NOW

It is hard to believe that I am entering my final week in Malaysia. The year seems to have gone by very fast. At first it was slow as it was a time of adjustment. Then it just took off as my community started to form and a daily routine was somewhat established. Now just as I seem to be fully comfortable here it is time to say goodbye. Is it really time to go? I have mixed feelings about this. I hear from both sides of the world about how happy and sad I must be to go home. There have been many marriage arrangements (not done by me) in the hopes of making it possible to stay longer. There is also the question of "When will you come back?" Then from the other side of the world there are the statements of "We can't wait to see you", "Only ___ days till you are here", "Are you excited?" To all these questions I can say yes and I don't know. I'm excited to go home and see family and friends but at the same time I am sad to leave family and friends. It is a very mixed feeling and each day, no each hour, it can change. The easiest way for me to look at this final week is to not look at it. I am not going to to look at the calendar and will just live in the here and now. Enjoy the rest of my time in Malaysia with the people I have come to know and love being with. Then I will look towards the reunion with the people I have not seen for a year. It is the living in the now attitude and as much as I am looking forward to going home I am also home right now.

Tragic Humor

For the past week and a half I have been teaching a small English class at Cheshire Home each morning. This week one student came in on Monday and said he wasn't feeling well. He couldn't concentrate and kept falling asleep. I asked him how he got here and he said he drove very very slowly. So slow cars were honking at him. This was not a good thing as he couldn't stay awake long enough to answer simple questions. Well, class ended he went home and didn't return again until Thursday (today). So today I asked him how he was and he said much better but he got in an accident. Here is the story of his accident.

He was driving home Monday on his motorcycle and was going very slow trying to stay awake and not crash. It didn't work. He ran into a car and got thrown off. The driver of the car rushed over to help him. Driver picked him up and looked down. Driver, "Where are your legs???" My student looked at him in a daze then said, "Legs? Hahahahahaha!" Driver, "Your legs?" Student, "Hahahahahahahahahahahahah!!!!" Driver started looking around frantically while my student just laughed. Finally the driver realized that there wasn't any blood. My student informed the driver he doesn't have any legs and that he never has had legs!

Don't worry both student and driver are fine and there wasn't too much damage to either vehicle!

Random from today: I was told my eyes look like Lion eyes! Is that good or bad???

Sad News

So after my traveling I can back to work fully refreshed and ready to take on any new challenges. The first morning back at Cheshire Home was great and it felt good to be with the residents again. Then the afternoon came with some bad news. Three of my students would no longer be staying at Care Haven. I don't want to get into details as I am still trying to figure out exactly what the reasons are but Nelwe, Edward, and Idrus were going to stay in their villages. This was and still is sad news to me and I miss seeing those three energetic and eager boys each day. They were my highlight on many days and taught me a lot about themselves, where they are from, and what their dreams are. To an extent it was a shock that all three weren't going to be there. I knew one probably wouldn't come back if he had the opportunity to go live with his relatives but the other two I thought would stay. It is a different feel without the three and now I just hope they are alright and happy. The hardest part about them leaving is that we didn't get to say goodbye to one another. I knew the Friday before that they may be going to their villages for holiday on Monday but wasn't allowed to tell them as the plans were still unsure. With that in mind I couldn't tell them goodbye that Friday and had to act like I would see them on Monday. It is almost as if they have just disappeared.

A different perspective

(Way up in the tree is an Orangutan having breakfast!)

So I started this blog last week and have been struggling with how to put some things into words. This is still pretty rough but so much has been happening and I'm not sure if anything will fully come out right. I will try and put other experiences I have recently had in posts throughout the week. Here is what I have thus far:

Ellen and I recently took a little time to travel over to the other-side of East Malaysia. Our first stop was in Sandakan where we were graciously hosted for a night by the Sandakan Cheshire Home. This Cheshire Home is very different from the one I currently volunteer at. It was a wonderful opportunity to see Cheshire Home in a different light. The Sandakan Home residents are very self-mobile and most of the cases are downs syndrome or mentally handicapped. I spent most of the time sitting with one of the residents holding his hand and watching tv. It was a different vibe than the KK branch and it felt like I entered into a family. It was a short stay and I wish we could have been there longer than a short evening and one night. Maybe someday I will have to opportunity to go again and get to know the residents and staff better.

Our next stop was Uncle Tan's Wildlife Adventures in Sepilok!!! We had a wonderful time heading up the Kinabatangan River to spend three days and two nights in the jungle. For this journey we actually looked like tourists. It was a refreshing change of pace, to an extent, and also an odd one. We traveled up the river with fellow travelers from Australia and England. This is one vacation that I loved. We were sleeping in a simple hut on a thin mattress under a mosquito net. Every evening and morning the sounds of the jungle were all that could be heard. This is a side of Malaysia I had not had the opportunity to really experience and appreciate since I have been here. It was simple and sweet: it was perfect!

At Uncle Tan's we went on morning/night boat safaris and a jungle trek. All the the safaris and trek were well worth it and we were able to see crocodiles, Orangutans, many different birds, and other animals. My highlight on the safaris was being out on the boat at night. For this trip we thought we might get rained out because a storm started brewing just as we were getting ready but the guides said if we were willing to get wet we can go! So we went out and found some amazing sights along the peaceful river with a glorious night sky above us. Seeing the wildlife was only half the fun of this trip. The other half were the guides or guys that worked at Uncle Tan's. It is hard to describe then and there personalities. I guess the best way to put it is imagine a group of young men living by themselves in the jungle hosting random people each week. Ok, that is more of a job description but these guys were great at it. They were very hospitable and open about anything you wanted to ask them. It was funny to see them interact with one another and with the other guests.

This trip was a great break in my current routine but it was also hard being with actual tourists and hearing about their travels. It made me more aware as to the cultural differences there are. Some things I have grown accustomed to as just being a part as my everyday life in Malaysia and it was interesting that these things (using a bucket to flush the toilet, eating fried noodles/rice for every meal, putting chili on everything are a few examples) would be odd to others. I guess talking to these travelers really opened my eyes to how Malaysia can be seen if you only spend a short time here.