I like shopping, Grammy’s good at shopping, and these kids LOVE shopping! Some amazing person donated money to take all the kids shopping in town, and we have now taken around 75 of them to do just that! About 6 at a time pile on Mr. Puffin or a rickshaw van for their first shopping experience ever. Most have never been on a trip away from the orphanage, and the 20 min. trip to Hili is only the beginning of their new adventure. Some were so excited at everything we were passing they never stopped talking! Others were lulled by Mr. Puffin’s toot toot down the road and fell asleep in my lap.
We have come across many things in Hili. Once we found a cute 2-toothed old man in a pharmacy that started barking, meowing, hissing, quacking then singing to us! Another time a drunk found us and would NOT stop following us around ‘helping us shop.’ As each trip had its unique set of adventures, I will just try to give you a taste of what we would do. We would always take the girls to fabric shops and let them pick out a fabric they liked. Even the 3,4, and 5 year-olds knew exactly which ones they wanted! Then with huge smiles on their faces and their fabric in one hand we would go to the tailor who would measure them and make a beautiful new dress to pick up later. For the boys we would find new shorts and a t-shirt they liked. Then shoe time! We searched every shoe store we could find in Hili for good little girls and boys flip flops and sandals and kept ending up at the same shop; this man lucked out BIG TIME selling almost all 75 pairs of shoes to us!
Now shopping in Bangladesh takes a lot longer than you may expect because you must search countless shops to find what you are looking for and a man that will agree to a fair price. So, there is ample time for their little bladders to get full, and the only squat in Hili that I know of is in the back of the fish market. Trip after trip I would take those with full bladders through the fish market to the squat, sometimes 5 at a time, other times only 2. I was most likely the only white person bringing kids through the fish market, and they started recognizing me. They would comment to each other in Bengali when I walked through (thinking I didn’t understand) ‘hey, she’s been her before…are those her kids?....but last time she had 4, where’s the other ones?’ Haha…yes, yes they’re all my children now…now children hurry up so we can get out of these stinky fish!
The shopping isn’t finished until Grammy thoroughly spoils them like Grammys love to do J We always make a stop for ice cream and crackers before heading back home, and for many it is the favorite stop of the whole trip! Ice cream is such a rare treat for these kids Danny is even keeping a life count of how many times he’s eaten it! (I think he’s at 6 now) After finishing their delicious cold treat, we head to Mr. Puffin (or a rickshaw van) who, hopefully, will start up before too many tries and take us home. But if Mr. Puffin doesn’t want to work, well, a crowd will gather and crazy men will give Grammy their cigarettes J And, we will pray with the kids to keep us safe and get us back quickly, and they will see God answer their prayer. I feel so lucky to have accompanied these kids on their first shopping adventure with Grammy; everything in Bangladesh is an adventure, and this was no exception! Now the girls are running around in their beautiful new dresses and the boys are showing off their new clothes. Another beautiful memory from Bangladesh J
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