What's up with Elisabeth & George?: Penang -- Week 29 -- Hari Raya with Shereen

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Penang -- Week 29 -- Hari Raya with Shereen

THURSDAY, October 2nd
My hypoglycemic diet is forever getting adjusted. Today I make some whole wheat pasta, extra al dente, for lunch. I'm a little hungry about an hour after lunch, so I grab the leftovers. Before you know it, I've eaten the entire container of leftovers. Then within half an hour I start getting droopy. I go lay down for a sec and wake up hours later with a pasta hangover. I crashed pretty hard from that pasta! So, now I'm off grains. Great, life here just got that much more complicated.

My crash almost makes us miss the Hari Raya celebration that my new friend Shereen is hosting. But I push myself, because it's so important to me to make some of these more private celebrations of local culture. There are a lot of people there, and lots of food. Shereen and her sister are so nice to make sure George and I never feel abandoned even though they have so many other guests to entertain. It's a really nice time. And Regin has a nice time playing with all the other children (read: watching other children play).

During dinner, Shereen's dad gave George the official welcome by saying an Arabic variation on the familiar Spanish phrase 'Mi casa es su casa' -- "My house is your house, but my wife is mine." Haha!!

Photos:

Shereen and I

Allayth, Shereen's son, is her family's first grandson. Apparently her dad here is looking for another! Regin's not too keen on the idea though.

Regin was really afraid of Shereen's dad. He's often afraid of men.

He's not too keen on kids kissing him either, but he's often asked to sit through such things.

He's much happier on the floor, not being held or kissed by strangers.

Both boys are pretty much done with the photo op by now.

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How we're doing right now.

April 6th, 2009
Oh man, moving back home has been quite a transition! For Regin especially. It has taken him three months to return to being fully, or almost fully, potty trained. But we're home and happy to be with friends and in an environment where things are easier.

But of course, not everything is easier. George's first day back to work he learned that the company was exiting the business and he and all the other people that work on that product (including all those people he trained in Penang) were told to look for other jobs.

His last day was March 31st. No time for that cozy little 'sabbatical' though; after he finished his last day of work, his family called and told us they are coming (from Florida) for a visit on the 10th! This would be no big deal (other than being terribly exciting) if we were fully moved back in, but of course, until now, we've had VERY little motivation to fully unpack! So now we're preparing the house at warp speed!

You know, I do miss Penang. Hard to say what I miss exactly, because I know it's more than our friends there, but I feel a certain pang. And all the time we were there, other than missing family, friends, easy living, and snow, I never once actually missed 'Colorado.'

When we got back to Colorado, I expected to have a new and complete love for the place. I do appreciate some things a lot more, especially visual things. I see beauty where I didn't before. But it hasn't been the feeling of home that I expected, and I still have some of the same issues with the place. But what I do love IMMENSELY and will always love IMMENSELY is the people we have here. And it's been absolutely amazing to see how Regin has picked right back up where he left off with his loved ones here. There's no doubt in my mind that he somehow remembers them.