Dad and the Dhaka Girls Football Champs

That's right, Dad took this team of middle and high school ladies through their football season to first place in the Dhaka football (soccer) championship.  (Isn't it great how he makes all of his teams dress up before tournaments?  They act like they don't like it, but I know they're really learning valuable lessons about taking ownership and pride in what they work for and do.)

They had to use all the stamina Dad and Coach Giblett helped them develop through weeks of practice and lasagna runs to play their best through six games in three days, but it paid off when the won the entire tournament.

Of course, I was most excited when they won because there was finally a chance for me to run all over the field with my friends.  These are two of the younger siblings (and future stars) of the team who I just love to chase around.

Merry March-mas?

This is how our street has looked for the past few nights.  It's great fun to run to the living room window and yell "ights" until Mom or Dad opens the curtain and I can inspect the sparkling electrical masterpiece.

I did find out, though, that when streets are decorated like this in Dhaka, which they often are between December and March, it is not for Christmas, but usually for a wedding.  Families who can afford to announce nuptials in lights do so on quite grand scales around the city, and I've enjoyed some spectacular shows.  

Bowman Bakes Bread

I mentioned in this post that I've been doing a lot of mix-mixing with Mom whenever she needs to be in the kitchen.   My favorite thing to help her make is bread because not only do I get to help her dump the flours into the dough, but I also get my own dough to push...

 and sample.

Look what beautiful pizza we turn out when Mom lets me help with the crust and Dad lets me help put on the sauce and cheese.  Yum.

Bowman at Babygroup

One of the best parts about being in Dhaka is that there is this huge expatriate community, including a whole lot of kids whose parents want them to make friends.  This means there are some great babygroups for me to go to, sometimes with Mom, and sometimes with my ayah, Sathy.  This spring, Mom has helped to organize a couple of new groups in the afternoon at the pre-school part of Dad's school.  That means that I've gotten to make a new set of friends and play in lots of sand.

Another highlight of the groups is the car and tricycles that we get to use.  The car is everyones' favorite, and I especially like that we get to take turns driving and being the passenger on the back.  

Bowman and Bandages

That's right.  I learned to write my name.

Oh, wait, that's not the big news here.  Dad got hurt again.  That's what I was planning to write about.  It's been a frustrating year for him with knee and ankle injuries, the latest of which he incurred during a staff soccer game at a picnic.  After a roll and a loud pop, he had to ride back to Dhaka for three hours on a bus with no ice and an ankle as big as my head.  The next day, the doctor had him all wrapped up.  You can see in the next picture that he also required Dad to use crutches for three weeks.

While this was all quite frustrating for Dad, it did mean lots of book time with him on the couch for me.  

I'm glad you're walking again, Dad.  Keep up those ankle A-B-C's with me and I just might be reading books on my own in a couple of weeks.