A weekend of firsts

Although Scott was out of town this weekend and we missed him a lot, Henry and I had a fun time exploring many firsts. 

- Until this point Henry has never had to "bite" into any of his food.  He has been eating veggies, fruits, yogurt, lentils, etc that are mashed to varying degrees.  This weekend I decided it was high time he experienced something different.  I think he enjoyed trying to figure out how to stuff a whole 4 inch long cracker-like thing in his mouth. His determination was quite entertaining.  

- This afternoon Henry and I were playing at the Club with our friends who have a daughter about the same age as Henry.  Henry was having a good time walking, with my assistance, all over the lawn and sandy area.  At one point we walked passed a little ball my friend brought.  I thought it was coincidence that Henry kicked the ball.  But, then as he walked forward he kicked it again.  Not only did he kick the ball by himself for awhile but he played a little back and forth with my friend! Wow.  I don't know where he learned all of his sporty moves but it's so fun to play with him.


Another first is that Henry took a super long nap this afternoon.  For awhile he was taking naps that were no longer than 45 minutes but within the past few days he started sleeping an hour and half at a time.  This afternoon he slept for 2 hours.  Let me just say I welcome the longer naps!

Unfortunately I don't have any photos to post for the weekend. My friend took some at the Club and I'll post them if I get them from her. I took some videos but the files are too big for me to load them online. 

A long weekend in Kuala Lumpur

Henry and I just got back from a long weekend in Kuala Lumpur with one of my friends who is wrapping up a 4 month around-the-world trip.  We missed Scott immensely but he had to go to India for a work trip and couldn't make it. At least he was able to plan the trips to overlap a bit.

I heard from many folks in Dhaka that Kuala Lumpur is a great place.  When asked to explain further they would say that there is tons of shopping, good food, and nice green space to enjoy.  Before going I assumed there would be street markets galore filled with colorful fabric, fragrant teas, crafty jewelry, etc, much like other cities in SE Asia.  Boy was I wrong.  KL is full of malls of all sizes a couple of which claim to be the biggest in SE Asia.  Wow.  Warm up the credit card for the latest name brand items... or decide that the hottest fashion trends are under-apprecaited in Dhaka and time would be better spent walking outside and exploring culinary opportunities - two things I miss.

As you'll see from the photos we spent a lot of time walking around, exploring some of the shopping venues, eating all kinds of treats, and having a great time.  Henry did amazingly well.  People in Malaysia LOVE babies and didn't hold back in trying to get Henry's attention and make him smile.  He sampled some of the food and loved it all. Whenever he had to take a nap we put a towel over the stroller and tilted it back on the back two wheels.  Amazingly he would pass out within minutes (perhaps because he was just a bit too overwhelmed by what was around him).  I must admit, we happily used him as our reason to take tea breaks. 

Here are a bunch of photos from the trip:
The first day we walked to the Petronas Towers, the worlds tallest twin building.  The day we went tickets were sold out to visit the 41st floor observation bridge so we looked at it from below and thought about what we would have seen if we had been so lucky to go up.

 Our first shopping adventure was to Chow Kit.  It ended up being 7 floors, each with 3 or 4 belt shops, 3 or 4 purse shops, 2 or 3 barrette and other bright jewelry shops, and a few tshirt shops.  I really don't understand how all the shops stay in business:

The tea break for Henry at this shopping mall led us to a basement Karaoke bar complete with a full sized stage.  Too bad it was only 10:30 am and my voice wasn't warmed up yet.  I sang a little from my seat though.

The next day we explored Chinatown.  For months now I was craving a "hong-de-dousha baozi" or red bean paste bun.  I just love red-bean-paste! I bet if I had it more often, i.e. more than once a year, I would realize that it's rather plain and shouldn't be the recipient of such devotion.  As it stands, when the opportunity presents itself, I get my fill of the stuff.  Henry tried it too!  It's basically just mashed up beans but they do put sugar in it.  That's okay, if Henry's first sugary "treat" is bean paste, I'm pretty excited.
Henry was sleeping when we first arrived at China town and when we first sat down for a cup of tea.

 But, with talk of baozi for a snack he woke right up

We didn't know Anika was taking the photo otherwise we would have surely documented our excitement. Or perhaps we were just focusing on the magnificence we were about to enjoy.

We walked around a bit more and then were on our way at which time Henry decided it was time for another nap.

We also spent an afternoon walking around a bird park, orchid garden and lake. It was so fantastic to spend a day outdoors!  Such simple pleasures on a vacation from Dhaka.

On our second of four nights we found a great food court near to the hotel that offered all sorts of rice and noodle dishes and special "oriental" desserts.  We ended up eating there the rest of the nights trying something new each time.  The last night we brought our cameras

 They are cooking up our noodle dish in the above photo.

Finally on the last night we tasted the famous dessert...  From far away it looks pretty fun but then you have to take a closer look...

Are those corn kernels you might ask.  Well yes they are.  There were also a few peanuts thrown in there.  The rest of the stuff I can't explain  Luckily I could be sure about one thing, the structure was made out of ice.  Just think of a super Snowcone - with corn.  As we ate Henry showed his interest to sample the fare.  Luckily the middle of the mound was clear of toppings and Henry could sample the treat, i.e shaved ice, and feel satisfied.   

 This dessert just kept on giving.  As we neared the bottom we found more goodies!

You can imagine that finding wiggily, slimy green things at the bottom was a bit scary.  You never know, maybe the description on the Chinese menu said "Try this refreshing rainbow Snowcone with earth worms to fill you up and a little corn and peanut for exciting crunch".  After the shock passed we remembered that SE Asian cuisine, in general, includes a lot of gelatin and squirmy shapes.  Jell-O Jigglers Asian style.

After 4 fun days it was time to go home.

Now we're back in good old Dhaka.  Scott gets home in a few more days and we can't wait for the reunion.  The power is out and, for the first time in awhile, the generator ran out of fuel.  Mosquitos are enjoying a feast and I'm having a good time hunting them with the electric racket.  Ahhh, I choose to see these perks as Dhaka's way of keeping me on my toes.

Pearly whites

Henry's first teeth sprouted today!  I was wondering why for the past two nights he nursed every 2 hours.  It didn't seem like he was going through a growth spurt because he wasn't extra hungry during the day.  Plus, this morning it took extra long to get him to nap because he was crying out.  Before too long he'll be chomping through corn on the cob!

Pakhi khotai?

The last half of our trip to Gaibandha was fun.  I learned that Henry knows Bangla!  Although I'm sure he understands English, his recognition of the phrase "Pakhi khotai?" was the first time I realized that he understood something I or Shilpi said.  This phrase me where is the bird and when you say it Henry immediately will look up to the sky and hunt for a bird.  He goes bird scouting all the time and clearly enjoys the activity. 

My colleagues and I continued to work despite the cold. My estimation about the temperature wrong; it was actually 39 degrees at night and only about 50 degrees in the office at the height of the afternoon.  Brrrr, I get chills just thinking about it.  What is difficult to grasp is that only a small minority of the people live in apartment buildings and work indoors.  I can't imagine how cold others felt sleeping on the ground in their thatched bamboo walled homes. On our walk to work one morning (usually we take a car) I chatted with two little girls who were walking to school.  There I was in my outfit plus a sweater, a fleece jacket, socks and shoes and there they were in hole-y sweaters, thin cotton clothes and flip flops.  Hopefully the 100+ fleece blankets our project bought for the locals were distributed quickly!

Here are a few photos of us in a electric auto-rickshaw on our way to work.  These electric versions are fairly new and quite fancy.
Henry posed with me before we left:

This last one is the group in the back yard garden - our little oasis.

Dhaka "fog"

With winter and colder temperatures comes the fog that settles across Bangladesh.  The fog is so intense that we shorten our working hours for field staff so that they can reach home before the fog is too thick, we had to break our drive back to Dhaka into two segments (over-nighting at the mid-way point) because visibility drops to 10 feet, literally, in many places from sunset until about 2 hours after sunrise, and flights are invariably delayed or canceled. 

Everyone here in Bangladesh likes to think that the thick air is innocent, clean "fog" resulting from the lower temperature and high humidiity.  Think again. This air is a result of the millions of small fires across the country, and the greater South Asian region, lit every night and morning to keep people warm.  The other morning I snapped a few photos at about 7am out our windows so that you can begin to understand just how thick this "fog" is:
Remember the wonderful view of the forest

Now add in "fog"

And here is the view out the other big window

Makes you want to go for a morning jog, right?

Winter Bangladeshi style

It has been an exciting week an a half.  Our good friend stayed with us for a week on a business trip during which she looked for an apartment to prepare for her upcoming return move to Dhaka.  We had a great time chatting late into the night while we all were comfortably sitting on our new couch and eating delicious food as we took a culinary tour of all of her favorite restaurants here. As an added bonus, she and Henry had a great time playing.




On another note, my colleages from the US are in town for a short while keeping me busy.  As part of their visit we, of course, had to take a trip up to Gaibandha this time for about a week. As you can see, the car ride was entertaining.  Although it took 9.5 hours (at least 2 longer than normal) we were able to keep ourselves comfortable sardined in the van.  Multiple iPads and computers full of videos, and singing to Henry, helped to pass the time.  Henry did fabulously during the whole ride! He didn't cry at all and actually took two naps despite the talking, music, ipad app sounds, etc. I think he takes after his mom and dad with his appreciation for car trips.

It is FREEZING in Gaibandha. Without all the big city pavement and pollution to warm the air, the winter chill really sets in.  Oh my oh my.  It was 55 degrees in our conference room during the afternoon yesterday. At one point we had to take a 5 minute break just to stand in the sun to absorb as much heat as we could.  Today was about the same but it took us until this afternoon to realize that our office has a stash of rain coats which some folks used as a third or fourth layer (and the three below are also wearing ear muffs).  Keep in mind that there is no heating system here and we're lucky if we get 1 minute of warm water for a shower - for those who brave the shower.

Henry has a stylish fleece hat (thank you Aunt Nancy!) that keeps him toasty and that, amazingly, he doesn't mind wearing 24 / 7.  Only a few more days up here and then it back to the warmth of Dhaka!

With the rising sun

For about a month now Henry has slept through the night.  He still likes to go to bed around 6pm but once down he's out until it's time to rise and shine.  I noticed that he was waking up at just about the same time every day no matter when he went to bed. I didn't think about that much until the "just about the same time" was becoming just a little earlier every morning.  Henry would seem pretty tired when he woke up and would go back down for a nap about an hour later.  Hmmm, I didn't quite know what to make of the situation and, although I hoped that once one day he would ideally sleep past 5:45 or so, I chose not to stress about the schedule. 

Then, a few days ago before I went to get him I went into the bathroom to grab my comfy warm robe since it can be a little chilly in the apartment in the morning.  And there it was, faintly, the call to prayer.  My oh my.  After testing our newly defined hypothesis the next morning, we realized that poor Henry was getting woken up by the morning, rising sun call to prayer!  We don't hear it in our bedroom because we're on the side of the house with the forest but Henry's window is aimed towards the city.  I bet he could sleep through one call (especially since when he's napping during the day there are so many types of construction, rickshaw, and other random noises that he sleeps through), but when there are 17 calls beginning in a haphazard round some of which are sung a bit off key, the little kid wakes up.  Dang.  That call to prayer is just going to be called out earlier and earlier each day since the winter solstice.  I'm hoping that by the time the sun rises around 4am he'll know how to sleep through it!

Just the same old

Since Christmas things have been pretty calm in Dhaka.  We have enjoyed the reduced traffic and the calmer work weeks.  The weather is a bit more chilly which means the apartment stays cool (~69 degrees) during the day.  One highlight from the past week is that we are starting to receive our new furniture.  We were so excited to finally get a couch especially since in all the years Scott and I have known each other we've never had an actual sofa.  We LOVE the new U shaped couch and have enjoyed many a night since New Years Eve when it was delivered hanging out on it reading, watch Henry play around in the middle.  In these photos the couch is still a little tight but, just so you can relax, we'll let you know that we've ordered an extra piece to expand it. 

The rest of our furniture, a few book cases, dressers, and a TV stand also arrived.  One has to enjoy the thrill of designing furniture here in the Desh. It is exciting to have the freedom to come up with whatever you want, but it's more exciting to see what you actually end up with.  Every piece had at least one thing we had to suggest they fix and one piece had so many differences for our original order that we sent it back.  Flexibility and patience are skills one perfects living here!
Next week Henry and I head up to Gaibandha with colleagues visiting from Baltimore.  I bet we'll get some good photos.