Our Trip in Sound Bites (For the Easily...Squirrel!...Distracted).

A Few Rules for Bangladesh:

1.       If it feels like something is biting you, it probably is.

2.       Always where your orna (this is the scarf) in public.

3.       Fans are your best friend (and they are also why there is a paperweight in every room).

4.       No two clocks are the same so don’t expect them to be.

5.       Plastic bags don’t mean it doesn’t leak or that it is safe from the ants.

(I confess I will not miss: Killing the ants crawling through my toothbrush; killing ants biting me during dinner; killing ants on my food; killing ants I find crawling on my body after removing undergarments.)

Things I Finally Learned

1.       Md. Does not stand for medical doctor it stands for Mohammad.

2.       How an umbrella could be a dangerous weapon.  They are solid wood and so essentially you are carrying around a staff.

3.       What it feels like to worry about having enough money to pay for a child’s medication.  In the middle of our journey being unable to withdraw currency made money tight.

4.       Language barriers make you more direct.  You have to say exactly what you mean if you want to give you patient any chance at understanding what is going on.

5.       How it feels to stand in a woman’s only line… The women’s lines are always longer and not just for the restroom.

6.       For Asia, I am tall and this means that most kamizes (the long shirts) hit me much higher than most woman, near high mid thigh.  (You should have seen the man’s eyes when we told him that Josh was 4 inches taller than Josiah who is also considered tall :0).

7.       It's a good thing I have huge feet – because everyone takes off their shoes before going inside and since no one else can wear my shoes they won't walk away.