Rain, rain, rain!!!

Hello from my rainy house!
People say I will get tired of the rain in Malaysia and I completely disagree. It's like saying I will get tired of ketchup, godiva chocolates, or running. Complete nonsense! They just don't understand how much I love storms!! First the clouds start to get dark, then the sky changes color. A couple drops fall, then ka-blam!!! Down through the (usually) evening or night sky it just begins to completely pour!! Some days it pours for 20 minutes, and on days like to day it has been raining pretty solidly for the better part of two hours. I have no problems with it. Even if I had to be in it, it is just rain. I will not melt, nor will I "catch my death." And every single storm, without fail, makes me want to do a Gene Kelly impression on my street. For those of you who don't know who Gene Kelly is or why he is so amazing, I demand you go onto Amazon or ebay and immediately order Singin' in the Rain. If you don't and I find out, I will shun you :)
Anyway, it is a Saturday night in Malaysia. Syafyka is out celebrating someone's birthday, Syaiful is getting ready to head to his first rig (woohoo!! I am so excited for him!!) and the rest of my friends I have made here are either on rigs or at schools of some sort. So it is just me, the tv that will not show satellite shows right now because the cable always goes out when we get a rainstorm, and my lovely huge windows in the livingroom that allow me to see the awesome (seriously...so cool!!!) drainage system in our front yard.
I did have dinner tonight, and it was a couple pieces of pizza hut pizza (woot!) and a "chocolate shake." And though it wasn't exactly like chocolate shakes in America, it was actually really delicious and it had sugar and stuff in it. I miss sugary things so there are no complaints here :).
My week has been interesting. Full or new experiences, both good and not so good. I had to re-do about 70 percent of my medical exam that I already did in America because the American doctors didn't send it over. In the course of this exam I (a) peed over an open hole in the ground into an already used specimen cup, (b) found out I've lost 8 kg (17 lbs) since I've come here (just sayin...all my close fit really nicely now, though my shirts are kind of big), (c) found out that I really do like Lafene in retrospect, and (d) realized that I can actually pull out patience when I need to. There is hope for me yet parents!!
Letter (a) was definitely a new experience and I had a little bit of a shy bladder issue because I've never had to crouch, aim, and balance before. Those of you that have seen my coordination skills/balancing ability in action are probably laughing right now because it took a large amount of effort to say the least. I do like toilets.
Letter (b) was a surpise, both pleasant and not so good at the same time. I don't mind losing weight, however I would prefer it was in a healthier and more enjoyable manner (aka...running a marathon or something). I've never been into the whole starving oneself scene (as anyone who has seen me eat can vouch for!), so it is a little different to lose weight that way. And no, I am not actually starving myself. Just eating whoa less calories because when I eat a lot of food here I end up having...digestive issues. However, I actually can't wait for getting to go to my aerobics class on Monday (that I wasn't able to attend last week) so I can start being fit the healthy way again.
Skipping letter (c), I will address (d). My physical actually ended up taking about 4 hours altogether after I did all the tests and incorporated the waiting inbetween each. I am not used to waiting so much for things, however with the help of a book Adam gave me before I left, and the realization that I really had nowhere to be besides work (and that could definitely wait!), I actually never got impatient or grouchy (which is my usual reaction).
So that was my Thursday, then, on Friday most of everything went ok. I went to work like normal, studied, ran some errands, and rocked out at my desk to the top 100 list on yahoo music (it helps me focus!!). For lunch I had some rice with the first truly spicy side dishes I've run into here, so I had one bean (literally) and 2 bites of the rice with some of the sauce on it. As it seemed like eating anymore might be a bit of an un-good idea, I just ate the non-sauced rice around it along with a couple pieces of watermelon. Fast forward to 2 hours later, feeling good, just sat down at my desk after doing some talking to coworkers and suddenly intense pain (like the kind you get in your side during an intense workout and it hurts so much you can't breath and have to stop) started in my lower chest area and quickly spread to my sides and then eventually all the way to my spine in the back. I felt like I needed to throw-up but couldn't and it got so bad that eventually I couldn't even breath in very deep and it actually hurt intensely when I tried to take deep breaths. Syafyka went with me to the company medic, then he sent me to the clinic I was at the day before to be checked out (Syaiful drove...I have good friends, btw.). The pain (about 30-40 minutes later now) finally started to subside as I was sitting in the doctors office (of course...) and he diagnosed me with "gastric" which I basically have no clue what that means. He prescribed maalox, nexium, and basically a peppermint version of the pink medicine. Oh and some anti-vomiting pills. However, for the record I have never vomited here. So yeah, we'll see if that works. It was really scary though. I've had multiple pulled muscles, sprained ankles, a sciatic nerve injury and nothing hurt like that did. I feel like the medic, though he is super nice, might think I am a whiner (along with the doctor), but I've NEVER been a sick/complainy person before. And I can definitely handle a lot of pain with relative ease, so...I guess it will just get better or worse :) Its like a mystery...how will it turn out?!?
For the record though, I feel crazy better today and I have actually had minimal headaches and such all day so I almost feel like I could conquer the world if I wasn't so tired!
Today has been fun, by the way. We went to work late, left it early, and I got to go with Syafyka and Syaiful as Syafyka was looking for material for her dress for Hari Raya which is (as far as I understand it) a big celebration they are having on the 10th and 11th of September. Maybe it is for James' birthday?!? He will be 21!! Just kidding. Anyway, they dress in traditional Malay dress, there are parades and unity activities and such and they go around to each other's houses eating foods people have prepared. Should be interesting! The material is really beautiful (that Syafyka got for her dress) and I hope I have a working camera by the time it comes around so I can take pictures of her (and the food!).
So, finally timeline of the next week: Sunday, skype date with Adam!; Monday, pick up new debit card from HSBC and see a lithium battery leak drill; Tuesday, fly to Miri, Malaysia; and Wednesday thru Friday, sea survival training!! Should be a busy and fun week. I am looking forward to it (and hopefully not being sick anymore!)
This is too long so I will end it now...I love you guys and hope you are having fun in the States!
Becca