My ideal summer would have been spent traveling through Southeast Asia, hubby and I. Visiting the Thai islands that are still on my list of places to see and exploring the unknown. New locations, new foods, new experiences abroad…I love all of it. That did not happen and that’s okay. Instead, I went back to my old lil thang. I went home to the beautiful archipelago that is The Bahamas where I got to spend much needed time with my husband and I got to see family members that I hadn’t seen in years.
I spent way too much money on a home vacation but such is life in an expensive third-world country.
I got to enjoy many of my home favorites. First of all, Bamboo Shack went and upgraded with their Bamboo Grillhouse out Cable Beach in Nassau opposite Sandals. This meant that I didn’t have to go to specific locations only on the weekend to enjoy jerk chicken (mild sauce).
I got to bask in the hot sun (that we ain’t optimizing for solar electricity) and frolic on the beach like it was 1997. That conch, curb and whelk salad was life!!
I bought a whole loaf of guava duff…my beloved. Not just any style of duff…traditional boiled in the pillowcase duff with the sauce that doesn’t harden when you refrigerate it. Shamon ate the last slice and use up all the sauce I was planning to use on some slam bam pancakes. #neverforget
My fabulous grandmother turned 80 years old and celebrated in style. I wasn’t there but I could tell from the photos that she had a great time.
I got to see my dad. I don’t talk about him much but I miss him and I’m thankful that I was able to see him. I also got to see a few other family members. My grand aunt and uncles are bomb.com. Aunt Aggie was too busy being a globetrotter for me to catch up with her!
Summer is a lot of birthdays in my family – mum, sister, brothers, grammy, aunty. My driveby visits to Nassau were filled with errands but in between, I got to spend some time with them.
I had a short stay in Cuba. The version of tamales that I had there wasn’t it… I don’t know what it was, but it wasn’t IT. But the chicken in the literal brown paper bag and cassava fries were lit!
Last stop before returning to Yangon was Vegas for a conference with hubby. That was wild. I saw a lot of boobs. I’d go back. Not for the boobs obviously. I’ll do a separate post on Vegas. For now, here’s a selection of photos of bae and I.
And then it was back here in Yangon, but a new apartment and I arrive the day before work started. Won’t do that again! And now, I’m just settling back into my life here and creating goals (personal and professional) that I want to accomplish this academic year.
This summer may have emptied my wallet, but it sure did fill my emotional bucket.
Life of Neu 