The journey begins

I'm on my way home for my younger brother's wedding!

A Shameless Plug

Here in MCC we have a project that I like a lot. This project produces handmade natural soap bars. It's called Sacred Mark. The important thing about Sacred Mark isn't that it produces soap. The important thing about Sacred Mark is that it was developed to give women who were forced into prostitution a second chance at life (It reminds me very much of John 8: 1-11). The women who work for Sacred Mark have left behind their old life and are shown that they are a beautiful creation, loved by God. Making soap is more than just a way of life for these women. The crisp clean packaging along with the Sacred Mark signature thumb print seal which adorn every bar are wonderful reminders to me of how much a little cleaning from God can do.

I bring this up because I'm going to be bringing home some of this soap. My reasoning for this is two-fold; I want to support Sacred Mark in any way that I can and to help pay for some of my travels in the states (I figure most people can appreciate that I have no money). If anyone is interested or knows someone else who might be, I'll be doing this on a donation basis (for legal reasons which I have no clue about but someone told me to do). The suggested donation is $5 (buy 2, get 1 free) and I will be giving $2 of that towards Pobitra which is the MCC project which actually prepares the women for the transaction to a new life and a normal workplace.

For the purposes of even more disclosure, that I am aware of, Sacred Mark soap is already being distributed by two businesses in the US. Ten Thousand Village stores and Global Girlfriend (https://www.globalgirlfriend.com/gifts/item.do?itemId=36843&siteId=344). My intent is not to take business from these organizations but rather promote awareness that the soap is there.

Quote

I like this quote by Francis Chan.

'But you know what? I didn't bother to ask if they would modify the rules for me so I could run less, and maybe do fewer push-ups. That would've been pointless and stupid, and I knew it. Everyone knows that if you sign up for the Marines, you have to do whatever they tell you. They own you.

Somehow this realization does not cross over to our thinking about the Christian life. Jesus didn't say that if you wanted to follow Him you could do it in a lukewarm manner. He said, “Take up your cross and follow me.”'

Additional culture talk...

Speaking of culture. I've got an example of when things just don't combine well. Bengali's have worldwide renown for being the worst people as far as airplane etiquette. I've heard over and over that flights to and from Dhaka are considered the worst flight assignment a steward or stewardess could get. I was reminded of this when I flew back from Malaysia. As soon as you get to your boarding gate you are reminded that you are returning to Bangladesh by the fact that all the Bengali's are pushing and shoving to get to the front of the line. This is regardless of whether there is significance to being at the front of the line. They just seem to want to be there. We sat in our boarding area for about 20 minutes and a group of Bengali's stood the entire time at the door waiting to be allowed to get on a plane that they already had assigned seat for.

When we got on the plane there were all sorts of guys (oh and just for the record, you hardly ever see a woman on any of these flights) playing with cell phones and cameras despite the fact that they've been told to turn them off. While we were in the air the smoke alarm kept going off because people kept trying to smoke in the bathrooms. Finally, after about 5-6 times of this occurring, a Bengali man got up and really spelled it out clearly for them which seemed to mostly fix the problem. My favorites though were as we were landing. On our decent the guy across the aisle from us was trying to make phone calls and another guy about 4 rows ahead of us was literally standing up, leaning over his neighbor, looking out the window. I think he did manage to sit down before we actually hit the ground but I was just amazed at the fact that he was doing that. As we hit the tarmac there was the typical clicking of seat-belts coming unlatched immediately. Then about a half-a-dozen men stood up and tried getting their carry on luggage while we were still half a mile from the terminal. I was sitting in the middle seat and the guy on the window seat tried being one of these people, but I told him to sit down and refused to let him get past me. I didn't go to the bathroom during this flight but I've heard that is quite the experience on any of these flights as Bengali airplane bathroom etiquette is the worst of the worst. I might have to go on the way back from the states just to have a story to share myself.

Culture shock

To be honest with you, I'm somewhat afraid to be going home. Culture shock is a very real thing that happens going both ways. I've heard it's actually worse going back to your own culture. I think most of this has to do with the fact that I don't know what to expect. I'd like to think that it will all feel natural being that I have spent far more of my life in the states than I have in Bangladesh but wonder if things will just feel awkward or off at times. I guess I'll find out soon enough. Less than two weeks from now to be exact.

A list of things I'm afraid I'll mess up:
-Driving of the wrong side of the road.
-Spitting in an inappropriate setting.
-Asking a question that it isn't culturally appropriate to ask.
-Messing up personal space distances.
-Responding "heh" instead of "yeah" on accident.

On the other hand, I'm extremely excited because I like meeting face to face with people. I'll get to do a whole lot of that while I'm in the states. I'm also really excited about who those faces will be. All you wonderful people make it worth the cultural issues.

Even more boring than usual...

I don't have that much to say. Life is back to being its typical boring self this past week or so. I even managed to keep Easter low key because no one was in Bogra with me. The only thing interesting I did on Easter was take a 2.5 hour bike ride. I've got some interesting projects on my plate but they're all in the beginning stages and not really worth discussing yet. I guess it is worth noting that I'll be coming home in just 20 days now. I really should polish off my schedule a bit this next week.

I did start up exercising a bit this past week. I figure I want to be in good enough shape to play some sports while I'm back in the states. I say this only to point out that this is about the worst possible time to take up exercise in Bangladesh. On any given day it is generally in the upper 80's by 7:30 in the morning. By the afternoon it is in the mid-90's. Another thing that doesn't help is that the backup power supply at our house is broken, which means that, on any given day, we don't have electricity from about 6pm till about 9:30 or so. So pretty we pretty much just sit there and sweat for 3 hours in the dark. I've taken to going to bed with a towel over my pillow to soak up the sweat. I've also gone from being able to wear a pair of clothes for most of a week to having to change every day. I still haven't seen rain in Bangladesh in months. We got rained on in Cambodia and Malaysia but it hasn't come within miles of me in Bangladesh. I can't wait until the rain gets here and cools things off a bit.

I also went to Ben's house with Jodi tonight. We've been pestering him for months to have us over to meet his family and he finally got around to it. We're going to visit their neighbor tomorrow night as a result since many invitations come after the first. They seem like a really nice family. They have a small boy like Dave's family did but this one is much better behaved (I don't think he pees in the sink or wears girls clothing at all).

That last one is probably a good place to leave this.

Proof

Sometimes I catch myself saying things and realize that they are exactly why many people view me as strange. Tonight I had one of those moments, it was in the context of telling someone about Cambodia and I said, "It's really quite beautiful and the people giggle in a really cute way."