I am now in my placement in Kelantan Malaysia on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. I have not posted anything for a while due to internet complications (I apologize). I am now beginning to settle into my life for the year, hence this long post. In the very conservative and sugary sweet state of Kelantan, much is different from the big city of Kuala Lampur where I started. There has been an adjustment shift as we ETAs find our place in our communities and schools. My housemates and I also live on school grounds so we have constant contact with the hostel girls here which keeps things exciting and active yet not much time for rest.
After we were shuffled from place to place during our various orientations. We will head back to Kota Bharu for a couple days starting tomorrow to finish up orientation training for our state. We have been in the school for a week and a half after initial meetings and work in the community schools near Kota Bharu when we first arrived. My initial thoughts coming off of the plane arriving in Kelantan at 8am, when we were greeted by religious council members who instantly snapped photos and sent them to everyone in Kelantan, was “and so it begins!” Our mentors and teachers had the photos of us by the time we met them over the next couple of days. The adjustment started now. We were now on display as a role model and image of what Americans were really like. This is a huge honor but also huge responsibility, especially when you are extremely tired, wearing baju kurung (traditional female Malay dress), after leaving about 100 people you were just trying to establish Facebook Official (FBO) friendships with, and your breakfast was some mediocre chicken rice that you tried to shovel in as the plane was landing.
Those of us placed in Kelantan proceeded to attend several briefings and meetings about the current flood situation. Then over the next few days, we visited schools and towns that were impacted by the flood, to be an encouragement during the recovery of this tragedy. The school I worked in specifically for two days was flooded throughout its entire first floor. Many tables and chairs had to be replaced, school opened over a week late, students lost uniforms pieces and wore what appropriate clothing they could muster for school each day, and even a month after the flood, staff estimated clean up to take another two weeks after our visits with them. We were treated very well by the school and we felt honored to be entertaining guests to lift up spirits for the school. We made our first Malaysian contacts who were willing to invite us to their homes and suggest good eats around town. It was a nice taste of the hospitality of Kelantan. Literally the budu as well as nasi kerabu were delicious and the staff was so kind to us to feed and show us around.
Once we settled into our placements, domesticating the house took a bit longer than we expected but we were more than pleased with our teacher’s quarter accommodations! Today we got curtains as the final touch (aside from maybe some bedside tables we have yet to successfully find) to creating “our home” in the district of Bachok, in the city of Kelantan and on the border of Pasir Puteh where I teach (that took me almost a week to understand exactly where we ACTUALLY live). We have already eaten at a teacher’s home for an after prayer meal on Friday, attended a Malaysian wedding, received more than a dozen baju kurung from staff at our schools, had the privilege of being toured around town for the best places to shop, and even found some local favorite eating places. It feels so amazing to begin to settle in! My type-A super planning personality is exciting to “get the show on the road” for the year here.
In school thus far, I have just followed my English teachers to and from their classes helping in any ways I can. That has consisted of some observation, some co-teaching, some teaching solely on my own, and everything in between. I am trying to absorb as much as I can to find a happy medium in this tracked education system. Somwhere between their textbook teaching and my whimsical, idealistic, creative teaching techniques. As I gain a positive reputation in the school, the teachers are becoming more and more excited about my methods, teaching tools I brought with me, and new ideas. The cultural exchange has already been so rich, I cannot imagine how much will come from this year. I am learning the local dialect of Bhasa Malay (BM) which they nickname “Kelantanese” and almost seems to be a different language from BM. I am eating with my hands (right hand only of course) and starting to fully embrace the abundance of rice (even when we eat it five times a day some days). This is shaping up to be an incredible year (as I expected from an amazing opportunity such as a Fulbright ETA).
There will be some challenges as there already have been (anything related to technology so far has only been semi-successful). However, I will learn a lot, experience many new things, gain new perspectives as well as understandings about life, and have an enriching year. I like to think this will be somewhat of a pilgrimage for myself and my ideologies this year. I am coming in with an open mind (as much as my narrow-minded American mind can allow, as I recognize my weaknesses as well as perceptions to be cognizant of while living here). Sorry this was such a long post, I will try to be more brief in the future. Thanks for following along!
On My Malay Way 