pura vida!

today was a chill day. the girls woke up at the crack of dawn (as usual) and wanted to go swim. they spent about three hours in the pool this morning, then we ate our simple breakfast of toast, fresh watermelon and pineapple out in the sunshine.

after spending half the morning outside swimming and eating, we came inside and the girls spent some time coloring and watching the disney channel en español. we don't have cable at home, so it was a treat for them to watch a few shows. the girls are doing really well using their spanish; ama has been collecting colones, the local currency, just so she can barter with vendors!

later, we decided to go into town to explore. it's super hot here and the girls could not resist putting their feet in the ocean at the edge of town. we spent some time playing at the beach, eating over-priced snow cones and typical costa rican meals. we ended up walking past a little shop that had a couple of rides in it- you know the ones you see outside of the grocery store- they decided that they could spare some their colones to take a few spins.

after that, we came back the the apartment and the girls decided to take one last dip in the pool for the night...in their undies of course! ;)

we've got some exciting plans for the next few days...i can't wait to share them with you!

¡hasta pronto!

costa rica!

my frozen princesses only days ago in MN

hello, blog, we haven't spoken in awhile. there's really so much to say and catch up on, but i'd rather talk about costa rica! 

yes, we are in costa rica! it's been a long, harsh winter in minnesota, and i swear that bloody polar vortex was getting the best of me- we were in desperate need of some sunshine! 

not only were were in need of the sun's rays beating against our skin, we were in dire straits for a stamp in our passports! 2013 marked the only year since 2001, that i had't left the country at least once. i know, you're all pulling out your violins and lamenting with me. i'm over the distress of it all, and keep moving forward in my wanderlust. 

i've been to costa rica once before in 2007. this is jossue and the girls first time here and they are loving it! costa rica marks ama's sixteenth country to visit and lili's thirteenth! it's insane. my original goal was to try to take them to a different country at least once a year until their 18th birthdays, that way they would have visited eighteen counties by then. i would have NEVER guessed that we would potentially reach this goal well before their tenth birthdays. and i could have only dreamed of destinations like thailand, malaysia, iceland and laos, never thinking that we would actually have the opportunity to see these places. 

if you could only see the trips i've been dreaming up in my heart as of late... i'm not sure how they could actually be possible, but all things are possible to those who believe, right? ;)

one day soon i'm going to share my "traveling on a budget" tips; one of the top questions i get concerning our travels is, "how do you do it?"...very cheap is the answer. obviously, jossue's job is a HUGE asset for us, and i can pull a deal out of the sky! our nicely furnished apartment with two bathrooms and a pool outside -wonderful neighbors were also included- was only $250 for the entire week. and this is  high season in costa rica; i could have gotten it even cheaper if it wasn't peak travel season... again, i'll share my secrets and travel philosophies another time. 

we've been having a great time! we've already met tons of sweet people, and ama even commented that we always meet the nicest people when we travel. the girls have had a blast swimming in the pool with papi every morning, exploring the town and enjoying the beach. we've even been able to eat breakfast outside by the pool every morning- it's been great. 

i already have so many stories to share, but i'll let the photos speak louder than words for this post. 

we have five days left here, so stay tuned!

this weekend.

the girls and i had a wonderful/busy weekend. our good friends murshidah, zeal and munirah came to malacca for business, and we were able to spend three days with them! we haven't been able to make it back to KL to spend time with these dear ones because the girls got sick, and happened to work out to meet in malacca- perfection! i hope we can meet again before leaving malaysia.

i love this family soo much. well, i should say that WE love this family as the girls simply ADORE them! one of my prayers before coming to asia, was to meet wonderful people that i felt a deep connection with, and the Lord answered my prayer through them! i had a post started the other day where i give them a proper introduction: how we met, what they do, their vision for their family and their mission in life. i never got to finish the post and then soo many other things happened this weekend, that i would have never been able to catch up with all this blogging! i'll give you a brief review of what i love about them:

• zeal and murshidah are equal partners in everything that they do. one of the first times we all hung out together, zeal told me that he was a really driven person and knew that he could never marry a woman who had been taught her whole life that her sole purpose was to follow her husband. he wanted to marry someone that would inspire him to be his best, and who accomplish is goals. murshidah always says that zeal is her life coach and pushes her to be her best, and he feels the same way about her.

• they have a very solid family unit. zeal and murshidah work together, travel together with their daughter, munirah, for work and they take turns with their speaking engagements so someone will be there for munirah. zeal is even praying that other financial opportunities come through so that he can become a full-time stay-at-home dad. he even watches barbie princess movies! they are a family completely devoted to each other.

• murshidah is amazing! she is full of wisdom, light and love. she has an infectious laugh, and you feel better just being in her presence. if you're holding on to unforgiveness listen to some of her steps for letting go here. i hope to have her share some of her recipes for natural skincare on the blog one day!

• i love their vision of love and respect.. we have the best conversations about faith; even though there is much that our faiths have in common, there is also so much that is completely different. we know this, yet we can walk out our friendship with love and admiration for each other, and these differences don't come between us. this is rare, people. 

• munirah, ama and lili are three peas in a pod! they love spending time together; ama and munirah have identical personalities! if you ever want to see a great show, watch ama and munirah act out the movie "brave"- it's a sight to be seen! they are both bossy and strong willed, and i love watching them boss each other on how to act out the movie the right way! lili occasionally joins in, but she makes up her her characters!

• munirah is a six year-old on a mission to inform the world of the dangerous chemicals in their beauty products and to promote healthy eating! she was going over a book with ama, telling her which products she should hand shouldn't use! it was great!

• i feel completely uplifted and full of love and support after being with them. and after the rottenness and negativity that had been around me the past few years, this means the world to me!

i could go on and on about them. they're simply amazing people, and i feel soo blessed to have apart of my life.

when zeal, murshidah and munirah came to pick us up from the hostel, ama was already at the stairs waiting for them to arrive! and when lili and i were walking downstairs, lili heard mushidah's voice and said, "mommy! mommy!"- excited to hear murshidah's voice! lili had the HUGEST smile on her face when murshidah greeted her and then said, "where's munirah?"...the girls were all thrilled to see each other again!

we drove around malacca for a bit looking for somewhere to eat. we saw signs for a dish that's famous to the city, chicken and rice balls. none of us had ever tried them, and we decided to give it a whirl! when we arrived at the restaurant i told lili that i needed to go potty, she started screaming that that she had to go as well- we never made it. i didn't have a change of clothes for her and zeal got some of munirah's pant for lili wear! they were way too big, but lili felt like a princess and was happy to wear something of her new friend's!  

we ate, ama and munirah didn't! they were too busy creating a theatrical performance- it's always dinner theater with those two! 

if you're ever malacca, make sure you try the chicken and rice balls!

afterwards, we stopped at an organic shop to look around. 

we were on our way to walk around near the sea, when we made wrong turn and happened upon a center with a wildlife show! all the girls were SUPER excited, as were the adults. it's amazing the things you begin to enjoy when you become a parent: children's movies, dora's songs and wildlife shows! it's really about the moments one get to spend with one's children, and the joy one feels from seeing their faces glow! 

there were exotic birds at the show, and the girls each got to hold a 1RM bill and a bird would fly and get it. uncle even became apart of the show- which was a thrill for the girls! we saw snakes, lizards and a seal show. it was SUCH a great time!

amazing memories made.

saturday morning, howard asked if the girls and i wanted to attend a traditional malay wedding. we accepted, of course. a friend of howard's picked up me, the girls and our new friend from germany, silvia, from the hostel- we also we picked up a guy from bulgaria, chris. we ended up late to the wedding and missed the procession. in a malay wedding, the whole village walks behind the bride and groom down the street playing music and announcing their new marriage- the girls would have LOVED that. we missed most of the ceremonial parts of the wedding, but made it for the food (yay!) and were able to greet the bride and groom. 

the bride and groom were seated on thrones of sorts and below them were kids playing instruments. both the bride and groom had henna on their hands, and you put perfume in their hands (i believe it was to bless the marriage) and then you are given a gift. 

i loved the colors, the music, the food; the fact that the whole village is invited to come and celebrate the special occasion. no rsvp, no 'plus one'- just the gathering together of an entire community to celebrate a man and woman being joined to together as one. it was awesome! 

no one gave us dirty looks as we obviously didn't know either the bride or groom- we were welcomed in as part of the celebration. everyone made sure sure had enough to eat, they were concerned if the food would be too spicy for the girls and made sure we all got our wedding favors- it was awesome! 

after the wedding we had plans to meet zeal, murshidah and munirah! we went out for arab food -yummy lamb- and met with some other good friends of of theirs who live in malacca.  it was another rich night, full of love and great times. of course we were treated to another dinner theater performance written by, produced and staring ama and munirah- i think last night it was "barbie mermaid part II"- those girls are AWESOME. 

it was bittersweet saying our "goodbyes" when they dropped us off- we treasure this family. when lili woke up this morning she said, "mommy, i see munirah..." it was adorable! 

after i put the girls to sleep, i ran into silvia and had a great time chatting with her. she was going to leave for KL today (because it's sunday afternoon in this part of the world), but decided she would wait until monday to get to hang out with the girls and i a bit more! she began to open up about a situation she's been going through for awhile, something very similar to things i've been facing. it was great to sit and chat about it- very therapeutic. she's a great person and it's sad she's leaving tomorrow. but who knows, we may meet again!

so this post definitely isn't "vaginas for sale"- i never had time to write that post yesterday. i've had people asking me when i was going to finish it, and i promise it will be soon. for those of you who are afraid/offended by its title, it's not a sexually explicit piece- just my thoughts concerning the exploitation of women in poorer nations by western men. that's all. no need to question my salvation over it. 

yesterday was a pretty chill day. i had a few things that i needed to get done so we didn't have any adventure time. but honestly, no matter what we do turns into an adventure! 

we started the day with with our normal routine: breakfast and kung fu panda. i did our laundry, picked up the girls' mess in our room and the little ladies watched episodes of wild kratts on itunes to keep themselves busy. it was raining on and off during the day, so it was a good thing that we didn't get out early.

lili was having another crabby day. she was crying for just about everything; one minute she wanted to take a bath, the next minute she didn't want to take one. she randomly pooped in the morning in the diaper she wore to bed (i potty trained her when we were in thailand, but she wears diapers for bed), and cried because she didn't want me to take the diaper off of her. she cried about what wild kratts episode they watched, and if i asked her to do anything she responded, "NEVER!!!!". i love her. she slept pretty well the night before, but i think was still tired from the other sleepless nights. 

once lili finally agreed to get a bath and her hair combed, we went to our indian place for dinner. the girls had their daily doses of roti and masala. when we were eating lili looks at me and said,"oops, i peed in my diaper!"...but lili wasn't wearing a diaper! she was just having an off day- we all have those. after dinner, it was off to ride a few rides at an arcade that we'd noticed a few days earlier.

the arcade was pretty old school; a few old rides, video games, a bunch of old men and women in the back chain smoking and playing what i think were slot machines. we stayed and played for a bit, then i needed to find some shampoo and conditioner- remember my hair was nasty dirty. i found a little store in a strip mall that sold shampoo, but no conditioner. by this time it started pouring rain and we had no umbrella. while we were waiting for the rain to stop ama says to me, "too bad we don't wear hijab because if we did, we could walk in the rain and our hair wouldn't get wet..." i love how culturally aware my girls are. 

we just hung out for awhile waiting for the rain to stop and found a little store that sold make-up. i bought some new "m.a.c." eye shadow and gel eyeliner. i knew you could buy counterfeit handbags, but i guess you can get make-up as well! the girls also each got free eyeshadow from one of the ladies who worked at the store. they weren't behaving very well and i told them that i would't buy them the anything. ama started to cry and the lady gave them eyeshadow! she was like, "oh, baby, don't cry auntie will buy it for you..." it was sweet, but at the same time frustrating because i'm trying to teach the girls that if they don't behave they can't have special things...and then ama cries because she can't have the eyeshadow, and the lady gives it to them. URG! but at least i know that girls are loved in malaysia!

i finally found shampoo and conditioner, but at 7-11. we walked home, i put the girls to bed and was finally able to wash my hair. i love clean hair; the way it smells and bounces just puts my heart at ease. i should wash my hair more often. it's just hard to do in asia; the shampoos and conditioners don't work well on my hair, so i just wait until i absolutely have to do it. 

it's thursday evening in malaysia now, and we had another lovely day that i'll write about tomorrow. our friends from kuala lumpur, zeal, murshidah, and their sweet daughter, munirah are in malacca for the weekend. we were able to spend some time with them tonight and we'll all go to a fruit farm together tomorrow. we love this family soo much and it was great to be with them again! 

i also wanted to thank everyone who's been reading the blog! your love and support mean the world to us! feel free to write me with any questions you may have, i do write back! 

and last, but not least, i must say: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MIAH!!!! i love and miss you SOOO much! you are more than a friend, you are my sister. i am SOO blessed that God place someone like you in my life! 

we finally made it to the zoo yesterday! we saw sebastian at breakfast and the girls asked if they could invite him also. they asked and he accepted the invitation! 

the girls really like sebastian. maybe because of the kindness he showed us when they were sick, or that he always puts on "kung fu" panda for them while they eat breakfast. either way, they love him! whenever they see him they're like, "hey, sebastian!"or if we go get roti ama will say, "we should get some for sebastian..."

he really is an interesting person who always has these master oogway-type responses to things. i remember a few days after arriving at the hostel, i was on the rooftop getting our laundry and saw sebastian hanging his. i gave him the clips and hangers that i had been using and told him that his laundry would dry faster if he hung it in the sun. he calmly responded, "i'm not in a hurry..." smiled and then walked away. 

i was like, "whoa...he's a zen mater!" lol

he wants to buy land in a forest in poland and have a sustainable farm. if he was a christian, i would hook him up with one of my good friends, heather. they'd have a ton in common. he's good peeps. 

sebastian can now add spending a day at the zoo in malaysia with an insanely crabby lili to his list of adventures; some of which include living in calcutta, india, hitchhiking around europe and spending six months at a buddhist monastery in thailand. 

lili had another crazy sleep night and we both barely slept. maybe it was too much to try to take her to the zoo. she spent most of the time crabby, yelling that she wanted to see the lions and screaming at people- it was a it out of control! they are amazing travelers, but kids nonetheless. she did have times when she was in a good mood; she was excited to see the crocodiles, the birds and lions, of course. i didn't get to take many pictures of the day because she was just too crabby.

we all still had a good time, though, walking around looking at the animals, and then we got caught in a rain storm! good thing we were still at the zoo and found shelter in the reptile center- my hair just wouldn't have been able to survive the downpour! 

lili had a COMPLETE breakdown when we passed the playground and i told her that she couldn't play. so was sooo sleepy. it was still raining and the playground was soaked from the heavier rain, but how do you explain that to an already feisty two year-old who barley slept the night before and needed to eat? it took her awhile to clam down, and i had to walk around while singing to her. this really sweet girl came and started fanning her with her fan! thankfully, she fell asleep by the time our bus came.

we all stopped and ate at the indian place we love. ama decided that she loves the roti there SOO much, that she had to ask one of the guys who work there for the recipe. he had no idea what she was taking about, and it was ADORABLE to witness!

sebastian was a bit in awe at how everyone responds to the girls. he asked if people love them where ever we go- i told him pretty much. it's amazing to travel through asia with your children; everyone responds so warmly to the girls and instantly become like aunts and uncles to them. having them with me actually opens up soo many doors to meet great people, and interact with the culture around us in a very personal way. 

later when we got back to the hostel we found out that the new couple that had checked in the other day was from minneapolis- small world! the girls watched "kung fu" panda -again- got baths and ate special tarts that howard bought for them. oh! and a family with a four year-old little girl from the maldives checked in last night- the girls had a blast playing with her.

today's exciting agenda is as followed:

1. wash my hair- it's nasty dirty.
2. do laundry. 
3. keep the girls from screaming at each other.
4. write the other blog post i had planned, "vaginas for sale".
5. figure out where the girls and i will go next.

sister love, it is the sweetest kind.

circa 2010

there's nothing like having a good sister. or in my case, sisters as i have four of them. since traveling the past few months, i've become even more grateful for the sisters that i have- even you, bratty bina! my sisters and i all have very distinct, very different personalities, and some of us fought when we were younger -who doesn't fight with their siblings-  but i know that i can depend on them for anything. and they are the BEST aunts ever. hands down.

i'm especially close to my sister sabrina. maybe because we're only 13 months apart, or our dependency on each other during childhood trauma. either way, she's one of the best friends i've ever had. she's loyal, trustworthy, dependable, beautiful and able to keep secrets; she always has my best interests in mind and never tears my down to make her self look better. i know that i can call on her during anytime of need and she will be there.

i want this same bond for ama and lili.

one of the great things about traveling, is that outside of friends we meet along the way, the girls only have each other to play with. it's times like these when memories are being made and permanent bonds form. and when lili's not taking something from ama, or ama's not in lili's face screaming, they actually are the best of friends!

i love to sit back and watch them play dress up or make-believe. their latest craze: playing fashion show together. they take all the clothes out of our backpack (guess who has to repack everything...), dress each other up, use crayons to "do" each other's make-up and then strut down a fake catwalk using british accents. one day i'll have to post of video of lili saying, "how do i look, darling?" in her version of an english accent! it's hilarious.

i also love when we're out and about, they'll grab hands to search for adventures together...

i was extremely stressed out when i found out that i was pregnant with lili, and now i wouldn't have it any other way. i can't imagine ama not having her sister to play with; good thing God knows better than we do! 

most days, there's a lot more yelling and fighting going on rather than love-filled play. but one day they'll sit back and laugh about all the screaming that took place over who took whose necklace!

if you're the mother of daughters, do them to love each other- it's not a given that they'll grow up with healthy relationships. i know of one too many sister relationships that are filled with hatred, contempt and jealousy; sisters trying to out do the next and tearing each other apart. these same women also have broken relationships with their nieces and nephews. 

if you're out there and you haven't spoken to your sister in while for whatever reason, go reach out to her today. life's too short to hold bitterness and contempt. 

maybe you have a broken relationship with your sister and tried to reach out to her to no avail, just surround your self with beautiful girlfriends who are like sisters, and always be willing to extend forgivingness to your own.

it's never too late to form a sister bond.

malacca, melacca, melaka....

the girls got necklaces with their names written on them. lili wanted hers off before i could take a picture of her in it!  oh, and the guy who made them told the girls that they looked like j.lo! this of course made ama's day...and he didn't even know they were half puerto rican! lol

we played with "pop rocks"...thinking of you, papi!

i love this little girl!

a taste of the town...

european fort in the middle of the city

blowing bubbles and climbing on a canon!

riding a "pony"

ama getting her picture taken!

loved him!

love it!

this fort made me feel like i was in latin america again...well, a latin america with asians wearing hijab! lol

we took a boat ride down the river

a tasty snack: waffels and chocolate!

ok, sorry for the photo overload! blogging lesson #1: learn to choose a few photos! for another photographic look of our day in malacca, you can always check out my instagram photos here!

the girls and i have spent the last few days in a quaint little seaside town in malaysia named malacca. or melacca and sometimes melaka! i'm not quite sure which is the proper spelling, i've seen it written all three ways! it's a short two and a half hour bus ride from KL, and a nice little getaway.

i first heard about malacca from a wonderful new friend, felicia, we met on our train ride from bangkok to kuala lumpur. felicia was mixed (her mom black and dad white) and from california; her father was from minneapolis and she's been traveling around asia since last january. be still my heart! she was going to spend a few days in KL in route to australia. really, you don't come across people like her everyday!  love you, girl! and another shout out is in order to our other new friend we met on the same journey, the lovely zara from the uk!

we started our day early because come midday, malacca is hot, hot, hot! thankfully the hostel we're staying at is right across the street from the attractions we visited! this helped save on both time and money!

first, i got hustled into paying 40RM (about $13USD) to take a short ride on a rickshaw- the colorful mode of transportation in malacca. basically, they're bikes with a seat attached to the side, decorated with fake flowers, stuffed animals, paint of all sorts of colors, and most of the time blaring hip-hop from its radio! let's just say that i'm on a SUPER TIGHT budget, and the driver got yelled at by me and the girls after finding out the length of our ride! well, we yelled at him and the girls tried to attack him using their bubble sticks as swords! the driver couldn't help but laugh, while gladly taking my 40RM. i guess you're only in malacca once, right? oh, and i forgot to mention that he originally wanted to charge me 50RM and i "talked him down" to 40!

since being in asia, my children have seen me yell at many a people over prices! the girls themselves have joined the bartering game- often, they'd scream at tuk-tuk drivers in thailand over prices they'd quote us! if a driver says 60 baht, ama will say, "no, 40 baht!" followed by lili pointing her finger and yelling, "yeah, 40 thai baht!" lili now refers to all currency as "thai baht"...

ok, back to malacca.

my anger subsided a bit after reaching the fort in the city- it gave me this nostalgic feeling of being in latin america. the girls ran around blowing bubbles and climbing on canons.  we then decided to climb up a ton of stairs to reach st. paul's hill, which lili thought was a castle! once we reached the top the girls ran around, got necklaces with their names on them (ama's is already broken) and got their pictures taken with and by many tourists! their curly hair makes them famous in asia!

we walked around the historic area of the city for awhile, then got lost in wandering in a market near by! we found some "pop rocks" (you know, those little balls that pop when you throw them on the ground) and i bought them for the girls as a way to feel like their papi was with them! jossue would randomly bring them home for the girls in the summer, and they'd love going outside to throw them with him!

somehow, my children sucker me into paying for really random things for them to do like riding fake ponies around the plaza. i say "no," but then i love to see their faces light up with enjoyment after giving in. and it's not like their asking for designer purses! then we had ice cream, rode a boat down the river and had waffles with chocolate.

overall, it was a another sweet day spent with two sweet (most of the time) little girls. it's not always easy traveling alone with them; i get crabby, they get crabby, but i would never trade this experience for anything in the world!

let's see where the wind blows us today...