A weekend of hiking

Saturday, Andrew and I hiked up Penang Hill, about 830 meters above sea level, with a gorgeous view of the city. It was a 5km really steep hike up the hill so by the time we got up there, we were completely drenched in sweat. We made it to the top, and the first thing we see is a stage with Malay men dressed in hot pink and yellow, dancing and singing Malay songs. Definitely not what one expects to find after a long hike in the jungle. Of course there were also tons and tons of monkeys and pit vipers ("peaceful" ones), and flowers, and butterflies! We took a train back down and had dinner and went swimming.

Sunday morning, Kit came over and we went to the national park and hiked to the beach through the jungle. The trail was pretty narrow, up hill, down hill, with lots of areas that required climbing and crawling, lots of swinging vines, and palm trees, and nasty bugs, and roots coming up out of the ground. We made it to the beach and hung out for a bit, and then some man started talking to Kit in Chinese, and offered us a ride back to the park entrance on his boat. However, we found out that he rents out jet skis to tourists, so we got to ride his jet ski! Andrew drove. He then took us to his fish farm, which is this wooden shack in the middle of the water, all built by him. He said it was completely destroyed by the tsunami and he had to rebuild it all. He caught a lobster and cooked it for us and it was delicious, as you can imagine. We just sat on this fish farm and lounged in hammocks for like an hour and talked to him (Kit translated). It's so peaceful there because it's in the middle of the water, right outside the park, and in a random fishing village. He gave us his number and said to call him if we want to ride jet skis or eat clams. It was amazing; the kind of experience that will definitely stand out in my mind years from now.

He drove us back to shore and asked us to have tea with him, which we did. Then we saw these kids who had a baby monkey on a leash. It was kind of depressing, but the monkey was adorable so of course I went and talked to them (or tried). This monkey ran all over me and climbed on my head and did crazy things. I have video! Then we went home and ate dinner and took a nap, and woke up for the last World Cup game. It was pouring down rain, the sidewalks had turned to rivers, and my umbrella did me no good, so we were completely soaked by the time we reached the bar. Good game though!

Monday we had a birthday party for Asa, which involved a LOT of people at our apartment, a delicious birthday cake, and me getting thrown into the pool in my clothes.

Also, I started teaching!!!! It has been great so far. The students are all very sweet and seem interested. The activities we have done so far all involve them talking a lot and I am definitely impressed with their English. They were making jokes and being sarcastic and there was lots of laughing, which is always great in a 2hr class. I think I am going to love this job - I'm sure it will have frustrating moments at times, but I am looking forward to teaching them and seeing their progress! AND I am tutoring two Korean girls in English several times a week. Life keeps getting more and more busy...