An April Fool's Challenge

4/1/2008

I have been given the responsibility of providing a few updates on our comings and goings these past couple weeks. Don't worry we did not take any vacations. In fact, Ben and I have both been hard at work. I can't say either of us are too thrilled with the whole responsibility, long hours thing but its good for us and some days we even enjoy it. Although being working stiffs makes for pretty ho-hum blogging material, I have collected a few highlights for you all. Can you figure out which one is the April Fool's fib?

UPDATES
- Last week, I sent a letter to the family I stayed with in a village a few months ago mentioning that I would like to live there for two months. They called me the day they received the letter and told me they had already spoken to the head of the village and secured Ben and I a house to rent. They just wanted to know when we were coming and how long we would be staying. The answer, by the way, is May and for two months. We are very excited!
- Ben is officially done with his hospital visits. Both his PT and OT therapists deemed him fit for the real world.
-To ease back into the workaday world Ben has begun volunteering for the National Stroke Association. Every Monday and Wednesday he spends 7 hours at the center assisting the strokies (that is what they call them) with their PT exercises. He has taken to calling older Chinese women auntie and has a secret crush on Auntie Yap.
- Not ready to completely give up his quest for healing, Ben has gotten himself a Chinese guru doctor. He sees him twice a week and comes home wreaking of herbs and incense. He is currently taking 7 different herbal medications prescribed by this guru, one is actually called 'Leg Strong'. Ben says it makes him feel more 'balanced'.
- I have been very busy these past few weeks conducting interviews all around the city. I have learned a great deal about health. For instance, did you know that a former prime minister of India woke up every morning and drank his own urine. He lived to be 93 and credited his longevity to this practice. Don't worry the person who shared this health tip with me did not actually drink urine every morning, just a glass of warm water??
- The Nutrition Society of Malaysia held their annual conference in Kuala Lumpur this week. I was very interested in attending for research purposes but the registration fee was quite expensive. So I crashed the conference. I snuck in , ate the food, mingled and hung out for two days like a true bad ass.

Some Misc. TIDBITS
- Last weekend, we met our friend at an all-you-can-eat fried chicken buffet. After four hours, we were kindly asked to leave because we had exceeded our welcome.
- I was talking to one of the cleaning ladies at our condominium the other day and she whacked me alongside the head for no apparent reason. Hard!
- We have been suffering since we moved to Malaysia from serious backaches and lack of sleep due to the worst mattress in the world. We have complained and complained but done nothing about it. With only a few months left to go, we could take no more and went out and bought a very expensive mattress. It was worth it.
- I applied for a new passport at the US Embassy on the 13th of March and picked it up this morning.
- We are currently experiencing a brief monsoon season. Everyday at about 4PM it rains harder than I have ever witnessed. Of course, this past weekend I left our umbrella on a bench at the bus station.
- Our new favorite sport is badminton. And, yes it is a sport!