Blessings from Florida

Actually, the blessing was straight from heaven, sent via Florida. So the other day Sharon and I were in Carrefour (like Walmart with less mullets and way more Asians). We only had a couple things to grab and little time to do it in, so we split up and planned to meet at the registers. Five minutes later Sharon comes around the corner with a huge grin on her face. In her hands was pure liquid gold straight from Polk County, FL- Florida's Natural Orange Juice. No lie. Even though it cost 5 times more than all the other brands, we had to buy it. Actually, it's the only "real" orange juice we've found. "Oren jus" here is basically watered-down Tang with fake pulp. Bobby, please hug the man who thought it'd be a good idea to export to Southeast Asia.

A Sod, Lizards, and Sparklers kind of Weekend

What was your weekend like? Here's the rundown on ours...

Friday afternoon we 'landscaped' our front yard ...for all you before-and-after photo lovers these are for you...

Nice huh? And we're hoping our little Plumeria tree will survive...and produce wonderful smelling pink flowers like the nursery manager said it would...

Saturday we went to the mountains again with Abang, Kakak, and their 4 kids. Here's us doing what we usually end up doing with them...eating...

A few minutes into eating, a jungle lizard of some sort threw caution to the wind and jumped from a nearby tree, landing on Anthony. After consulting a highly reliable and reputable source (*cough* Iguanas for Dummies *cough*) we decided that the lizard was most likely a young iguana. We were all laughing too hard to get a picture of it on his head...but the little guy hung around for a couple hours after and posed for this picture later...

...maybe he sat still for Anthony as sort of an apology for the whole kamakazi attack earlier. Probably.

Going to the mountains also includes playing in the freezing cold river...this time little Adik had a boat...

Anthony took this one while I was catching some Z's on top of the car...what can I say, it's hard to sleep on the ground when tree-cutter ants are crawling everywhere along with the ever-present danger of leaping lizards...

Sunday we ate dinner with Abang's family at their home. Sunday was the first day of Ramadhan. It took a lot of motivation to get them to stop for this picture...they were pretty hungry after fasting all day...

Afterwards we all played with sparklers...

For more pictures of our life and times overseas...go to our shutterfly page (if you like any of the pictures you can even order prints for yourself)

Modern Convienence Week...

So this week was a fairly uneventful week as we again learned more words in our new language and fought the struggle between the ease of eating Western food (KFC just around the corner!) and the necessity of becoming acclimated to our new culture by eating at a local food stall. But that's just a normal week here in tropical paradise.
What did happen this week was getting a refrigerator for the kitchen and an air-con (as they say here) installed in our bedroom. These two modern conviences have revolutionized our home.
It's amazing how much better one feels - after the culture shock of eating at the local food stall- to drink an ice-cold coke and sit in an ice-cold room.
Here's a picture of the guys installing it...bless-ed, bless-ed men- they deserved the RM130.00 they got for their work (about $40).

Sorry no more pictures, but here's a story to give you guys a taste of what its like to go shopping here...with a dramatic twist at the end.
This week we had the opportunity to go with a curtain-maker to a fabric store to pick out fabric for the curtains she is sewing me. The curtain part isn't interesting, you guys have them in the US, although I do feel a bit spoiled hiring someone to make curtains for me...she says "I make you very exclusive design." Hmm...
Lemme tell ya ladies, if you have a low self-esteem, this is the place to come. The stares are never-ending...and even after speaking perfect English to them they still usually ask me "Are you Arab?" Then when I've sufficiently set in my mind to ignore the stares, an older teenage boy that works there sets out to follow me around the store. I glare at him, ask Anthony to stand close to me or to block him from getting near me, but his ninja-like moves between the bolts of fabric prevail and before I can start looking again, he's there.
Once I had endured the questions of "why you like the plain ones?" and "why you not get this one? This one nice color!" I had chosen my fabrics (one was too expensive so I decided to go with my first choice at IKEA) when we realized Kakak's 2 year old son was gone and we couldn't find him. This is the kid who each morning during our language lessons gives up "Sponge Bob Square Pants" to sit on top of the table just to be next to his mother. The store was 3 stories and Kakak, Anthony, and I were scouring the bolts of fabric beginning to get desperate after about 15 minutes of looking with no success. Oh, and instead of helping, the people in the store just decided its more fun to stare at the whities than to help look for the kid.
Then Anthony comes to the rescue. He decides to look outside the store...it is pouring down rain and the child is a block away standing in the middle of a street corner. Anthony triumphantly carried the child back to his mother and hopefully all the onlookers saw that the whities really are here to help.
I'll take pictures of my "exclusive design" curtains when they're done.

Monkeys, Sunsets, and Dwarves

So no one will be held in suspense any longer as to what I said in the video 2 posts ago...here we go...
"Sorry. What time is it?" Then I just named some dolls, not sure what order now but, "Woman, Man, Old people, girl, boy, and baby." Ya'll are all now unimpressed...I can feel the disappointment as you all sit at your computers and go "That was it?"
Although Joanna was incorrect, we applaud her efforts to guess (as she knows at least 2 languages fluently and speaks them with no accent)...so MamaKoo...anytime you're in our corner of the world, you're welcome to stay the night...no charge.

On to the pictures. Since nothing significant enough to warrant more than one picture happened this week, here is yet another hodge-podge of pictures. Enjoy.
The first is for all the kiddies out there. (and those like our friend Corey Z. who loves monkeys)
The next is a sunset picture in the city. This picture isn't an old Christmas picture...the lights on the intersection are always there.
The next is a photo of all the objects we can name (in theory at least).
This last picture is for Paul and Julia Roberts who are (Jules please don't kill me!) expecting their first baby next year! Congratulations guys. No this isn't a prayer for you guys to have septuplets...we were just wondering if Paul could help us find Dumpy.
(As one that loathes inside jokes proclaimed in public places... The joke came about something like this as we were concluding our day at Disney World. "So where did you guys park?" Rivers:"Oh we got here early, so we're in Pluto 19. Where are you guys?" Paul: "Um...I think we're in Dumpy." )

4 Week-aversary

We've been here 4 weeks Today! (Wednesday)
Last Thursday we celebrated Independence Day here. We went to a local jungle with Abang and his family and had a great time. We swam, ate, swam, played in waterfalls, and ate a little more. Nothing like celebrating independence from the British twice in one year. These folks are great at relaxing.
We didn't take any pictures of the big waterfalls we played in because they were too far away...and like Johnny May-May says "Hopin' I would see the world with both my eyes....so no more 3x5's" If you come see us, we'll take you there:)

Also this week...we moved into our house! It is still being cleaned, having furniture delivered and what not, but here it is...This is the outside...this was taken before our bars were put on the windows and doors and before the overgrowth was cleared out of the yard. We feel like we live in a castle compared to our two-ROOM apartment we had for the first 2 years of our marriage.

This is the view from the living room looking out. We love the potential in the front yard. More to come when paint goes on the walls, furniture is delivered, and flowers get planted.

Everyday Things...

So that our blog doesn't fall to the wayside...here are some random things that we just haven't posted yet.
After we signed our contract to rent our house, we took Abang and his family out to eat to say "thanks" for all the work he did to arrange it. He got to pick the place...and the food.

Very good...although a little too spicy for my true enjoyment. The green things you see there are a Southern classic...okra...or here "lady finger."
This was the view from the expressway as we were leaving IKEA the other day. Sorry for the glare...also sorry that unless you're in California or (we think New York) you can't enjoy the amazing shopping experience that is IKEA...It's a Swedish gift to the world of home decorating.This is Adik (what you call anyone who is a child). He is Kakak and Abang's youngest...he's cute, don't ya think?

And this is a little language ditty for you all back home...watch and be amazed. 1st one to guess what I'm saying before I pick up and name the dolls wins a free night in our guest bedroom. (To win, participants must not know the language of Bahasa...and if you speak it, don't ruin it for everyone else by saying what I said...cuz that's just not cool)

Ecclesiastes played out...

This week has been an interesting one and I think having the Word of God to show us how we are supposed to view a week like this is appropriate, and really, the best way to look at it.

Ecclesiastes 3:1- There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven...v.4 A time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance...

We had a GREAT week with our homestay family in the Kampong. We made friends, learned culture, and even had some language lessons. But our laughter was turned to weeping as we learned of my (Sharon) Grandma's passing away early Saturday morning. She died peacefully with her children in her home. Our last visit with her the morning we left was great. We got to say goodbye and her last words to me were "Love You" (with an emphasis on the 'you'). We are learning the hard way, very quickly, how to be family members on the other side of the world.

This is my Grandma, Patricia, a couple Thanksgiving's ago with me, Heather, Mama, and Kaelyn. Four generations in one photo. She was a wonderful Grandma and we could always count on her to have snacks, treats, and cokes in her fridge when we visited. She was an independent woman, lived on her own til her death, and you can sense her fiesty influence in my mom and even in me. Although I think she'd laugh to see little independent me in an Asian culture that values collectiveness! Interesting how that works! She will be missed.

So that this post reflects our whole life and so you can also see, literally, that God gives blessings even in the midst of trying times...

We went out for "Sate Kajang" Friday night with our homestay family. It was very good and Anthony and Abang competed to see who could eat the most sticks.

Abang won with 40 sticks, Anthony tried his best and came out with 32. Looks like Abang is eyeing Anthony's count as Anthony chooses his next stick. Kinda like "Gator's Dockside" in Jax on Monday Night with all-you-can-eat chicken wings...

Kakak had a coconut drink...literally. She loves them. Good to know that it's not just tourists who love the stereotypical tropical drinks.

Although I am no longer the official spokesperson for the Arcadia Watermelon Association, I figured I'd give the watermelon industry a little boost, for free. This is "Watermelon Frost" and you use it for ulcers and what-not in your mouth. I have an ulcer from all the fruit I've been eating lately so I bought this in Chinatown last night. It seems to be working!
For ALL our pictures here so far...from the far east click here.

Thanks to everyone who keeps up with our blog. It's great to know you're out there!

Suda Makan?

We are spending time in a village outside the big city here. We're staying with some new friends, and since they're older we call them "kakak" (older sister) and "abang" (older brother). We have visited their friends and family in the village, and even went to a wedding. The question EVERYWHERE you go is, "Suda Makan?" or "Have you eaten?" kinda like "Dya eat yet?" in the South. Except here, it's a constant snacking...I really don't think they understand why Anthony and I are always so full so quickly when a meal finally comes around.

Anthony with Kakak's friends. Saturday Night "makan malam" "dinner" we went to Kakak's friend's house. We had TONS of seafood; 2 kinds of prawn, crab, mussels, stingray, squid, and shrimp. And you just continually eat...so we ate for about 4 hours or so...when the meat comes off the grill, you eat it, then wait for the next batch to come off the grill.

Me and a big hunk of BBQ-ed Stingray. Perhaps the best meat the whole night.

Me at a village wedding on Sunday...eating. I usually will not have to wear a head-covering, but to a formal event like a wedding, it is polite and customary to get 'dressed-up' and wear one. Kakak said I looked "Beautiful...like a Pakistan woman."

Us with the Bride and Groom. They get to be King and Queen for a day.

Hither and Yon...

This will be two posts in one of some images of our new surroundings overseas and our fun-filled day at Disney World before leaving the US.
My apologies for these not doing the city justice. We haven't stopped much since getting here and so I just snapped a few from the car this morning.
This is a tiny view of some of the skyline from the expressway. It was rainy today. Promise better one's are coming. This also from the van is a welcome sign/banner to another part of the city (I think anyway...we'll go with that) It has a bit of an Arabic Islamic flare to it...most welcome signs don't, so I thought it was neat.

This is Anthony outside our temporary residence. Its actually a company office, but there are bedrooms on the second floor. It's width is the two sections to the right of Anthony. Our bedroom runs the length of all the windows on the second floor.

And this sign is giving instructions for... this ramp...The local version of Walmart "Carrefour" is several stories and you push your "trolley" on these moving walkways to get from floor to floor. I wanted to get a picture of a person actually pushing one on the ramp, but we get stared at enough just being white Americans, so use your imagination.

Now to DISNEY WORLD...
The favorite of all the pictures is actually a video taken on the Tea Cups... Mindy and Anthony are the excellent spinners, I am the one laughing like a pig, and Josh is the one getting sick and saying "I hate this, I hate it, I hate it..." good times.

This trip contained all of the requisite Magic Kingdom stops... Jennifer, Anthony, and their Mom (Mary Lou) with the attention-starved Disney employee at Pirates of the Caribbean who worked his way into this picture...
Mindy and I in the stocks at Liberty Square (not sure how Disney justifies that one)...we dedicate this picture to Justin...Mindy, glad I got to be the first to pose with you here...

Josh and Anthony being (I think) freaked out before entering the Haunted Mansion...ooooo

Turkey legs in "Frontier Land"- I would like to draw particular attention to the lady-like way Cara and I are ripping the skin off. It tastes better when you eat like cave-men.

Paul and Julia Roberts (wrote that just for you Jules) bought personalized classic Mickey ear hats to round out the night before watching the Main Street Electric Light Parade...

We're here!!!

Quick post to let everyone know we arrived safely. Sharon and I kept thinking how weird it was that our 30+ hour trip over the Pacific was taking us HOME. I'm not sure it's really sunk in yet. We're so excited to be here and we promise that we'll put up a proper post soon with tons of pictures of our last several days in the States and our first days here, but to hold you over until then here's a picture of us with the greatest drink in the world.

The beautiful, frosty, amber-colored concoction you see here is Zappel. We've been dying for this since the last time we were here two years ago. There are many imposters in the States, but nothing beats the Zappel. We purchased these beauties 5 minutes after leaving the airport.

More coming soon...

Back in FL

This is how much time Sharon and I have left until we leave the USA for several years. Depending on which minute I look at the clock I either feel incredibly excited at the opportunity or sad when I think of all the people we will miss.

We're back in Florida until that clock runs out. We're having way too much fun with our friends and family - we'll post pictures soon, but right now we're going to the beach (in case you want to come we will be at the Jetties in Jacksonville from 10:30 until we're entirely too red... bring your floaties).

So Long SpeedyGoat

The day the Rivers family has dreaded since 1996 is upon us. SpeedyGoat "The Teal Wonder" Rivers has grown up and moved on to go live with friends on his own.

Rather than focusing on the deep sorrow, we've decided to cherish the memories. Here are a few select gems so you too may share in the joy that is Speedy. We remember...

The times Anthony, Pete and Speedy would go for a good time of fish-tailin' after visitation at NJBC. Since Speedy's got no junk in his trunk, he'd just slide to his heart's content on the church property grass by the Trout River. These were his rebellious years.

The day he received his name. Cliff was there.

The day his horns started growing in... he head-butted a yield sign (through no fault of Anthony's whatsoever) and received a nasty scar on his left temple. Cliff was there too.

The day Speedy and Sharon first met. He loved going to the beach with us. He likes dolphins.

Speaking of dolphins, we remember how happy he was when we surprised him with a Miami Dolphins license plate. He loves wearing Dan Marino's colors (we had quite the argument when he wanted a big "13" air-brushed on his tailgate).

And all the times we had to turn him off in the McDonalds drive-thru. He talked so loudly that the attendant couldn't hear us over him (he has voice-immodulation problems with his muffler).

We love you SpeedyGoat. Miss ya. Miss you everyday.

The part the Colonel doesn't want you to see...

So, the skills they teach us for living overseas are pretty comprehensive. Today was a live action lesson on how to kill and prepare a chicken. Since Anthony and I don't really need this skill, we only went to take pictures because...well...how often do you see a chicken 'prepared?' We dedicate these pictures to our Kentucky friends.

His only request was that he be a Chik-fil-a Chicken and not a 'Cap'n D's Chicken Plank'...a bird's gotta die with honor.

I'm not sure what is more disturbing...the fact that we're posting this or that the kid's hands in the picture are motioning how to cut it's neck. We must say after witnessing it, and other than seeing grown men get queasy, that it was less exciting than we had hoped. None of the fabled "running around like a chicken with its head cut off" kind of stuff.

Now to more well-adjusted photos...we went to Washington D.C. on the 4th of July. It was fun, but for my (Sharon) first trip is was a bit 'rushed.' We were only there for 7 hours and about 3hours of that was spent on the Metro/Subway getting from one place to another. We went with friends that have two kids and a stroller so we just paced ourselves and enjoyed what we could get to. The bus left at 5pm so no fireworks...although if you click on our April 2006 archive you'll find plenty of fireworks fun. Our pictures are less than marvelous and unless we told you, you wouldn't know they were taken in D.C. Hence...

The entrance to Chinatown (which is only 1 block long and not really worth spending 20 min to get there). But here's a picture...and the "Discover DC" sign proves we were there. We also visited the Sackler Gallery of Asian art which is part of the Smithsonian. It was free and we didn't have to wait in a block-long line to see it.

Grandmother get your gun...

Things have been going great in Virginia, but we figure that pictures of us sitting all day and listening to lectures aren't quite interesting (hence the pictures below that have nothing to do with our time here). This week we went over our MBTI Personality tests. They told me I was Extroverted- like 30 out of 30 extroverted. Anthony took the test in college and was slightly Introverted- his scores this week showed that he is now slightly Extroverted. It seems he's finding his place in the Durrance family.

Today is my sister Heather's Birthday! Happy Birthday Heathas!

But in keeping with our string of highly entertaining posts, we figured we'd share some pics that we hold dear...

This is Grandmother** shooting in her backyard in Florida. Just a couple observations that make this particularly special to us- 1) My cousin Bobby's expression. 2) Grandmother is wearing her pearls. 3) Its my grandmother. Apparently she hit whatever target she was aiming at...atta girl! Props to Bobby for sending this snapshot our way.

This next one is a neat. My Uncle Jeff took this at the Braves vs. Devil Rays game in Tampa last week.

...can you see the family resemblance? (MattE Diaz is #23 holding the bat down on the field. Zach, in the red hat, is his brother. Jeremiah is his nephew).

And like any good Floridians, a couple weeks ago we found the closest thing to a "theme park" and tried it out...There were 2 slides at the place. Here's Anthony on unnamed slide #1, the one we called the "tall tube slide"...

...riveting

And here's me on the other slide which we called "the slide that goes around"

...if you hold your hands up its funner.

**Grandmother insists on being called "Grandmother." Would you expect anything less proper from a woman who wears pearls whilst shooting?

Happy Birthday Adrienne Faith Diaz

She's finally here! Born June 26, 2006 weighing 7lbs 3oz and 21 inches long. For those that haven't met her in person, she apparently has very bright blue eyes and light brown/auburnish hair. From this picture posted here, she looks like her mom and her big brother Jeremiah (from this Aunt's opinion anyway)

I would just like to send a great big "Thank You" out to the childbearing aged women in my family who have provided 4 new reasons (Kara, Katelyn, Katherine, and Adrienne) for me not to feel pressured into having children. I realize that this effect of new babies will eventually wear off and people will begin to realize there are no Rivers children, but thanks for the extra time!

Big Week for the Nephews...

Our Nephews both crossed milestones in their lives this week...It's been a learning experience being involved in their lives as they're in Florida and we're not. Thank the Lord for email though! Now, we get to see and hear about what has happened as fast as an email can be typed and sent. (we'll take what we can get!)

Kyle's was unfortunately not the most fun event for a 2 and half year old...he broke his leg:( But we hear he was pretty tough about it- so tough that his mom didn't even know something was really wrong for a couple hours! I have a feeling this won't be the last cast this boy ever wears...

And Jeremiah went down into waterski history as he skied all by himself at age 3! Oh wait, sorry, apparently his way cool aunt Sharon did it when she was 18 months old...my standards are high, what can I say? He gets points for style though. Apparently he fell on the skiis today and as the boat came around to get him he said "Oh man! My trick didn't work!" Funny kid. If he keeps on trying the tricks, I'm sure it won't be too much longer before he finds a limb in a cast too.



In case you haven't figured it out, the extremely proud voice you hear in the background is Jeremiah's mom.

Another Round...

And it was shot day again. Only 3 today! You don't always have to be brave! We got a TB skin test that made a bubble underneath the skin on our arms... gross. If you look closely at the picture you might be able to see it on my left forearm. And what's up with the double teaming? Anthony and I both got 2 shots at once this week.


Although in true International form...

I got a "Dora the Explorer" bandaid...apropiado, no?

We got a little free time Saturday so we went to the local mall here and found some hiking shoes (for the rainforests that won't be too far away in a couple months). We originally saw this brand, Merrell, adveritised on PBS during our travel show "Globe Trekker." We figured if the "earthy" folks that watch PBS and drive Subaru's are being marketed, then we should check them out. Turns out they're pretty nice. We wanted to break them in, but there are no rainforests in Virginia, so we had to find places to try them out...

Here's Anthony showing some extreme hiking moves on the washer and dryer...

And me with a lower grade hike, simply from the window sill to the top of the dresser...

Although according to the "Extreme Hiking Rules" ratified in the summer of '04, my hand touching the ground would have cost me a point and I would have had to buy a six pack of "Zappel" soft drink for the winner.