life in technicolor

How's it going?!

Malaysia is amazing. Duh. The last few days of in-country orientation were definitely fun! We did an amazing race challenge where we paired up and attempted to follow clues that were given in Malay! Lou was my partner and we thought we were making good time, because we were. But we decided to wait 45 minutes at a bus stop for the "right" bus to take us to the next neighborhood/town. It was really fun but most of the challenges required us "trying" something so we were full by the time we got to our destination!! Haha. It was fun to test our knowledge in the real world. I'm not really afraid of public transit at all now :)

Meeting our supervisors was fun too. I was so excited when I first met and talked with Joan that I was almost crying. Everything is just going and it is all good stuff. She described the staff, site, children, my house. Plus, I had a banana split that I didn't have to split with anyone. Lovely.

We also participated in the Chinese Moon Cake festival! The real 'holiday' was actually on Monday but our friend pushed her party up so that we could go since we would fully disperse on Sunday. Moon Cakes are these little soft and chewy cakes. Some that we had were homemade so that was amazing. It's a very traditional snack. They fed us other food that night too. We were grateful. I thoroughly enjoyed all the tea they served us! But before we ate moon cakes we were invited to join in on the paper lantern making and then lantern walk around the neighborhood. My photos don't seem to portray how cute but beautiful it was to do that with these new friends. The kids there (plenty of those) were so so excited to walk with their paper lanterns! Maybe that's because it's fire and who doesn't love fire? We all had different colors and shapes and sizes. It was awesome.

The next day (Sunday) we had a beautiful commissioning worship service at one of the English speaking congregations in KK. We were introduced and then everyone prayed for us. Church members engaged in conversation with us afterwards. They were intrigued by our presence, and, like most people, wanted to know what brought us to Malaysia of all places? The pastor's kid, Calvin, invited all of us to lunch. All of us, plus all of his people. Youth group!! Lunch with 30 young adults is hilarious. In fact, I think some people left because there simply wasn't enough space. Young people in Malaysia (KK) speak and understand English for the most part. These teenagers were great! Sometimes I get tired of small talk conversation but when you're explaining LA to someone who's never been or what it means to be "from the midwest" to a young Malaysian person, it's a lot more interesting.

This YAGM Malaysia crew had to finish up our packing and get on with the show though! Joan picked me up a couple hours after lunch. She took me to get some starting out groceries but I had no idea what the kitchen looked like/had so that was a bit rough. But the supermarket that I go to because it's closest to my placement is called Sunny. I like that. Obviously. As soon as I could, I settled in at my placement site. Finally! No more living out of a suitcase. For 11 months or so, I get to use the wardrobe and desk and floor space without packing it back up. When was the last time that was my reality?

Joan asked two other staff who live at Seri Mengasih (SM) to invite me for dinner, so they did. And it was delicious!! Homemade Malaysian foooood. These two staff are about twice my age but they are the kindest women ever. They have already adopted me. They know English, but I'm trying my best to practice Malay with them. It's sweet because they constantly invite me, "please, sit. eat with us. talk with me. come with us. eat this. drink this. do you want this?" I haven't found a polite way to say "No, I'm okay thank you" because I do value these new relationships so much. I don't know the words in Malay and the words "I don't need any, thank you" don't really work. Haha! It's okay though. We walked up the beach yesterday (I say 'up' because I'm pretty sure we went north up the coast) and it was so wonderful. I could do that nearly every day. The sky and sea look great next to each other. It's a bit like a dream. I like the sunsets. You can never have too many pictures of the same sun setting on the same sea right?

At one point, my friend asked me, "Allisun, what brought you here, to Seri Mengasih, to Malaysia?" "Tuhan," I told her. She immediately said, "God bless you." Tuhan means God. I think she was looking for a different answer but she took it, understood, acknowledged that it is good.

One of the clues from our "Amazing Race" challenge for language class. Instructions in bahasa melayu! And yes, we can read and understand that :) if read slowly and with a Malay phrasebook. Ha!

Later on we got to participate in a Moon Cake party. Kek Bulan! We made lanterns with the little kids and walked all around the neighborhood with our pretty colors. It was wonderful.

The moon cakes. Some homemade! Probably an acquired taste and definitely not for those who have problems with textures or one who has a big sweet tooth. I would do it again. The tea was delicious too!

Part of the playground and classrooms at Seri Mengasih (SM). This is only a portion of the entire 'campus.' More to come.

A walk up the beach from SM at sunset will provide views like this. I can't get over it. Three evenings here and three gorgeous sunsets. They might start to look the same eventually but I will try to continue to enjoy it.

It rained a tad on our walk back to SM but by the time we got to the 'backyard' it had stopped and I took one last photo with my nearly dead camera. This is real life.