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| From Malaysia-KL-2009-11-03 |
Malaysia is such a wonderfully culturally diverse country, with many mixes of races and religion who all live together in harmony. I felt like being back in Canada, like Vancouver or I imagine Toronto is very much like this, seeing every form of asian, indian, middle eastern, african, all at the same place and the same time--just living there! I have never been in such a Muslim culture either, and we saw many women in full burka's and with heads covered. Sure makes you think, and I really felt for those women. They would be dressed nicely, wearing jewelry or make-up, yet they had to completely cover their head and hair. In the washrooms, they would look at themselves in the mirror just as you or I would, but instead of primping their hair a bit, they would adjust their scarf, make sure it looked nice. It was interesting.
We toured the city to see the big tourist spots which allowed us access to the National Mosque. Although being Christians, we were not allowed into the prayer room area, we could walk through the halls, read all the literature, and I'm sure you'll all love the pictures of Dean and I "covered" in our purple robes! The attendant had to ask Julia how old she was to see if she needed to cover her head, too. Anyways, it was a priviledge to be able to walk about that place and pray to Jesus, claiming Him King over all this, even if Muslims don't realize it yet!
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| From Malaysia-KL-2009-11-03 |
There are many large buildings in this modern city, so we enjoyed some modern conveniences that we don't get on a regular basis in PP. The Petronas Twin towers were beautiful and impressive, and the parks and monuments were just such a breath of fresh air, from the third world garbage and broken up streets we see so much of here.
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| From Malaysia-KL-2009-11-03 |
Some of the funnier (they're funny now, at least) aspects of our trip included our difficulties with accommodations. Booking off the internet never gives you a true sense of what you're getting! In the 6 nights we slept in Malaysia, we stayed in 4 different rooms. The first place had common bathrooms and the tiniest room with 2 bunk beds (a double on the bottom of one) which was not to Dean's delight. When we put our luggage on the floor, there was actually no room to step (for one, let alone 5 of us), there was no window either, and the metal bunks squeaked at EVERY small turn of the night. None of us slept well so that was the first room.
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| From Malaysia-KL-2009-11-03 |
THe second place was a budget hotel one street over who had a family room for just one night, and was a little dingy but actually a bit cheaper, with an attached bathroom and tv. The third night, we had to move to a smaller room, a double and a single pushed together for our ENTIRE family! (kissin' cousins that night!) When we entered this room that evening and turned the light on, you guessed it--the scury of little cockroaches fluttered around the floor. We precisely asked the front desk for spray and were ruthless in our attempt to eliminate sharing our room with these little guys. Praise God they were babies! I would never have lasted with the big ones!
This was also the night I was not feeling well and tossing and turning all night. We did have a bit of sickness on this trip, which again sort of add up to a rather amusing tale. Maya complained of a sore tummy the morning we were going to go up the KL (Kuala Lumpur) tower, a big tower like the CN Tower or the Seattle Space Needle, so she didn't eat much breakfast, a good thing in hindsight! Yes, as we were actually ON the big elevator going up to the top of the tower, Steph exclaims, "look at Maya!" and we need not tell the the rest of the gory details! At the top of the elevator ride, the door open to this beautifully dressed Malaysian woman saying, "Welcome to the KL Tower---" She stops cold. "Could you show us to the nearest toilet?" I exclaim! haha. Maya was totally fine after that, running around looking out the windows! She just smelled like barf for the rest of the day, but then again, so did Dean and I for trying to help her out!
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| From Malaysia-KL-2009-11-03 |
Maybe she was just really fatigued, or had a bit of a stomach thing too, but Julia, late at the end of that same day, relieved herself of the small supper she too had eaten, in a garbage can in the mall! I'm sorry, this is really gross, and at the time, I was horrified (as I usually am at this type of sickness,) but she too was fine after that and a good sleep. THAT was the night I felt sick all night, and slept off the better part of the next day. It was around then, that Dean started to catch a cold, and we came back to PP to find that SO MANY of the staff members and students got this same bad cold right around the same time! So, it might have been in the works before leaving? Who knows! He's still actually, battling it--it's been a long one.
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| From Malaysia-KL-2009-11-03 |
Finally, the last place we stayed was actually a pretty good budget hotel right beside the Sunway Lagoon waterpark and theme park--the Asian version of a small Disney. The waterpark was really fun, very clean and loaded with people. I can almost guarantee that Dean was the ONLY blond male sighted that whole day in the entire park. There were a couple blond women, a few kids, but no guys! Talk about a minority! Asian of every kind and color was there.
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| From Malaysia-KL-2009-11-03 |
Asian culture for swimming, incase you didn't know, is SO very different from North America. Many, if not most Asians, swim either fully clothed, or very clothed. Add to that, the Muslim aspect of the culture, and there actually is this type of swim suit that has been nick named "the birk-ini" because it totally covers the whole body and head. The women look like they're going to go snorkeling in a full wetsuit, with a skirt on it! It's sure different. Even our kids feel way more comfortable swimming with a t-shirt and shorts over their suit. Otherwise, there's just so many looks, at least here in PP. (Actually, I found there was much less staring at us there in malaysia, than in Cambodia.) While we were at the park, there were large corporate groups with matching t-shirt, having "team building day" or "family day" there at the park. So, did I mention there were lots of people? haha. It really was packed.
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| From Malaysia-KL-2009-11-03 |
We arrived safely home, and almost all of us exclaimed how good it was to be "home." Funny, eh? How Cambodia can feel like home to us already. Even just driving home from the airport, I couldn't help but think how much more "interesting" Cambodia was than Malaysia! The neat streets, orderly traffic, big building don't hold a candle to tuk tuk's, random traffic and motos loaded with 4 and 5 people! It had been Water Festival in Cambodia that week, and that is when everyone from the provinces comes to the big city to watch the boat races. Apparently the police were stopping all the big vans, taxis and buses of people at the outskirts of the city, and forcing the people out, so they would have to take a tuk tuk or moto into the city. (yes, with all their luggage, etc.) This was to clear some of the traffic congestion that is even worse during the festival. This may have explained the tuk tuks full of up to 20 people that we saw coming in from the airport, and the reason the van that picked us up, was blocked from using certain streets, until they could explain that they lived there and then we were let through. Never a dull moment. Even one of our staff members coming back from Ho Chi Min was forced to get out of their bus, I think, and find an alternative method of getting into town.
That, then, is the looking back over the last two weeks. Then, well, the week just got away on us, having school only from Wed to Friday. So nice to have a holiday. A very different "halloween" than many of you celebrated back there in North America. At one point in one of the many amazing malls we were in, Dean says to Julia, "is that Darth Vader? No, it's only a woman in a Burka!" Very funny. Well, i know what my next halloween costume is going to be...
Looking forward is very exciting and somewhat daunting. Now that school has resumed adn it's November, I'm starting to practice for the Christmas concerts, something the kids just get so excited for and it's something this country really needs--Celebrate, tell the story of Jesus birth! It is quite exciting.
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| Malaysia-KL-2009-11-03 |
Dean continues to be swamped with necessary preparations for the new school. He is daily trying to look for supplies, make decisions regarding the final stages of construction on the building. It's taking a bit of a toll, I mean he really enjoys it and puts in alot of effort, but it's often to find out that things can't go as he was originally told they would. Dean has spend countless hours in tile shops trying to pick tiles for the pool and other areas of the school. After decisions are made, he is told the tile in unavalable, or just "can't do." This happened with paint and paint colors, things he is told are Ok, suddenly can't happen and changes have to be made after so many hours have already been invested. It is challenging and frustrating. Then there is still the regular job of running the school, on top of the construction issues, so it's alot right now. You can pray for him to make wise decisions and to get rid of this cold, and to be able to breath out of his nose, as his chronic nasal polyp problem is currently blocking his breathing which makes sleep difficult.
The Asian Hope Newsletter has a great link to see the school, which I'll include here.Visit www.AsianHope.org and click on ‘Newsletters’ on the left to read this month's issue of The Flame.
The girls are very well. Julia has had her friend Emma sleep over last night, Maya was at a little birthday part for Noah,her friend's brother after school yesterday. Those kinds of things are fun for them all. We are starting to get excited for Christmas and will put up our tree soon, as this helps us remember that even in this heat, it is actually Christmas time! it's actually been a bit cooler these morning, with a wonderful breeze. The rainy season is on it's way out now, so we'll have cooler temps for a few months, then the hot season.
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| From Malaysia-KL-2009-11-03 |
Ministry wise, we are still thankful to be out here. I find myself with a different kind or amount of contact with the kids this year, so need to remember to pray more for them specifically. Dean usually finds his "desk" job removed from the kids, and now that his title this year is "elementary" principal, he gets out in the mornings now, to mix with the smaller kids and get to know them a bit. The staff here is just exceptional this year, especially our Gr. 1 teacher, who is doing such a better job than we did last year! I'm so thankful for the kids! Many here with big hearts for the kids, not just for their academic growth, but mostly for their spiritual growth and their hearts. It's just awesome to be a part of this!
Looking back, it is easy to see God's hand in our lives, even when it's not always obvious at the time. Looking forward, when we don't know what the future holds, we have his past faithfulness to remember. He is never leaving us to our own devices, even when we probably deserve it, but he's teaching, guiding, and we need to listen.
Thanks for all your love and prayers. Keep e-mailing us with info on your lives. We love to hear from you.
For now, in Christ,
L
PS A quick funny story from Steph. She has a friend "Pree" in Gr. 8 who we have seen previously, driving to school in an SUV, with her driver or Dad riding shotgun. THis was mostly last year. This year, she drives HERSELF to school in a car! No kidding! Anyways, one morning before school started, Steph runs up to me and says, "can I go?" I don't know what she's refering to, but on further investigation, turns out Pree is going for an iced coffee run before school, and wants Steph to go with her, IN HER CAR, WITH HER DRIVING! When I finally realize this, I'm torn. The kid's been driving forever out here, she's probably a good driver, but let's be honest, she is still only 13 years old! Maybe 14 if she's lucky! I exclaim, "Do you have a licence?" Sure enough, she did and showed it to me,"How did you get this?" "Money," was the reply. I didn't let Steph go, and she was mildly disappointed, but I don't think she thought she would be allowed to go in the first place! She's got a good head on her shoulders. Funny, hey? Just another tale for the "only in Cambodia" list!
Take care all!
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