Form Five Friends And More

Things have been hectic at my school for the past week or so, because we are preparing for some upcoming English competitions. Students can participate in a variety of activities, including speeches, story-telling, and spelling, and I’ve been trying to help the girls prepare as much as I can. Sometimes it’s difficult because teachers ask for my help, but they forget that I have never been a part of a competition like this in Malaysia, and so they sometimes leave out important details. Then I complete a task only to find out I have to add to it or change it completely. I’ve been trying to get much more clarification up front lately, which has helped some.

The most fun part about this process has been spending time with four Form 5 girls who are going to compete in the S.I.R. (Spell It Right) contest this weekend.















We have met twice at the state library (just down the road from my apartment) to study, and then end up hanging out afterward.

(Side note: The state library has separate tables for boys and girls, because they aren’t allowed to sit together even to study. Wow.)















The first time we studied together, we went and got ice cream afterward and then I showed them my apartment. Then, yesterday, we studied for a couple of hours and then went to KFC for lunch and also shopping at Giant before they walked me back to my apartment. They are so much fun, and it’s different spending time with students outside of school. These girls are 17 years old, and so it’s easy to be with them and find things to talk about. Plus, they give me the lowdown on things at school, like who the coolest teachers are (Teacher Diana is the coolest, according to them, and I have to agree) and which girls have boyfriends and spend too much time sending text messages to them.















Weekend adventures have been going strong as well. Two weeks ago Zoe, Gwynne, Jackie, and I took a girls’ day trip to lake Tasik Kenyir and had a great time playing in a waterfall and feeding tilapia and catfish at the fish farm.















































Then, this past weekend, we had the first annual Cikgu Fest, celebrating the birth of Jackie Cruz, at the Perhentian islands. We had a wonderful time being together, spending time on the beach, eating birthday crepe/cake, and dancing the night away in the sand. It was a huge success, and everyone had a blast.



















Other recent events pictured below:

1. Gwynne and I learned to make nasi lemak (rice cooked in coconut milk and served with chili sauce and fish) at Puan Rakiya’s house. She is a teacher at Gwynne’s school, and is one of her host mothers. We had a great time learning to prepare our first Malay dish, and Puan Rakiya even showed us how to make fresh coconut milk by blending the coconut with water and then squeezing out the juice by hand. Delicious!















2. A couple of weekends ago Gwynne and I traveled up to Kota Bharu (a city in the state above Terengganu) to check out its famous night market (pasar malam). We found Kota Bharu to be a lively and bustling place, and the market was full of many treasures and delicious local foods. Since Kota Bharu is closer to Thailand, its food has more of a Thai influence.