Crazy love

Washing the girls hair

Sorry I haven't written in awhile. Life has been crazy these last few weeks. So much has happened and so much has changed. Overall life is still good here at Banglahope. Some of the student missionaries and I planned a week of wackiness (spirit week) for the kids this week, with a fun game day to end of the wackiness. I will write more later to tell you how it went.

For this post I tried modifying an article I wrote for the Collegian, the Walla Walla University newspaper, but can't seem to get it right. So I am just going to copy and paste it. Here it is:

Johnny

“Johnny, we are not leaving this classroom until you finish your math” I said authoritatively. This child had been goofing off during study time, wandering around the classroom, bothering others, and bothering me. Every time I tried to get him to do his work, he would whine like a baby, then get angry, then smile and laugh. He’s sweet, he blesses me, he’s distracted, then back to crying. This happens multiple times each day. At first this behavior drove me nuts. I wanted to storm out of the room leaving him on his own to figure out how to complete his assignments. All I wanted was to get him out of the classroom, homework complete or not. Slowly though, I began to recognize that he was just like any other student, but required attention and discipline differently than others. We started working together after class on math, staying until each worksheet was completed. Eventually he grew on me and I realized how much I appreciated his antics, and he my attention and guidance.

Jewel

There was something about how helpless she was; we had just taken her from her mother and I had to care for her while we traveled. Jewel has always been special to me, ever sine I traveled to pick her up and bring her back to the orphanage. Part of that connection I think came from the interaction I had with her mother, and the responsibility I feel in taking her child from her. I had taken this child away from the one person that loved her, but in the process found my own deep love for her too. In the months that I've spent here our bond has grown stronger. Every time I see her her face lights up as she runs to me beaming with excitement she can't contain. I love making her laugh. That giggle is the cutest thing I have ever heard. She can also be horribly bossy and pout-y. Just like me when I was a little girl. This girl and all her moods has stolen my heart.

Me, Joni and Tammy

This last week a previous student missionary came to visit with some friends. Early in our conversation he asked me who my favorite child was and instinctively I said Jewel. But then I thought about it.  I don't love Jewel more than Johnny or Brooke or Marc. All of the children here have a little corner of my heart; I love Nathan's spastic nature, Bart's intuitive mind, Tammy's awkwardness, Crissy's brutal honesty, and Kakoli's caring heart. Each of these children are vastly different yet I love them all so much. It reminds me of  God's love for humanity, however my love is an imperfect replica of His love. I struggle, and fail, to love everyone I come into contact with, while God does not. His love is openly given to all of humanity regardless, perhaps because of, our immense differences. We are all different, none the same, but He loves each His strange little children anyway.  “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God.” 1 John 3:1

Life is not fair

Katie and I with the babies

Life is not fair. I say this in a grouchy tone sprung from the massive headache that developed from a week of the worst cold of my life. It’s probably more than a cold. Why is it that I always get the most sick away from home? As Katie, a fellow student missionary, said, “I have been more sick during the four months here than the past ten years.”

Life is not fair. Ever since I was little I tended to keep an eye out for what was fair. If someone was not fair to me I would say something. More like, “Mommy! Janelle is not sharing!” or “Mommy! Jonathon ate all the cookies!” I guess it is the middle child syndrome or something but I thought I had an idea of what was right and what was wrong and I wanted to enforce it. That sense of fairness has stuck with me through the years. Splitting bills at restaurants, sharing a bowl of snack food or candy, and scheduling shower times with roommates are some small things that bother me if not done fairly.

Me and some kids from my old class

Life is not fair. In the classroom as a student I always wanted the teachers to treat every student the same. If they didn’t it wasn’t fair. They need to give each student the same opportunities, the same help. To some extent I still believe that but I noticed in the classroom as a teacher I don’t treat ever student the same. I praise the students differently, I punish the students differently, and I help the students differently. I don’t show favoritism, however, I use different methods to get the same point across. Methods tailored to each student’s character.

Me and some kids from my new class

Life is not fair. God doesn’t treat us all the same. He doesn’t talk to us all the same. God uniquely and personally interacts with each of us. I just read the other day in the bible about spiritual gifts and this passage struck me. 1 Corinthians 12:4-6, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.” To me this struck me saying it is ok to be different we all are and it is good. All these differences make the big picture greater. Sometimes unfairness is necessary to achieve the best out of each individual. This world is full of a variety of characters, each offering something unique. We should embrace these differences and grow them through reasonable unfairness. I believe our world is healthier and stronger when we embrace individual uniqueness.

The now class 5 girls over for a sleepover

So now, I say this with less whining (still a little because my headache as not gone away), and a smirk on my face: Life is not fair.

The New Year

With the New Year comes a new class. Due to trouble with the bus we didn’t get back from Nepal till late Sunday night and school started the next day. No preparation. Ahh! Oh well, how bad could it be? In the morning I went to class at 8:45am expecting to teach math, however the schedule was changed. Now I teach English from 10:30 to 11:15 everyday, Math from 8:30 to 9:15 Wednesday-Thursday, and Science/Health from 11:15 to 12:00 Thursday-Friday. This means I only have one class Monday and Tuesday. What am I going to do with all this free time?! Don’t worry, I’ll find something. Oh, I could play with the babies!

This new class has 17 kids, 4 more than the last class, and those 4 more make a difference. They are a lot noisier, whinier, naughtier and more stubborn. The first week was a struggle. Friday, teacher Joya came up to me exhausted saying she missed the old class. I agreed. They are testing both of us to see what they can get away with.

During the second week they started to get better but then Thursday hit, the worst day of teaching so far. For math class everyone was chattering, reading other books, and complaining that they didn’t understand because they weren’t listening. I was so relived to escape to breakfast. English class went okay but I finished early and started reading a book to them. As soon as they sat on the mat chaos ensued. There was hitting, pinching, calling names, talking, and getting up to wander around. I started science class and nothing changed. I sent two girls, Annemarie and Suzanna, to two opposite corners. If I was the architect of building that classroom I would have made a corner for each of the kids. With those girls in the corners the class was a little better and more attentive. However, those girls did not stay in the corners for long. Annemarie moseyed over to the door and managed to lock us in the classroom from the outside while being on the inside. A couple of the kids tried to unlock the door with no luck. We had to get the attention of someone outside to open the door.

After class I had Annemarie and Suzanna stay to talk to them about their behavior. After talking I looked them each in the eyes and asked them if they were going to work on being good girls in class. They both responded with a confident NO. Okay, we know are going to talk to Papri (the principle). I took them each by the hand and led them down to Papri’s office. She wasn’t there. So we wandered around some trying to find her. We found mommy instead. Mommy informed me that I have to punish them and that I needed to spank Annemarie. If Papri punishes her she will learn to listen to Papri but not me. I understand that but I really didn’t want to spank anyone, so I sent them to their rooms without lunch. I found Papri in the café and let her know they will not be joining them for lunch. On my way back to my room Annemarie was walking outside laughing and smiling at me as if to say I can do what I want and you can’t stop me. Why did she have to do that? Now I have to spank her or she will never learn. I walked straight over to her, took her back into her room, set her over my knee and spanked her good. She was shocked. I left her with some strong yet encouraging words and headed to my room. As soon as I left her room tears started welling up in my eyes. That was my first time spanking a child and it was awful. I bypassed my room and went straight to the roof where I cried out all the emotions I had been bottling up since I got here. I hadn’t felt that helpless in a long time.

Life in the classroom is still hard and chaotic at times but overall they are doing a lot better. Each child has its moments of defiance but I think that is natural. Annemarie is always nervous I am going to wallop her again. I guess this fear is good. At least she listens to me now. I love teaching, I just don’t like the classroom management. I‘m not good at it. I hate being the bad guy; I just want to be their friend. Bless those who find enjoyment in managing the little ones. You are saints.

Nepal

taxi ride to the airport

Our adventure started December 26 with the night bus to Dhaka. Between 10:00pm and 5:30am I inhaled lots of cigarette smoke, witnessed several beatings, froze a little, and slept less. When we arrived in Dhaka everything was still asleep so we sat outside the dental clinic’s gate like homeless people eating the food Shuati had lovingly prepared for us. Around 6:30am Simpson came out and let us in to sleep in the guest rooms. We all zonked out till noon. Then took a taxi to the airport, and an hour and a half plane ride later we were in Nepal. It was cloudy landing. We could see the mountains above the clouds but then descended beneath them. I got through customs first and proceeded to find the hotel taxi that was supposed to pick us up. As I stepped outside waves of voices were hitting me demanding a taxi and signs were pushed in my face of the names of the people they were supposed to pick up. As soon as I saw my name on the white piece of paper it all stopped. I had found my ride. Once everyone got through customs we headed off to the hotel. That night we got the lowdown from the hotel supervisor and than went exploring on our own.

Flying into Kathmandu

The next day we wondered around with a detail-less map. We found Durbar square, got really hungry, played battleship, ate mint chocolate chip ice cream, and ended the day in an unstable kingdom where we all fought to be royalty (aka. playing Kings, Queens and Poppers). It was a good day of unplanned wandering around. I got a knockoff North Face jacket because I was not prepared for the cold weather. When packing for Bangladesh I completely forgot about going to Nepal and only had one sweatshirt. Oh well, thank goodness for cheap well made rip-offs.

The Buda eyes

The goal for Monday was to see some monkeys, specifically the Monkey temple. After reading up on it we figured out where it was and that we wanted to go around sundown when the ceremony of lighting candles occurs. So we wandered around the other side of Thamel in the morning and set out for the Monkey temple after noon. We needed to go through town, over a river, and then up a hill. Or so I thought. We made it to the river with no problems but the other side of the river was another town with lots of streets that weren’t on the map. Also the streets had no street signs. Needless to say, we were lost. Not lost in the sense that we didn’t know how to get anywhere, I could get us back to the hotel, but lost because we didn’t know how to get the where we wanted to go. At one point we saw the Monkey Temple sitting on a hill and headed in that direction. We eventually found it. So many monkeys! And they all stayed near the temple. I guess it was because that is where their food came from. The temple was pretty neat. So many stairs! It was cool to look down on Kathmandu from the top of the hill. By the time we left it was getting dark. That made it harder to navigate the nameless streets back to the bridge. We made it across the river but used a different bridge. Oh well, we’re smart cookies and figured out where we were.

Monkey Temple

Tuesday was the day we were heading for Nagarkot, but first a friend of Caleb’s mom showed us around the other side of Kathmandu. He is a bible worker for the SDA church, specifically a librarian that translates books into the local language. He took us to the main Hindu temple and burial sight. They cremate the bodies and pour the ashes into the holy river. When we were there they were burning one body and preparing another. It was nice wandering around with a local. He took to the non-touristy places. We got to see the real Kathmandu. After taking him out to lunch we took the hotel taxi to Nagarkot. Getting out of the smog filled city was wonderful. We took a windy road up through giant trees. It reminded me of California. And we could see the mountains!

In Nagarkot

In Nagarkot we wandered around gawking at the grand mountains. Other than a mishap with a thorny plant that numbed half of my right hand for several days, it was by far the best part of the trip. My soul belongs in the mountains. I would have been content just sitting in our hotel window basking in the awe. There is something about being high up in nature that feels holy and closer to God.

Mountains!

We brought in the New Year in Nagarkot. I celebrated with a Twix bar and soda from the airplane. January 1 I went rock climbing in Nepal. Well, it was actually bouldering, and super easy bouldering at that. We all wanted to stay in Nagarkot longer but I had already paid for the next hotel back in Kathmandu. So we stayed most of the day, went to the lookout tower and then road back into the smoggy city.

Momos

Finding our hotel took quite some time. The taxi driver didn’t know exactly where our hotel was so he dropped us off in the middle of Thamel. The map we had from the first hotel wasn’t very detailed. There were a lot more roads on the street than on the map. We had to stop for directions twice but eventually found the hotel. There they gave us a better map that actually had their location on it. Thank goodness, I didn’t want to wander down those dark allies again.

The next day we cooked like locals. Oh it was fun to be in the kitchen again! We got to make momos. Very tasty. Then we finished buying gifts for people and left the next day. Over all, this trip was filled with lots of walking, eating yummy food, witnessing different religions, and seeing God’s grandiose. I definitely want to come back, but next time I will get further into the mountains.

First Field trip

Paharpur

November 30, we were supposed to leave at 7am but didn’t go until 8am. Typical Bangladesh time. Class 3 and 4 were going to Paharpur and the Children’s Park. They begged me to come with them. Even though I had a late night sleep over with class 6 girls, I decided to go. It should be fun going on my first field trip as a teacher. Ponwel, Shuborna, the class 3 teacher, Nicole and I were the adults going. In the bus I was crammed in the back surrounded by children. I didn’t mind. It was like every bus ride I had as a kid, loud singing, bouncing, laughing, sleeping and motion sickness. However, there were a lot more bumps due to the un-kept roads. This was most of the kids first time in a bus. Since the kids have rarely if ever ridden in vehicle motion sickness is a big problem. Before we left all the kids had to take medicine and were giving a vomiting bag. Cloe actually vomited. Poor girl.

Johnny's jumping picture

When we got to Paharpur we buddied up. Brianna and Johnny were my buddies. Everyone had to go to the bathroom but they were locked. We found the lady with the key, but she wanted us to pay to use it. After a bit of arguing Ponwel paid her and the kids went to the bathroom. These people will use anything to get money. Once everyone was finished we explored the ruins. Brianna ran off and buddied with someone else. So it was just me and Johnny. He wanted me to take a picture of him jumping. After about five tries I got a descent one. Then he wanted to take a picture of me jumping. Bless his heart for trying but he could never get all of me into the frame.

Johnny's jumping picture of me

We wandered around for a bit, then sat down to give the pathfinders a bible quiz. I was responsible for seeing who raised their hand first. Oh my, was that hard. They were all calling, “Julie teacher me! Me Julie teacher!” Most of the time I had no idea, so I just dispersed the callings and gave everyone a chance without the kids realizing. Haha! Sneaky Julie.

My buddy

As we were heading out, one of the owners recognized me from last Saturday and was asking about how my time here in Bangladesh was going. While I was talking to him Johnny gave me a strange look and slipped away. That was odd. Then I realized he was about to have a seizure. Oh, no! We tried to get him to snap out of it by holding up a leather shoe for him to smell, but it didn’t work. We got all the kids in the bus and had him sitting on the platform in the front next to the driver. Then he started to seize. Seeing that small body twitch uncontrollably was heart breaking. They decided to take him outside where it would be cooler. I heart ached to go with him but all the other adults were going and I needed to stay back and entertain the kids. So stood in the doorway as we sang songs and prayed for Johnny. His seizure lasted more than 30 minutes. He hadn’t even finished when they brought him back into the bus. We needed to move on. So I sat on the floor of the bus holding him. After ten minutes of holding him he fell asleep.

Marc and Brent making me
sick on the teacups

We ate lunch at the Children’s park, leaving Johnny in the bus to sleep. Then we toured around the park. There were interesting sculptures and painting all along the walkways. We first went to a section that reminded me of the Chico fair, but way more sketchy. There were swings and slides, two teacup spinning things, a Ferris wheel, a rocking Vikings boat, swinging chairs, and two trains. The kids loved it! Of course I got sick on the teacups. Marc and Brent were spinning it way too fast. Then the kids got on the Ferris Wheel. The people running the Ferris Wheel would have been sued several times if we were in the U.S.. They loaded the kids on quickly and would send them off quickly without making sure they were all in and sitting down. I saw one girl fall off about five feet in the air. Luckily she didn’t hurt her self. Some of the kids, Marc and Cloe included, were scared on the Ferris Wheel. I would be too on that rickety thing. Next I advised we go on the train; that might be a little safer then the other rides. Boy that train was load and shaky, but the kids loved it. Nicole were discussing how the kids would react going to a theme park in the States. I think they would be terrified.

The sketchy Ferris Wheel

Then we wandered around some more. We came across a cage of deer. The deer were all spotted and very curious. The kids would hold out their hands through the cage and the deer would cautiously slink over to inspect what treats they hand to give. It was normally nothing but occasionally they had a leaf or orange peal. I also got to touch them. Next we went to what they called the zoo. We walked on a path along some paintings and sculpture of animals. The kids wanted a picture by each animal. I have so many pictures! Then we wandered around some more. Eventually it was lime to go. I was reluctant to go because I was still sick from the teacups and exhausted from the excitement of the day and the night before.

The spotted deer

Kids and penguins

When we got back to the bus Johnny was still asleep but as we climbed in the noise woke him up. I took him the back of the bus to sit with me. I had him drink some water and eat some food because he hadn’t eaten since breakfast. He looked exhausted. Poor guy. About half way back I asked him if he wanted to sleep. He looked at me with the saddest face and said, “cold” as he rubbed his arms. I got down my jacket and wrapped him in it. Five minutes later he was out. Then Brianna and Marc fell asleep on my right side and Rosie on my left. The trip wore them out. When we arrived on campus I carried Johnny up to his room. Sweet dreams Johnny.

Kids and elephan