Cute Kids & Bangladesh

If these kids were any more energized, I don't know what we would've done with ourselves! Codi and I had been at the zoo maybe 15 minutes at this point.



Poor Croz is this perpetual teether and has had his hands in his mouth for days now. He didn't like the merry-go-round at first but once it started moving he was smiling.



Taking a breather



Gazing at small animal exhibits



Hallie and C coloring at Old Navy



They splashed around in the fountains at Gateway (actually Hallie did in her little orange bikini while Crosby observed the older kids screaming) and then making mischief in the car



So I have roped myself into doing Bikram yoga until November! It will be good discipline. I am excited to be doing this. If any of you are still interested, there's always the 10 days for $20 deal going and we can go to a class or two together!



Here are some more pictures from our time in Bangladesh back in January. I've had our slideshow done for quite a while now but Blogger does not like iphoto. So I will put what I have created on a DVD sometime soon and at least have it frozen in time that way.

We were beyond blessed to have had the opportunity to visit Bangladesh; I normally can articulate my feelings and experiences pretty well but when it comes to our time in Bangladesh it feels like a blockage. It's as if that time was a dream and that dream will only allow itself to stay preserved in pictures still. It is so bazar. I am having writer's block with it and since February I have been desperately wondering why. I have what I wrote in my journal while we were there. It might be that words won't do the trick until time has marinated some of my memories. It was a very special journey for both of us! Yet it wasn't all la vie en rose. There were challenges and complications, questions and sadness along with joy and fulfillment and humor. It must be that our experience there feels like years and years trapped within one month's time. So on I go with the pictures until I feel otherwise!

Here is D's mom Sabita with her only two surviving siblings, Amal Kanti and Puspa. This is a morning when we had stayed in the village and they had just had something to eat and it was so hard to get a picture of just these three, but we persisted:



When we were staying in Dhaka at D's cousins' home, his daughter Susmita turned 13 on New Year's Eve. He bought her this cake and we celebrated. If anyone knows me, they know that if cake is anywhere within my range, it will be gone within seconds unfortunately. I dug into this ravenously only to quickly notice an oily flour substance in my mouth... I don't believe there was a smidgeon of sugar in the frosting OR the cake. Yikes!



D with his cousin Anup's two kids, Plabon & Susmita. They were with us 24/7!



When we visited the southernmost tip of the country at Cox's Bazar, we got to see the most gorgeous scenery



In the village of Shakpura visiting D's cousin Sushanta (far right), his wife Ruma, and their son Dabashis (2 yrs). D's cousin took us one morning on a walk that lasted around two hours. He spoke fairly good English and expressed how badly he wants to make it to America:



Their little two-year-old boy jingled when he walked/ran around. I finally asked what that sound was and D's mom said they tie these bells around the waists of their children in order to keep track of them!



This spider was just in our room in Dhaka (the main city!) and does not compare to the size of the one D spotted on his way to the toilet in Chittagong. I wasn't even close to the state of mind to think of a camera; I could barely swallow and breathe let alone think of taking a picture. Anyway, there are some bigguns'.



Rickshaws are a major mode of transportation all over Bangladesh, and some of them were loaded up like you wouldn't believe! Whether it be people, papers, food, wares... they will find a way to get it from Point A to Point B.



When we were at a market shopping, D's cousin took us to this store to get a drink and here's what was on the menu... when I asked him, "What is pasta ice cream?" he said, "mixed food." MMmkay.



In Chittagong we stayed in this apartment place with D's aunt and the neighborhood was chock full of kids. We'd be walking back home and would be followed by streams of kids and people. I loved it at first and I would try to talk to them but it soon got overwhelming because they would try to follow us up the stairs home and there were TOO MANY! At one point I bet 100 kids.

One time we had been up visiting with the family and I decided I needed to go downstairs and take a video of some of these kids. So I came down and within about 30 seconds lots of people came out of nowhere! I wanted so much to spend more time with them... the problem was there were way too many and it just wasn't possible, so it made me so sad. But here's a short video of some of these beautiful people until my battery ran out ):



Speaking of people following you... it was weird. When in Bangladesh, I was looked at with VERY curious eyes every single place I stepped. Very truly when I thought about it I realized that these people... who some of them have NEVER seen a white-skinned person in their entire life... had a right to look at me like I was a true alien. I can see where they're coming from, but I can't believe how tough it is to have no privacy! I'm kind of getting used to that concept now that I have a child though. Anyway, from my journal: "I'm trying to be patient with the thousands of staredowns I get hourly, but of course it has already gotten pretty old! It's just so unavoidable though but I get to wanting a paper bag over my head quite a bit." Here I am checking things out in a jewelry shop and I didn't know D took a picture:



In Shakpura when we went out to look around at the market, we were taken with the way this man spread these leaves. Aren't they beautiful?



Surupi asked me one day to go with her to pick up her daughter from school. Walking home I spotted these Bengali school busses!



D's family, in the various places we visited, always took us to a Buddhist temple. This one was in Dhaka and it was so pretty to be there at night. At this particular one we lit candles at the base of the Bodhi tree. These trees were at the sites of most of the temples; under the Bodhi tree is where Buddha achieved enlightenment.