What country are we in, again?

Dear Blog Readers,

Wow.  And I thought our trip back to the States was a whirlwind.  We’ve been back over a month now and I can’t believe it has already been that long!  I feel like we haven’t stopped and there’s no sign of slowing down anytime soon!  We wouldn’t have it any other way :).  Here is what’s happening in the lives of the Candetos in Asia…

We have moved.  We’ve moved to a new apartment!

From our living room into our kitchen--look at all the space!!!!

I’ve sent our new address to a few of you, but if you haven’t received it an would like it, drop me a note!  Our new apartment is closer to the MRT (train) and in a more local area.  This means we have better access to the city AND to local food, bakeries, stores, etc.

Our beautiful swimming pool!!!

Our new place is about 600 square feet–about 2.5 to 3 times the size of our old place!  We have a kitchen, living area, etc.  I’ll post more pictures once I get it looking good!

I’m in my last semester of Grad School!  Two days after we returned, I started my last semester of my Master’s degree.  I’m currently taking three classes and working on my dissertation.  I’ll be finished (God willing) on 15 December!  A WONDERFUL Christmas present!!!  My dissertation is kind of a “developed world meets developing world” piece.  I’m studying sustainable energy potential of developing countries and the ways that developed countries could help the poorer nations realize this potential.  My particular interests include technology transfer, business model transfers, and the social implications of these transfers.  I’m just beginning and I’m sure it will evolve as bit as I write. I’m also still teaching English at church.  I have a new class of ladies and they’re wonderful :).  I have a few from China, Japan, Taiwan, and Korea.  Lastly, I am traveling to Indonesia once a month (to the same Children’s Home I’ve mentioned before) to teach English to the kids.  These kids have really captured my heart and i’m looking forward to spending more time with them!  I didn’t get any pictures last time…I’ll try to be better when I go in October!

And now for what is probably the biggest change we’ve had since we’ve been back:  John is working in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

My husband, Konsultan!

Originally, he was slated to be on the project for four weeks (he’s been there for four weeks already), but now he has been assigned (barring any last minute changes) to that project until December.  He is learning a ton about the Malay culture and the Malay was of doing business.  Malaysia is an Islamic nation, so there’s definitely a lot for us to learn.  Fortunately KL is only a five hour bus ride from Singapore, we so alternate weekends traveling.

At the bar made of ice. Yes, it was cold.

For now, we’re both flying solo–him in KL and me in Singapore, but definitely looking forward to weekends we can spend together.  In fact, next week is my mid-semester break (already!!!), so I’ll be spending it in Malaysia with him.

Last weekend, I went up for his 24th birthday!!!  We had a delightful breakfast at Dunkin Donuts, then went to Top Hat Restaurant for some upscale local fare.  It was delicious.  Following that, we headed to “Quatro” a bar that has a room for each of the four seasons.  We took a picture in winter, where the bar is made completely of ice!  As our sweet friends were telling us, people from this part of the world have an obsession with winter because they don’t have it!!!  Before I knew it though, I was on a bus back home, all too soon.

Long story short, we are loving life right now.  It’s not so fun being away from each other, but we’ve had a great time getting to know a new city in a developing country and are traveling lots!  This weekend, we are headed to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam for the long weekend (it’s Hari Raya here–Malay/Islamic holiday), then we’re headed back up to KL until the big F1 race in Singapore next weekend.  Whew.  We love it.  🙂

We miss you all and hope you’re doing well!!!  Drop us a line sometime!!!!!