#92 Back in Arizona

Hi Everyone
I am in the USA.  I'm staying with my Ex (Bud) at his condo in Mesa AZ and acclimating to my new/OLD environment.  I'm kind of in "culture-shock" and my ex tells me I'm still on Indian Time. Yes, I move a little slower, but heck, I'm retired!

I still need to buy a car and am using Bud's when he's not using it.  I looked into buying one but I am leaving on June 12th for CO to attend a wedding and may not be back until the end of August so I've been advised to just wait until I come back to buy one.  In the meantime, Bud may be going away and when he does I will just rent a car for the time he is away. 

My house is still rented and my tenants have given notice that they are vacating in June.  I met with my real estate agent and we decided I still need to rent that the housing market is too low in price for me. If you know anyone interested in renting tell them I have a 3 bedroom home in Tempe available.

When the old tenants leave I've got to get into the garage and look at my things. I'm thinking of moving my stuff into a storage unit so I can have access to it without disturbing the renters.

I will be sending an email out to everyone when I decide where/when I settle down. It probably won't be until October.  Two weddings and lots of people to see plus I'm retired and I can do whatever I want to!

Enjoy your life.  I am.
Blessings to you all.
Love,
Marie

#91 Kaohsiung Taiwan

Ni Hau Everyone (That means Hello in Chinese)
I have access to a computer at my friend's office while she is working. My friend is Jill, the classmate that helped me get my Masters.  I found out that she is now Dr. Jill, she even defended her dissertation. I am so proud of her, I didn't know she had completed it.

Anyway I am here until April 24th and then I go to Hawaii and visit another dear friend. I will stay there until May 8th and then I am home in Phoenix. It will have been two years and one week since I left Phoenix.

It's been a fantastic journey but I am happy to see it coming to a close. Since I came to Taiwan I have eaten foods I cannot even explain, but all vegetarian and delicious. I went to a Chinese Wedding and yes, I have lots of photos. Last night I went to a Chiropractor, and this morning accompanied Jill to the hospital for her regular maternity visit. The hospital in Taiwan was unbelievable compared to the hospitals in India, or even the U.S. for that matter. I am surprised there aren't boat loads of people trying to come to this country like they are to Australia. This Saturday I am going to go to the Temple with them for some kind of event and today they took me to a historic fort that the Dutch built back in 1660.

It is amazing living with Jill and her family: her father (retired military and now President of his own company, he's presently in Indonesia on a business trip until Friday), her grandmother and grandfather on her mother's side which means her son's great-grandmother and great-grandfather.  The great-grandmother is unbelievable with the 2 year old boy. She carries him around on her back all the time. She does the laundry for the family (first by hand and then puts it into the washing machine), and cooks dinner everyday. The great-grandfather has dementia and can act more like the child than an adult.

I can't wait to see everyone and share my stories and photos. In fact it is going to be too much so I think I will have to go through my photos and put them into some kind of order.  Then if you want to know about India, I will have that to show. Or if you want to know about my African Safari I will have that. Side trips to Australia, Sri Lanka, Philippines and Taiwan?  Where it is!

The last leg in the Philippines was awesome, meeting my sponsored child and her family.  I didn't know what a connection we have with the country. After a museum visit I was ashamed of the US for what we did to them back in history but then I went to the American Cemetery and know that we more than made up for it by the sacrifices we gave in World War II. And if you saw Manila now you could almost believe it should be the 51st State!

I don't know when I will have access to another computer until I come home but I jumped on this opportunity so you know Where Wally is?

When I touch ground in the USA I will let you all know.
Love you and hope you are enjoying Life.  I certainly am.
Marie

#90 At My brother's home in Australia

Hi Everyone
I'm singing "I'm so blessed" that I am doing very well right now, but then again, I sing I'm so blessed even when I'm not doing so well. Attitude is all important and I want to keep my positive attitude.

When I got to Australia my back acted up. For 3 weeks I was constantly on ibuprofen (still on it) but don't have the pain or need hot packs to help get through it. What a relief.  I also noticed that after I left India I used to giggle all the time.  Laugh away!!  The Canadians I met in Bali saw me laugh at everything.  The laughing ended when the back pain began. So when I heard myself laugh again, I knew I was better. Yes, now I giggle at everything, again.

I want to share some photos if I can and give you my itinerary so you know where I am.  I don't know if I will be able to do this again when I leave here on Tuesday, April 1st.

April 1st - Australia to Kuala Lumpur on Air Asia
April 5th - Kuala Lumpur to Manila, Philippines on Air Asia
April 7th - Manila to Legaspi on Philippines Airline
April 9th - Legaspi to Manila and return ditto
April 11th - Manila to Kaohsiung, Taiwan On China Airlines
On April 24th - Taipei to Honolulu by way of Fukuoka, Japan on China Airlines and then Hawaiian Airlines.

I haven't booked from Honolulu yet so I don't know the date for that.

My brother and I also haven't figured out how to get the photos from my disk to this Blog so I can't attach any photos right now. 

Take care. Be happy and Enjoy life.  I am.
Love,
Marie

#88 Day Two in Bali

I had a wonderful day.

This is so funny!  I opened this posting to see what I said and all I said was that first line!!!  

I really did have an incredible time in Bali. I ended up going on two cruises, a Sunset Dinner Cruise with a show that had female impersonators, and an adventure cruise that included a walk-around trip to a village, snorkeling, banana boat rides,and a glass bottom boat ride.

I hired a car to take me to see a Balinese dancing show, and to Ubud, a town well known for art, yoga and tourism.  And then with the Canadian we took the same driver and car to see all kinds of temples.

I had a massage and that is where I met the Canadian who was staying at the same hotel I was. But after three days I switch hotels and she started coming to my hotel (across the street) to hang out at the pool and have breakfast with me.

The week flew by and I do have lots of photos from the visit.

I'll try to post a few.

Then it was on to Australia.

Love you all.

Marie

#89 Staying at a friend's house in Australia

Hello Everyone
I am taking advantage of my friend's computer that I have access to the internet on my Google Nexus 7 Tablet that I bought to take with me on this last leg of my journey but it seems I cannot do my blog on it.  Something about needing a certain Adobe Flash thing and it says my Tablet is not compatible with the software. Don't ask me, I know nothing about it.

I was hoping I could put a photo or two on this but I will try again before I leave here on March 14th.

I left India with no problem, got to Bali and it was fantastic. The week flew by with many happy memories. I met a Canadian and we hung around together that we are hoping to see each other this summer when I go to New York for a wedding. She lives just on the other side of Niagra Falls so I should be able to make that trip without difficulty. That will be August 23rd.

Meanwhile I have been firming up my travel plans. I was in Bali from February 20 to 27. I arrived here on Feb 27 and stayed with my brother until March 3rd. Then he is having a major renovation of his bathroom done so you can't have someone visit when there is no bathroom!  He asked a friend and his wife if I could take up an offer they had made the last time I was here to stay with them. They are just outside Perth, around 45 minutes from my brother's house. That is where I am now.  I'll be here until March 14th when my brother will be picking me up to take me to Bunbury. I have also managed to meet up with my Hula friend and fellow Camino walker from Phoenix in Perth. We had Lunch last Wednesday. She is Australian and is here visiting her Mom. She took two buses and I took one bus and we met downtown. We hope to meet again after I return from Bunbury and her brother who lives in Hong Kong returns home.

So since I don't know if I will have access to this blog again for a while. I have the following travel plans:
April 1st - go to Kuala Lumpur, Indonesia
April 5th - go to Manila, Philippines
April 7th - to Legazi City, Philippines
April 11th - to Kaohsiung, Taiwan
April 24th - to Honolulu, Hawaii

All I have to do is see how long I will be staying in Hawaii and book my next flight. I also have to see if my tenants are going to stay in my house. If they decide they are leaving, I will probably have to go home to re-rent my place.

It has been an amazing two years for me. I am so happy I did it.

I'll be in touch and will keep you posted whenever I can.
Enjoy life. I am.
Love,
Marie

#87 Here in Bali

I arrived in Bali around 4 p.m. exhausted.  I left my girlfriend's house at 9 p.m. yesterday.  The ride from the airport to the hotel was annoying that I got a taxi from the Prepaid taxi desk and they told me it would be 70,000 Indonesian Rupiah. The money is inflated. I got 2 Million Rupiah out of the ATM and only 100,000 bills came out of the machine. They are as bad here as in India, no one has small bills! So the prepaid taxi people told me to pay the driver and he starts that he doesn't have change. He also comes out with he doesn't know where my hotel is when that was the first thing I asked him and he said he did. So I said to stop at a bank and I was about to get out of the cab. I told him get me to the hotel. When I got there, they didn't have change for me. They suggested a mini-store and I was able to break the big bill. By this time the taxi driver is saying I want a tip & I was so ticked at him I decided I was not giving him one. If looks could kill I'd be dead when I give him the 70,000. I even said to him, don't look at me like that. So he left in a huff and I registered at the hotel where the key they gave me didn't work. Maintenance fixed that but then the room safe didn't work. I definitely wanted my valuables locked. So they came with a new safe and put it in my room. I laughed because that meant someone could just pick up the whole safe and walk away with it.

So now I am having a beer and eating at a very nice place called The Deck. I will definitely be coming back. First I had a plate of veggies perfectly cooked. Then I had a lovely fresh salad. Now I am eating potato wedgies. It started raining and I forgot to bring my umbrella and I have to walk back. So I just ordered a small beer to buy time. I feel like I'm in paradise.

Oh and they have WiFi. I think Bali is like Australia's FL or maybe Mexico. They are all over the place. I could tell this one woman knew her way around and I asked her where I could get a good cup of coffee tomorrow morning. It's the restaurant right next door. So I am going to close for tonight and I will keep you posted, I can't wait to see what this place looks like in the day time. And get a massage!

I am so blessed.
Love,
Marje

#86 Three Days to Go

Where am?  Still at my friend’s home

How am I?  Mixed emotions. Happy, and sad.

First I have to apologize for not posting for two weeks but my computer went off again. The power cord didn’t work, the third time since I arrived in India. Even the Toshiba people gave me a new power cord for free because it was less than 3 months since I bought the last one. It was still under warranty. 

And I was delayed in getting to the Toshiba Service office because there was an Auto Rickshaw strike for a few days. I couldn’t get there without one. So that finally ended and all is well.  I don’t think anything was resolved by the strike. But that’s India. 

The nurses at my hospital went on strike, too, and it finally ended after around 35 days. Was anything resolved?  I have no idea. They have no concept of collective bargaining and thinking what it is they want and will be happy with as a result. They just STRIKE!

If I had to use one word to describe India it would be Noisy. I’m sitting here at 4:45 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon and it’s so noisy I have earplugs in. I have no idea if it is a band practicing or what but it’s loud drumming.  And when it’s not loud drumming, it’s the Slap-Slap of washing laundry by hand, or the power saw of cutting down trees. It’s as if they can’t live without making noise. I suppose that if there were this many people living in America, we would be addicted to noise too. But, I’m happy to say I really appreciate ….q u i e t. 

So only three days left. Tomorrow I have to go to the post office with three different boxes I found and see what the clerk thinks would be the best box to send my computer back to the US.  I have already spoken to her and she explained that the boxes go into a bag. I saw how they do it. She typed the address of where the package is going into the computer and an address label comes out. Then a lower clerk takes the box, puts it into a cloth bag, she attaches the label and it is then ready to be picked up by the truck that comes later. So the trick is to make sure the box will fit into the bag they will be using.  I also want to see how much it is going to cost. If it is too expensive, I may rethink sending it back.   

I spoke to the head of the IT Dept at the hospital and he thought it was smarter to send it back that for the cost of shipping it, I will have a computer when I get back. Otherwise I would have to buy a new computer and they’re just a hunk of metal until you get it all programmed etc. I really don’t like starting with a new computer.

I did buy a external hard drive and backed up my computer so if it gets lost, stolen or broken, I have all the data on this little black thing. I’ll carry that back in my suitcase.

I have been enjoying myself for these last few weeks. I went to see the movie Saving Mr. Banks and it was excellent. I highly recommend it. My personal things that I don’t need while I am traveling have made it to the US already. My girlfriend took my stuff with her when she flew back on 1/31 and sent them to my people in AZ by FEDEX.  The box was already received and is waiting for me.

I have my auto rickshaw driver lined up to take me to the airport Wednesday evening. I fly out Thursday morning, like 1:10 a.m. 

It is so difficult to explain what all has to be done but I will be busy cleaning, packing, giving stuff away…

I still haven’t been able to blog from my Tablet so if that doesn’t work, PLEASE email me if you want me to answer you. My Tablet does do email fine and I've Skyped with people. 

I’m going to end now and post this. SO to recap:

WED Feb 19^th my last day here, I go to Airport to fly out

THUR Feb 20^th I leave Kochi India at 1:10 a.m. heading to Bali (Denpasar, Indonesia)

THUR Feb 27^th I leave Bali and go to Perth, Australia

 

After that, stay tuned and I’ll let you know when I know.

Love you all. Be happy.  I am.

Marie