Emmanuel!

O hey everyone! We are safely in Khulna now J. The Flight from Dubai to Dhaka was about six hours long. We were all pleasantly surprised to find that we had our own personal TV screens for this flight too. We also were happy to find out that we all got to sit in one row. The man who sat next to Felicia (who was on the end) was very nice and helpful and spoke pretty good English. We all started to get a little nervous when after 30 minutes our bags still hadn’t shown up! Eventually they all came though. The guitar was not on the same belt thing so when we started to walk over to report it missing, we happened to pass a different belt thing and saw it going around on that one (Andrea was super happy about that, she ran over to it and MIGHT have tripped a little bit). Outside of the airport we found our contact (Dolon, Metali’s brother) very easily because he walked right up to us (its not hard to find the only white people in a crowd).
Instead of taking a puddle hopper plane like we had originally planed we took a chartered van. This worked better because our flight from Dubai to Dhaka was about 4 hours late. The driving here is insane! It honestly takes serious skill to drive here. The roads are bumpy and uneven, and people are trying to squeeze their cars through spaces that they should not. It took us about an hour to cross a mile long bridge because no one would stay in his or her lanes and it would stop traffic going the opposite way. After the bridge the road and traffic were so bad that a lot of us got carsick. We saw an elephant about two hours into the drive that was really cool! If the windows of the van had been down it could have reached inside (it is kind of scary when you are about to fall asleep and you look to your right and see a giant elephant head looking out you) The van was nice because it had air conditioning, but outside it was really hot. About halfway through our ride we had to take a ferry for about an hour. After the Ferry we got to go Indian Jones style for about an hour and a half but it was fun (the Dramamine that some of had taken 5 hours earlier was now in effect so we didn’t get sick).
Finally we arrived at our apartment, which is right next to where the Adhikari’s live. Have two bathrooms (complete with Squatty Potties), two bedrooms, a bigger living area, and a Kitchen. The kitchen even has a water filter. For everyone at home the water in Khulna does not have Arsenic poison and is safe to drink because it is a deep well. Also, Khulna is one of the safest places in Bangladesh. The food here is very healthy and very good. We are all still trying to master eating with our hands. We are about to go to the market to buy food for dinner, which should be a lot of fun! From our apartment we can hear the almost constant honk of horns, the chirping of little Gecko things, Roosters who are confused about the time, and five times a day the Muslim Call to Prayer. Last night we all went right to sleep because we were so tired! (Some people like Kristin, Andrea, and Casey hardly slept at all while traveling).
The Adhikari’s are incredibly gracious and very grateful that we are here. Albert and Metali speak very good English and have two sons, Anik and Ayon. Tomorrow we start our ministry so please pray that everything goes well, and for our health and safety.
XOXO,
Andrea

Addendum from Jen: Tonight we all enjoyed the fun experience of our first rickshaw rides, trip to the open-air market, and a fun evening after of visiting Metali’s mother, sipping delicious tea and giggling at little 2-year-old Ayon kicking the soccer ball around. We also got to watch a caravan of honking motorcycles waving their Brazil flag in anticipation of the World Cup Game. All of us wanted to be sure to get this blog to you as soon as possible but we’ve been without internet for a few days. Thanks for your support and understanding and prayers family and friends. We’re all doing great, feeling great, and loving our experience so far. Oh one last thing, the title of the blog is the Christian greeting here, Emmanuel!