pretty big mouth

So a few weeks ago I was invited to an 'outing' with the staff and students (trainers and trainees) of the vocation and transition classes. And, of course, I said yes. The trip was postponed and rescheduled a number of times. I didn't really believe it would happen until I was actually boarding the bus to head out. The staff who were going (myself included) had a meeting a few days before the trip. I was handed our itinerary and another page with information about who was to plan what. All in melay. I could hardly understand any of it. But I didn't care. I was sure someone would guide me through or I would understand through doing, "Oh we're going here now. I see..." I was a smidgen wrong.

I should probably write this with said itinerary in hand but I am too lazy to find it (this was over a week ago so forgive me if it's all foggy for me to recall). We left Seri Mengasih in the morning on a Friday and drove.... to somewhere. Then we walked around there and were told facts about something. It was pretty, whatever it was, and I took some nice pictures. It was hot. I do know that there was a building that had piles of soil made through the process of composting. I gathered that information through a translation from a friend, not from understanding the language. Later we went somewhere for lunch. We got back on the bus and went to the place where we were to stay. It was a catholic church or monastery (or something) more like a retreat center. It was very nice! I wasn't sure what the plan was so I took a nap for a couple hours. The lack of sleep from the previous week must have caught up to me. After dinner we had some large group time and the students told something about what they saw that day. Most were quiet and tired by this time. I should also mention we had a bit of a dance party before that. Some kids just love to dance and be silly. I like that. In the morning we walked up the hill from the area we were staying in to go somewhere. This part I could understand on the schedule but what we were to do there was still a mystery. At first I thought we were just walking through the grounds. Rumah orang-orang tua [old folks home] was our destination though. We greeted the old folks and gave them the goodies we had brought to share with them Biscuits, oranges, and apples. It was soooo cute. I felt out of place. I was embarrassed that I didn't know we were going there right then or what my duty would be there. I liked it though. Everyone was so sweet and happy. Malaysia doesn't have many places like this for a cultural reason. Families stay together and share living spaces so there isn't much need for rumah orang-orang tua. Still, our visit there was cute and full of smiles! Many were impressed with my attempt to speak melay and a few could speak english very well!

We had lunch and packed up to leave soon after visiting the orang-orang tua. We went to a supermarket and all the trainees were given a few dollars with the intention (I later found out) to see their understanding of having money. I was supposed to notice how the trainee/student I was paired with spent her money and if they understood the basic math or price. But I had no idea at the time and just looked around and shopped for myself. Ha! Oops!

This is the student I was paired with, Nhursyla. In melay the 'sy' makes a 'shh' sound and her name is said so quickly it usually sounded like Sheila, a name I recognize. Nhursyla is a sweetheart and I asked her to smile here. She really is happy I think (hope). We were bunk buddies for the weekend and I was supposed to keep track of her the entire time. I didn't know it then, but I was also supposed to grade her on her skills and behaviors after our trip.

We made another stop at a little monument but I have no idea what that was about or what town we were in. Luckily, all of this not knowing and confusion did not ruin the trip for me. I probably should have asked "where are we?" or "what are we doing here?" more often but I felt like figuring it out through doing and seeing for myself rather than admit that I truly had no idea what the activities written in the itinerary (in melay) entailed. I usually laughed to myself saying, "where the heck am I?" and that kept it from becoming overwhelmingly frustrating.

I said yes to this trip for a number of reasons.

1. Be outside of KK, experience life in Sabah

2. Get to know more students and staff better

3. Practice listening to and speaking in melay

4. Stupendous photo ops

5. Keep life interesting

And I'm glad I said yes.

I took a lot of pictures of flowers and other artsy photos. The ones in my previous blog are also from this trip. This was the first time I took pictures of the students I work with (these are only the older students from the vocation side and not the school side). I think it's important for you to see these pictures so that you can better visualize what my life is like. These students were so great! I have a lot of fun with all of them.

I hope you are all having fantastic moments wherever you are reading this. As always, thank you for reading and thank you so much for your prayers.