We have been in Malaysia for about a week and a half and I am learning to absolutely love my new home. We are staying in the city of Georgetown which is located on Penang Island. Penang is in the Northeastern part of Malaysia. We are mainly working wtih a ministry called Kawan, which means “friends” in English. It is a drop-in center that serves the street-based community; providing things like food, clothing, bathing facilities, couseling, and referrals to other service centers. To find out more, go here: http://www.ywampenang.org/jw/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=85&Itemid=99
A few things you should know:
-Last weeks episode of “The Amazing Race” was filmed on Penang island.
-I get to drink milk tea in a plastic bag every morning! It’s my favorite. I was only able to find it at boba shops in the States. But now, every time I turn my head it’s there!!
-I get to eat Indian food just about every day. Most of the Indian places here (which is about 15 places per street) serve your food on banana leaves and then you eat with your fingers! I have the technique down to a tee. There is this really yummy dish called roti canai- it’s bread, sort of like naan, and it is so so moist and you dip it in delicious curry sauce and it is only .80 cents (MYR) so really 25 cents! Yeah!
-I wake up at 6AM every morning to the singing call to prayer from the Mosque across the street. And then hear it 4 more times throughout the day.
-There is a buddhist temple, hindu temple, mosque, and church all on our street.
-It has been raining a lot here and I got caught in a torrential downpour walking home. It wouldn’t have been so bad except that I got lost because of the giant raindrops falling in my eyeballs hindering my sight.
-This land has a beautiful mix of cultures. Malaysian, Indian, and Chinese with a hint of British influence. The majority of the people here are Malay (about 50-60%). If you are Malay, you are Muslim. That’s just the way it is. It is the law. You are Muslim when you’re born and Muslim when you die. You will be put in jail if you practice anything else.
-There are a TON of backpackers here, which is fun.
– We are on an Island (we had to cross a 7km long bridge to get here). And on this part of the island, walking distance from our place, is the bay. And yes, there was a humungo dead rat floating in it. It may have escaped from the Princess Bride set.
-We have a really fun contact named Peter. He likes to joke and he likes to get straight to the point. One afternoon, while we were at the banana leaf place, he was in a conversation with my teammate Lyndsie. He interrupted what she was saying, looked at her food and made a bold statement, “I want”. This is his hand. We love him.
MALAYSIA!!!
