Penang

What a weekend I had! We left early on Thursday for a long weekend on the island on Penang. It was an incredible trip filled with orangutans, the Indian Ocean, digging for clams and prawn fishing.

On Thursday, on the way to the island, we stopped at an orangutan sanctuary where they take orphaned or sick orangutans and nurse them back to health, raise them for a bit, then introduce them back into the wild. The only place in the world that orangutans naturally live is Borneo (on an island to the east of peninsular Malaysia). It was soo much fun to see them swinging around and enjoying life. There is even an infant care unit with 4 infant orangutans, in diapers. So cute!

Once we got to Penang, we checked into the hotel and went down to relax by the pool. Thursday night started with a great Chinese dinner and was finished with a walk through the 3 mile long night market. I think we all just about ran out of money there...but don't worry, we bargained everything down to get great deals.

Friday was spent touring around a few Buddhist temples, one with one of the biggest Buddha statues in it. We also tried to make the trip up Penang Hill, but got cut short when we got there and realized it was closed for 2 months. I guess we'll just have to survive without seeing the entire island of Penang and onto the mainland from the highest point on Penang. After we got back, we had the rest of the afternoon to relax, so we went for a swim in the Indian Ocean and then went back to cool off in the pool. It was definitely too hot to stay on the beach for long. Friday night we went to the promenade for dinner and got a nice chance to experience a massive amount of food stalls and delicious food.

Saturday morning we left for a fishing village on another island close to Penang. We took the bus back to the mainland and a jetty over to the island. The day and night we spent there pretty much put me out of my comfort zone. It was a wonderful time, but I'm glad it was only one night. There were very few people who spoke English on the entire island, so communication was rough, to say the least. And it was incredibly hot and humid the drenched in sweat, felt dirty and probably smelled bad too. But all inentire time, so we were all all, it was a fun trip and we got to really be a part of the daily life on the island. I helped dig for clams on the shore Friday night and Eric, one of the students on the trip, was able to go prawn fishing with some of the men of the island. Everyone was so hospitable to us, and they even gave us sarongs as gifts before we left! It was an incredible time.

Sunday we left the fishing village and drove back to Tanjong Malim. We even got to enjoy a wonderful dinner at Renee's host home, cooked by her mother. I even got to learn how to make roti jala! Maybe if you're lucky (or unlucky, depending on your point of view), I'll make some when I get back.

And now I sit in the staff room at school, Monday morning, my last Monday morning at school. It's hard to believe this is my last week at school and in a week and a half I will be on a plane headed back to Michigan. Already I'm having mixed emotions about it. I want to be home so badly. I want to see my friends and family (soo sad that I missed the time my sister is in Michigan) and I want to bask in the comforts of home, but the feeling of being somewhere unknown and having the unknown become known is great. I wish I knew the language better, but there is so much English spoken around me that it's not hard to get along. I miss being surrounded by a Christian community, going to church every week. I am learning that most religions are similar in the way that they have certain symbols to express their beliefs, but most of the faith is expressed personally. I wonder though, with so many religions occurring right alongside of each other (Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu and a little bit of Christianity), what do they think about eternal life? How can they not question their own faith and beliefs when there are so many contradicting beliefs surrounding them every day? I make no claims to pass judgment on who does and does not go to heaven, but I do know my own beliefs and am certain in them. Just some thoughts going through this little head of mine. I think God will use the time that I am here in ways I don't even know about...and I'm excited to find out how.