after over 24 hours of travel, we made it to dhaka at around 2am sunday. we had a 17-ish hour layover in malaysia - we got in around 6a and said goodbye to team china before heading to a hotel with the india/nepal team. we were able to sleep for a few hours before saying goodbye to the nepal team. we then hired a tour bus and got to get into downtown kuala lumpur for a day of sightseeing, which was sweet. we had lunch in the city and saw a lot of the sights, then headed back to the hotel for some more rest before our 10p flight to bangladesh.
we had a pretty scary flight into dhaka (we were smack dab in the middle of a thunderstorm) but made it safely and were put up in a nice hotel for the night.
we're now staying at an AIR CONDITIONED flat, which is the home of a couple from hawaii who are long-termers here. we feel incredibly, incredibly blessed. the flat is a nice retreat from the madness outside that is dhaka, bangladesh.
a few of us have done quite a bit of traveling these past couple of years, but we all agree that we've NEVER experienced anything like dhaka. it's hard to explain, but there is something about this city that makes it unique, yet so beyond needy - above all other places any of us have known. the traffic is more chaotic than any place we've been, it is always noisy and crowded, but the people are so, so, so beautiful. words cannot describe what this place is like, but we feel so honored to be serving here.
we've had a great couple of days getting adjusted to the culture (the girls shouldn't have even packed in australia...our clothes are worthless here. we must wear the traditional bengali clothing, which is both beautiful and extremely WARM) and getting to know our amazing contacts. we turn quite a bit of heads (that's a complete understatement) when we're out in public, and we rarely let go of each other's hands when walking anywhere, keeping us together and feeling comfortable.
tomorrow we will begin our ministry. jay will be taking two people to do mercy ministry in the slums - the poorest of the poor. they will be doing a lot of work in a day care that is held in the slum. i will be taking the remaining 5 students on a two hour (minimum) bus ride (dhaka-style bus...we're not talking greyhounds) to the university where the smartest of the smart of all bangladesh attend. we'll be helping in english classes and sharing as much as we can when possible with the people that will, without a doubt, be the future of bangladesh - the government officials, lawyers, doctors, etc.
the team is SO SUPER excited to start the ministries. we'll be switching between the university ministry and slum work, which will give us all a good variety.
all in all, we're healthy and happy. soaking up the culture and excited about what's to come while having a lot of fun together. thank you to each and every one of you for your prayers.
we'll be in touch when we can.
lots of love,
mal, jay, joey, ry, espen, ester, mariax2 and amy
