It is Sunday Morning, 10 51 AM.  I am keeping my computer at your time, (PM) so that I remember that its different there. I've decided that today I will just try to take it easy, pick up some stuff for my apartment, clean a little, and reflect on being here for a week now. It feels like I have been here for much much longer. I went to a 'Blue Cocktail' Party last night at the home of one of my coworkers and I met another intern and someone else who had just arrived that was working with Amy (the host's) husband. They said the same thing.

Yesterday was a long day. It was the King's birthday, so I was going to go around with a woman I met at the Y named Kathleen. She's from Malaysia but she married a German man and moved there about 40 years ago but she's been traveling back every 2 or 3 months to take of her mother for the past 10 years. Her mother passed away, and now she's in a legal battle with her siblings and continues to come down to check on her mother's property and speak with lawyers. She's a very lively woman, not afraid to say anything, though very cautious at the same time. She'll run across a street full of traffic while on the phone, but shove me back if she thinks I'm standing too close to the road, especially when she is standing closer. We missed the show, because it started at 8:30 AM for whatever reason, but we wandered around Chinatown instead and she showed me all the restaurants that are open and set up before the stores come and set up in front of them, and which ones were good and what certain Chinese things were. For example, there were a lot of very brightly colored cakes for sale (if you know me you can imagine my reaction to this) and she said no no, those are for praying. Poo.  We got Chee Chiong Fan (I think?) which is apparently Chinese breakfast but is still just noodles with sauce, though delicious.  There are also Chinese markets which are just in alleyways and look pretty sketch if you don't have a guide. Chinatown is a maze so it is unlikely that I will find my way back, but I was grateful to know how people actually shopped in this area.

                Next we went to the Merdeka square where all the old courts are that were built during the British period, and all the pictures are pretty self explanatory, so take a look. Next she brought me to her hometown Petaling Jaya (again, not sure. They call it 'PJ' for short).  At PJ, we hung out with a Vet and his friends for several hours and ate fresh fruit (guava, mango, lychee, African grapes). They were VERY INSISTANT that I keep eating. Every time I stopped the Vet was like "Eh, Clara, help yourself" We talked about American politics, religion, natural remedies, and the weird kinds of meet that people eat. The Vet's office was literally just a big whole with a couch a table a lot of pictures on the wall and a room attached to it with a medical table and his apartment attached to it. A puppy was brought in and treated.  I miss animals, but I feel terrible for them living in this climate! Now keep in mind that these men were all 50+, and when I left they invited me back whenever I wanted to just come hang out and chat. Very sweet.  Kathleen and I went then to a chicken restaurant (here the word is 'restoran') and talked about our families, then Kathleen stopped into a bar quickly and found a childhood friend of hers and reminisced for a while with him. So I got to absorb a lot of social interaction and cultural things. Like, this guy didn't understand why his wife still left him even after he admitted that he played around. " But I admitted it! That's much more than most men do" he said, bewildered.

Another cultural thing I realized, when I was speaking with an older chinese woman about Bush, was how significant (this isn't the word I really want but I don't know what word I really want) it is that many Americans would rather be in more danger and be secure in the protection of their rights than 'safe' and without rights. I mean, this is pretty common sense I guess, but I think that that aspect of our culture is difficult for many people to understand. So when I was trying to explain that the way that Bush treated us, the people, during the past 8 years was unacceptable according to our shared values as (I believe) a nation, she just didn't buy it. He had to do what he had to do, she basically said. So that's an aspect of my culture that I have a renewed appreciation for.

At the Blue Cocktail party we met a Chinese man who was saying that he does "investment work," and amended it with "I don't like saying 'investment banker' because it's a dirty word know, but the investment bankers in Malaysia didn't screw up like the ones in the US'. He gave us tips on where to go and said, "if you go to the jungle, you have to donate blood, pay some taxes." What he meant was, there are leeches in the trees of the jungle that sense your body heat and drop down on you while you're walking. Kathy (another intern) was horrified, but he assured her, "no! It is only fair, you are in their land, you pay their taxes. It doesn't hurt. Go, go." He offered to take us to dinner tonight, which I am assuming is not creepy like it would be in the states since he invited all of us and wants to bring his 11 month old daughter.  He also said that we Americans are very efficient, but not that we are in Malaysia we should slow down, don't be so concerned with getting work (which I have taken to mean 'life' for my own purposes) done so fast, which was a good tip. I have been really concerned with getting things done here as soon as possible, updating my blog, going to get things I need for the apartment, responding to emails, etc, and I do think that I just need to slow down a little bit, and reflect a little more about what's going on around me.

 All in all it was really wonderful to meet people of this country in a context where I could appreciate their kindness and generosity.  I have to be careful when I am just walking around on my own because it is apparently common for men to try to charm white women and then steal all their money, or such things as this. I'm not sure HOW common, or if people are just super worried about me so they exaggerate the threat, but regardless I try not to engage with people who are too friendly when we haven't been introduced by someone else.

In other news, I have moved into my apartment. At 8:20 (ten minutes before leaving for work) I was speaking with the manager or whatever and she says, "Well, we won't be here when you get back, and tomorrow is a holiday, and we won't be here Sunday, so go give us all the money you have, get your stuff and move in, and give us the rest on Monday." So, I had to run to my room, shove EVERYTHING in my bag, try to get it closed, and 'move into' my new apartment before going to work. Luckily, Jaya, my supervisor, only came in a minute before me and had been worried on the way to work what I would do while I was waiting for her. I have attached some pictures of the place below.  It doesn't come with a stove so I'm going to buy a hot plate. It has air con, and a water heater (they have individual water heaters. I guess it's because they don't really need much of it). They don't have bathtubs or shower curtains here, just a spout and a drain on the floor. The water gets everywhere but it dries quickly. And I have three beds! Lucky me. The pillows rock, and I can't hear the noise from the street, and I have a view of the petronas towers and the KL Tower which I tried to take a photo of but it really doesn't do it justice. If you have looked up a picture of the petronas towers, they actually do look like that at night.

With that, I am going to go grab some bread, peanut butter and jelly if I can find it, and check my email. 

Xoxoxox

Clara

PS. (from today, not sunday) I bought my burner, soy milk, cereal, soap, and ramen noodles, and jasmine tea. I feel like a princess.