only do so much. I was in a kind of hurry to get to playgroup and didn't see the point of hanging out at this place longer than absolutely neccessary. <br />
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So....threw some clothes out and put the rest in some dryers. About half of the dryers had "out of order" signs on them. Well, I was lucky enough to pick one of the not "out of order" dryers that had yet to be labeled. I know---I should have played lotto this day. I paid about 3 dollars on each dryer and kept looking at the clock tick away wondering just how many times the dryer needs to be fed to get this stuff dry. When most of it was dry I started pulling out clothes and folding them, only to find out that one of the dryers was not heating at all. Good grief. The kids were done, I was done, so I abandoned my clothes in one of the dryers that I knew was working and headed to playgroup. <br />
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Well, today I am very grateful to be able to use a washer and dryer that work perfectly and hope that when we move to D.C. I can hopefully (fingers crossed, breath held) have a washer and dryer in my apartment. I really don't ask for much, but this would really help my sanity!carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17692022164962830616noreply@blogger.com0