Beautiful Bangladesh!

We took a day trip to a small village celebrating Durga Puja, a Hindu festival. Much time was spent to (3 hrs) and from (1 hr) the festival. Watching busy life alongside the bus was probably the most interesting way we could have spent the day. The colors in Bangladesh are AMAZING! The genuine smiles and eye contact are wonderful. 

It was a terrific way to see the beautiful sights beyond Dhaka. 

Angels we have heard on high

I think I heard them singing tonight, as the computer man hooked us up to the internet at home! Finally, we are back in touch with the world and now have SO many pics to add...which I can already see will take MUCH longer here in Dhaka. Oh well, we are up and running and hope to get caught up soon!

Getting into a Groove

** will come back and add photos, but unable to upload currently**

A bit of a routine is a good thing when moving to a new country. We had a nice long holiday weekend, but were happy to start a routine on Monday which helped get us into a better sleep regiment. Ceiba had been waking up over the weekend at 2-3AM and getting up shortly thereafter. That led to crazy naps, usually ending in us having to wake her… which led to one unhappy kiddo. With Chris starting work Monday, and Ceiba and I being home to have a play, lunch, nap routine - we ended up with our first good night's sleep and her not waking up until near dawn. She got the "do not get out of bed until you see the sunshine" talk, so she just laid in bed and called for us. At least she is following instructions, even if sometimes it is 0300.

Chris is really enjoying his work! We accompanied him into the Embassy Monday to see our way around and to get my ID badge (a necessity to get into the med unit, commissary, embassy, etc). We joined him on some meetings and hung out in the CLO (Community Liaison Office) playing legos while he went to other meetings. There is a snack/tea/coffee cart that goes around several times a day, which Chris says he will strive to avoid. Our sponsor picked out a strawberry cupcake for Ceiba to enjoy while waiting for Papa; she loved it! We visited the mail room where packages awaited, the bank (to get Bangladesh taka) and had a nice tour by our great sponsor, who is also part of the CLO team.

Cash is king here in Bangladesh; credit cards get little use. And since we had a voicemail from our credit card company about suspicious activity, ours would get no activity until I could get to a phone, which is all settled now. I called their office weeks ago to advise of our move overseas and to be prepared for multiple country activity and to please note our account. So when we got the voicemail, I instantly thought it was due to the charges in Qatar. Low and behold, they thought a rental car in Virginia was suspicious. Crazy.

Speaking of Qatar, here are a few pics from our quick stay. What we saw of Doha was nice. Stretching out in a cool room and having a dip in the pool was absolutely rejuvenating. The haze (of sand and dust?) covering the city in the heat of the day is odd. And most of the day the sun has no figure, just a large glow in the sky. The heat would definitely take some time to get used to!

And here are some shots around our neighborhood, most are taken from a shuttle van. It will probably be a while before I'm out shooting on foot with my better camera. Dhaka is a sensory city! From the colors of clothing/rickshaws/people, to the smells of the markets and working men, to the new tastes of foods and spices, it is a lot to take in. Chris said yesterday I should be glad a had a stuffed head and couldn't smell everything around us! We are really enjoying getting comfortable and learning new things everyday, though we realize the honeymoon stage will wear off.

And on the topic of learning - Ceiba started 1/2 day preschool today!! We all visited her classroom and teachers yesterday. Love them!! It will be great for Ceiba to be back around children, and her class is a very diverse small group. She swam this morning and is now on a beautiful playground. She'll spend lots of time doing art projects and playing with new friends. We've heard her social calendar will be much fuller than ours!

Still no internet, but at least we are on their list now. So hope to be updating more soon!

Eureka- We're Here!

We arrived safely in Dhaka on Thursday at 0520 and are getting settled! Ceiba was a trouper and all in all the flights were as painless as possible for 19+hours. We stopped in Doha, Qatar for a rest and stretch, which was a great decision for us. It was nice to see a new country (as much as one can see in 26 hours) and to relax in the pool.

Our home is terrific! It's quite empty of homey items, but is very nice and large. Our sponsors have been great guides, company, dinner hosts and shuttles for us this weekend! We attended an embassy/Marine BBQ and got a chance to meet several families.

We took Ceiba to school today and are thrilled to report that she'll start preschool later this week for 1/2 days. An exciting time for her and a great chance for me to learn my way around the markets and get some needed home set-up items accomplished. And maybe down the line have some language classes.

Chris is anxious to start work tomorrow. His cell phone was on the table when we arrived :)

We are awaiting internet at home, so can only post when at the American Club (SUPER nice amenities and pool). Hope to have internet up and running soon and resume a bit of cyber life as we knew it. Promise for pictures to come soon. The first 48 hours here it rained NONstop. So now that the sun is out we can get some shots.

So far...SO good!!

Skype- We Second that Emotion

There have been many a post from FS families raving about the benefits of Skype. We second that emotion! We haven't even left the country yet, but after spending 6 months away from friends and family, we know how nice it is to flip on the computer and see a familiar face. Tonight was our busiest session yet, but nice to say goodbyes screen to screen. We even christened our best friends into the Skype world and promised them it'll get easier and less boo hooey the more we do it. The first time is a little overwhelming, but feels good to share good smiles. Though we can't walk out to the bonfire and roast a marshmallow together, we can get a great view of our living rooms.

Our phones have been ringing, the monitor blinking and virtual messages continue to pour in. We feel very loved this week... and hope you are all feeling it right back. We'll only be a computer click away, the only difference is it'll be (most of) your bedtime, while we'll be starting a day. So we'll toast an OJ and a brew as we talk. Or heck, maybe just 2 brews for the first little while. Until then...

Move 'em on, head 'em up!

Move 'em on, head 'em up 
Head 'em up, move 'em on 
Move 'em on, head 'em up 
Rawhide 
Count 'em out, ride 'em in, 
Ride 'em in, count 'em out, 
Count 'em out, ride 'em in 
Rawhide! 

Keep movin', movin', movin' 

Don't try to understand 'em 

Just rope, throw, and brand 'em 

Soon we'll be living high and wide. 

Rawhide! 

Rawhide! 

Chris finished up training on Wednesday! HOOOOOORAY! He was fork ready and is positively anticipating his new responsibilities. Upon request (hi Melissa!), here are some pics from moving week, which is actually not yet quite over. The SUV was picked up today. It was scheduled in a usually inconvenient "window" in the middle of the day, which is the usual packing stuff to shoot your whole day, but was luckily picked up pretty early.   Almost finished!

Yesterday was moving day, allllllll day. We have a small apartment and only had 600 lbs of airfreight (UAB) and 900 lbs (hope we aren't over!) of ocean freight (HHE). But it still managed to take all day. The guys were nice and careful, but rockets they were not. I pulled a LOT of pantry items out at the last minute, hoping to avoid going overweight. Our stuff being packed from IL for domestic assignment and having to be reworked REALLY put us on the heavy side. Cross your fingers that we squeak in under the weight mark! Goodness knows our checkbook is!

Oh, and let's not forget all the fun tasks leading up to moving day, like handwashing and taking apart the Smokey Joe and unpotting and trimming all my plants. Unfortunately I am not able to take one of my favorite plants with us, it's just too big and would be injured in the move. So it will be packed up and taken to the post office this week and sent to the loving care of my sister in Illinois :)

Today we picked up our diplomatic passports with dos visas - YIPPEE! I had a last visit to the chiropractor as preventative maintenance and a nice hour getting a pedicure and manicure while Ceiba was (eventually) napping. We topped it off with a trip to Tyson's Mall to watch an animated movie Alpha and Omega, in which Ceiba didn't get up once! Of course, the movie was accompanied by very buttery popcorn, Twizzlers and cherry Icees.