Back in Boulder

Hello family and friends,
We wanted to let you know that we are back in Boulder, safe and sound.
We arrived home before we left Japan!!! That international dateline is good for helping us get back to the states in a timely fashion:)

We came home a gorgeous Boulder afternoon and a lovely welcome sign on our doorstep and food in our refrigerator from our good friends the Riedels!!!

The kids were thrilled to see old Jack who was loved well at Kipp, Kimberly and Kalib's home. We so appreciate all the comments and email support you gave to us! It has been an adventure of a lifetime and we are blessed to have had the opportunity and the friendships. In the next week we will be adding some detail to our posts for memoir-sake if that interests you.

Cheery-o, Bhalo Thaken, Kapcoon Krup, Seyonara, and now we sleep...

Asakusa, Japan

Today we hung out with Sachiko and Aoi (Aoi went to Creekside her 3rd grade year with Courtney). Sachiko was a wiz tourguide as we jumped the train to Tokyo and checked out Asakusa. The train (like a bullet train) was smooth as silk and clean and fancy. It was practically silient too! Sachiko said it was one of the newer trains. This stained glass dragon is back lit and creates a gorgeous image along the train station wall.

Japan is the cleanest city I've ever been in. We wondered how high the income taxes are here to pay for the cleanliness. The Sekiyama's lent us some warm jackets to wear today because it was the coldest day in the winter here in Japan! Huge snowflakes fell from the usually blue sky. So we had a rare day in Tokyo.

We enjoyed Asakusa market and temple (you can see the gate in thie picture...behind Rusty is an incense well where you can swaft the smoke over your body to cure you of any ailment.) We went to the well and then up to the temple where I am standing to take the picture. Opposite to the sucess of the well all four kids played their fortune at the temple receiving only bad luck!! YIKES! Sachiko couldn't believe it, becuase bad luck is so rare!!! LUCKILY there was a place to tie the bad luck papers to release them away from us.

We purchased some more souveniers and ate a delicious Japanese lunch before heading to a museum to learn the fascinating history of the Edo era with the Shogun. We also checked out the fire wars exhibit which was just as devastating as Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The picture below shows original transportation.

We tailored our touring to accomodate the freezing temperatures. Unfortunately the Emperor's garden was closed on Fridays, but the winter cold wouldn't showcase the garden in best form anyhow.

We joined Shoyushi and Nobu for dinner at an all you can eat family restaurant close to their home. ALL YOU CAN EAT sushi etc!!! We were in heaven and ate more for dinner that we've eaten in 30 days!

Tomorrow we zip to one more market before heading down to Narita to catch our flight home. We've learned so much and thank goodess we've kept our journals filled with details so we can remember it all!

Oh did you know that Chinese characters and Japanese characters are the same, but their pronuciation is completely different? That means that when talking they cannot understand eachother , but they can write each other and completely understand? Fascinating fact.

See you all soon! TTFN (as Tigger says...everyone loves Pooh, Hello Kitty, and Disney in this country...many elements of cuteness everywhere).

Lots of love!

Hello from Tokyo

Hey there everyone,

We somehow made it to Tokyo today after 8 hours on the train, 5 hours of sleep and being booted off our standby flight early this am. But we're here with the Sekiyama family enjoying amazing Japanese food and company.

The islands of Thailand were wonderful. We ate fresh fish and met many people from different countries ready to relax and take in vacation time after long travels.

I've decided that watermellon freezes are my favorite refreshment in the hot sun (and when I say hot...whew!!!!) Jeremy said, it's so hot here, I wonder how hot it is when you are on the equator!

We ended our island stay with Thai massage...Charlie was practically asleep after that.

Tonight we enjoyed our most excellent hosts.

Courtney and Aoi reunited and have been inseperable. They are so happy to be together.

Tomorrow we tour Tokyo and pray that we make our standby flight to the states on Saturday (it looks a little tight :).

We look forward to seeing everyone at home.

Sayonara!

Paradise

Hello all,
We have spent the past 4 days in heaven on earth. Koh Tao. We are on a teeny laptop from our new German friends so I can only check in with everyone.

We've been h anging on the beach and relaxing with silk sand between our feet and tropical drinks in our hands. The highlight of the beach was snorkeling as a family. "This is the best thing Ive done in my life" says Jeremy.

We have great tales to tell but limited time tonight. Maybe tomorrw we can get online again.

We take the train up to
Bangkok tomorrow am and the hope the plane to Tokyo after a short night slee p in Bkok.

We're coming home folks and we can't wait to see you. It's been an absolutely amazing trip.

Peace and love,
theHooks

Tham Lod (Through Cave) at Cave Lodge

Hey Raderstorfs! We made it to Cave Lodge and met John Spies...a cave master from Australia who had discovered and mapped many caves here in N. Thailand. We stayed at a paradise in the middle of the jungle in a bungalow last night! Heavenly.

Once there we wasted no time figuring out how to get down to Tham Lod...a cave that is large enough to boat through. We stopped inside the large cavern to walk through 3 separate caves. YES Camille managed to do a little caving (shocker, eh?). It was phenomenal.

At the end of the cave (the second opening) we watched and thousands of birds called Swift streamed into the cave to perch for the night. Literally a managerie of them racing into the cave for well over 30 minutes. They perch in the ceiling of the cave, just like the bats. Though the bats were leaving as the birds entered.

Cave Lodge is just outside of Sappong (9km) a small village here just inside the Mayanmar/Thailand border. We're just along the Nam Lang River watching the water buffalo eat and bathe. The food is delicious. I had a muesli this am that knocked my socks off with plain yogurt, pinapple, watermelon and banana. Rusty is eating every new Thai dish available and still sneaks a taste of a pepper regretting it immediately every time! Mild spicy here is flaming spice in America! WHOA!

We are now in Pai for the night, a small touristy town that has exploded in the last 2-3 years from a quiet town to buzzing with hotels and activities for visitors. The night market is quaint along the river. The air is cool and refreshing. When in the villages, the tribes are constantly burning leaves, for fertilizer and such. The stench which is almost unbearable to me, is one the tribesmen grow accustomed to. So the little towns actually have fresher air than the villages. We are staying in this tropical paradise bungalow. This is a picture of "the lobby" of our guest house.

Pai kind of reminds me of Buena Vista CO with all the rafting, caving, trekking companies. Everyone here is smiling, it's impossible not to. We could easily stay here for 3 or 4 nights. We head to the gulf-side beaches tomorrow to stay at Camphon and take boats out to Ko Tao, which is the place to be apparently. Phuket and Ko Phi Phi are over touristed, according to many of the travellers we have met. Yes gorgeous but very crowded. We will not see as many crowds in Camphon.

We wish we could checkin with each of you separately to see how your February's are going. Hope the skiing has been great and the long weekend! We look forward to seeing you and just enjoying your February stories and catching up. Love and friendship to all of you,
Camille, Rusty,Courtney, Charlie and Jeremy

Elephants and trek to Hoi Hoi Village

We absolutely LOVE your comments! It makes us feel less homesick to talk about friends and family following us on our travels. Your words are priceless, warm and soothing. We are brimming with joy :).

4:20pm we arrived back in Chiang Mai from a 2day trek to Hoi Hoi Village (1 hour drive SW of Chaing Mai outside of Chum Thang).

We spent an hour on elephants , feeding them bananas and bumping along enjoying their gorgeous, immense, grace. We loved the baby that tagged along. A bit sad that these creatures don't roam free, but it is the way of the village people. They live amongst these animals in small stilted huts making their wage from the tourist.

We ate a Thai lunch of fried rice and potato curry and fresh pineapple and watermelon to fuel us for a 2 1/2 hour hike straight up to the Karin Tribe in Hoi Hoi Village. We walked along the Kun Poi River in blazing sun and welcomed refreshing shade. The kids were absolutely stellar hikers! Hot, tired and speechless at the landscapes we arrived at a luscious waterfall to quench the heat before the final 30 minutes of uphill trekking.

A NOTE FROM COURTNEY: "As we were hiking up I observed that they hill tribes did most of their farming on terraced land. Dormant terraced rice paddies gave the hills a feeling of dead, dry, "winter" season also known as the dry season. When we were in the village I took note of the fact that these peopl do not have a high standard of living. For one, they have to make their houses using the materials that nature gives them. These are bamboo, dried banana leaves and jute or pieces of old tire. The roof was made with dried leaves woven/folded over bamboo and tied together with jute. The floors and tables were made of stripped bamboo that surprisingly held our weight. Interestingly enought, to be polite we would always take off our shoes when entering the house, even though everyone was dusty and dirty without shoes on." (by Courtney)

The evening was fasinating with all the interesting people around us telling about their travels. Jeremy made friends with every single person trekking and in the village area. We could hear people who didn't even speak English saying "JEREMY!" as he ran from hut to hut and group to group to check in with all his new friends.

At dinner he asked if everyone would mind going around the table to tell what they wanted to be when they "grew up." It proved a very interesting conversation topic. What a gregarious fella! It turns out there were many interesting folks travelling with us which makes our travels incredibly interesting as we learn about other countries and languages.

Jeremy and I woke up early this morning and walked to the village school with a young mother and her son Riko. We watched their morning flag ceremony and took some pictures. Once again I had a chance to hand out the scarves you all donated to give in thanks for the village people's generosity of sharing thier lives. It was wondrous!

It was a long trek back to base, but we made it...probably 4 miles each way...even Jeremy!!! What an incredible adventure! Once back at base we went on a 45 minute bamboo rafting ride in the cool river! EXCELLENT 2 days!

Tiger-iffic

Welcome to Chiang Mai! After a 14 hour night train we arrived at 10:30am. The train was AWESOME. The kids got such a kick out of our seats that could be changed to a table and then when it was time to sleep they turned into bunks with privacy curtains and bed lights.

We all got the best night sleep of the trip! After dinner, Courtney came to me and said, "Mom! Did you know that the toilet empties onto the track! I felt the breeze!" Sure enough when you look into the commode you can see the track zooming by!

Today we took it easy as we settled into a sweet little guest house in Chiang Mai and packed for our Elephant Trek (2 days, 1 night) where we will ride, hike and raft on a bamboo boat, stopping to play in water falls 2x along the way!

We managed to fit in a trip to the Tiger Santuary where we were able to pet and roll around with tigers 4 and 7 months old. Once they loose their baby teeth, they become too dangerous. Poor Jeremy couldn't come in. Apparently the smaller children are so enticing to the cats that they create a danger. This was evidenced as Jeremy walked by a cage and the sleepy tigers, jumped up poised to play while making feisty gurgles deep in their throat! That was enough to take away and blues Jeremy was having about not getting to go inside the cages!

We also, much to my protest, stopped at a monkey school which we had learned mistreat ed the monkey's by chaining them up around their necks. We saw a short show and talked to the kids about fair, humane treatment of animals. We paused for a silly picture with this monkey that was not listening to the trainer and we loved him, since he was getting the better of his trainer (go monkey go...you rebel!)

The Grand Palace

Hello and Happy Valentine's day!
Quick post as things are moving quite along. We tend to sleep in every morning (you know the Hook way) because once we're in Chiang Mai we will be up and about in village adventures. So we've really recouperated these first couple of days in Bangkok.

We toured the Grand Palace yesterday which is unbelievably ornate and wondrous. We paid a tourguide who gave rich history as we moved through the grounds. There are gate keepers up to the heavens and down to the human world. They take the form of: demons, angels that are half bird, there was a half lion and monkey. The symbolism is abound in fact every ornament relates detailed history. We listened to the mythologies of India with thrill. The artistry was something to behold. The walls were painted with the stories of the monkeys fighting the demons after the king's daughter was captured by the demons. Battles and worship are painted with gold leave mural everywhere. The daughter was released when the monkeys beat the demons! There's so much to tell, but not enough room or time to type...

Later we played in Lumphini Park which was the only place we've seen exercise this entire trip. Many runners and even a gym outdoors. We took a paddle boat ride which was the highlight for the kids (esp. Jeremy) and saw 4 Kamodo Dragons in and about the water!!! We races our boats and wished we could stay longer, but we got so hot and thirsty we needed to refresh ourselves.

We wrapped up the day at the Bangkok Night Bizarre which could overwhelm the best of shoppers, but we have bags of souveneirs and many fun tales.

Today went to see poisonous snakes but we missed the show times. So an elder Thai man offered to take us to the harbor to motor boat along the canal to a snake farm there. We did and it was awesome. We saw all the slums along the river and went to a farm where we say pythons, cobras and vipers being milked for venum and launching at the trainers. (This wasn't one of the more humane outfits and we were sorry to see that...on another visit we would support a different farm).

The kids loved interacting with other zoo animals while we were there. The monkey's were literally monkey-ing around and putting their hands out for treats!!! Smart monkey. And the deer went into this huge horned fight right before our very eyes! We were so stunned no pictures, but we were worried we'd see one killed.

We catch the night train in about 2 hours and are relaxing right now with drink and journalling.

Love to you all on the day of hearts!

Welcome to Bangkok

We arrived safely and easily! Bangkok feels so fresh and clean compared to B'desh! On the flight, we were cracking up because there seemed to be no regard for regulations as we were taxi-ing to the gate. Everyone was getting up and gathering their belongings from the overhead bins and walking to the front of the plane (I wonder where they thought they were going). The pilot loved Jeremy and took him into the cockpit. When Rusty mentioned he is a US pilot, he exclaimed "why didn't you tell us and ride up front!!"

Well Courtney has promised to post tomorrow...she, Rusty and myself have been feeling yick today (especially me). Our guest house is comfortable and we have planned on staying here for 3 nights while we tour Bangkok's typical sites. Hopefully tomorrow we will see the grand palace and visit the night bizarre. The kids swam most of today to relax. On Sat am I'm hoping to see the monks chant in the early am.

Late afternoon we were swept away on a Tuk-Tuk (motorcycle taxi) to see some sights before going to the T.A.T (government agency to book our transportation and touring here in Thailand). It really felt like some sort of set up but we cautiously went along because Rusty had heard that the TAT is a good place to book reliable and inexpensive travel. We reluctantly were convinced to book all our transportation, which we hope has turned out cost effective. It was a difficult decision since we're trying to leave a somewhat open schedule to allow for spontaneity...but we definitely knew we wanted to be in Chaing Mai for 5 days and on the beach for 4 :).

ADDENDUM: We later found out that we were definitely targest of a scam, but that we handled it very well (most people end up at illegal agencies and stuck in Tuk Tuks going all over the city to try to get them to buy jewels and cloth). We believe our agency was legal...we'll be keeping our fingers crossed!

We've had such great luck on this trip and I'm willing to believe that we escaped the scam relatively unscathed with somewhat of an open schedule left for Chiang Mai and the beach. This is because we were cautious from the start. Rumor has it, no matter how cautious you are you're gonna get bit by some sort of scam. So we are writing this off as one more experience in Thailand.

We're headed to Chaing Mai on Saturday to see the Elephant Sanctuary, trekking with elephants (just a 2 day) and trekking up to Pai to tour Lod Cav (per Raderstorf suggestion!). We'll take the train to the gulf side beaches of Chumphon for the end of our Thailand tour. We were hesitant not to go to the popular beaches on the west side by we heard there are some refugee troubles on the west coast of Thailand and we decided to avoid any bad action there. We also, chose a beach that is easy to travel to since the kids are needing some simplicity. There is an amazing island trip we hope we can take once we're in Chumphon...we'll see how that pans out.

The plans are loosely formed around a day here and there to do shotgun ideas. We'll fill you in as that goes.

We'll I'm off to see if I can stomach some toast and jam.

4 words you don't want to hear at the Dhaka Airport

"Your ticket not good..."
Yikes, that's not our favorite part of our trip. We were unaware we needed to confirm our flight 24 hours in advance and lost our spot on the flight, but luckily there was space available! PHEW!

We're waiting to board our plane and are looking forward to Bankok. Bhalo Thaken Bangladesh!

Greetings and love to all our friends back home following the blog. And to Courtney's teachers...she is posting the next entry on her summation of her trip to B'desh.

Best,
The Hooks

Compassion Project and other Christian NGO's

*This post is written by Camille and is simply an in the moment reflection of our exposure to many Christian based organizations.

We visited another school sponsored by a Colorado Springs NGO called Compassion (a Christian based organization). Here you can see Rusty, Jeremy & in the background, Courtney talking amongst the children learning their life ambitions (policemen, doctors, teachers) just like the children in America. We were greeted with singing and smiles, waving and lots of love. In fact while we were there we decided to sponsor a young girl, Charlie's age named: Morshada (emphasis on the first syllable). She was so excited asked us to pray for her as she will pray for us for good health and sponsorship. We are thrilled to have met and adopted her into our lives. We will sponsor her through her school career including easy communications as we or she chooses.


We have met many missionaries in the 2 guest houses we've stayed during this Bangali visit. Some working in research and some working at schools and orphanages. We've been curious as to the reason there are so many Christian organizations here in Bangladesh.

Interestingly, albeit curious, is a law against prosthyletizing in this country. There is also no adoption allowed from this country as though to fear that the Muslim children will not be brought up in their religion. The country is young and proud of it's independence and possibly politically fearful of oppression from western culture. Bangladesh is 98% Muslim, 1% Hindu and 1% Christian.

No question that every citizen is foundationally religious. Everyone here is grounded in their chosen religion and the language reflects this (ex: Asalam walecum is the greeting used if you are Muslim and Namaschkar if you are Hindu or Christian). I have discovered in our visits to villages, schools, and seeing the pictures, videos and engaging in candid discussions with 5 Christian organizations there appears to be a need here for the Christian nationals to receive support.



Having a Christian-based organization run schools and orphanages clearly serves to further strengthens the foundation of the children. Motivating them with the tools and the spirit to reach their goals. Witnessing this has answered some questions regarding the impact of missionaries in this part of the world. I have come to understand that there is a desire for Christianity here and what is happening with the children's education, health and economic opportunity for their families is a beautiful thing.

Happy Birthday Courtney

Back from the village we are now staying in a beautiful flat with plenty of bed, a private bathroom and breakfast served in the morning. This is a refreshment for us after such a visit in the village.

The day was devoted to Courtney (at least starting at 1pm). The morning was filled with lessons and journalling with the kids while Rusty went flying with a Captain Chad Tilley, who flies for a Christian based company called Mission Airline Fellowship (MAF). Today he was flying aid workers to 2 different islands in south Bangladesh. Rusty had an incredible time. It was a chance of a lifetime!

Courtney's birthday was at Pizza Hut with the Meeses and it was splendid! It actually tasted like pizza! The workers sang a FABULOUS song for her, gathering the attention of the entire restaurant. (Jobs are so difficult to get that to work as a server in a restaurant, it is said that you need a college education and to be fluent in English, wow!). The Meeses had baked a chocolate cake and made cards. We gave her a couple of small gifts and she was on top of the world.

A restful day, refreshed and energized for tomorrow...our last full day here in Bangladesh. What an experience.

While I'm on the topic of birthdays...we hope that Lorna, you had a wonderful 12th birthday celebration. Courtney misses you very much and sends love and hugs. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Ryan! Have and extra drink for us (alchohol is outlawed in Bangaldesh, based on Muslim practice...I'm sure if we searched real hard we could find it). And an upcoming happy birthday to my dear friend Margaret...I trust you are doing well and we miss you...I look forward to our chile-salad at Zolo Grill. Finally, much happiness to you Katie Jackson for your 17th birthday on the 17th (what a lucky birthday this year!). You are a gorgeous beautiful young woman!!

Love to all! We think of our friends and family often and wish good health and spirit.

Camille, Rusty, Courtney, Charlie and Jeremy

Nabagram Village (3 day visit)

Namaskar! (greetings)

We've just arrived back in the city of Dhaka after 3 days in the village of Nabagram. We couldn't have been further from home, weaving through teeny tiny roads carved from clay and surrounded by lush green rice paddies.

We were escorted by Zach's teacher Dupak and his younger sister Tooku. Zach, Renee and Derrick came too which made the trip 100% easier for our kids. This picture is of Courtney and Renee helping to dry the rice on the clay ground. The rice is still in a shuck and the villages spread it with their feet to dry before collecting it in bags and taking it to the mill to separate the shuck from the rice grain. We ate this rice later with curried fish, pork, chicken and prawn.

There are many ponds interspersed with the roads and paddies. Villagers build bamboo bridges that are literally long shafts of 4 inch diameter bamboo laid across the pond with a smaller one as a railing. The kids decided to cross one to visit a rice mill. I thought I was going to be too heavy as I'm an Amazon compared to the small villagers. But just as I was worried a small woman with a 70 pound sack of rice skipped across the bridge to the mill without hesitation or delay!

This village was a 7 hour drive SW of Dhaka. There were small communities (cul de sac like) of families each with a dining/cooking area, sleeping area, barn, latrine and wash area. All the dwellings were made with tin (with wooden or cement structure).

It was a priviledge and honor to be welcomed wholeheartedly into the village with smiles and hugs. Everywhere we walked people invited us into their home for tea and chatting. We gave the kids soccer balls and scarves to the women in return for their hospitality. All was well received.

Night time was the most difficult. Cockroaches were by Courtney and my bed and you could hear the rats scrambling on the rooftops and the cats hunting them. The latrine (which is called a squatty potty, aka hole in the ground) had spiders with leg spans of 5-6 inches, I kid you not.

We slept on boards with mosquito netting around us. Courtney and I were panicking the first night that we'd never make it. But we did, of course, as this is the way of life for so many. Rusty points out that in contrast to our night time spooks, we felt like we were in a 5 star campout...our meals were prepared, served and cleaned up, our beds were turned down and mosquito netting set up each night and made each morning. The hospitality was generously poured out to us. We were so grateful each morning as we were greeted with smiles, red with beetle-nut chew (a habit of all the natives, a red nut wrapped in beetle tree leaf and stuffing in the lip like snuf).

The village was an adventure we'll never forget. I could write so much more about the school we visited and the parade of girls surrounding each of the children, leading them everywhere to show them their school. The children climbing to the tops of coconut trees to bring down the fruit to share "dab" is the raw milk from the unripened coconut (not yet sweet). We played cricket at one community, but mostly sang or exchanged stories. We thanked them by giving them scarves, socks for the older men and soccer balls for the children...

Oh and yes...Rusty did wear a skirt (lungi: loon guee).

BRAC Education Program

Today we piled in a van driven by Kamul and went on a tour of 2 schools in the village Gazipur. Our facilator, Rana explained the BRAC education program during the hour drive North through Dhaka rush hour.

BRAC has 37,500 primary schools (grade 1-5) and 24,000 pre or kinder schools in the Dhaka area. Each school is filled with children who are unable to attend goverment school or are at risk for dropping out due to their need to also work for their family. The schools run from 9a-1p (primary) and 9-11a (pre)...this allows the children who need to work at home the flexibility to do so. Ninety percent of the children who complete primary school attend intermediate school!

We were so appreciated at the schools as our kids were the first kids they had ever met that were not nationals! I couldn't believe that! The teacher pulled me aside to point out where her home is and to invite me there later and mentioned that she too loves to spend time with her children when she is not so busy teaching. We exchanged much regard for each other and I felt the beautiful familiarity of a universal bond of motherhood.

The school we went to was wonderful. The children were so proud to present a play, songs and do math and english while we were there. Courtney shared the "Fifty Nifty" state song, Jeremy sang his Alaska song from 2nd grade and Charlie sang 3 versions of Happy Birthday. There was a lot of Q&A amonst the kids, but most asked about how many rivers there were in America (as there are so many in Bang. and commerce depends on it.

At the Kinder school, Jeremy explained the mountains of Colorado and showed that we lived there by drawing our family. (He really started to get excited about teaching).

Today was about our kids tasting the likes of what kids of Bangladesh nationals experience. The impact was huge. We look forward to reading their reflections later in their journals.

A post from Charlie

We are sitting in Banani Market amongst many (Charlie and Camille) while Courtney and Rusty rest as best they can with Jeremy around. They unfortunately have some sort of mild bug that is making them feel light headed and weak. We are praying they will make a quick turn to good health. Jeremy has been plagued with a horrific cough since the beginning which is not benefitting from being in the most poluted city in the world! Thanks for all your comments...we are thrilled to hear about the Lischer clan (thank you Ellie).

Now, a post from Charlie:
You know how America had a revolutionary war against Englad? Well, Bangladesh had one against Pakistan! It took place 37 years ago when Pakistan was West Pakistan and Bangladesh was East Pakistan. They spoke different languages so West Pakistand waid, "We should use our languages." But East Pakistand said, "We like our language." That is one of the reasons the war started. EP started winning the war. When West Pakistan knew East Pakistan was going to win the war they took 240 very smart people (called Intellectuals) and killed them just outside of Dhaka. They did it by mass execution. East Pakistan named their country Bangladesh after the tribes that lived there called Bangla. To remember this, Bangladesh built a monument to the Intellectual Martyr in the very place the 240 smart people died.

I thought the monument was proud and it had the Bangladesh flag flying over it. It looked like it was beaten a broken.

From Charlie Hook, historian in training

Tour of Dhaka

We spent Monday 2/2 touring the depths of Dhaka reaching the poorest of communities. We wove through downtown to the outskirts of Dhaka on Embankment Road (basically a damn that protects the city from river flooding). What we witnessed was felt in the pit of our stomachs. This was the slums. Hard working Bangla digging through trash for recycling materials, meticulously separating in to large bundles they would be carrying on their heads or backs into town...some were piled on the back of rickshaws. There were pipes and bamboo shanks (30 feet long) being wheeled on rickshaw-like wagons. Nationals selling nuts, rice, bags of popcorn and small children running freely along the narrow road that somehow was accomodating pedestrian, rickshaw, car, bus, truck in practically the same space. No picture could do this justice.


Hard working faces, serious and fervently going about their business with purpose and pleasantry if you can believe it. There were shops with smiling nationals selling food, snack and later materials/clothing. We passed one structure that was decor for an upcoming wedding..in the middle of dust, trash and sweat were vibrant swags of cloth decorating a stage of sorts welcoming the upcoming joyous celebration.



We stopped and went down to the river used for commerce and transportation to ride for 30 minutes on a small boat. The smell was just tolerable as we toured this interstate of sorts. The water filled with oil and trash bubbled toxicity though we watched nationals bathing at the shore.

We proceeded to purchase textiles from the Bangla Bazaar to wear into the village this Friday. The boys have lungi (skirts, yes Rusty will have to pose in the village) and the girls our kameez (long tunic with trousers and scarf, we're still looking for one for Camille). This picture is of the road we were driving through, seriously. Faces pressed on our windows curious about where we were from. Jeremy got the most attention as children are adored here.

We were feeble with overwhelm as we entered our flat that evening. Our deepest appreciation for Zach and Tricia who were our tour guides along with their friend Mamud. I still can't fathom, how Zach was able to be sane after driving us around for 6 hours...yes 6 hours to travel the equivolent of a roundtrip venture from Boulder to Denver on the turnpike.

We are moving to a different place (like a hostel) called the HEED Language Center and most likely will not have internet access. We've been fortunate to be able to publish photos up to this point. Bhalo Thaken.

Getting to know you...

What do you get when you go to a park inside the gated community of Baridhara (where the University, Embassy and Wealthy live)...ATTENTION. Because we're foreigners we are automatically considered wealthy and celebrity. This park is open to all public between 2-5pm...we walked in with our friends the Meeses (you can see Renee there on the left) only to be swarmed by curiously strong admirers. Take out a camera and suddenly there's no breathing room. We were surrounded by eager and friendly Bangla's all inviting us to "gossip" with them at their houses. We just smiled as Zach translated, "maybe next time...."

Moving on we capped the day off with more excellent conversation and learnings from Zach and Tricia and an incredible homemade chicken curry! The kids were in 7th heaven playing with the Meese kids. It has been 7 months for them living here and their language use is more than functional. Wow! We can't thank them enough for the incredible opportunity to be completly immersed in Bangladesh culture.

So we've toured the immediate area and tommorrow we go a few layers deeper into the city and seeing the more impoverished way of life. It'll be an intense day, so we're off to bed early to rest up.

Rickshaw ahoy!

Kids love the rickshaws. We didn't expect there would be so many everywhere. The seats are definitely made for little Bengali tushies, not big round American tushies! So we had to hold on tight so not to be catapulted off.

Courtney wants to stay here forever, because it seems less complicated. She desperately wants to purchase some local attire to "fit in" (hee). Every woman dresses beautifully no matter which cast (social) system they are in. In the city it is difficult to see who is and isn't impoverished at face value. This will change once we visit projects and villages.

The fact that we have friends here is an enormous comfort, far beyond our expectations. We said goodnight to them around 3pm so we could settle into our apt. and get some groceries. Instantly, we felt as though our security blanket was ripped away. It was all we could do not to cling onto them.

We did it though! We hopped on 2 rickshaws to the market and then home to prepare a rice dinner and instantly go to sleep. The kids practically slept through the meal.

Dhaka arrival...2am!

After an uneventful flight (we are so blessed) we arrived in Dhaka at 2:15 am and breezed through immigration and customs. Our first night was in the St. Vivant hotel, which was extravagant for this area...our last taste of Western. I'm so grateful and shaking everyone's hand forgetting that that's not the tradition here...head nods are more appropriate.

We're now with our friends, Tricia and Zach and their 5 children enjoying company and moving into our little apartment for a few days (Rusty and Zach just left to get the key).

The kids are overjoyed to be with their old friends.

We are overwhelmed, but thrilled and happy to be here. Z&T are taking us to our first lunch outing to try Bangla food!

Bhalo thaken (stay well in Bangla)

Made it to London!

After a lovely send off from our dear friend Janet we hopped the bus to DIA and boarded our flight to London. British Airways is a lovely airline with fun treats for the kids in the form of a goodie bag with cards, games, colors. We all got miniature toothbrushes and itty bitty toothpastes, which the kids adore. The eye mask was very handy for sleeping and will be handy on the trip as well, perhaps.
Well we made our flight to London and arrived yesterday at 9am (2am Colorado). We managed to stay awake and drop our backpacks at hotel. We enjoyed a traditional English breakfast (Rusty's favorite thing here: scrambled eggs on toast with tomato and mushrooms an a a big slice of bacon). We toured the city, visiting Buckinham Palace with the guards that look like wind up toys (says Jeremy). Other highlights: Big Ben and the parliament bldg, Westminster Abbey (where we lit a candle and said a prayer of healing and strenght for Rusty's Uncle Mike), and the London Eye (like an oversized ferris wheel with views of the city (see Big Ben behind the kids in the photo?). Note, Courtney's new London scarf...her big purchase :).

Everyone is doing well and adjusting to time well. Camille insists on wearing her watch Colorado time, while Rusty keeps his on current time. It's fun that way.

Jeremy is the only one feeling a bit ill with a cold...hopefully this next flight won't be too difficult for him.
Dhaka is next, we're at the airport and currently our flight is delayed 35 minutes (okay Zach!) We loved London and were here too short!

Ready, Set...GO!

Everything's packed and we're ready to go. Leaving one day ahead of schedule due to our stand-by status. We arrive in London Thursday (2am MST) and head out Friday (3am MST) for Dhaka. So not as much time in London as we'd hoped, but we plan on soaking up the city as much as we can.

Thanks everyone for all your calls, meals, snacks, playdates, advice and support as we've planned this adventure. We're now at the door ready to step into it...YIKES and yippee too!

Best advice:
"Don't have any expectations."
Predicted most important travel items: (we'll let you know later if this is indeed true)
Cameras and journals!

FNF: When asked what commodity is missed from the US (that we could bring with us), our family friends in Dhaka (5 children) said: Goldfish, Lik-m-aid and dry erase markers. So we're stocked with plenty of all 3 of those items!

Well, as the Clash says..."London's calling!"

Whaddaya doing in Thailand?

The best time to visit SE Asia is November through February due to pleasant climate. Thailand has many festivals during these months.

Our plan is to land in Bankok and stay a few days. Then take a night train to Chaing Mai and tour the mountain tribes, villages, rivers and elephants, caves and birds of the north. We will have to travel through Bankok to get to the southern beaches/islands down by Phuket. We'll ferry and train back up to Bankok to depart to Tokyo on February 26th.

FNF (Fun New Fact): Did you know that you can leave your books and pick up books all over the world if you join Bookcrossings.com? So we'll be able to drop off books as we read them across the world. That's such a cool thing I just learned from my friend Margaret! It's like a world-community book club!

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry & narrow-mindedness"

(Quote by Mark Twain)
My father-in-law, by pointing me towards Mark Twain's quote, demonstrated his comprehension of the spirit of our trip. A small and beautiful gesture, that deepens our relationship.

I ponder this quote daily. It was to my surprise that I would start to feel the truth of it so quickly by creating a blog! Sharing the experience of our travel has already widened the borders of the stereotyped family/friend "comfort zone conversation" to include topics such as global politics, immigration, geography, history, human rights, "poverty and despair vs. poverty and dignity, " economy and my favorite topic: advocacy.

As a result, I've learned of the wisdom of your own journeys. Eloquently, you all have spoken with inspirational worldliness, open-mindedness and appreciation of culture and countryside. Thank you.

These kinds of conversational moments open doors in our fundamental relationships and build intimacy and trust from which I am finding all kinds of energy to act...explore further ...discover more...share again. Whadyaknow...it's a cycle!

Where's Bangladesh?

Bangladesh used to East Pakistan way back from 1941-1971. This is when two large Muslim groups sought to be independent, Hindu India. East Pakistan had little in common with West Pakistan creating cultural, political, religious tension...so the Bengali's of EP created a movement which ended in becoming a separate country called Bangaldesh (that is the shortest history EVER, no disrespect intended).

Here is a map of Bangladesh. It is nestled in the "armpit" of India...actually it's very NE India with but only a sliver of India to the East. We are landing in Dhaka on February 2nd, 2009. Our wonderful friends will pick us up at the airport and take us to our little apartment :). We'll spend time in Dhaka and then travel outside of the city to a village for 2 nights. We're looking to book a river trip before departing on February 11th.

Why are we going?

March 13, 2008 I (Camille) attended the Denver Microcredit Summit where I listened to Mohammad Yunus, Nobel laureate, founder of Grameen Bank speak volumes on possibility, empowerment and dignity. John Hatch of FINCA, spoke about going past reading about poverty and advocating for poverty (though there is strong need to continue this) to coming face to face with poverty. Getting "fire in your belly" to fight for those who, when given the smallest amount of opportunity, rise out of poverty. I immediately wanted "fire" not only in my belly but the bellies of my dearest...my children and husband. When I brought it up to Rusty he was instantaneously as excited as me! We even have friends who were going to be living in Dhaka, Bangladesh who welcomed the idea of visitors! What would it mean to leave our country to seek out new cultural experiences, test the morals we stand upon and face what I most passionately advocate against...poverty. I'm curious how we will synthesize the entire experience of face to face with the people, environment, school, business, economy, dress, food, behavior, simple activities of daily living... We are thrilled to duck out from under the social umbrella of the United States feel that freedom of exploration. Thankfully we have a strong foundation of family on which we will be leaning on I am sure! We are equally anticipating the transition back after a month of travel, the appreciation of what we have, what we take for granted both in the freedom of our country and the simplicity of surviving in others. What it will actually be in detail we are ready to encounter. Welcome to our blog as we begin our journey of exploration of world and self.