Hours in the Sky

   In the past month and a half I have spent 56 hours in the sky. Flying gives me great anxiety, in fact I think it's one of my bigger fears. Unfortunately it seems as though there is no way for me to avoid it, tomorrow I have to catch a plane at 7 am.
  This is a picture I took with my ipod I flew right over the north pole! The airplane was 37,000 feet off the ground and it looked as though we were just a few hundred, the landscape was huge and vast. I prayed many times nothing would go awry.

Bootea Knife

   This is my new knife! I paid 150 taka(less than 2 USD). I love this knife it makes me feel powerful yet vulnerable, I know if I fell on it there may just end up being two of me. Anyhow when I was in Bangladesh these knives were always used to chop up food. They are quite fast once you get the hang of them. Making it more stable I place my foot on the tail of the knife then I slice away.

Luke + Rumi

   Luke and Rumi were two of my first grade students. Both of them had very good english so I got to know them a bit better than some of the other children. Whenever we sang songs during class Rumi could always be heard, she never ceased to call me Shara teacher and she was always quite insistant on making sure that I looked at every detail of her school work and gave it an A+. Often times I would pass by her and she would ask me, "Shara teacher how are you?" "I am doing good. How are you doing?" Rumi's response was  always, "I am fine".

   Luke was very demanding when I first arrived at the orphanage but as time progressed he became one of my favorites. Luke just wanted to be with me. Unlike many of the children he never demanded I give him stuff. Sometimes I would take Luke on walks and he would be nearly silent the whole time. I remember asking him how long he had been at the orphanage, he wasn't sure but he thought he came when he was three. I asked him why he came. He told me that his parents could not take care of him any more so it was better that he go to the orphanage. I will not forget how on the day that I left the orphanage Luke kept pulling on my shirt telling me that I was not leaving. I told him I had to go and his only response was "No". I told him to be good, "No". I told him I would miss him, "No". I told him I would come back, "No Shara teacher". I miss Luke very much and will not forget all my Luke memories. 

BANGLADESHIS

What I Ate

   The other day I was in the kitchen house spending some time with the cooks. Soon enough their lunch time rolled around and they were all eating so they offered me some of their rice and curry. The curry that  was served to me was bright yellow and full of potatoes and chunks of meat. I gnawed the meat off of the bones and chewed and chewed and chewed the meat until my throat allowed me to swallow it. I asked them what kind of meat it was. They told me that it was "oot". During their process of explaining I heard them say something about it being big with a hump. Then it hit me "I just ate camel." I hoped and expected the camel curry experience to sort of be a once in a lifetime ordeal but I have been offered the dish three times in a matter of days and I am a bit of a people pleaser so this has not been a once in a lifetime experience.