Srimongol - Spring Break Bangladesh Style!

  

I can check some things off of my bucket list this week.  Here's the shortest possible explanation of it all...

We (4 friends and 3 Australian family members) left Dhaka for the tea capital of Bangladesh (near Sylhet, if you're looking at the map).  We took a 4-hour train ride with either shot-out, shattered windows or windows so dirty it was impossible to see out of them.  That's when Allie and I spied what became a theme for the trip: man love between Bangladeshi men on different modes of transportation.  In all, we captured this special occurrence (that's totally hetero and typical here) on camera on train, CNG and motorcycle. 

Turned out we had an awesome guide waiting for us, Russel, who is our age.  We instantly had a friend who could just hook anything up.  When we first met, I joked about driving the van.  He went, "Okay!  You American right?  Let's go to America!"  So I drove on the other side of the road on the other side of the car in Bangladesh!  It quickly became a goal of mine to try driving as many modes of transportation as possible, so Russel arranged for us to "rent" bikes to ride in the tea groves.  By "rent", I mean we made a deal with a bike shop owner in Srimongol town to take out some new bikes (all packaging STILL attached), return them, and pretend it all never happened so he can still sell the bikes.  It was the best bike ride of my life.  It was so peaceful and beautiful out in tea country.  We also got to drive a CNG through the country roads!  A CNG is basically a mini-taxi with three wheels and a lawn mower engine.  SO AWESOME! 

We did a morning trek through the national park/rain forest.  What was the #1 animal we saw in the rain forest?  Giant jungle spiders!!!  We encountered a special breed of gibbon as well- our driver Abu was sitting, smoking, petting one when we returned to the tea hut/offices from our trek.  It was so funny.  We pet it and figured out that it was hurt pretty bad (dog bike on its rear end).  One night, Kim and I decided we should see if there were any drum shops in town, so we found one.  It was a pretty epic experience- I ended up buying a drum and had a really interesting conversation with Russel about life/God/money.  He secretly got Allie (Yr 5 teach) and I into the outside of a mosque to see it the next day.  That was an experience that made me feel honored (or honoured, ha) just to have because women are not allowed in mosques as far as I know.  Another afternoon, we walked around a beautiful village with its own religion and language.  It was so beautiful and reminded me of rural Mexico in many ways.  There were children and animals at every stair case we climber.  Often times the women shyed away from us behind hanging laundry, their sari, or a corner.

Throughout the entire trip, our crew made friends with a couple local beggar kids who turned up a few times.  That may have been the best part of the trip- spending time with them.  I made a little friend in town around the bike shop (we found each toher a couple of times!), at the Srimongol train station (I think he has polio because his legs and feet are pretty warped- still walking on them though), and some quick acquaintances out in the wetlands.  We took an open Jeep out there to see the rice fields, water buffalo, and general everything.  There was a farming family who invited us to their hut for tea, which we didn't drink because it was the same water shared between water buffalo and bathing rice farmers, etc). 

Other amazing things from our trip included sleeping in a hut, walking around tea/lime/pine apple/jack fruit groves, drinking 7 layer tea, and finding a work elephant moving logs on a walk looking for ice creams and Cokes (first awesomely cool, then awesomely sad).  I also rode on top of the Jeep and hung off of the train a bit- things that made my dad's voice ring in my ears- eek!  All in all, it was a GREAT trip.  I'm so glad God's shown us what friendship should be.  I'm super lucky to have my friends here to depend on, travel and laugh with when we get a break.

 "No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you."  John 15:15 

Happy St. Patrick's Day from the Future!

It’s Thursday afternoon- I’m at the American Club having a late lunch with friends. Jenny (my new roommie), Josh, Allie and Kim have been laughing for practically an hour now. School is over for the week, next week is “Book Week” and the week after is mid-semester break. Our conversation has wandered from the “Great Balls of Fire” song to placenta jerky. Our sides are splitting.

I love that I can look up from the table and see all familiar faces: Young Grace parents, other teachers, my pastor’s family and sweaty kids running around. Soon, one of my students pulls up a chair to the table next to mine to eat pizza thats “too cheesy” and french fries. Soon after that, another one of my students hustles up to his table. I have to pull off my headphones to answer, “Miss. Schroeder?”

“Yes sir?”

“Did my brother pass out today?” The first says, with a look of wanting to prove this information with an adult to his Indian comrade.

“Yes. He passed out, threw up, and then went home.”

“See? He’s okay though.”

This is the same student who was quoted this morning saying, “And then Miss. Schroeder tripped on my face” to his Year 3 teacher (my now good friend Kim). This was the explanation she got in the bus ride home from Sport time at the French School’s big, green field about our full-speed collision playing Capture the Flag. So epic. I love remembering hearing him explain the story to another classmate, and my little Pakistani student laughs, “Hehe, her legs were up in the air.” So great. We all laughed at that.

Something awesome Kim and I share that nobody else will share with us is my class. They were her first class and they’re now my first class. She calls them “our babies”.

It’s an interesting time to witness in Allie’s life: she’s approaching her 3-month mark in Dhaka. She arrived here in January from Canada to be the new Year 5 teacher. Three months in this life is known as the culture shock time. I remember it so clearly hit me last semester. There was this week of absolute clarity and calm. It was soooo weird. It contrasted so much in comparison to all the weeks before it in that I felt totally comfortable to do everything in my life. For the first time, I wasn’t concerned about walking to the grocery store or catching rickshaw rides to places I’d never gone to before. Teaching was a bit simplified that week, too. Alas, planning still takes me a lot longer than I’d like, but I even enjoy that.

Life here is actually really easy once you get used to it. At our last staff training day, I was reminded that we get used to things. We settle in. I realized (or “realised” as I must teach it) that I am too used to the horrible things here. I don’t really think twice about rent-a-babies held up to the car window like I used to. These babies are borrowed (for money) to induce sympathy. They’re drugged up on cough syrup as to not cause a lady trouble in the heat or to stop them from crying from hunger pangs. Tens of millions of Bangladeshis get used to their poverty. Low-class children work for random street dudes by selling stickers in traffic jams. Our [amazing] principal was kind to remind us that without our being there, Christian people living on mission in Bangladesh could not be here because their kids would have no school to attend. He mentioned to us that there are currently 130 kids waiting for a spot at Grace. Anyway, I’m trying to work on allowing my eyes to be afresh to Bangladesh like in my first three months here. What are you too used to?

St. Patrick was a slave for 6 years beginning at age 16. He returned to Ireland after escaping and eventually attended 12 years of school to study theology. He thought that loving others like the Lord loved him was that important.

Good stuff. Happy St. Patty’s Day! I’m off to Esther’s house to celebrate with everyone tonight- so stoked to be going to my Irish friend’s pad on this day! Here’s to episodes of Father Ted, green beer, and (more importantly) loving on people with eyes anew and a heart full of love like the Lord!