Closing Time, Reflecting Upon the Year

A kampong backroad with beautiful greens. How I will best remember Malaysia- many hues of green!

TB to Langkawi SMKS field trip

 

This was a difficult year. I have to acknowledge that. Sometimes I forget that things are hard because I am trying to make things a reality. I tried to excuse behaviors, cultural differences, difficult social situations, uncomfortable times, and bad days for “it’s all a part of the experience.” Sometimes I need to stop, sit, and say “yeah, today was tough and it is okay.” That being said, it has been the most incredible year of my life.

TB to meeting my students for their school trip at Pulau Perhenthian. One of my favorite places in the world- most beautiful place I have seen and made many sweet memories there!

This year has challenged me more than I could have ever anticipated. I learned more about myself than I thought I could. Being a theatre person, you are supposed to know yourself well from the little to the big things. I saw more this year (than I even wanted to) of myself and learned what that meant. I grew as a person. I grew as a cultural member. I grew in my language skills. I grew in my interpersonal and intrapersonal skills. I fit into a new cohort of diverse Americans. I found a place for myself in a place and community very different from me. I fell in love with my school community, fellow staff, and students. It will be hard to leave.

TB to a montage a student made for me from my first English Beach Clean Up camp!

As many songs fly through my head while I try to capture my sentiments at the end of the year, I mostly hear and keep revisiting “Closing Time” by Semisonic. The lyrics are the most appropriate for how I feel and how I am coping with leaving this beautiful state and country. Truly words cannot fully capture my experience and time here but it is the closest I feel I will get for now. I know I will come back to visit someday but not knowing when, makes it hard to tell these teary-eyed faces that I will see them again someday. The line “time to go out from the places you will be from” is how I justify my leaving. Yes, it it time for me to go home. I miss my family, friends, and community. I am ready to see them even if I am not quite ready to say goodbye here. I am tired of the bugs, heat, and lack of freedom in my community here even though my school is like a family to me where I can be myself 100% with silliness or seriousness and they accept me. I found a job I love where I do not quite have the full responsibilities of a teacher but I am teaching and having fun with students!

TB to my Female Empowerment Camp with the help of Miss Rachel. Some Form 4 and 5 girls sporting their confidence poster of future goals 🙂

“I know who I want to take me home” my parents and my puppies at home. I want to embrace them, even if for a moment. They are so important to me and this was the longest and farthest I have been away from them. There is still a lot of time in life and there will be a time I can travel and return to Narnia (aka Malaysia) some day but it is not next month or possibly even next year. It is time and I want to return home even if just for a short while.

TB to the Kelantan Vocational Arts Camp 2015 with my SMKS boys at the Royal family dinner!

TB to one of the interviews I did on the radio talking about the arts camp 🙂

“Turn all of the lights on every boy and every girl… last call” in a metaphorical way. I am spending my last moments celebrating with my students and loving on each and every one of them as much as I can. I have one last camp I got an US Embassy Grant for to celebrate them and build up their school English library. I am entering as many classes as possible. I am trying to visit with families or students I have grown close to as much as possible. And soaking up all of the love they are giving me in return. “Last call” for selfies, “sweet memories”, and so on here. This is not over or the final end but the end of a chapter for now. I am trying to not say “goodbye” but “see you later” in reality, that I truly believe I will be back someday. Possibly sooner than I realize…

TB to one of my favorite units with Form 1: Going Places. Today we did stations and traveled to California, USA

Form 1 sporting their “passports” after a long week “journey” to the USA!

“You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here” is where I am now. Okay yes, technically, I have to go back to the states as per my contract before whatever my next adventure and career move is, knowing it could be abroad again or close to home. I am at a pass where I want to be, what I want to be, or what I want to do next year but I know I cannot stay here in Malaysia. This year has been a great experience but I realized it needed to stay isolated as a year and I need to move onto something else, whatever that may be. Stopping at home will be nice to refresh, recharge my batteries, and then make a clear decision about my next moves.

Form 2 deciding how they would feel with certain diabilities

Form 2 final posters for our unit on people with disabilities. Trying to imagine and sympathize. Powerful and emotional day in class

“This room won’t be open til your brothers and sisters come.” This line could be literal that I need to bring my family here the next time I come or that I will revisit with a new grown relationship with these community members that I stay in touch with while I am gone until I return. There are many people I will stay in touch with here in Malaysia. I let students add my personal Facebook account as well as teachers. I also will try to maintain WeChat and possibly download WhatsApp again to keep in touch with students. I was a student teacher last year so technically they were my first students but this was my first group of full-year students (pretty much). On top of the crazy experience of a year they watched me grow through alongside of them this year.

Captured moment of me teaching the entire school the Cha Cha slide in groups to nominate students for my Talent Show “Selising Idol” camp 🙂

“So gather up your jackets, move it to the exits. I hope you have found a friend.” Time to pack up my things and fly to the exit. I did make some friends and I will remember this place but it is closing time for me, so I got to go. “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end” here in Malaysia. It is time for a new start in my life, something new, not knowing what yet. This ending starts a new beginning of something. I look forward to finding out what that is.

Some upper form boys teaching me the traditional performative art of Dikir Barat. A popular art form in the state of Kelantan where I have lived this year.

This has been a special year and trying to replicate it or add on did not seem right. It is now a foundational part of my philosophy as a teacher and citizen of the world. I will use this year to remember many things I am passionate about and want to fight for in society on small and large scales. Most of my ideologies were reaffirmed. Some grew, some changed. I am ready to jump into a new adventure while also learning this year what I need in my life to make me happy and comfortable. Closing time in Malaysia. On my Malay way… tomorrow, a new adventure begins.

Form 4 boys trying to be cool for a camera as we are in between takes of our film for the Sarawak Culture Exchange project we did with SMK Seburian

Bus moment from my last English camp buying books for the school library 🙂

TB to YES camp in Setiu, Terangganu making some friends my age 🙂

TB to teaching drama in my happy place, in my element at SMK Sri Nepah!

TB to first picture of my mentor and I when we first met!

TB to one of the first chorale speaking after school days this year 🙂

TB to a typical day in the office with some of my favorite people 🙂

Lyrics to Closing Time

Closing time

Open all the doors and let you out into the world

Closing time

Turn all of the lights on over every boy and every girl

Closing time

One last call for alcohol so finish your whiskey or beer

Closing time

You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here

[Chorus:]

I know who I want to take me home

I know who I want to take me home

I know who I want to take me home

Take me home

Closing time

Time for you to go out to the places you will be from

Closing time

This room won’t be open till your brothers or your sisters come

So gather up your jackets, move it to the exits

I hope you have found a friend

Closing time

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end

[Chorus:]

I know who I want to take me home

I know who I want to take me home

I know who I want to take me home

Take me home

Closing time

Time for you to go out to the places you will be from

[Chorus:]

I know who I want to take me home

I know who I want to take me home

I know who I want to take me home

Take me home

Closing time

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end

Music Video of Closing Time

Feels Like Home: Balik Kampung Selemat Hari Raya

Balik kampung….balik kampung… Plays in several songs on the radio as the end of Ramdhan comes to a close and the annually anticipated Hari Raya (meaning Great Day, the Malaysian holiday equivalent to the Muslim Eid in other Muslim-practicing countries and cultures) approaches… This was my experience celebrating Hari Raya here in Malaysia for the first time.

I had waited all year, leading up to this big day, for this holiday to finally roll around. It was more spectacular than I even imagined. Travelling around during the full holiday experience, going house to house, meeting all of the extended family, trying all of the traditional and popular or “glamour” foods for Hari Raya all made it so special. I was starting to really miss home and my family so this was a nice taste of family life and seeing how Malaysian families interact. One of my favorite moments, was when we all dressed in our Baju Raya (matching color clothes as you can see in the pictures) for a photo shoot and celebrated the youngest sibling’s birthday. He was born on the eve of Hari Raya Aidilfitri (full name of this holiday since there are two Hari Rayas in Malaysia- fun fact I found out, the second is in September) so his middle name is named after the holiday. The night before we also lit up some fireworks we had purchased at the Ramadhan bazaar the night before to kick off his celebrations. It was so nice to see how the family celebrated him, laughed with him, siblings made jokes to tease him, and I myself started reminiscing in the silly moments I was missing with my siblings. I sat slightly off from a distance and could not help but smile. I just wanted to watch them laugh and interact with each other all day. Of course, then I was served ice cream cake from Baskin Robins and got distracted by the sweet chilly tastes in my mouth. But it was a favorite moment of the experience.

I was approached a couple weeks before Hari Raya by an English teacher I share an office with, who asked me to come with her back to her kampung (village). I had met a couple of her siblings before in Putrajaya (same awesome family who toured me around there) and she thought it would be nice for me to meet the whole family, especially since I would be alone without family for this momentous holiday in Malaysia. Besides.. the city in my state called Kota Bharu would be impossible to get around since nearly all of Kelantan is roaming around house to house- with over 90% of a Muslim Malay population in my state celebrating the upcoming holiday. I was so honored and flattered by the invitation, I did not think twice before agreeing to come along with her. I did not know how to fully prepare myself for this trip but was so excited to be tagging along!

Leaving for Melaka was an experience in itself as we drove over night from Kelantan (luckily against the traffic). So many people who grew up in my state where I am placed in Kelantan often grow up to work in the West coast in peninsular Malaysia (on the opposite coast) yet they always “balik kampung” (go back to their home town) for the holidays so there is a huge jam (traffic). We stopped around 2:00am or so at my teacher’s husband’s sister’s house in Negeri Sembilan (another state where I had not visited yet) to give gifts and wish her well on her upcoming trip to America. Another “Sweet memory” as is common to say in Malaysia here. We got to discuss all of my favorite things in Washington, D.C. and New York City where she would be travelling. Then made it around 4:00 am to her family’s house to sleep for almost an hour and wake up to break the fast. Luckily with Ramadhan still finishing once we got up to eat before the sun came up and we had to stop around 5:30 am before we fasted until about 7:30 depending on the movement of the sun for that day, the family would go for prayer and I could fall back asleep as well as take frequent naps during the day when we were not cooking or going around town. Most of the sight-seeing happened after Ramadhan ended though, since we only had a couple days left and wanted to save our energy for the fasting.

From helping prepare the chickens for slaughter, cooking ketupat (a traditional style of rice in coconut leaves wrapped a special way, steamed for hours, and eaten with various savory meat dishes), sharing a room with her younger sister, sharing moments and memories with all six of the siblings, meeting the extended family at buffets for breaking the fast or celebrating Hari Raya, serving the extended family when we hosted, roaming around Melaka at night taking selfies, and MORE- it was one of the “sweetest” (literally and figuratively) parts of my year here. Just what I needed to break up a difficult month of fasting and hitting the half way point in my grant. I really wanted to feel as much as part of the family for that week as they would allow me- give me chores and work to do I pleaded! They did! It was great. I was so happy to have a family to be a part of when I was missing mine so much, even if just for a week. It brought my English teacher and I closer as well which was another bonus on top of all of the wonderful things that resulted from this week in Melaka with this family. I took a night bus home and got sick on the way back, nearly got stranded at 3am 4-5 hours from my Asrama (hostel) where I live in my state of Kelantan on the way home… but all apart of the adventure and worth the extended 12 hours overnight bus home!

I was stuffed SO full with each house visit and so tired after the trip but I would do it all over again. I loved everything about Hari Raya. I saw how special the holiday is, seeing the tight-knit community of family, Muslim culture, more exchange of ideas, religion, and culture as well as so many family photo ops. Another great week in Malaysia! I am so blessed to be in the placement I have, meet this generous teacher and her family, as well as have all of these amazing life experiences that help me grow in my faith, experiences, ideologies, and passions in this world. These are the moments that help me shape my adult life into the further adventures that lay ahead. Melaka for Hari Raya this day. Who can guess for tomorrow?!

 

Malaysia boleh on my Malay way. What a year so far!

Navigating through Ramadhan: Fasting and Culture 101

    RAMADHAN

So, with permission from my community, I decided to take it upon myself to attempt fasting for the entirety of the month of Ramadhan. My entire school community would be partaking as part of the Malay Muslim tradition here in Malaysia. Christians have their own times of fasting which I have always been curious about, and I thought this would be a good self-reflective as well as educational experience for me. It was a long month, arguably the longest-seeming month of the year but I made it!

Starting from the very first day I was very conscious of my choice not to eat. It is one thing to get caught up in things throughout the day, remain busy and forget to eat. However, making the choice not to eat, in this instance, from my experience was a lot harder to not focus on or pass the time without craving food. Food was on my mind all day especially at first. I had to wake up much earlier, I was trying to keep energy up while I was teaching, I was not sure I would make it through the whole month, even struggling through the first week. In the end, with a few flexible days to break the fast while I traveled or waking up slightly late and eating a bit later for a couple of days, I was able to partake the full month. With the late days, I gave myself a bit of a break since this was my first try.

I also still drank some water to keep myself from getting dehydrated in the heat which I share with me school. This was a point of contention however with my school community because to them, this is not a true fast. However, I tried to remind them, this was my way and my first time. Additionally I had no religious or cultural requirement to withhold from drinking some water. I was also worried about my health. And finally, there is a spectrum of fasting as I tried to explain with other religious communities of people. In some countries and communities of religions, fasting is just with holding from a certain food or pleasure for the time of fasting such as is typical for those who practice Catholicism during Lent. Others just do a solids fast such as Christians sometimes or other communities of Muslims. Then like Malaysian Muslims typically practice, there are people who withhold from eating or drinking from sunrise to sunset. Then there are even spectrums of requirements or decisions for fasting based on the time of the sunrise or the religious practice, etc. Then there are certain Muslim cultures and communities in other countries which do not even keep in the saliva in their mouths. Although, being in such a close-knit society without much travel outside of our kampung (village) or Malaysia, my fasting was very different from what they knew so it was difficult to navigate through conversations with some, but it created a great opportunity for cultural exchange.

I promised to commit to trying to participate in the whole month and journal all the while. This was a great exercise since I was not writing in my journal much this year before Ramadhan, which I regret. Since Ramadhan I have tried to journal once or twice a week to record my more intimate reflections and moments here aside from my blog narrative. It has been fun reading through this month after-the-fact and seeing how my reflection changed, noting which days were clearly harder than others, and what days were really positive in terms of self and religious reflection as I had hoped. The first two days I had energy and thoughts to fill two pages but most days after that were limited to just one. “And so I pray to be reminded of the reasons that I am choosing to do this, be true to myself, not to confuse those around me, also find a balance of remaining productive, find ways to relate to my school community, and have a lot of reflection time with God. And so the journey begins as it also continues…” Were my final words in my first entry. Compared to Day 5 “Couldn’t sleep for over two hours due to itchiness. I believe from bugs and being hot… We’ll see how my energy lasts tomorrow.” Clearly frustrated but trying to be hopeful for the next day. Honestly, journaling kept my mind balanced and focused on trying to think of the positive while processing this journey through Ramadhan and winding down at the end of the day.

My month became more and more tolerable as well as rewarding as I got used to the schedule and cadence of fasting. In the midst of all of this there was mid-year, breaking the fast with students, celebrating July 4th in Malaysia away from home for the first time (one of the big holidays for my family), typical monthly school activities minus my after-school activities plus lethargic students who were not motivated even for my most exciting lessons (most days), saw time flying by and two brothers finishing important years of school as I missed these important moments back home among others and remained abroad, listening to my sister and dogs grow up back home, get a new teaching timetable to adjust to (schedule), experience Hari Raya, and many other events in between. It was a whirlwind of a month that felt long during the hours passing by between sunrise and sunset as I waited for the time to break the fast yet included some of the most rich cultural experiences I’ve participated in during this year teaching abroad in Malaysia. I was invited to several student and teacher’s houses, including an English teacher whom I have grown close with over the year that you can read about in my Hari Raya blog post, and got to experience nearly the full Malaysian experience during this significant religious and culture time here in a Muslim Malay community. In my last journal entry I was more than thrilled to have pushed through and it made Hari Raya that much more special to experience as a reward! “Selemat Hari Raya! Yay, I did it! Finished, now to a day I have been excited about since hearing about it in January!…Then the grand tour began as we went to five…houses… I even tried to pace myself at most houses not knowing what foods were left in store at the next house…great to see all of the families…” I really enjoyed getting the homegrown experience with my teacher. I hope to reflect upon this time which was a different type of challenge than I have tried. Whether emotional or academically or otherwise before, this new physical challenge was a great feat! I was proud and blessed to have been awarded the strength to make it through. First time, a success! There were many tough days but the reward was greater than the defeat!

Fasting during Ramadhan… tomorrow lies ahead another mystery in Malaysia. On my Malay way…

Philippino Excurtions: The Charm of Cebu and the Islands

 

When you are living abroad, having friends abroad in the same hemisphere, even in the same time zone makes you feel closer to home. My friend staying in the Philippines joked we were about to be “next door neighbors” before I left for Malaysia this year. Depending on your perspective, and proximity to home, she was right and half way through the year I finally got to visit her. After sharing my world with a friend, she got to share her world with me. What a beautiful, colorful, welcoming, warming, inviting, and friendly world to see.

    

I arrived with no plans and no idea what to expect. I usually try to be an informed traveller wherever I go but I knew I had a better-informed expert on the ground so I could just wait until I got there for a majority of the research. Being my type-A self I did do a bit of research but it was nice to go without having much homework to do for this trip. I had just come off of a long trip entertaining my friend from home in Cambodia and Malaysia for two weeks so this was very refreshing. I landed in the airport, realizing if I could not connect to WiFi that I could not contact my friend, luckily I snagged some from the airport and it all worked out. We embraced when she arrive and jumped in the taxi to begin our journey in Cebu.

 

First we went back to Rachel’s house where she has been living in the homestay for the year. The family was lovely and so hospitable to let me stay and feel welcomed there. Got to meet some special people in her life which was nice. We called it a night and were happy to just have girl time to catch up after not seeing each other for a year and not knowing much about our new foreign lives. We also last-minute decided to wake up for a 5am free dive the next morning to check out some cool fish and coral on the coast since I was certified. We only had one mask and a pair of goggles to share and got some pretty bad jellyfish stings. It all ended okay though since we followed the pain up with giant pancakes. And we did see some cool fish and coral to be fair before having to evacuate the water from stings including a school of sardines, swordfish, some other schools, and a beautiful sunrise.

After a recovery nap we took my first hubble-hubble type of bus/taxi transport to the mountains for an exploring adventure. We started with one intention in mind to ride some water slides on the mountains but since the water had been drained we took a new route to a new part of the mountain to see views and stop for some good food. We also saw a random Portuguese mansion on one of the mountains in the style of a Spanish Roman temple in homage to a man’s recently deceased wife. Rushed back to the house to change for evening yoga before salsa night with friends. Met some amazing people, had fun dancing salsa after a long hiatus, and had chips with guacamole which just made the whole night nearly perfect. Finishing the night with some of the most amazing sushi as a midnight snack before bed though really put the icing on the cake for me that night. So many good things I had been deprived of all year that I had missed so much. Besides, after that we planned a two-day trip to visit another island. A total YOLO move…

 

Woke up to catch a 9:30am ferry to reach Bohol by the early morning and arrive at our mountain view stay by the afternoon. We jumped on another hubble-hubble ride with our new friend Clifford for our quick touristy view of the island. We went from the Laboc floating river tour with amazing food and live music to seeing the famous local Tarsier (smallest primate in the world, aka my spirit animal), then to the Chocolate Hills (a geographical phenomenon that happened on top of a coral reef after much land erosion, creating miles and miles of almost 3,000 identical small hills, which turn brown during the dry season, hence the name), and finally riding off into the sunset to catch a private evening tour of firefly watching. You hop into a small boat and ride for almost two hours through the river surrounded by forest to catch glimpses of hundreds of fireflies dancing together in shapes, motions, and let your mind wander into the darkness listening to the peaceful sound of them in rhythm buzzing together all around you. One of the most amazing sights I have ever seen.

  

The next morning we spent half a day on another tour dolphin watching (following behind in a boat watching around 100 dolphins in their natural habitat feeding on their breakfast and jumping through the water), then went to a private island for lunch and a quick swim where we also did a short free snorkel to check out the preserved coral garden with stunning shapes and colors right off of the coast. They even had a vegetarian option for lunch which was a great surprise. We bought some trinkets to support the locals on the island since they live off of eco-tourism and people visiting their isolated, small island then got back to change for dinner before an evening party at a friend’s house.

  

During my last morning we stopped at two breakfast places for more of the Cebu wealth and variety of food. The second place was by far the most impressive out of all the places I ate, primarily because it exceeded my chocolate desires far more than I could have ever imagined possible before… TCC in Cebu, a privately owned chocolate shop serving all foods and drinks based in Philippines cocoa infused in various ways to make pizzas, sandwiches, cookies, coffees, and other tasty, sometimes sweet delights. We feasted on a whole meal of chocolate items and listened to my friend tell the incredible story of the owner who grew up helping cultivate cocoa which became an important source of inspiration and revenue for her family growing up. The owner then tried the sweetened version in chocolate and fell in love with the taste, inspiring her to move her and her family out of that small mountain village to one day open her own shop starting from the ground up. And she did. My friend went with her and her family to visit her home village after many years, the children not even remembering that place and seeing it in a way for them to process where they came from for the first time. It was an incredible life story to hear and the chocolate matched the passion the woman and her hard-working family seemed to pour into their work.

 

It was a bittersweet, mainly bitter goodbye not knowing when I would next see my friend. It was such a re-freshing time to be with someone from home and share another experience in Southeast Asia from a new context with her. I also almost tried to leave the country without my passport and had to have her rush it back to the airport, so, I fit in one more hug. This trip changed a lot of my perspective about this year and what could lie ahead for me. My experience in Malaysia has been unique, life-changing, and a wonderful growing experience for sure. There are however, many things from home and my usual life back in America that I have missed. Some of which, I got a taste of this past week in the Philippines.

The Philippines today, back to Malaysia tomorrow. Salamat (greeting and goodbye in the Philippines) and Selemat Malam (goodnight in Malay).

Putrajaya the Government District: The “In-circle” Malaysian Hospitality

So I have met some incredible and hospitible people here in Malaysia this year which has helped a lot during the various cultural adjustment periods.Someone explained during our orientation that the culture shock of this year would most likely come in waves. First you’ll be on a high of excitement, then that will wear off and you will question why you are here, then you will hit a low of homesickness and various other negative emotional states, then you’ll head back up the roller coaster hill after the intense stomach drop of the emotional low (which various for people for various reasons), then things will stabilize and start to look encouraging, possibly even exciting again. I hit the all-time-low point, as I believe right before finishing up things before my june holiday two-week break which was somewhat timely but difficult to navigate. Needless-to-say, I got a vacation right when I needed it but still got to see my co-teachers, other teachers, and some students half way through the break.

Another unique experience I had over the holiday was being treated to a day of touring around Putrajaya, the government disctrict outside of KL in Malaysia. I had a day layover between destinations with nothing to do and an English teacher who I am growing closer to suggested she come by to pick me up, we stay at her father’s house, and she takes me around to see the sights of Putrajaya. Such a kind offer, which shows I am in the cultural “in-circle” with her, being someone she considers to be of importance, having a relationship with, and therefore giving me the true, overwhelmingly kind Malaysian hospitality.

They drove up from Melaka over night to show me around the government capital for the day where their father had a house. He works for the Ministry of Education for the PPD. He was kind to lend his house and children to me for the day 🙂 First they picked me up around 8am to get breakfast and take me to the house for a quick nap and to freshen up. Then we toured around the main touristy sights for the day. We went to the government mosque, saw the building where the Prime Minister works, a view of the city from the water, and the metal mosque which looked like a space ship to me! Super cool sites and relatively close since Putrajaya the city is not too too big.

Then we broke for lunch at the mall, NY Steakhouse. We joked that since they were hosting me in Putrajaya, Malaysia, we should then go to NYC, USA for me to host them. Nice lunch with the Manhattan skyline painted on the wall. I forgot I was in Malaysia for a bit. Then we did a little jalan jalan (walking around), went bowling, and saw San Andreas the new movie about Earthquakes in California. It had been a long time since I had seen a movie so it was thoroughly enjoyable.

After a long afternoon, which was lovely but tiring! We ended the night at a seafood buffet! Oh my Malaysia it was delicious! Tom yam, fried vegetables, several types of chicken, and delicious fruit juice! It was a great full day to break up my June break. New BFFS, my teacher’s two youngest siblings, we kind of bonded…. 🙂

Putrajaya today, tomorrow Philippines!

Mid-Year in Melaka: Reuniting all once again

This past week, all of the Malaysia Fulbright ETAs in our cohort gathered to reunite in Melaka, Malaysia. This is the first time we all came back together as one group since we left orientation. This was both a great and overwhelming opportunity for us since we could all catch up, collaborate, problem-solve, support one another, and continue where we left off. Not only that but now we were in a new place, exploring this new place (for most of us) while all deepening or creating new friendships. We had less than four days along with full days of meeting to accomplish all of this. Some of the ETAs living nearby or that I spent time with leading up to the mid-year set of meetings, discussed how we had mixed feelings anticipating this reunion. However, in the end, our expectations were exceeded, and from who I talked to, all seemed to have positive responses to mid-year.

           

We flew in Wednesday June 24th in the midst of Ramadhan mind you, but that stopped no one from anything (except from enjoying ALL of the free hotel food for those of us fasting). We were all very excited to greet each other with hugs and laughter. The big moment came where we all at once, over 100 people, tried to greet everyone right after getting off our flights or in from our various journeys, which was over-stimulating. I decided to quickly check in and have down time to take a quick breather before our first meeting. Once things began, the momentum kept flowing. People had positive, energetic vibes. The topics discussed in the various meetings, workshops, and presentations carried mixed subjects, sets of emotions, reactions, and items for our “Fulbright toolbox”. In previous meetings there were certain times that did not seem as applicable or on the opposite side of the spectrum felt more intense and stressful yet in this week’s case, most everything seemed useful and helpful to discuss.

Now that we are half way through our year, we can bring in more context to both discuss and process this compiled incoming information. This I believe, helped us find both our differences and commonalities to help make sessions appropriate for as many of us as possible. Coming back from this week, we can hope to feel refreshed and ready to get things going for the second half of the year. Both providing a nice change of pace from our regular work week and a way to remind ourselves of our support system. From a pure social perspective we could talk with people we did not get to talk with as much or even at all during our original orientation in KL which was nice to meet more of our talented, smart, amazing cohort. This became more motivation and inspiration, at least for me, reminding me of the privilege of being here in a different way, yet again.

Seeing the city was nice to see a different area of Malaysia, a part of the country where no one in our cohort is placed. Very few had visited this place previously and it gave us another historical context to this diverse, complex, unique country known as Malaysia. There were historical brick walls, preserved colonial ships, as well as old relics in museums, alongside upscale shopping malls, designer stores, hotels, diverse restaurants, and more with the Melaka River running through it. At the end of our meetings we managed to tour a bit of the city, celebrate five birthdays among the cohort or so, listen to Christmas music in a hotel cafe we rented out for an evening, witness several “hidden talents” as some of these pictures suggest in a cohort talent show, and make more “sweet memories” as commonly said in Malaysia, with one another. Another adventure checked off the list for this year. Melaka today, back to Kelantan kampung (village) life tomorrow. Malaysia boleh!

The Cambodian Experience: Cultural Understanding “What is Khmer?”

As a special visitor from the US comes to meet me for my holiday vacation, I start to minimally look up “What is Cambodia?” I had friends recently travel there giving me tips and stories of their experiences trying to understand it as well as me coming in with my preconceived ideas from other people telling me their opinions or stories but I wanted to get a better since before deciding to travel there myself. Of course I was planning this trip and research geared more towards “Tourist attractions” but I wanted to fit in homegrown experiences and opportunities to connect with the people and culture if possible within a week’s time. The research was not even a hinted taste compared to the experience my best friend and I had while visiting.

MORE COMING SOON!

Myanmar Spring Break: Homegrown tourist

Myanmar or previously known as Burma which recently opened up in 2011 to tourism for Westerners is where I spent my Malaysian spring break in March this year. I ventured with two others from my program and we went to four cities in Myanmar in our one week. We really wanted to get a feel for a majority of the country with the limited time we had, as much as we possibly could. This was an exhausting but extremely rewarding experience since we came back with years of stories, even after just one week. We had so many strange and wonderful adventures as well as quickly made friends each place we went. This was our first big trip outside of Malaysia since being here, and if this is what travelling in S.E. Asia is always like, sign me up for 100 more trips! From Elephants to temple climbing to walking on water, we were able to have extremely full days for a somewhat costly price. But… regardless of how much we spent (which was more than we were ever expecting but) you cannot truly put a price on the moments we had on this vacation!

Our first stop was the mid-south larger city called Yangon which was recognized as the capital for some time when the country was still colonized from about the 1840s to 2005. This was a crowded town with a lot of color and street food spilled into the alleyways, large buildings along the main roads, and close proximity for most of the major touristy places to see. I came in the evening and was picked up by my brother’s friend of a friend which was nice to get escorted for the first time visiting a new country without a program support or family coming alongside me. I was happy to also have a local to give me some tips to take with me for the week. We spent two weeks orienting ourselves to Malaysia when we first arrived but there would be no orienting here. I met a man on the plane who said he could teach me the basics of Burmese now also known as Myanmar language in 10 minutes. I took notes ferverously as I tried to absorb as much as I could. As I was already getting a bit comfortable and learning basic vocabulary for Malaysia, it was slightly daunting to go into another country knowing nothing. Learning a few basic greetings and such has seemed to make a difference in my travels elsewhere in terms of how people interact with you, are willing to help you, or how open they are to give you information about something. Once I was picked up by this unknown person who I connected with through trusted sources, I was ready to find a way to orient myself for the week. He treated us to dinner showing a glimpse of the Myanmar hospitality similar to that of Malaysia which already made me feel a bit more comfortable in this new place. Also being a young person the three of us and the two of them (him and his cousin) were able to connect and talk naturally about things over dinner. We got tips about the people, places to see, food to try, and he even offered to show us around the large famous Shwe Dagon Pagoda the next day. We parted our ways that night feeling much more rest assured, even getting help checking into our hostel.

The next day one friend and I decided to talking our own self-guided walking tour of the city. We practiced our greetings to buy things and interact with people as we clearly stood out as foreigners. Somehow I felt I stood out a bit less in Yangon though then in my town in Malaysia. Of course my town is much smaller than this larger city of Yangon so that was something to consider. People still stared and were shocked when I could utter something in their local language but I still felt I could walk among the city with a bit more privacy. We walked from 9th- 40th street and back to really get a lay of the land in the city. We ate good food we splurged on since Western food seems hard to come by in our area and toured a lot of the buildings in the area, even running into other ETAs also travelling through. Finally the evening to tour the Shwe Dagon Pagoda came. Our new friend gave us some context and background of the religious aspects of the pagoda as we circled around the overwhelmingly intricate gold structures of the pagoda grounds. We even got stuck in a jam of children training to be monks and got to experience their rituals coming in and out of the pagoda. It was a breathtaking view and a meaningful tour with the information our friend gave us. We learned about the Buddhist ideas about the significance of one’s birthday, the animal that represents that day as well as the meaning, and how to bless our own day of the year statue at the pagoda. Afterwards we got to treat them to dinner to return the favor before meeting our third friend afterwards with his international teacher friends.

On our last morning in Yangon my friend and I attempted to find a church service in which we went to an Anglican Church in the city which was an interesting cultural experience for both of us but very different from any services from home since Anglican services are rarely practiced anymore in the west. Ate more good food, attempted to visit the museum and instead stumbled upon Natural World where we walked on water in a giant inflatable ball, went on a merry-go-round, took several selfies, then headed to the airport for our next destination: Ngapali beach on the west coast of Myanmar.

Upon our arrival we took a similar tactic to explore the town, though it was much more spread out and practically a singular road along the beach with resorts, restaurants, and shops along the way. Things were much harder to walk from place to place here but we did find a resort where we could enjoy drinks and appetizers as well as beautiful beach and pool relaxation time. On our second (only full day) we packed in several adventures which became one of the most memorable days of the year for me. First we rented bikes early in the morning to ride along the road, one of my friends almost got hit by a truck which was just the beginning of our excitement. Then we all  took the most bittersweet excursion I have ever taken which was riding on elephants. We all rode on the same young female elephant, fed her, rode through this dry jungle area, and saw the sad reality of how these elephants are treated and worked everyday. Chunks of her ear were missing due to harassment and forced riding despite her resistance. We tried to love on her as much as possible but there was sadness and fear during our whole interaction with her. Needless to say, her trainer also owned a restaurant and he offered to pick us up from our hotel to dine at his place that evening. We agreed and were happy to already be making new friends in this new part of Myanmar.

We took a boat out in the afternoon for island-hopping to the small sight-seeing locations which turned into fake snorkeling, endless jokes and laughter, along with a pit stop at a fishing boat where we were thrown into taking pictures with them and their catch of the day then asked to give $1 for probably $200 USD worth back in America (depending on where you live) of seafood or so. We got 20 large prawns, five huge 2 ft long fish, and a smaller fish to take with us for the evening. As we already had dinner plans, we asked the hotel to put our seafood on ice as we prepared for our dinner pick up, hoping he could cook us a feast with our gifted catch. Our boat friends said they also wanted to meet up with us later and show us around their village as well as meet their English teacher. We wanted to embrace it all so we agreed with laughter and excitement in our voices.

Then dinner came. We were picked up on time, the chef, our friend agreed to use the fish for us and we took off so excited for how the end was to unfold. We arrive and get a nice table overlooking the night view of the water. We order some appetizers and drinks then… our boating brother friends show up… This was unexpected since we said we would meet them afterwards but we went with the flow. We were then given a tour of the restaurant kitchen and got to see him work his magic on our fish feast for dinner. There seemed to be tension between him and our boating friends but we over-looked it for the time being since we could not really understand their strange interactions and conversations as it was in the Myanmar language and we were still getting to know the culture. Our food came clearly only prepared for the three of us, which was awkward for our boating friends although they said they didn’t mind. As dinner went on the younger brother kept asking “so… you promise you will come with us?” And we replied with the same enthusiasm “Sure!” Then we would cheers and continue our conversation until things took as turn for the weird. We are not really sure where the miscommunication happened even after looking back but somehow they got onto the idea that we would stay the night with them which we re-assured them that we already had a place to stay and we did not want to do that as well as our ride back would cost a significant amount of money we were not counting on from unknown friends of theirs.

               

All-of-the-sudden the tables’ cheer and excitement started to fade as we were trying to finish our meal and see our way of this progressively growing sketchy situation. Finally the dinner ended with us paying for their drinks, them in tears, us confused, and the chef of the restaurant’s brother sneaking us back to our hotel without the boating brothers knowing. As we were leaving they asked if not tonight, when tomorrow they could pick us up since we owed it to them after breaking our promise. Since they were not taking no for an answer we threw out 9am and vowed to each other as ETAs to be out the door by that time so hopefully we would avoid anymore confusion or heartbreak for them. The next morning we did run into them on our way out which caused slight panic but ended in an okay mutual understanding of misunderstanding on both parts. We got messages on the beach to relieve our tension which was a perfect way to end this pit stop in Ngapali, freshened up, and headed for our next destination in Bagan; the temple town.

We arrived in time for sunset and to plan out our day at the temples for the next day, walked around a bit, bought souvenirs, then had more great food. The next day we rented e-bikes to motor through the temples all day since there were 100s to see (of course knowing we had to prioritize and that we would not make it to all of them). From running into two more ETAs whom we shared dinner with the night before, one of our friends got to go up in a hot air balloon to see the temples so it was just two of us on bikes watching sunrise together. This was incredible to sit atop a temple and just watch the sun come up over the horizon above miles and miles of temple tops surrounding us. Once we broke for breakfast to meet up with our other friend and hear about her experience another guy we met in the hostel joined us for temple cruising the rest of the day. As I fell off my bike in the morning, I was a bit hesitant to ride again but told myself it’s better to “get back on the horse and ride” even when we don’t want to (and since I was not severely hurt, it was not a huge deal).

At one of the temples we met this incredible family of children who were the temple’s security and offered to let us inside, getting a secret tour and view from atop the temple. Most temples in Bagan are only accessible on the ground level to see the Buddhas or you cannot access the inside much at all so climbing up for a view is uncommon aside from some larger ones monitored by security and open to tourists as select times. So, this was a special treat since we got to see this unique view and get to know these sweet girls who loved taking pictures and playing with our sunglasses. We were then invited to sit inside the temple worship area with the buddha to get our faces painted with a traditional skin care local product called Hla Hmwe Thankatkha (do not ask me how to pronounce that). The mother of the family painted leaves on our faces, the girls did our hair, and we wasted the day away with lovely company for over three hours. We left hoping to see them again before leaving Bagan but with the realistic view of keeping this regarded as a special moment in time that would most likely never be repeated again yet, always remembered. Spending the afternoon with that family was incredible to connect so quickly and appreciate each other even coming from such different backgrounds. These are the types of experiences I like to stumble upon authentically when I travel. It was completely accidentally and unforced but turned into a beautiful way to get out of the heat and spend the afternoon. We finished watching the temples and returned the bikes at sunset. The next morning we barely got up in time, thanks to our MVP friend for jumping out of bed and rallying us for our 4:30am bus and my tennis shoe which was misplaced from the day before (we think by some animal) was not found until after we already left. Although the casualty of losing my tennis shoes was worth all the experiences we had on the trip.

We then went to Mandalay where we would be flying out, originally hoping to have a half day or full day there but did not count on certain aspects of transportation to be as they were in Myanmar so we just looked outside the bus window and airplane windows as we flew out. Our layover was in Bangkok which we tried to maximize our travels by getting the longest layover possible without having to stay a day in an attempt to leave the airport and just grab dinner in the city but to no avail. The airport would not let us leave, we did not really do our research thoroughly enough so instead we had a six-hour party in the airport with the three of us. We ran into our friend from Yangon which was crazy and a great way to end our crazy adventurous trip, then spent the night back in KL before our returning flights the next day. A great first adventure outside of Malaysia for the year. Myanmar was quite a unique experience I will fondly look back upon this year and after.