Srimangal Trip February 2012

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. 
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. 

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.

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: http://www.teaboard.gov.bd/Admin/notice/Brochure4.pdf. 

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.

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. 

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 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoolock_gibbon.  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!

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.  

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.

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.

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."

Until next time......................................

What's goin' 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. 

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.

• Our new to us car arrived in February and it is suiting us nicely.  We bought a Toyota Probox: http://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%E1%BA%ADp_tin:2002_Toyota_Probox_01.jpg 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. 
• 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) 

• 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.
• 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:  http://www.amazon.com/Terminator-Professional-Stainless-Treatment-Removes/dp/B000HIBPV8
• 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. 
• After all that we made it to wonderful, lovely, Sri Lanka. (separate post to follow)
• We have had no fewer than 3 earthquakes that I have experienced while in the 4th floor of our building--not fun!
• 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....
• Isobel got giardia, and was sick for at least 2 weeks, then recovered.
• Andy and I got giardia and are on medicine and are on the way to recovery.

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:

• driving a car where there are rules and stop signs and stop lights
• walking down a sidewalk without worrying about stepping on feces, piss, or loogies
• breathing fresh air
• 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
• going shopping and just being left alone to think and shop
• eating fresh fruit and vegetables and not having to disinfect the crap out of it
• brushing my teeth with tap water
• going to a park and not being followed and asked a gazillion questions every 30 seconds and having my kids pictures taken by strangers
• taking a train without the fear of my kids getting crushed by people just trying to get on the thing
• no earthquakes (hopefully)
• having family close enough that if I wanted to I could get there by driving a car for 6 or 10 hours

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.

Until next time...............

Comedy Club in Dhaka?? Who knew?

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:  http://www.azhar.com/

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!!! 


Here are some pictures of Andy's adventures out of Dhaka to Jessore and Rajshahim.

                                                Above--on a ferry crossing a river.

                                             The ferry, the Keramat Ali.

                                             Man on the ferry.

                                         Nope, don't need to use the bathroom thank you.

                                            View from hotel room in Jessore.

                                                 Driving here, trucks coming at you, always.

                                                More driving.

                                       Group of men happy to get their picture taken, maybe.

                                        Not uncommon, glass being hauled on a rickshaw.

                 There's the glass in the front, and some kids behind them on their own rickshaw.

                                              Road construction, by HAND!

                                         Another truck playing chicken.

                                        His hotel was actually called Nice Hotel in Rajshahim.

                                        Lovely bathroom with a lovely polka dot curtain.

                                            Just moving my cattle.

                                         Child moving his cattle.

                                           Not sure, but not odd to see.

Sour Cream

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.

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.

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 constantly 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.

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. 

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. 

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.

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. 

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!

Welcome to Bangladesh--Idiot! Part 2

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....

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".

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. 

Even though our road collapsed occasionally 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!

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.

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. 

This is a picture of a woman that wanted a picture with Isobel and her friend.
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. 

Welcome to Bangladesh--Idiot! Part 1

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.

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.

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). 

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. 

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. 

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! 

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.

This is our only photo of Japan.  Yes, were were there, really~

Then we woke up early to catch our flight to Dhaka.....oh the supense. 

The calm before the storm...maybe

This move is very different from the last one when we had to unload so many pets, belongings and all that you acquire from having a farm for 10 years.  I love you awesome friends that took in our sweet pets! 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. 

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.  

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.

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.

On a completely separate, materialistic note....DH took our daughter to get her first pair of Chucks and I couldn't be more proud.