Mat Sallehs

Our orientation is almost over!

It's weird because soon our group will be split up as we spread out to our different schools.  It will be so strange, because we've really gotten used to being together and have enjoyed spending time together here in K.T.  Also, it's been nice to be able to ease into Malay culture with fellow "mat sallehs," (the Malay phrase for all white people).  

We have helped each other with baju karon selection, for example. Baju karons are a type of clothing worn by almost all Malay women here. They are basically like two dresses on top of each other, and are loose and comfortable.  The top is like a long shirt, reaching to about the knees, and then underneath you wear a floor-length skirt of the same pattern and color.  Essentially, the end result is a person draped from head to foot in lots of silky fabric.  

Anyway, these bajus are great to have for Malay events and for teaching, too, and so a few of the girls and I went on a hunt for them the other day.  It seems like these clothes would be easy to track down, since about 90% of the Terengganu female population lives in them, but it's difficult because most stores just sell the silky fabric and then you have to go to a tailor and get the baju made.  This process is both time consuming and expensive, and plus we definitely don't trust our Malay language skills enough yet to embark on that endeavor. Thankfully, we finally found a store that sells ready-made baju karons, and were each able to find one.  We actually ended up getting the simplest pattern they had, all in different colors.  Like I said, we're easing into this thing.

Yesterday we had a great time hanging out with Tun, the government official who's in charge of the ETA program.  He took our group on a boat ride down the Terengganu River, where we got to sit on the roof of the boat and see the city from a new perspective.

After the boat ride we took a bus ride to a beautiful beach about 45 minutes outside of the city.  The beach is called Pantai Sutera (which means "Silk Beach") since the sand is so soft, and we decided it was appropriately named.  We were all wearing our sarongs -- even the guys -- and had fun taking pictures by the water and collecting shells.  The shells were vibrantly colored and a bit different from any I've seen on a beach.  

(Please note Michael in the background of our girls' picture.  He was offended because we told him it was a girls' only photo, and so he made sure to be in it anyway.)

Some food-related discoveries/incidents:

1. McDonald's vanilla ice cream tastes exactly the same in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia, as it does in the U.S.  Also, a vanilla cone costs about the equivalent of 30 U.S. cents.  I was so excited to find out this information!  However, while I'm sure I will enjoy many vanilla cones here during my months in K.T., I think I'll steer clear from some other McDonald's dessert choices, such as the Red Bean McFlurry.  Red beans in ice cream?  Who decided that would be a good idea?

2. Last night during our beach outing, we ate dinner at a beautiful resort cafe.  The highlight: a pasta bar!  We could choose a type of pasta noodles and then a type of sauce, and then the pasta and sauce were mixed together and heated in a saucepan with garlic and oregano.  It was absolutely delicious; we haven't had food choices like that the whole time we've been here, so just the fact that we had variety was heaven.

3. Within Islam there are dietary guidelines called "halal" (the word "halal" in Arabic means "permissable").  It's forbidden for them to consume pork, alcohol, or derivatives (such as gelatin), but there is also a specific "halal" way for animals to be slaughtered.  First, the animal has to be alive and healthy at the time of slaughter.  Then, the slaughterer -- who must be a Muslim -- uses a razor sharp knife to quickly sever the jugular vein, supposedly inflicting the least amount of pain on the animal. After this, all the blood is completely drained from the animal's body.  Other rules related to halal slaughter: halal slaughter must not be done if pigs are around (since pork is so forbidden), one animal must not see another being slaughtered, and the knife should be four times the size of the animal's neck.  Here, many foods are marked as "halal" in small print on the package, similar to how many kosher foods are marked in the U.S.