Thanks for the Gumbo, Bopa

This evening marks the end of our first week back in the US, and it has been a bit of a blur. 

I won't lie, we're not even unpacked yet. 

But my sister is all moved into her new house just off campus in Arkansas, and my parents and I are on the road back to Texas. 68 miles to Texarkana, y'all. 

There is, of course, a 20oz cup of Dr. Pepper in the cup holder next to me. 

From my vantage point in the back seat any and all photos I might take of the open road will be marred by headrests and bug splotches on the windshield. 

While we may not have settled back in to our old life completely some things have been accomplished since our departure from China. 

I endured a trip to the DMV to update my driver's license. Super Husband has made huge strides in correcting his erroneous un-enrollment from uni. We've eaten lots of food. Including the best bowl of gumbo I've ever eaten. Mmm, gumbo. 

And frito pies, and Tex-Mex, and Greek food, and Turkish food, and Thai food, and ceviche... And ice cream. Oh, the bluebell, ooh, the Ben & Jerry's. 

Now it's time to start an exercise regime... Darn it. 

We still haven't seen everyone, or done everything (or eaten everything) that we were missing while away, but we're making progress. And we had time to make some plans while we were abroad, too. Changes to the house, a coat of paint here, a slight rearranging of furniture there. We've got our work cut out for us. 

Speaking of work, that is one area in which we have made no headway. Now that we've had a whole week to... Relax? Is that what we were doing? Surely not. Anyway, now that week one is out of the way it might be time to buckle down and start the rather unfulfilling process of sending out hundreds of resumes and emails. Woohoo. 

But not until I get off I-30. 

Paradise

Sorry for Radio Silence

On Friday, July 26^th Super Husband and I went to the airport after a lovely hotpot dinner at HaiDiLao with some of the Red Lions.

We flew to Bali, which is my favorite place on the planet (so far) for a week of rest and relaxation, and sun.

We spent the first three days of our vacation in the hilly, mountainous paradise of Ubud. I was somewhat sad to see that while much of Ubud remains the same, it is changing. The market at the city center was a warren, a beehive of small, almost closet sized shops that was so much fun, so interesting to navigate through. And while that still exists, there seems to be a move to create more boutique type shops, almost a mall type feel. While I can see the appeal this would hold for certain travelers, it takes some of the fun away for me. My favorite part of the Ubud market was navigating the hallways and finding some of my more interesting purchases.

Despite the small changes we did still manage to pick up much of what was on our list. Super Husband bought a very handsome linen shirt, and a pair of “Balibong” shorts. I was able to find the one thing that I was most looking for: batik wrap skirts.

Of course, we also ventured over to the Sacred Monkey Forest, where Super Husband made a friend, and then an enemy. He ended our walk through the forest by sustaining a monkey’s bite to the head, and a scratch to the neck. Not to worry though, he’s fine.

We also sampled much of the local cuisine, enjoying sate, babi guling, nasi goreng, ayam bakar, and countless other dishes.

An afternoon trip to lunch while overlooking some of the world’s most beautiful terraced rice paddies was followed by a relaxing evening drinking from freshly cut coconuts and watching the sunset behind the Tanah Lot temple.

Ooh, Bali.

From Ubud we ventured to the beachy paradise of Nusa Dua. While we were less than impressed with our hotel, it was still lovely to spend the mornings watching the sun rise over the water. And do basically nothing else.

The joys of reading on the beach know no bounds.

But, like all vacations, our time in Bali had to come to an end. Of course, we couldn’t leave before we acquired henna tattoos, and for me, a mani-pedi on the beach.

 

Once back in Beijing it was time to throw myself into the AH graduation, which went off without… okay, with only a few hitches. At the end of the day, though, all of the children and parents were happy, and everyone did a beautiful job. It was officially my last day with the Red Lions, and while I managed to keep my tear ducts in check it was still hard to say goodbye. I didn’t manage to hold all tears at bay for long, though. A touching text message from one of the moms did bring forth a somewhat unexpected onslaught of tears on Sunday while Super Husband and I were eating pizza and watching beerpong with friends.

Speaking of beerpong, kudos go out to Super Husband and Zach for winning second place in the doubles beerpong tournament the Thursday before we left for Bali. Now we have a red ribbon to go with the sea of blue and green ribbons.

Now it’s our last Monday in Beijing, and we’re 98% packed. Our list of things to do is fairly slim, and we’re mostly just trying to figure out if we’ve forgotten to do, see, or buy anything important.

Hopefully not.