We've been super busy. I work most nights until 2 or 3 am. I wake up at 6 to get the kids ready for school and off on the bus, and then back to sleep until about 10 or 11. I spend my days shuttling back and forth picking up the kids. Mati gets out at noon, and Dito gets out at 4, so by the time I go get Mati, feed her lunch and play a little while, its time to go get Dito. We come home do homework, eat dinner, put the kids to sleep and time to start my work day again. Fernando has been traveling a lot he's been back to the US, to India, and to China a few times. He is working 18-20 hours a day to cover work days on both sides of the globe, so for him it is really tough.
The weather here has been beautiful lately. It is the rainy season which I thought would be bad, but it is actually the best. It rains every night really hard, which clears out the haze and cools off the land. So we wake up every morning to clear blue skies and cool breezes. The trees and flowers are GREEN and blooming, and there are many birds now which we didn't have during the dry season. There are more monkeys now too, different kinds that come down from the mountain to eat the fruits from the trees in our neighborhood that are in bloom. I never tire of watching the monkeys. They have an entire organizational hierarchy, roles and responsibilities in the pack, and daily activities. I know where to go, at what time to find them. Its awesome.
Mati has more kids in her class this year which she is happy about. There are 3 new American girls ("yellow hair just like me") which is a welcomed addition to her and a relief to me. I'm already not big on chatting with moms during play dates, but trying to make conversation with Korean, Japanese and Chinese Malay is just torture!
Fernandito loves his school, and enjoys staying afterwards to play basketball and 4 square with the boarding school kids. They had a track and field day, and he placed 4th in the Javelin ... go figure!
November 19, 2007
We are getting ready for thanksgiving in Malaysia. It's been interesting to say the least! Carmen searched the entire island of Penang looking for a turkey. T'giving is basically unknown here and the few turkeys that are ordered arrive in December (for Christmas) - not in November. Fortunately, a friend who has a cousin who has a friend, knows somebody that raises turkeys - and Carmen was able to find one at the "wet market" - "wet" as in alive... should be interesting.
November 29, 2007
The turkey ended being about as big as a really skinny chicken... We needed to buy 2. I cooked everything, and for a person who never cooks, it came out pretty good! We had the traditional Cuban / American cuisine with Frijoles Negros and white rice, and Sweet Potatoe casserole, home made pies: apple, mango, & pecan. We had a formal sit down with Fernando & I and the kids, my mom, and Siva & Kanthi. I used my new plates from the Mikasa outlet on the mainland, and the table looked beautiful. It was a quite and nice time.We are looking forward to our home leave this December. I was playing Christmas songs at home this weekend as I was setting up our tree (the first artificial tree we have ever had, but of course, it wouldn't be easy to ship a live evergreen to the equator! We were thinking of First Baptist, the pageant and the great choir and awesome sounding Christmas carols and missing home.
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