FLAT MARLEY GOES TO NEPAL

 You remember my little human buddy Wyatt? He was in Nepal with Lady and other friends at a resort conference center. He's playing with his buddy Eli. Nepal has a mild climate, at least compared to Delhi! It's tropical and humid.

 

 Lady and Wyatt went to a children's concert together. Wyatt loved the music and dancing.

photo from msn.com
Lady's favorite mammal is the tiger. The latest tiger census for  Nepal is out. The number of wild tigers has increased 63% to 198 tigers in the wild. The country hopes to double the population by 2022 but  illegal trade with China and India, uncontrolled poaching, habitat disturbance and conservation are the major concerns.

 In the capital city of Kathmandu, one of the largest Buddhist temples is found. Buddhism started in Nepal though Siddhartha Gautama, a disillusioned Hindu. While the country is almost 90% Hindu and only 5 % Buddhist, there is a lot of interfaith worshipping often making it hard to tell them apart. Hindus worship at Buddhist temples and vice versa. About 3 % claim for follow Islam and 2 % Christian. Nepal is a Federal Democratic Republic.
Nepal is know for the Himalayan Mountain Range running across the northern and western part of the country. Eight of the fourteen highest mountains in the world, including Mt. Everest, are found in Nepal.  Yet this beautiful country is one of the poorest and least developed in the world. About one fourth of the population live below the poverty line. Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy.
Pray for the people of this poor yet beautiful and exotic land. 
 

FLAT MARLEY GOES TO BANGLADESH

That's small FLAT MARLEY in the middle of this henna party. Lady took ten teens to Bangladesh to learn about their culture and life for teens there. They ate Bengali food, learned Bengali songs, traveled around in bicycle rickshaws, visited government schools, and shared some American culture with the local teens. Here, the girls are telling stories and drawing designs with henna.

The political situation in Bangladesh is very bad. During the time Lady and the teens were there, four days of nationwide strikes were called. Lady and the teens had to stay inside most of the day and couldn't go to the other schools as planned. But they made the most of the time, and found other places to go by bicycle rickshaw, the only vehicles allowed on the roads. The sad thing is, Bangladesh has had more than sixty days of strike this year due to the war crimes trials. The whole country is suffering. Businesses have to close. Kids can't go to school. People lose work and make no money.

 Lady's girls spoke to these girls (above) at a training center for girls from a slum area. Here, they get some basic education and job training. They get two meals and a snack each day as well as a shower. They also learn about a God who loves them and values them, even though their culture does not.

 These kids (above) are in an orphanage. They sang songs with the American teens, and listened to talks. They even sang for the Americans. They have so little but they prepared a nice snack for the teens.

 When the American students taught at a small government school, the windows and doors were packed with people wanted to listen and look at these teens from the far away land. 

 The American teens were asked to speak at a government high school about the dangers of smoking. When they arrived, they discovered only the boys were present. The girls attended in the mornings and were gone! At the last minute, the girls planning to speak had to be replaced by boys speakers. They are 16! They would not have listened to a word the girls said. They did however like the skit the boys and girls put on for them. 

Because of the strike, the American teens had to ride to the airport in ambulances! They loved it -sirens and all! 
This was Lady's second trip to Bangladesh. She loves it. Maybe one day we will live there!

I'VE GOT MAIL! REAL MAIL!

Lady and I had a great surprise today from Bushnell. FL! Letters! To me!

See me smiling? I'm reading every one! Thank you Kelly, Alex, Emma, Rayne, Sylvia, Katie, Karyn, Maritza, Rebecca, Skye, Hannah, Sarah, and Aunty Marilyn. And a shout out to my pal, Buddy Boy. I will send Aunty Marilyn an e-mail and answer all your questions. The Flat Marley you gave Lady went with her to Nepal, Bangladesh, and Thailand, but Lady wasn't very good at remembering to take photos for you. Sorry. But she says Flat me had a great time.
Thanks again, little humans in Bushnell!!

BACK FROM TIMESHARE

I'm back home with Lady. This month has been crazy. First, she was in Nepal and I was with Aunty Gail. After only four days home she took off again for Bangladesh. She came straight from the airport to pick me up from Aunty Gail's. While she was in Bangladesh, I stayed with a new timeshare family, my buddies Drew and Nate. Drew let me lie on his blanket! That was pretty nice of him. 
Here's what Lady brought me from Bangladesh:

I likes it! Thanks, Lady!

It's a little panda holding a soccer ball.

Lady had no time between her trip to Bangladesh and her trip to Thailand to get me. She was home less than eight hours before she had to head to the airport again. She had no internet access so she's just now catching up. But this month she is staying in India -not home, but at least in India. We've been sad reading about all the pups crossing the Rainbow Bridge lately. Sorry we haven't been able to express our condolences. Lady said she'd help me write some more posts. It's good to be home!

 

MEET MY TIMESHARE FAMILIES

 Meet my Marisa who moved to Malaysia. She loves me.

 This is my boy Joseph. We have the same hair color only mine is turning gray.

 This is my Aunty Gail who loves me so. She is Joseph's mom.

 This is Charlotte. We're just friends. Don't worry, Lilly Belle.

I miss my Aunty Sarah, Marisa's mom, who moved to Malaysia. God provided Aunty Gail to fill the gap. 
Lady's got suitcases out again and is filling them up. She's packing for two trips at the same time. Good grief! Lady just got back! Yes, she packed the melted crayons. There's still lots to do with them. I am so blessed to have such good families who want to timeshare me. 
My back is okay, but my hips have been bothering me. Aunty Gail had to give me a feel better pill. I'm limping a bit, but I still want to walk Lady quite a bit. She just wants me to take care of business and go back. Well, we went across the main road to buy milk at Mother Dairy (speaking words of wisdom, let it be) this morning, but I wanted to walk more. Lady also bought vanilla ice cream! People here go to buy there milk every morning, or they have a milkman on a bicycle deliver it! Since Lady travels so much, we just go buy it. Lady likes to buy veggies from the veggie cart man, and fruit from the fruit cart man. They come right to our building!

HOME AGAIN

It's always good to be back in my own bed in my home with Lady. I had a good sleepover with Aunty Gail, and a cute little Chihuahua mix named Charlotte. She's also on vacation. Lady went to Nepal for a week. It got so hot in our house her crayons melted. She had set them out to get ready for her next trip to Bangladesh. It involves some children's events, so she has been getting everything ready. Brand new Crayola Crayons from America. Melted. Lady was not happy.
Flat Me went to Nepal but Lady forgot to take photos! Hope she takes Flat Me to Bangladesh! I'll be vacationing with a new family with two boys, then I will go back to Aunty Gail's when Lady goes to Thailand Yes, I know. She is traveling a lot this month. Tell me about it. At least I get good treats and gifts.