Happy Holidays Indeed!

Merry Christmas from Malaysia!

I started thinking months ago about spending the holidays away from my family, and I thought it would just be really weird. It was! I actually miss my family more than I thought I would so it was more sad than I expected as well. Shout out to mami, papi, Cristi, Nata, Po & Ivette! 

We (Alex, Doug, Ashley, Zuugii & I) were invited by different families to spend Christmas with them since we're all so far from home. We had a couple of Christmas dinners in our beautiful city of Kuala Lumpur and took a bus trip up to Penang on Christmas Day to celebrate with a student's family. 

Since the students were on holiday for a study week and we really didn't have much to do, we decided to stay in Penang for a few extra days to see the place we'd heard so much about (great food & a beach)!! It was amazing! We found a cheap, British-style lodge to stay in, spent an afternoon at the beach, tried new dishes, bought some CUTE Indian tops (okay that was just me), and just got to walk around a beautiful, island town. Two of us got sick, Ashley & I got bed bugs from the lodge that we are still trying to get rid of, and our bus back home initially started on the road without Alex but we all made it back home safely and have great memories of our first Christmas in Malaysia!! Lots of love, Alejandra 

3 BIG Hs

As 2012 was coming to a close, I tried to reflect on the things I've been learning this year - some overarching themes. The first came to mind fairly quickly. In student teaching, which I began a year ago today (crazy), I was afraid to put in 100% because I thought the failure would be humiliating. I had to work up the courage to put in all the work I could,  pray to do well by those kids, and hope it would be enough. As I was preparing to come to Malaysia, I had to hope for everything to fall into place so that everything would be in order by November 1st. Since I have been here, I have been reading The Allure of Hope by Jan Meyers, and a lot of what she writes has resonated with me. It turned out to be one of those books that has changed the way I think. Goal for 2013: to believe in God for big things, and be more like Abraham who, contrary to hope, in hope believed... 

H-1) Hope

I have come to appreciate God in a new way in the last few months. After a few incidents/circumstances left me feeling so dishonored by people around me, I was almost in a state of dismay, and definitely upset. I did not see how any good could come from these things and wondered why they happened. I did some thinking and came to see that when people treat me as something unworthy of respect or honor, it shakes my view of myself. I really start to wonder whether I am a worthy creature. This is where looking at Psalm 8:4-5 has helped. I have been crowned with glory and honor, and if God is the only One who understands that truth, it is no less a truth.

Well I had an idea for one last thing on my mind for what I've been learning in the last few months. I was thinking it was along the lines of guidance but I was so on a roll with the 'H' thing that I couldn't just leave it there... Holy Spirit. Aha, that's better. I can't remember the last time my life has had such little structure or guidance. It's enough to stress me out. I mean I thought I had freedom when I moved out of my parents' house but now I have more freedom than I know what to do with. I'm not used to making so many decisions, and I don't think I've done a great job at it. I'm trying to look back at what older, wiser people have taught me as far as planning and organization (which looks totally different in an Asian culture). I'm learning to pray for His Spirit to guide daily. Because I'm still in the beginning stages, I feel like my only "ability" is praying.

Birthday Week!

This is about a month late but I celebrated my 23rd birthday on November 29th! My unbelievably kind friends wanted to make this first birthday outside of the U.S. really special so November 23-30 was dubbed BIRTHDAY WEEK. I made the bold decision to do 1 "just fun" thing every day. It wasn't always something big but always something I enjoy. Over the week I: went to Starbucks, polished my nails, got a haircut (for those of you who don't know - I LOVE HAIRCUTS), saw a Chinese musical, and Skyped a dear friend.

On my actual birthday, my friends were all in on a surprise massage. We were all ready to go to campus for lunch (our usual routine) and I ended up at a spa instead. Jackpot!

Ashley and I then had lunch at an Irish bar & grill. Delish! They were even playing Christmas music!!

Later that night, we made my birthday dinner an all-out event & invited a bunch of students from the UM campus. We went to my favorite Indian place right down the street.

This 5 language "Happy Birthday" matinee lasted a while...
It was great!

We walked to a cafe down the street for ice cream & games

Oh, but that's not the end of it! Ashley contacted a few people and asked them to write a little note. The first few from my sisters were more than enough reason to bring the Kleenex out but then I turned the pages to discover messages from more, very special people. I just lost it over and over and over again :)

What girl doesn't enjoy the occasional dress-up lunch?

And finally, we brought birthday week to a close the next day at La Frontera Mexican Restaurant. The boys treated us to some pretty good comida estilo a la Mexicana. Mmm. Thanks, Doug and Alex!