Bangladesh Update #1

Hello all, I have arrived safely in Bangladesh! Traveling was crazy, but thank the Lord our luggage was checked all the way through to Dhaka! We stayed a couple days in Dhaka and we are now in Cox's bazaar. It was a 12 hour bus ride through the middle of the night. Driving here is crazy there are no lines on the road, no speed limit, no order at all. But being in the bus we were the biggest thing on the road so we had the right of way. We are still struggling with jet lag and adjusting to the food(spicy!). One of the girls on my team is sick but seems to be getting a little better. In Cox's Bazaar we are staying in a hotel which is quite nice but still an adjustment from a western hotel. This morning we went to the Beach, Cox's bazaar is famous of being the world's longest sea beach! Every person you talk to makes sure you know that. Being here has made me realize how fortunate we are and how white I am. On the beach people stop us and ask to take a picture with us or just take pictures of us as we walk by. I feel like a celebrity. Because of the culture and what the women wear here( salwar Kameez) they just go swimming in their full clothing because they can't show lots of skin. It's kind of funny to watch but I'm sure we'll join in at sometime. We will be staring ministry on Sunday, not sure exactly what the plan is but we are very good at being flexible. We have made many new friends whether on the beach, street, or in a store. It is really easy to make friends because they all want to practice their English. Sometimes when walking down the street you will hear men shout out questions and answer them in the same breath, such as "How are you? Fine thank you." Our team has had some good laughs so far with little mistakes mad or learning new little things about the culture. I will continue to send out a weekly update (hopefully) to let you all know how I am doing. Prayer requests: - health -open doors in ministry - settling into the the culture (culture shock) - courage/boldness when talking to people Thank you all for supporting me in this trip! Love Melissa