Today we woke up early and had breakfast around 7 AM. We had hot Milo chocolate, pansit and green beans, and I had a banana with the chocolate peanut butter mixture.
We packed up our things, and we were able to leave some clothing items with them, which made the packing process much easier. They were so grateful to get the clothes.
We loaded up the car and said our goodbyes. The chief's wife told us that her daughter had cried this morning because we were leaving. She is a senior in high school. We talked with her about her college plans, and Dr. Perumal had given her his business card from La Sierra. I cannot stop thinking about how different our lives are. If she was able to come to La Sierra, I wonder how she would do. It would be quite a culture shock to come from the rainforest region she grew up in to the bustle of Southern California. We are both around the same age, and in many ways our lives are very different. And yet we can still connect with our favorite music. It's amazing how music connects people.
I am in a state of post-culture-shock-reflection time. My overwhelming feeling is, "What just happened?" I've never experienced anything like the longhouse environment before. It is a tight-knit community that takes care of each other. Actually, the closest experience I can relate it to is houseboating, as funny as that sounds. Everyone is in each other's space 24/7, you bathe in a river, and food prep and cleanup takes up a good chunk of the day. Also, I got a tan. So, yes, houseboating is the closest thing I can compare it to, but even that doesn't come close. It was a really good experience for me.
We drove to Sibu airport for our flight to Penang. We have a two-hour layover in Kuala Lumpur (KL) before we board our connecting flight. I'm really excited to go to Penang, because it's where Stephanie and Eugene grew up! I can't wait! 
We're on the plane now, headed for KL, and I am craving dark chocolate and wifi. We'll see what I can find at the airport.
[SOME TIME LATER...]
No dark chocolate, but I did get wifi! We are on our flight to Penang now. The airport in KL was so beautiful. We stopped to get lunch at a restaurant that served Italian food with an Asian twist. I had a combo meal of spaghetti with grilled eggplant and a garlic bread crostini, coleslaw, three potato chips, and limeade. Listing this out just now, I realize that it sounds like the most random meal ever, but it was pretty tasty. It cost about $7 USD if you do the conversion. Not bad for airport food. But Jenna, Tori, and Pam got the short end of the stick because they ordered pizza and were served puny, crunchy, dried out pizzas that also cost about $7 USD each. To make matters worse, it took them forever to get their food. We were hoping for something fast, but we sat down at 1:05 PM and we didn't get our food until 1:45 PM. We scarfed down the food, quickly paid, and then powerwalked to security. Our plane was scheduled to board at 1:55 PM. Thankfully, security was a breeze! But when we got on the other side of security, I saw a sign that said it was a 10 minute walk to our plane. It was 1:54 PM, so we had to literally run. I got out ahead, thinking that if I could just get there before the group got too worried, I could tell them that the others were right behind me. We finally made it, completely out of breath, only to find out that the plane boarding hadn't started yet. I was so relieved! And I guess the sprint was good for us.
Tori, both Daniels, and Jon Rojas are all knocked out. Everyone is so sleepy! I am looking forward to the hotel, and to taking a real shower!
[SOME TIME LATER...]
We arrived at the airport and were picked up by a driver and taken to our hotel. We are staying right across from the Adventist hospital, and our room has a great view of the mountains. We went to the Adventist nursing school, right next door, and ate dinner with two members of the Adventist Church here in Penang. We had delicious Thai food. It was pretty spicy, but I notice that I'm starting to get used to it! I definitely didn't expect that to happen. I had fresh watermelon juice to counteract the heat. Yet another recipe that I want to recreate at home! We had coconut ice cream over pandan rice with chopped peanuts on top. YUM. That is all I can say.
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