Hello There. I think I'll just tell you about last weekend because it was quite cool. On Friday after school we got the bus and train to KL. We saw some other non-Malaysian people at the station at Rawang, which is a rarity to see so we were able to act as experts on the trains of Malaysia. It felt good! We had a coffee at the station in KL then managed to find a bus to take us to Central Market. From here we would try to find our hostel with our instinctive directional skills and vague memories of the road name. As we walked towards Chinatown it was the first turning we saw, what a stroke of luck. We booked our own room as the prices were cheap and that way we would not annoy people when we came home late at night/early morning! The hostel was connected to a bar called Reggae Bar, so we could receive discount on food and drinks there. So naturally after a quick lie down and becoming acquainted with the hostel we headed for this bar.
We arrived at about half seven and there were not many people there. The staff seemed nice and the menu offered various delights including Western food and pizza! A lot of restaurants in Malaysia offer "Western Food" which upon a second glance looks nothing like what we would eat and less than appealing. But never fear, this was proper Western food. I had a pepperoni pizza with nice cheese on and Jo had a chicken burger, which although very tasty did still have one of those Asian omlette things which are so popular here. After a couple of beers we decided to sample the cocktail menu. The music was a mixture of reggae and 90s classics. After about 11pm a DJ arrived and played some bangin' tunes. We met some new people at the bar, a girl from the Phillipines with her Australian boyfriend and a guy from the Netherlands. They were really cool and we hung out with them and danced and stuff. Till 3am. Accidentally. This was a slight mistake as we needed to get up at 8am the next day. But it was fun so it's all ok!
At eight in the morning the alarm sounded and we reluctantly got out of bed. We were going to a prize giving for a writing competition organised by the Soroptimists for a few schools including our one. The taxi driver got very lost trying to find where we had to go, he got out and asked about five different people. When we arrived we listened to the winning stories, then watched the children receive their prizes. Then we were asked to take to the stage while they explained about our school and what we are doing here. We received a certificate of thanks for our good work which was really nice.
In the afternoon after a delicious free lunch we were dropped off by Saradha at the post office. Yes, post office! I had almost given up hope on finding one open but now my dreams have been fulfilled. Many postcards are on their way to the UK as we speak and letters to Germany and Wales. After that we walked around Chinatown to try and find some bargains. I bought some flip flops amongst other things. Haggling is a hard skill to get the hang of, but I think we are improving. We then found a Hindu temple almost opposite our hostel. We decided to do something cultural and go in. It was so beautiful and colourful. A lady told us that something was happening at 4.30 so we waited for the ten minutes when lots of people came to one of the statues and stood with candles and two men were playing musical instruments. I'm not sure what it was for, I think it happens every day, but it was cool! That night we went back to the Reggae Bar and made friends with some cool people from Canada and Las Vegas.
This week we've been finding out a lot more about what the refugees here have to go through. A big problem is they cannot afford to get proper medical treatment. Our flatmate Timwei has been ill for over a month now and has not been able to teach. He has kidney stones but can't get the operation to have them removed. For now he has to eat a very strict diet. The operation costs about £2000 to get, which is an unimaginable sum of money for anyone here. King was telling us that Timwei's wife, who still lives in Myanmar is also very ill. She has a brain tumour which can only be treated by an operation which would amount to £15,000. He asked us if we can think of any ways to help. So I pass this information on to the good ol' WWW and whoever is reading this. Maybe a comment with any charities or any ideas. I can't seem to find any that fit the needs, or indeed any idea how one would go about getting help from a charity, or even if that's possible to just ask a charity for help. Educate me! It's really sad to think that some people just have to live with such serious illnesses and come to terms with the fact that there's so little hope. A man from Jo's adult class was telling us about their son, who is paralysed and his brain does not function properly and they have to feed him which takes 2 hours. His only hope is stem cell research. And of course there's Bibi and Simon's family, who look after Bruno as they live on the first floor and he cannot ever leave the flat. But still it's amazing how positive people here are, always laughing and joking. With less than three weeks to go, I think I'll miss them!
So, serious stuff aside, this week is another normal week. Class A are still casually suggesting we watch Harry Potter at every opportunity and I'm constantly trying to think of new games to play with Class B. I'm able to teach my adult class without a translator now which is cool. At the weekend we think we might go to Batu Caves, a Hindu religious site set in natural caves in the hillsides. Should be cool. There's monkey there so Jo is obviously ecstatic about this. Bring it on!
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