Connecting the Dots

Hello to all!

 

Before I tell you about my awesome day!...

I would first like to say "Thank you" for all of the support and love I have constantly been receiving from so many of you throughout my time abroad so far. I am humbled by all of the kind words, prayers and love being sent my way. Your support has had a HUGE impact on me and I am beyond grateful for each and every one of you. Cheers to you all!!

 

At the moment, I'm sitting at the wooden desk in my room sipping on some tea as my Friday comes to an end while I enjoy the quiet hum of my air conditioning mixed with the ceiling fan. Time to reflect on the past two days:

 

Thursday I spent the majority of my day at icddrb working on NRU interviews, journaling and reading up on acute malnutrition protocol before heading out to dinner. Around 7:30pm five of us met up and walked a few blocks down the road to a wonderful Korean restaurant called Goong, "The Castle". We stepped up a flight of stairs and into a beautiful, authentic Korean dining area. Upon arriving at our table our waiter brought each of us a small cup of warm pumpkin soup and a beautiful bite-size, spiral-shaped slice of tomato that was marinated in a sweet soy sauce. I could tell I was going to like this place! After ordering, we were given complimentary fried vegetable & fish cakes accompanied by a sweet and spicy chili sauce. It was to die for! Not very long after the appetizers came and went, our main dishes arrived. WOW was everything wonderful! The complimentary dessert was my favorite part; home made puffed rice cakes with sugar, apple slices, and sweet cinnamon apple cider.  Mmm mmm mmm! Come to think of it, I wish I would have taken my camera with me because the presentation of each dish was absolutely beautiful! Following dinner, I  ended up staying in the apartment and relaxing for the rest of the night.

 

Today (Friday) I slept in until 10:30am then made my way to the kitchen to boil water for tea. After a relaxing and uneventful morning/early afternoon, I was picked up by student services in front of my apartment to make a trip to Lavender -local market- to buy groceries for my roommate Natalie. Since she is still recovering from her hospital stay, I offered to do her shopping for her and was generously given a ride to and from by student services.

 

Following the trip to Lavender I met up with my friend Samantha and walked over to the district beside ours, Banani, to go to our local tailor who had hemmed one of my skirts for me. It turned out perfectly, as expected! Before trekking back to Gulshan, we stopped in one of the local bakeries to buy an assortment of cookies and a small fresh fruit cake. One thing Bangladesh is known for that many people do not know are the wonderful Bakeries in town! If you ever come to Bangladesh, be sure to stop at a popular local bakery.

 

We began walking back towards Gulshan and couldn't help but stop at our favorite stores on the way: Aranya and Jatra- which happen to be in the same building. For better or for worse, I spent more Taka than planned, but managed to get plenty of beautiful fair trade & handmade items for myself as well as friends and family members. As we continued on down the dirty roads through the Gulshan 2 circle we made another pit stop, this time at Lavender so Sami could get a few things.

 

Our final destination was La Femme, the beauty salon we enjoyed getting cheap pedicures at last week. La femme is a ladies only salon that offers an assortment of services: hair cut/color, pedicures/manicures, waxing, threading, massages, and piercings. This salon caters to many locals and is extremely popular amongst expats because of the cheap prices and quality of service. I initially heard of La Femme from my wonderful friend Nofi, who has lived in Banladesh for over a year now and works with BRAC bank (NGO).

 

The main reason in coming to La Femme today was so that I could...

 



 

GET MY NOSE PIERCED! They pierced it with an earring gun! The woman shoved that thing right up my nose and BAM it was over in a second. Sami got pictures of the whole process so once I get them from her, I will share them with you all. Now I'm finally starting to fit in with the locals! ;) 

I spent the rest of my evening relaxing with Nick and Natalie at our dining room table. Natalie is feeling much better from her scary allergic reaction and I was pleased to have a wonderful conversation with her that left me laughing more often than not. Throughout the conversation she couldn't thank me enough for saving her life, and honestly I didn't know what to say. I definitely don't feel responsible for saving her, even though she most likely would have died had I not been there to take her to the ER. I couldn't possibly take credit for what happened last week because I know God used me that day alongside many others -the men who gave us their rickshaw, Jill's suggestion to go to the hospital, the amazing doctors and nurses- in order to keep Natalie alive. It's certainly a treat to look back on situations and see how you just so happen to be at the right place at the right time. As well, If you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time there's usually a lesson to be learned, so pay attention.

The night before I left for college, my father and I sat out on our front porch until 2am talking about infinite topics. One thing he mentioned to me that night was that life never quite makes sense looking forward. He said that we can only follow our heart and knowledge at any given moment because that is what we are given in the present time. He told me of the unexpected and unplanned paths his life had taken and the dots that he could now connect looking back on them. You cannot recognize it for what it is just yet, but in this very moment as you read this blog post something beautiful is happening in your life that can only be recognized and withhold purpose to you when viewed in retrospect.

I challenge you to give up the fight of trying to "figure it all out" and simply let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.

Always in love,
-C.