Hi Everyone!

So if you aren't aware I am home sick today :( Just a small flu I am sure I will be better soon :) All your prayers are appreciated! :) Anyhow, I had to write just a few things down because I know you would appreciate them. We have a housekeeper here which is a blessing! She does a lot of the basic things for us which makes life here SO much easier. Kim and I are sure we would have given up by now if it wasn't for her which is why the school insists on providing one...
Anyways, so today she came to me and asked me if I wanted lunch because I am usually not home. And so I said sure, and so then I heard all this beeping and a moment later she came and told me the microwave wasn't working. Really though, she just had no idea how to use it :) She was shutting it, and thinking it would just work if you put a number on the display, much like an oven. It was really quite cute.
There are people here now to try to fix our generator so we have more power more often, and she came to me and asked me how to turn on the flashlight that we have here...
It is those little simple things that we "ALL" have in Canada that people here just don't really know a lot about....
Just thought I would share. :)
I am writing the next update right now and am hoping to post later.
Thanks to all who are keeping reading this and are posting comments, they are much appreciated and needed :)

In Christ,
Cori

WOW! I cannot believe it has been two weeks of teaching and I am just finally finding time to update my blog now. If I have to give an impression of how it has gone...well. I suppose that much contrast has been provided. Not only have I had some great days that went by really well, but God has allowed for perspective in putting some completely horrible days in the mix as well. I must say that I feel as though I have learned more than I have taught in these few weeks. Not sure if that is an indication of my teaching skills (or lack thereof) or my willingness to absorb what is around me. :)

Nonetheless, I have learned a few key things about teaching. 1) Always appear as though you know exactly what you are doing even if it means you do teach the introductory year 9 lesson to your year 8's.... 2) Never go looking for more paper for the printer. Nothing can be that important. (I managed to open the drawer of the printer only to find several cockroaches were ACTUALLY the cause of the jam)... 3) Yes, there is a policy for when men with guns come on the school grounds threatening to shoot students, but don't worry....that only happened 3 times last year....

Alas, sure I can come up with many many stories of things that you really just have to laugh about here or you will go completely mental.... but there have been some really great moments here. I really want to save my detailed stories for my next big update, which will hopefully be soon. We are heading up out of town tomorrow to get some fresh air (literally), so I am hoping that I will be able to spend some time there composing a few articles for my next update. I certainly have some great pictures from the trip down to Old Dhaka (the fisheries), as well as to the Armenian Church and the oldest Underground tunnel and Fort system in town. I will update soon, now that I can actually take a moment to catch up before I start my next week of teaching.

Please continue to pray, as life here is difficult... I have met so many interesting people it is difficult for me to always be so tired and not be able to interact fully...everyone understands, after all, it is quite a change from our home countries...
Ok well, more soon, and thank you for the emails and comments, I am slowly making my way through them with the internet being so spotty and the power going on and off. I will get back to you and I really thank you for your encouragement. It means a lot and keeps me going!

In Christ's love,
Corinne

Well, it's official, tomorrow is the first ACTUAL day at school. I have to admit that I am a little nervous, and after filling out my "teacher planning tool" (daily lesson plans and homework plans), I am a little worried that I am under-prepared. The days here are long and I have spent most of them preparing and reading and trying to figure out what exactly I am supposed to teach. The resources here are really limited. I have no text books, and limited supplies. I went into the office to get a pen only to find out that you have to fill out a form to request them since they are not easily come by and we have a pen budget! I suppose that is a very good thing when the school is trying to run entirely based on donations from trustees and most of the teachers are volunteering or are just making ends meet.
I think it's important to note a few things though that I have come to learn in the last few days here.
Firstly, I was inspired by something that the Principle said in one of our staff meetings. These children are mostly those of expatriate missionaries and care workers. These workers are making a huge impact in the Bangladesh society, some are working with the street children, some in orphanages, and some with the churches doing outreach and community aid and healthcare. These people would not be able to do that if they didn't have a Christian school to send their children to. So in a very important way, we as teachers, willing to be here to serve them, are making it possible. I really felt quite inspired by that and it has given me a different perspective on my service here.
Secondly, the perspective gained by serving in this kind of society is invaluable. I am hoping to speak more about this. But I am sitting here with a mere fraction of what I had in Canada, and I still have so much more than most would hope to have here...
Well, I should finish typing out some homework plans, more on my reflections of Dhaka later. I will soon post some photos of our trip down to "Old Dhaka" which included the ports as well as one of the original Fort museums and one of the oldest Armenian churches.
Thank you so much all of you for your prayers. If you are planning on sending anything, please do! But make sure the envelope or package is VERY plain and boring, and send it to the school so they think it is books or something. I guess a lot of stuff gets stolen here.
Prayers and notes are the best support, and I hope you will continue....I have about 130 days until Christmas, it's hard to imagine... I am excited to see what God will do.
Talk to each of you soon I hope!
I miss you all, stay in touch!

With Love,
Cori
(Romans 8:28-30)

http://picasaweb.google.com/crolson/BangladeshSoFar?authkey=Gv1sRgCLeIgauh3NDEeQ&feat=email

Hello Everyone!

So I am attempting to post a PDF document that I made as a sort of "newsletter style" update that I was able to send out to a few of you. Nonetheless, the time has arrived where I am now 25 years old (yes yesterday was my birthday), and I have finally had enough access to power and internet to send out a formal update to you. I have really appreciated the notes and emails the few of you have been sending as they are uplifting and encouraging as I begin this year of my life here!

I have to say that because we don't really have the means to eat cake here, that we instead put some candles in the banana leaf chicken dish that we were having for dinner that night.

In brief, the time here has been a whirlwind tour of Dhaka and I imagine that it will take me several more months to get my footing here in the school. There is a bit more about that in the attached update. I am very thankful yet nervous about the upcoming challenge, and will proceed to send out stories of my time here as you wish. Of course if you don’t want to receive my updates just let me know and I can remove you J, likewise, please forward onwards to anyone I may have missed!

Just a quick addition that I didn’t write about in the update, please see the attached photo, of what was going on with the power lines right outside my balcony! Notice the heaps of wires just tossed upon the pole as well as the bamboo ladder being used to string them!

Life here is definitely a bit different! Feel free also to ask questions and send emails, I don’t always get to them straight away but will do my best! Thank you for all your support and prayers, they are much needed.

Also please see the Picassa Web Album with some more pictures of my time here so far. I would love to update you with the articles I wrote, but maybe once I figure out how to do that I will post it! The internet is SO slow here that I can't really "surf" around to find it. I will have to ask around at school.

Ok that's all for now until I can figure more out! Hope you enjoy reading, I miss you all and am looking forward to hearing from you!

Love in Christ,

Cori (Joshua 1:9)

Hi Everyone!

View on the street not far from where we are staying. You can see the local clothing.

Glushan ave in main Dhaka city. You can see the amount of rickshaws! They are a bit scary... but are a way of life here... and are far cheaper than the CNG's which are those little green cabs you see. Streets are packed usually, and the smell....well. That's something else.

Hello Everyone!

I am safely in Dhaka and have been for about a day now. My luggage made it and I am feeling much better today than yesterday. We managed to head to the market and I bought some bananas and bread which was a blessing. I can't talk much, as I am borrowing internet, there is no power or internet in the appartment. This may change at some point, but not likely. Therefore my postings will be limited and most likely won't have pictures! I will do my best over the next few weeks to figure out how I can aid this so I can share more...but until then, I will do my best to send a few of you some letters (post offices are scarce here as well!), but most of my time will be spent in prayer for each of you.

Just a quick update, I am at the school now and have recieved my Timetable. I will be teaching about 6 hours each day, and am focused on Sciences (upper level, which is the same as our Grades 10-12 and 1st year University), and ICT (Computer studies), and also a bit of music after school.

I need to go as we are on our way to the market! Will post again when I can. Know that I am safe and healthy. Thanks to each of you for your prayers.

In Christ,
Corinne