Back in Penang

Woke up in Penang today and it is gorgeous! We are staying at the Hard Rock Hotel, included with our Stage Pass we got last April. Love that offer at Hard Rock! You pay a reasonable fee and get to swim in their awesome pool for a year, along with several other great benefits that include a room for one night. This place is lush. The best shower I have EVER had- It was one of those rain showers that the water falls straight down on you. I stayed in there for probably 45 minutes and never ran out of hot water The. Best. Ever. The best bed I’ve slept in in years and just like I like it and like I had at home, like forever ago, all white cotton, like sleeping in a cloud.

The rooms are rockin!

 

 

Seaview

 

 

. Great 24 hr room service. And the room itself was rockin! They also offer complimentary breakfast; a whole room full of delicious breakfast choices. From noodles to waffles, it was superb



 

 

  Rio had a little impromptu party with some of her friends from school. They swam, ate pizza went out to the beach and had a great time.  She made some very close friends in the short time we were here. I am glad. I hope the friendship will remain strong after we move on...

 

I got to meet the mom of one of Rios friend’s; we sat and shared a pizza and salad. She is Hindu and is going to Thaipusm tomorrow. We had a wonderful conversation about the meaning of the rituals she really brought it all to life for me.

 I am so in love with traveling and meeting all these fascinating people, I never want it to stop…



Thai... What?

THAIPUSAM

 

Thaipusam the word Thaipusam is a combination of the name of the month it is held: Thai, and the name of the star: pusam. It is a religious Hindu festival celebrated on the full moon of the Tamil month of Thai which is January or February. The star, pusam is at its highest point during this time. The festival is a celebration of the occasion when Parvati gave Murugan a Vel or a spear so he could kill the evil demon Soorapadman.

It’s just Rio and I traveling now. After the initial heartache of Pete going back to the U.S. Rio and I have really gotten excited about our upcoming travels. This weekend we are going to Penang by ferry, Mid February we will be taking a sailing course together so we will be at sea for two weeks then at of February we are going to Chiang Mai, Thailand by train/plane for a month. She is helping me with the train schedules and flight reservations; she’s an all around joy to be around, I can’t think of anyone else I would rather travel with really! (Don’t tell Pete, but sometimes he just doesn’t have enough get up and go for me!)

I am very excited a to share this with my friends and family, so check back in the days to come for updates!

 

Homeschooling Hangover

Since we did arrive in the middle of the school year and I have homeschooled before I thought I would just home school again, no problem. I packed what seemed like tons of books (and paid dearly at the check in counter in the airport) bought some great school supplies at the book store at the fabulous Gurney Plaza and set up a very upbeat school room complete with giant sized world maps.  That was the fun part.

What I forgot about homeschooling is the reason I had stopped homeschooling- It’s hard! And my kids are mean! And after a while we start hating each other! And every day someone or everyone runs into their bedroom and cries.

Rio and I are old pros at it even though we do butt heads and have to go to neutral corners every once in awhile, but River? My sweet smiling, bring me breakfast in bed boy turns into Demon Spawn when it’s time to do school. We vow to start ‘anew’ every day vowing that today is going to be good and that we are going to do better today than yesterday. But usually 15 minutes into our first lesson I’m clinching my fists and River has slinked down into his chair and I can barely see him over the table.  So we take lots of breaks and end up hugging it out a lot, but not getting much reading writing or arithmetic accomplished here….I feel drained.

Seeking Salvation

We have set out to find a church, a place, for me, to find peace, to find answers- a father to hold me and gently apply some healing salve to my still raw, still aching spirit.

We found just that at Penang International Church a wonderful church with great people. Now if we can get there on time. Come on #104!

Hooked

What I didn’t mention in my last post is that we’re hooked into our house for 10 months! Ten months we will be required to stay in one place. I made my decision on a house too quick…but to my credit I was under some pressure.  We will make the best of this I’m sure.

 

Shocked and Raw

We arrived ready for something new but raw and sad about losing our old things; the things that made us feel safe and comfortable. The people who made us feel loved and accepted.  I wanted to find a place that was really different from what we had just said goodbye to. I found a big nice condo in a nice neighborhood with shops and restaurants close by, it would be good, and I found it quick; maybe too quick…

We walked or took the bus everywhere we wanted to go, I thought it was great, I have to walk every day it's a basic need of mine, but my teenagers, not so much. The bus that came close to our house the #104 was the worse- we stood out and waited most times 45 minutes to and hour in the tropical heat. Most times we ended up walking down to the main road, a 20 min walk uphill.

Having lived in very small town America (population maybe 400) all their lives Rio and River were shocked by the city life of Penang. We knew there would be more to it than Langkawi but wow! This place had a lot going on! Skyscrapers on every corner, restaurants everywhere you look and traffic that made driving in rush hour San Antonio look like a Sunday drive.  Fascinating!

Jumping Off the Deep End

We're on a beach, we're up on a mountain, we're eating fried bugs, we're running from monkeys, we're riding with all three of us on a motorbike. Wow, what a difference a year makes!


A year ago I was 50, bored, in a very shaky marriage and wondering- is this it? Is this going to be my life? Is this how I'm going to live the rest of my life? I got very...blue. Blue. Not depressed I don't think, just a real sense of gloomy boredom and a feeling that the spark had left my life. Then a couple of life changers happened -I won't go into it now, maybe when I get a little more comfortable with blogging and decide whether or not I want this to be a full disclosure type blog . Anyway, the said life changers were of the sort that at another time, to another me, may have been devastating. But to the gloomy, blue, looking for an excuse to do ANYTHING DIFFERENT me? I saw a chance to do what I have had a yearning- really an almost painful need to do. WANDER....

So on January 31, 2012, I took my two blessings and went out to see the world, to wander, to get our education from the around the world, we had already homeschooled more than not in my two teen's lives so I knew (or hoped, with teens it changes daily) I had that part covered, ...I spun a wheel in my head that had a few places I knew I could go, and the spinner landed on Penang, Malaysia.