I have been living in the Malaysian Jungle with team Malachi for 1 week now.
· It is VERY HOT and I sweat all day long
· Bathroom time= You walk outside of where we are staying…shout that you are going to the bathroom (because everyone and their mother can watch you if they wanted too)…walk 5 steps to the tree line…find a stick…dig a hole…squat and go. Usually you are surrounded by chickens.
· Bathing- You have to walk into the jungle and down a long, big, steep, dirt hill. Most of the time I end up “snowbaording” down the dirt and end up on my butt. Then you walk through a bunch of tall grass and cross a wobbly bambo bridge. Now your at the river…once again, everyone and their mother can watch you bathe so you have to remain fully clothed. Sometimes the girls even follow us down and just sit and watch us bathe. A few days ago I looked down at my leg and discovered that Yes…there were leeches. I have never had a leech before so I didn’t really know what to do. All the other girls on my team screamed and ran in circles. Karen tried to pull it off but it just stayed stuck to my leg. Eventually I grabbed it with 2 hands and pulled real hard. It stretched out real far like a gummy worm and then finally came off and flung across the river…hitting Lauren in the leg. This caused a whole new commotion of screaming and running in circles. An unforgettable bonding time for team 12:18 girls.
· Food- For breakfast we eat a few crackers, fried dough or fried bananas. Lunch and diner always consist of rice with fish. The fish are just cut in half so you either get a choice of the head of the tail (skin, scales and all) I am not a big fish eater so for me this is not an easy meal to get down. Once in a while they will include some chicken, wild board or ram. Mango,coconut, sugarcane and tapioca make a nice snack sometimes. The time frame between lunch (noon) and diner (9-10pm) is hard for all of us. We all like to eat…so not eating for 9 hours and eating diner so late at night is not easy. During diner we go into the paster’s bamboo stilt house and sit around a mat laid out on the floor. We never have any utensils to use so we always use our hands. I love this time of our day…not only because by the time diner comes around I am starving but also because it is like we are one big tribal family.
· Dishes/laundry- Dishes and laundry are done down at the river. So now you not only have to walk up and down the big steep hill but you have to do it while carrying buckets full of clothes or dishes.
· Language- The people of the jungle speak Malay and no english. We did not have a translator here with us this past week so communicating is near impossible. Motions and repetition is the only way to even try. We did teach the pastor how to play slap jack and he caught on pretty fast. We just have to find creative ways to spend time with them without using normal conversation.
· Landscape/environment- The landscape around us is beautiful! There are mountains, banana trees, bamboo, stilt huts, tall grass, lots of chickens, big spiders, lots of lizards,….It might not sound the prettiest but it really is amazing to wake up to everyday. It is one of the environments that gives you a feeling that pictures can’t even begin to capture. We sleep in the concrete church that is also used for schooling. Chickens often visit us inside the church and a few lay their eggs in here. Roosters crow all night long and often wake me up a few timse a night. I feel like I am living in the year of 1910.
· People- The people here are BEAUTIFUL. They are alwasy serving us-cooking our meals, sweeping our floor and even lining up our shoes outside. Even though we can’t communicate a smile goes a long way. There are many children. The pastor himself has 13 kids and 27 grandchildren. The children are are well behaved and eager to learn.
JOB- Teaching english to the children. We are teaching them the alphabet, letter sounds, how to put words together, numbers and colors. This is not an easy task since we dont have a translator and they dont understand directions you try to give them but they are smart kids and catch on fast.
J
