Why haven’t I written? I have been enjoying the race too much maybe. I love my life this month. MALAYSIA is my favorite country so far. I doubt this will be the last time I make that statement, but right now I love it here and don’t want to leave in a little over a week. I love change and am super excited to go to Cambodia though. I don’t have a whole lot to write about with anything deep or profound so, I will try to write an update in an acronimic way. (I may have just invented that word because there is a red squiggly line under it. If so, then awesome!)
M– Mustafa. The full name is “Kassim Mustafa” and this is the restaurant across the street from where we stayed. They have amazing Naan bread and usually I get at least two varieties as well as a fresh orange juice. The Dahl and Curry sauce are amazing and I tried a few other new foods here as well. The staff wave us in as they know we come almost every day. My friends and I began singing about Naan we ate it so much! (Oh Naan, Naan, what's my name???) I ate there almost every day I was in Penang so figured it deserves a letter.
A– Adventist Hospital. We worked at the Adventist Hospital this month raising funds for heart patients. I am not a huge fan of fundraising and it’s not one of my favorite things to do to sell things, but I definitely loved this aspect of my month. Part of our task was to sell little picture holders for 10 ringgit each, this is a little over $3. Whenever this was my task, I struggled because I am not a seller so this was uncomfortable and I didn’t feel like I was very good at it. However, I did it and I was able to sell a few. The other task was to sing. I may not be Mariah Carey, but I do love to sing so this I enjoyed. We would gather in a corner of the hospital where people went to pay the cashier and we would sing worship to Jesus all day long. Some people stopped and listened while others walked on by and would drop in a few ringgit as they passed. A few people even made some requests and we tried to honor them all even if we had to sing “My Heart Will Go On” accapella. That was actually really funny. We developed friendships with people in this hospital and raised a lot of money for the heart fund!
L– Little India. The building in which we resided was in a part of town labeled “Little India.” I have not been to India…YET..but if this is what it’s like I am excited. I already mentioned my new found affinity for Naan bread, but there are also a lot of other foods I like, fresh squeezed juice and many many shops. As you walk through little India, all you hear is people talking and car horns beeping, but as you proceed, you begin to hear music. The music gets louder and louder and then you hear a different song from one store than you heard from the other. It’s not familiar music because it’s Indian music but it’s indicative of a culture that celebrates life and sometimes I just danced down the street looking like a crazy American because music is truly what defines a culture in my opinion.
A– Art of Coffee Making. I worked at a coffee shop called Just Caffe’ also. Mostly I prepared food here and cleaned, but I like to think that I was also a student in the art of coffee making. I was only there two days a week and not near long enough to perfect my coffee but I did try really hard to learn. I love coffee so this was by far the easiest and most enjoyable ministry I have had so far. CK, the head barista, was so great to teach me and answer all my questions about coffee. I really was like an inquisitive child just wanting to learn about every aspect of it from the crema of the espresso to how to draw pretty pictures on the latte. The view from the coffee shop was the ocean so I really can’t think of anything better than drinking coffee by the ocean. This was a little piece of heaven!
Y- YOLO! This phrase has been popular for a while now and doesn’t really get used a lot anymore, but I like to adopt it as a mantra when I am visiting a country for the first time. You Only Live Once so make the most of it. This is my mindset most of the time, but then there are days where I am exhausted because I usually live by this way of thinking. I ate street food and drank drinks that I have no idea what they were. I picked sushi off a conveyor belt not knowing at all what type of fish was on the roll. Every time I was near a movie theatre, I bought caramel popcorn. I went on the roof of our building and embraced the beauty of where I was at this moment in my life and enjoyed the view of Malaysia. I tried to love people the best I knew how. I know there are more adventurous things that people think about when they say #yolo but for me it means to enjoy life to the fullest whatever that looks like for you. I didn’t get in the ocean because all of my friends got stung by jellyfish, no yolo on that one. I did put my feet in though because it was the Indian Ocean and I had never been in that ocean before!
S– Starting Over. Every month starting over gets harder and harder. Leaving one country to begin another is always difficult, unless you want to leave of course. Then we have to work with a new contact, establish new relationships, live in a new place, learn a new bus system, navigate new roads, and try a lot of new food to find where the best food is. Starting over in Malaysia was a blessing. Now leaving Malaysia is difficult. I love this country, but it’s time to start over again in Cambodia. I am glad I enjoy change because if I didn’t enjoy every day being different, I would be miserable on this world race.
I– Independence. Malaysia is a country that is under two sets of law. If you are Muslim, you abide by one law and if you are anything other than Muslim, you abide by a different law. This blew my mind! Coming from a land of freedom, I didn’t understand this because get this…once you are Muslim you can never change! If you are born Muslim, you must stay Muslim for your whole life and you must live under the Muslim law. However, everyone else can choose to follow whatever religion they want, but they are not allowed to try to convert any muslims to any other religion. I am so thankful for the independence we have in America and when I hear arguments about losing our freedom, I will always be skeptical because I have seen what no freedom looks like. Freedom abounds in America and if you don’t believe me, please visit one of the countries where religion is not a choice.
A– Absolutely all about Jesus! In a country where you are not allowed to talk about your faith, I was pushed to love in a different way. I just lived my life as I would at home. I didn’t push Jesus on any one, I just lived as His disciple. That’s all He asks us to do, I’m not sure why we make it so difficult sometimes!
I leave this country on Friday and there will definitely be a piece of me left here. Thank you Malaysia for all you have taught and shown me!!!
