We enthusiastically received our second and final shipment of our belongings. Our Unaccompanied Baggage portion was processed through customs and delivered at the beginning of the week. Typically, this shipment is received first. We were instructed to fill it with items we would want several weeks after landing. This half of our shipment contained towels, linens, bath mats, soap, toiletries, and containers for organizing.
The following two days, workers from the Embassy hung all of our belongings, assembled our children’s play structure, and touched up on the paint. I focused on hanging, labeling, organizing, and framing, all with the help of our beloved household helpers. We took turns carrying the baby and sitting on the floor to sort.
At the same time, our family took turns passing the illness that our preschooler brought home with her. We had a night of monitoring the baby’s congested breathing, followed by an early morning visit to the doctor. With a little Afrin and a nose sucker, he is on the mend.We take turns trying to coax him into our arms to blow his nose.
I was rewarded at the end of the week with a solo trip to a northeastern region of Bangladesh. I flew with other members of our Embassy community on a cramped regional plane. We ascended through the smog, above the tight tessellations of high-rise buildings, into the first sight of clean air and blue skies that I have seen in a month. We stayed in the air for less than one hour and descended amongst large green bogs lined with Koroch and Teak trees. The marshy landscape looked like a hydrated savannah with its seemingly endless horizon and grazing cows and goats. During our drive to the resort, we passed through rolling green tea estates, unpaved villages with tin and bamboo structures, rice paddies, and small concrete cities with metal storefronts. Occasionally, an ornate mosque could be seen, one of which had a vehicle decorated for a wedding parked outside. A torrential downpour pounded on the roof of our van, and the combination of the rain and the greenery satiated some of my nostalgia for Oregon. The rain cleared as we took a sharp turn away from the last large bazaar through lavish gates and into the resort.
The first night, I enjoyed a bed and room by myself. I watched my favorite show and ate a burger in bed. It is my first night away from the baby since he was 5 weeks old and Miles and I rotated nights while my mom was on hospice. I felt quite connected to the baby still when I woke up at 1:50 am with the urgent need to pump!
The following morning, while everyone else chose to go on a tea tour, myself and another woman who decided to stay behind, enjoyed a leisurely cup of coffee after breakfast and a stimulating conversation about our lives and our hopes for the future. We plan to meet again for lunch to continue our conversation. I then ventured up to the hotel’s library and sat in the window to write this blog entry. I enjoyed the sun and green view and sitting in a large chair in silence.
It is both relaxing and sad to be vacationing alone. I carpool and eat my meals with the other families who brought their children along and have found a happy comfort there. I will be glad to return refreshed and ready to embrace the business of my own family life again.
