Mutiny in Bangladesh

For some people here, life is going on as usual: for others, it has become a nightmare. I had no idea trouble was brewing until yesterday noon when I received a call from Riley's school, wondering if I had heard there was fighting going on and they were not sure if they should send the bus. In the end, he did come on the bus but it was a strange feeling for me to have my child "out there" even though we didn't really expect trouble on the roads they would be taking. We then heard that a 3 p.m. curfew was going to be in effect for the city (though I still have not seen that confirmed in the news). Our office shut down early so people could get home. So no sooner was Riley home safe and sound when we started to think about the others. In the end, they canceled school early and made it home without a problem. The children didn't really know what was going on, except that there was some fighting. It was almost humorous to hear little boy ideas as to what that meant, such as rocks being thrown. Yet it was so not funny to tell them it was much worse than that, that soldiers were fighting each other with guns and people were dying because they were tired of the way they were treated. Pruitt told me his heart had been beating really fast so I held him and we talked some more about what was going on. The rest of the day passed quietly - seriously, Dhaka is rarely this quiet - except for the area where the fighting is going on. To give you an idea, it's about a 15 - 20 minute rickshaw ride away, just around the corner from our favorite Bengali restaurant and beside the shopping center where we like to buy dvds. But from here we can't hear a thing.

Just in case things were going to be cancelled for today, Austin went to the market really quick and got paint to paint the boys' room and tomatoes for me to can. So I started canning some of them yet yesterday afternoon, and baked some bread as well. In the middle of all this, the neighbors came to the door and wanted to see how we had painted the other rooms and what set up we have here. So I showed them around and had to chuckle to myself at things that would have really offended me at one time but I've been here long enough that it makes me want to LOL instead. Like the grandma, looking into a dark empty room and telling us all that the fan had been left on. Like being asked how much this and that cost. Like how our big open space, which I love, is wasted space. Meanwhile my kitchen was overflowing with tomatoes and bread and the boys were starving for dinner which I had basically not even started. But I embraced the opportunity to be a neighbor and was once again grateful that I have neighbors I can be comfortable enough around to show my house to, even if it's a mess.

This morning we were all up bright and early, wondering if there would be school. There was, so we got the boys on the bus and Austin went to the office and I started painting. Around noon we received word that, instead of being ended like we thought, the fighting is actually spreading to other districts and some really horrific things are going on - head officers being brutally murdered, etc. Instead of trying to put it in my own words, I'll post some links and you can check out the latest happenings for yourself.

edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/02/25/bangladesh.gunbattle/index.html?iref=topnews

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7911524.stm



Since the trouble is mostly in Bangladesh Rifles Quarters, we are not in danger and we have no plans of heading that way. So if you are worried about us, don't be. Instead, pray for those who are on both sides of this, as well as for the government to know how to handle it. I am so saddened to think how many lives have been lost and am praying that it will end soon.

Unfortunately, the boys were planning to go to a kids' camp outside of Dhaka this weekend, but that has been cancelled. Even though the area would probably have been safe, cell phone towers have been turned off outside of the city and they would not have been able to contact parents, which would not have been a good feeling, given the current situation. So I am about to welcome my boys home and am wondering how we can make this a special weekend anyway. Lets see, I have 2 walls painted blue in their room... I wonder if they'd like to help put orange on the other walls. LOL I'm sure they would, but will it push me over the edge? Maybe they can "camp out" in the living room. Any ideas anyone?

Ta ta for now.