Fuska... Its food, not a bad word.

I have heard all the horror stories and the high praises of Bangladeshi street food. For the locals it is a natural part of their diet. I was curious, so to satisfy my curiosity Alpha and my friend Shompa decided to take me out for some Fuska... well it was more like we were walking down the street and passed this cart, Alpha stopped, looked at me and asked "How's your stomach? Are you feeling brave?"

Brave? Well... maybe, but hey "when in Rome" or Dhaka in this case. So we stopped and I had my first taste of street food. Fuska is like a hollow chip filled with chick peas, onions, green chilies, spices and I don't want to know what else. It was HOT! Soooo spicy, but SOOOOO good!!! I have a new favorite Bangladeshi food! Now, like all food in Bangladesh, they give you an over flowing plate and one plate was more then enough for the three of us. Best of all, I didn't get sick!

Getting the courage

Yummy!!

Rain-forests, Tea Gardens and Leaches! Oh My!

Leslie and me on the train to Srimongal

When living in the most densely populated city in the world you take any and every chance to get away and breathe a little fresh air. This past weekend I did just that. We had a four day weekend, so some of my fellow teachers and friends from church planned a trip to Srimongal, the Tea capital of Bangladesh, a five hour train ride north of the city. (Bonus! My fiance, Alpha, was visiting me and was able to come with!)

Alpha and Emily (Me!)

Not only is Srimongal spacious, it is a green and luscious rain forest. We went on an all day hike through the rain forest, seeing giant spiders, a few monkeys and more leaches then I ever want to see again. They liked to attach themselves to our feet. By the end of the hike we all looked like we had walked through a battle ground with our bloody feet and ankles. But don't worry, we all survived and oh my goodness, was it ever worth it, I highly recommend the hike. The leach bites could never out shine the beauty of the green forest.

Seven Layer Tea

Srimongal is famous for its seven layer tea. Each layer is a different flavor of tea, ranging from cinnamon to ginger to sweet black. It was delicious!

Alpha with a spider the size of his palm

Just look at that Rain-forest!

All of us crazies on a bridge. Alpha, Me, Sarah, Sarah, Jess, Erin, Lauren, Julian and our Guide (Leslie took the picture)

It was so beautiful

We three had a blast 

Alpha in his Tea picker's hat

Over all it was a wonderful weekend getaway and a much needed reminder of God's amazing majesty as we marveled at the beauty of this country. Please continue to hold Bangladesh in your prayers. It is truly a beautiful country with beautiful people, but there is a lot of need here, physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Blessings Everyone!

Pictures of the Day

My students love to bring me flowers from the garden every morning. 

Waffles, Ice Cream and Coffee, what a wonderful and random afternoon tea.

I found a nice surprise at the International Club, real Starbucks coffee!!

One of my fellow teachers, Marion Mcdonald, bought me flowers for my birthday.

Napkins and Serviettes: English... In It's Many Forms

My roommates are two delightful women. Sam is from South Africa and Lauren is from Colorado, USA. Now you would think we would have wonderful communication between the three of us since English is our first language. So imagine my surprise when Sam asked me if we had any 'serviettes'. Serviettes? This was a new word for me, form context I realized she was asking if we had any napkins. "A napkin?" I asked and she about died laughing. I could not for the life of me figure out why she thought that was so funny.... until she showed me the video below. 

We now use 'serviettes' in our apartment.