A lot of people have asked how the boys are adjusting. I feel so grateful to be able to say they are doing well. In fact, it has been easier than I expected. Riley was all out of sorts before we left, but once we got here, he seemed to feel as if he'd come home. Not that it was a piece of cake, but he (and all of them) have really embraced life here. They have each had their own struggles and it has come out in different ways, from shyness to defiance. But it feels like we at a good place.
The boys love taking turns going places with Austin. They have even found the local barber, as you can see above. Pruitt's favorite place to go is the Mishti Dokan (sweet shop). Jensen has spent time at the office, drawing, playing on the large roof there and, of course, playing computer games. Riley does better at going places and keeping busy, for some reason.
At the moment they are watching a movie together. Normally we need pretty much the whole morning to get our school work done. But today they did so well and Riley played well so we got done early. Our morning trip to the roof was cut short when the soccer ball soared up into the air, hit the building behind ours and landed a couple doors over. They were quite concerned about the fate of the ball (it was a birthday present for Riley when we arrived) so we looked down and figured out where it went. A little boy was holding it and I asked if I should come get it. He didn't look too happy, but when we walked over to his gate, he came and gave it to us. Part of me wished I could just let him have it. The boys decided, on our walk home, that the soccer ball should be saved for trips to the field.
In some ways, school has become more fun since coming here. For one thing, I have more time to put into it. It also gives good structure to our days. The things we learn are seen through different lenses here. For instance, yesterday we were studying about acid rain in coniferous forests - far from here, yet it gave the opportunity to talk about environmental issues and what we can do. The effects of pollution have never been so close to home, literally! Dhaka is full of fumes and after a few hours there, one's nose is lined with black objects. While we don't have that problem in Mymensingh, we do live close to a big trash mound. If that were not enough, there are many smaller mounds along the street. ( I don't understand, if there is a big pile, why not walk a few more steps to it rather than dump where you have to see it when you walk out the gate.) I have a tiny bit of appreciation for the trash mounds, for it shows me that basically nothing is wasted here. Any food scraps are eaten by cows or dogs and not much else is thrown out. Everything that can be recycled or used again is providing a job for some folks around here. But back to our school session - we talked about the big remaining items in the trash pile - plastic bags and chip bags, etc. and what we can do. Interestingly enough, one of the projects here makes baskets and place mats out of recycled chip bags ( you can probably find them at Ten Thousand Villages) so the boys are going to think about what else can be designed. The office here is getting a machine to melt plastic from pop bottles, etc. and make jewelry out of it. In fact, designing the first mold was Austin's first design job here. I guess I never appreciated recycling as much as I do now. All I have to do is look out of certain windows and I see the result of not doing so. It's funny how something disgusting can be turned to bits of beauty.
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