Today was our first lesson in Bahasa Malayu, and we learned basic stuff like numbers, how to say where we're from, and pronunciation. I'm excited to be learning the language and know that it will really help me get around town and will especially come in handy once we get our foster families, mentors, and school placements.
For the past couple of days, we have been spending even more time in orientation sessions. We're in the hotel pretty much all day until 3 or 4 in the afternoon, and by then I'm always anxious to get outside and walk around.
While exploring yesterday, I bought my first "Muslim-appropriate" shirt. I'm glad to finally have something that I can wear at school here, especially since I waited until I got here to buy pretty much all of my work clothes. Apparently we will get clothing as gifts from fellow teachers and mentors, too, and I definitely hope that will be true for me. It's a little overwhelming to find clothes here, mainly because I have to completely change the way I think about clothing and fashion.
Last night we ate dinner at Pizza Hut, and it was glorious. I've enjoyed all the Malaysian food -- the curries and rice are always delicious -- but I miss variety in my diet. It was wonderful to have a fresh salad and some veggie pizza.
Then we walked around town at night and heard the Muslim call to prayer as we walked by a beautiful mosque.
We ran into an interesting Malay guy in the market on the way home, too. Ellie did most of the talking, and she was wonderful. Here was the conversation:
Random Guy: "American?"
Ellie: "Yes."
R.G.: "I don't like Bush."
Ellie: "Yeah, we don't really either."
R.G.: "I like Osama bin Laden."
Ellie: "Oh. Well, he's not president."
R.G.: "Also I like Nicholas Cage. He makes my face smile."
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