The countdown begins....

Well there has been a slight gap in the blogging.  I think a holiday in Croatia managed to get in the way.  Croatia was lovely. For the first time in 4 years we had decided 'let's go away, let's have guaranteed sunshine, no more of this rain'.

What happened?  Longest heatwave in the UK since 2006.....

Mmh.


Kids loved it and we loved.  For all the warm weather in the UK, being able to step outside and jump into crystal clear water was worth every penny of that flight with dodgy jet.  It was perhaps the most relaxing holiday we've had in years! Same thing every day - up, breakfast, beach, home, lunch, sleep, up, swim, dinner, pass out.  Sometimes there was even an ice cream to break up the routine!

Anyway, the return from Croatia meant one thing (well two actually) - more jabs for the kids and the countdown really beginning.  The kids are now well and truely jabbed up.  The last one was the worst - BCG for TB.  Arty was NOT happy. And boy did he make that known.  Luckily I escaped and took Isobel for a walk leaving Peter to struggle on with the wriggler.

But they are all done.  You need a lot of jabs for the Desh - TB, Hep A and B, Typhoid, Rabies and so on.  That's the least of their worries though - the next major challenge is trying to get Arty to stop drinking the bath water...or in fact to understand that he can't drink any water which comes out of the tap!  Ha ha.  Good luck with that one many people have said.

So, the countdown.  I think it's 6 weeks today that we fly.  We have put the house on the market - something which saw me hoovering at midnight the other night and vaguely trying to hide all the bits of plastic the kids accumulate in various cupboards, hoping no one would open them!  Peter has given up work - that's quite a major step.  Not only does it mean that for the first time since we met he isn't working for the same organisation, he is unemployed effectively and will mainly be spending his days painting and preparing the dinner (well, I'm hoping for the latter!).

It also means I'm the breadwinner! Scary.  I suddenly feel this massive responsibility to be extra cautious with money to ensure we have enough on my 3.5 day a week salary.  I'm hoping the lottery tickets might have come up trumps but I've not checked yet!

And finally it means attacking the task list.  It seems like a never ending task list and it's not a particularly interesting one:

(1) Go to tip
(2) Paint walls
(3) Spill paint on carpet
(4) Clear up paint on carpet
(5) Go back to tip
(6) Sell car
(7) Rent car
(8) Go to tip
(9) Attempt to chuck out really old toys while the kids aren't looking
(10) Fail in (9)

And so on.

Yesterday I distracted myself fully from this venture and went on a bread baking course.  It was a Christmas gift from all the family - and it was such fun!  It was held at the Lighthouse Bakery in Sussex and I had plumped for European Breads.  Ooh, the poolishes, the bigas, the other fermenty things I'd never heard of.  But the best bit was the bread!!! We now have a freezer full of it.  Which will basically add a few tasks to the list:

(11) Eat contents of freezer
(12) Keep eating contents of freezer
(13) Try not to add anything else to freezer.

Anyway, for some reason I am off to Tanzania this evening.  Not ideal timing as it means leaving Peter and the kids with the chaos of the overflowing bread filled freezer but an opportunity to see some overflowing pit latrines I suppose (just what you wanted to read I'm sure!).

So on that note I will leave you with some pictures of some lovely bread I made yesterday and a picture of the Dhaka skyline which awaits us in 6 weeks time.

Here we have a Limpa at the back, Pan Gallego on the right, Pain de Campagne in the middle and Pane Pugliese on the left

Dhaka belly in the desh

Yes, I’ve had my first encounter with Dhaka belly.  Like Delhi belly but luckily for me it only lasted a few days.  People die of diarrheoa every day – in fact Diarrhoea (88% of which in low income countries is due to poor water and sanitation^[1]) kills more children than HIV/AIDS, malaria and measles combined.  In this case it was something I ate.  Peter had gone and I thought to myself, I know, I'll treat myself to room service.  Ah.  Not such a good idea.

Oh well. 

So, life in Dhaka, what will it be like?

-       Hot.  There is not escaping it.  It will be hot (well apart from the winter when it apparently becomes chilly and we will need jumpers!).  We’re lucky.  We will have air-con and fans.  The office has air-con, the cars have air-con.  But outside, it’s hot and very sticky.

-       Busy.  People, rickshaws, cars, motorbikes, more people, buses.  Everywhere you look.  On the pavements (yes, rickshaws, cars and motorbikes also on the pavements).

-       Noisy.  Horns beeping.  Buildings being knocked down.  New ones being built.  The mosque calling everyone to prayer.

-       Hazardous for tall people – Peter almost lost his head to a ceiling fan whilst coming down some stairs.  That and the low hanging electrical cables which he has to duck.  He has now declared ‘I think I might have to look where I’m going here rather than horizon scan’…

-       Challenging – how to help the kids understand the poverty they will be faced with.  The beggars who bang on the car windows, the children running around in the middle of the road, the disabilities which make life so much more challenging.  How to help them understand how lucky they are and how much there is to be done to improve the opportunities for so many people around the world.

-       Rewarding – the people have been so friendly. So smiley. So willing to help teach us some basic Bangla and tell us about Dhaka, their lives and so on. 

-       Colourful.  Dhaka is so colourful.  The airport is so colourful – the seats are orange and red, but not the dull colours you see at Heathrow and Gatwick, vibrant colours.  The saris and salwar kameez that the women wear are so colourful and beautiful. .

-       Sporty.  It seems that for those not working (so that will be Peter to start with), life will involve tennis, swimming, golf, yoga, more tennis, squash, surfing (yes, surfing!), cycling, running, more golf…..

-       Filling.  So, the curry is good.  That goes without saying. But, for me the excitement was the cinnamon buns I found at the Nordic club.  Yes, cinnamon buns. They were massive and very cinnamonny! 

And on that note, bread that is (and baking), I am still thinking that sourdough needs to come to Dhaka.  So, that's the plan.  I'll get a new kilner jar and we'll make sourdough.  I'm already imagining what kind of bacteria there will be in there helping it to grow.....

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[1] WHO (2004) Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Links to Health: Facts and Figures

Time for a nosey

Kids are safely deposited with granny and papa. New sprouts of grass watered (the sun appears to have come out-shock!) and I am on the train to meet my husband and go on a plane together, on our own, for the first time in 5.5 years. Going in the plane isn't the exciting bit. Three nights on our own in a hotel! What on earth will we talk about??

Now the last time I went to Gatwick with Peter was just after my hen night. I was going to Ethiopia for work but the evil liquor had got to me and my oh my was I ill. He had to come to help me stand up! And stop the car when I felt a little sick....

Anyway. No repeating that today! So why are we going? Well, to look at accommodation, schools, motorcycles riding on pavements and generally to have a nosey. I last went to Dhaka 10 years ago. I have a slight feeling the population and chaos might have increased since then.  It's 35 degrees at the moment apparently. 35 degrees.

The kids keep talking about going to Blangladesh. Although Arty insists not in an aeroplane.  Isobel was slightly traumatised not to be able to come but she will have much more fun baking cakes with granny than being dragged about looking at schools me thinks!

Looking forward to this.  Will be taking photos for the kids and might share a few here.

Mummy, can I have my injections too please?

Not something I thought I would hear Isobel ever say! But say it she did.

Yesterday was the first of the injection fests for the kids.  Oh, yes.  As the nurse at the travel clinic said 'Bangladesh, you can get lots of nasty things there.  Got to have them all'.

And on that optimistic note we booked in for our second go round in a months time.

The day started with excitement 'We're going to London, can we see the Queen'.  Arty was beside himself as he got on the lovely white and yellow southeastern train.  It was sooooo exciting to be on a 'choo choo train'.

Did we feel bad not telling them that they were going to have needles stuck in their arms? Erm, maybe a little bit.  But it was all for the greater good we convinced ourselves.  Peter did point out that in the book he is reading (Second World War by Antony Beevor) the author talks about how during the Holocaust they used the art of deception - telling people that they were off somewhere nice rather than the truth.....

Anyway, that's a completely different scale of deception.  Ours was only very very very small.  And we did bribe them with an ice cream!

There were many forms of transport involved - obviously there was the train.  Then we walked along the South Bank - together with about 100,000 other people (mainly Bayer Munich and Dortmond Fans from what I could see!).  I did ponder why we were moving to one of the most heavily populated places in the world when I can't bear to walk along the South Bank when it's that busy.  Mmmh.

Then it was the big red bus and trying to stop Arty pressing the disabled 'stop' button.  And finally we arrived at the travel clinic.   Who to start with?  Arty was first off the blocks.  Two jabs later (Hepatitis A and B and typhoid) and the nurse was slightly concerned about how we might be able to give him a BCG (for TB) given that he has to apparently stay very very still.  Ha ha.  Unlikely.

What other jabs do they need?  Well apparently, another round of Hep A and Hep B, then the BCG and Rabies (mmmh, nasty.  I had the rabies jab many years ago and thought it would be a good idea to go disco dancing that night....until someone bumped hard into my arm!).  And cholera.  But that's an oral vaccine apparently.  Luckily Dhaka doesn't have Malaria.  Only dengue.  Which you can die from and there is no treatment. 

So moving on, the bribery worked.  Ice creams with flakes in Green Park all round.  It was lovely to be in the sunshine.  The kids were happy and they momentarily forgot the pain of the needle.  However, I'm not sure how easy it will be to get them back there again for the next set!

Fresh bagels for breakfast this morning to try to make up for the pain we inflicted on them.  Only slightly not quite right - I might have mixed up the chinese five spice for the cinnamon!  Oh well.  Bit of jam and we were none the wiser!

We're moving.....to Dhaka!

So, it's been a while.  Life has gone a bit bonkers.  The weather remains cold and depressing - I've been wondering if it's a conspiracy by British Gas and the like to keep our bills high!

Anyway, I was going to start writing some blogs about my sourdough attempts.  There have been many and varied. 

This is how my starter started (thank you Mr HollyWood).  Contents - a festering organic apple, some flour and some water:

This is a more recent success (i.e - it actually rose and was light and airy!):

However, times have now moved on and it's time to reinvigorate this blogging m-larky.

In fact, I'm going to change the name slightly, a play on words.  From now on I think it should be known as 'Tales of Sundarban motherhood....' after the Sundarbans (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/452) which represent the world's largest stretch of mangrove forest.

We are moving to Dhaka.  Why I hear many people ask?  Well, in terms of work it's one of the best places for me - I'm a climate change and environment nut and so to work in one of the main countries which is going to feel the full impact of climate change it makes such huge sense.  For the kids, well, OK it's going to be a shock (the sheer numbers of people, the air quality, the new schools etc) but I am hoping that it will open their minds to the world, the realities in which so many people have to live and give them opportunities to travel to places beyond most people's wildest dreams (Sri Lanka, Nepal, China, Bhutan....the list goes on!).

Anyway, I thought it would be good to start documenting this process.  And my is it a process.  My first visit in almost 10 years is next week.  For Peter it's his first visit.  He's hard core though.  I don't have any concerns.  After all, he has picked up dead bodies post-genocide in Rwanda.  Here's hoping he can find some sort of job - I'm not sure how long he could really cope with playing tennis at the club and going for tea with the spouses......

The kids aren't coming with us on this trip. They are staying at home with granny and papa.  Granny and Papa have got a house full of gin to cope with the aftermarth! Isobel seems relatively interested in the notion of moving to 'Blangladesh' although I'm not entirely (well, not at all) convinced she really has a clue what it means.  I say that, she understands she has to go on a plane - and then completely freaks out at the thought of them shutting the doors on the plane after she has got on!  Which makes me chuckle, especially as she asks in the same sentence whether the plane 'goes upside down' to Blangladesh.

So, from now on this blog is going to focus on the trials and tribulations of moving to Dhaka and living there with a small family.  The things we see, the smells, the tastes, the chaos, the frustration and the happiness.  I hope it will give an insight into life overseas not only for us but also and in particular for those for whom Bangladesh is home.

And of course, I can always try to make sourdough in Dhaka....and maybe branch out to make sourdough bagels for the expats?

It's so hard

This sleeping issue.  I try to remain positive and calm but its just so hard. I dose off and one of the many people in the house makes a noise and that's it, wide awake! I just want the house back to silence.  I am anxious about work.  I didn't sleep until 4am last night.  How will I go to work if that happens in a few weeks time? I feel my anxiety rising but there is nothing I can do.  I don't even have my lamp to read by as its been taken for one of the visitors.  I long to sleep.  I long to run away and just have a few days and nights by myself to rest and go to sleep. I want the people downstairs to stop talking. I want someone to take this insomnia away from me.  It's become a habit and now somehow I have to break it but whilst the thing that caused it to form is still here and my main coping strategy, to get up and move to a different room, is no longer available.  Ideas welcome!

So, it's been a while

A whole month in fact. Life has gone a bit mad. In between the joy of little Isobel dressed as an angel (I even gave her a halo....it was a bit big though and kept falling down!) for her nativity and Arty eating his weight in Christmas pudding, my sleep has not improved. It's beginning to drive me mad, all the coping strategies I've tried have worked a little and then stopped. I have no spare room to escape to as we have the nephew with us still, and now over Xmas we have an extra 5 people in the house. For some reason it's stressing me, making me feel a bit trapped. I had a little panic attack on the train this morning. It was going so slowly and was so full I just wanted to get off and had to practice my deep.breathing techniques to calm myself!

I am wondering if its related to the mirena coil being fitted. I wasn't sleeping that well before it was but it hasn't got any better and my anxiety has increased.....but then maybe its not that and just me! So the other night, at 1 am when the whole fact I was still awake was driving me mad, I found myself sitting on the sofa crying. I just feel so fed up that the insomnia is back and I control it or find the solution or cause. Eventually Peter reminded me of the words of the doctor from a few weeks ago, who suggested taking the anti depressants again if it got worse until we could find out what else was going on. So I did. And oh god I've felt quite rough and also quite disappointed. Disappointed that I'm taking these things when I don't believe I'm depressed. Disappointed that for 4 years now I've not felt myself and that it doesn't seem to have gone away despite all my best efforts. Disappointed that I've not been able to control my sleep disturbance.
But on the positive side I've made an appointment with the doctor and am going to push to see a specialist who can actually talk me through these things. I'm also going away with work and am really looking forward to that, albeit quite nervous. I used to travel loads before having kids, now I'm wondering if I'll be able to....it's like my confidence has gone!

So, I'm not ending the year as I hoped but am still in a better place I think than this time last year! Onwards and upwards.