It's a colorful time

The other day Ashley put some quinoa on to cook as we started our dinner prep. Minutes later our little pot and the whole 2-burner gas stove in our dorm kitchen was up in flames. After watching Ashley dump water on a fire fed by the loose hose connected to the gas tank I remembered we had a fire extinguisher (thank you mandatory 2AM fire drill and safety session!!). I lugged the thing across a courtyard and put out the fire. Yes! But the salty, white dust thickened the air and we still didn't know how to turn off the gas, and the smell, we found out later, had started to reach the higher floors of our block. After fumbling around we ran for help and Ashley found two courageous lelakis (men) to enter the danger zone for us. Later when I was in my room thinking, "I can't believe that just happened," I wanted to share some of my more colorful experiences living in Malaysia that probably wouldn't have happened to me living in the U.S.

Men's Underwear EVERYWHERE
In my house, girls outnumbered guys 6 to 1. Sure, take a second to pity my dad and thank God for his patience. Last July I was part of a big group of college students who traveled through Borneo together and about halfway through our trip we got to a place where we were able to do our laundry. I have never seen so much men's underwear ever. I mean even at WalMart I can speed through that section with tunnel vision but these were on lines going every which way throughout our guesthouse. Not only that but one night I went into the only open bathroom to brush my teeth, even though one of my guy friends was hand-washing some stuff in a bucket right next to the sink. I ended up helping to instruct how to effectively wash his underwear by hand. Oh my life is so interesting.

Purging Our Linens
I've written about this before but I'll bring it up again briefly. Last winter my friends and I traveled to Georgetown, Pengang - a great place rich in culture and history. Everything about the trip was great but when we got back home, Ashley and I discovered we had bed bugs. We had the apartment fumigated and boiled all of our clothes. I had to say goodbye to a couple of shirts and a flashlight in this process - sad time. Long term consequence - boiling and switching my sheets every 3-5 days through the month of JUNE. All I can say is that I'm glad to have that behind us.

The Cockroach Resurrection
This was the first to happen. The first time we found a cockroach in our bathroom Ash killed it - she REALLY smashed it, I picked it up and tossed it in our trash can. It was gross but we did it and went about our day. The following night as Ashley was getting ready for bed she suddenly came out to the living room where I was and quickly whispered, "Alejandra! The cockroach resurrected!" I couldn't believe it! Well killing it this time was a bigger job because now it was a super-roach in our minds. We used spray, yelled, woke up a housemate, Ashley almost "got sick" during the process. We learned that day to take out the trash after one of these episodes.

Indonesia

Recently my friends and I went to Indonesia. It was an amazing opportunity to have time to think about our past year in Asia. The time I had to think over the past 14 months and the lessons I've learned was extremely valuable. I know that I will never see certain things in the same way again and that I've learned things being in a different culture that I may not have learned for a long time had I not had this experience.

I'm amazed that God mercifully shows me again and again that He is devoted to me no matter my actions, shortcoming, failures. One of my biggest fears since I discovered life in Christ is that I would somehow mess it up - that I would either lose gratitude, grow tired or bored of His love, or do something terrible to lose His forgiveness.

My loving Dad has gently convinced me that it would be infinitely more challenging for me to ignore His voice in a dark place, even more so to do something to warrant His condemnation, than to abide in Him, even if at times it feels like I'm only hanging by a thread. It is impossible for Him to leave me - even if I am faithless, He remains faithful. I am touched as I realize how firmly He has gotten a hold of my heart and given me peace over the past few years.

The view of the other chalets from my room.

The beach (and home to thousands of crabs)

A man in a longboat.

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. Psalm 139: 7-10

Free Ice Cream

It must be something college students love all around the world - we can't say no to free food! A couple of weeks ago, Ashley and I decided we wanted to get to know the girls we live with so we bought a bunch of ice cream and toppings, and knocked on every room in our dorm building to invite them over.

Personally, I was surprised when the first 2 girls showed up because as I was walking around people looked surprised, shocked, and confused. I heard girls talking in different languages and laughter so I didn't know what was going on or what to expect when I was in my room 15 minutes later.

This photo was taken at the end of the night but during those 90 minutes we kept our door open, over 30 girls came in and out of our dorm room. After asking a few girls, I found out people actually really appreciated how friendly (even though it was a little weird) we were! 

We shared favorite foods, places, words, fun facts - it was a good time filled with plenty of laughter. I just hope I get to spend more time with these girls and get to know them better, that this is the beginning of good friendships. 

4 of the girls in this photo are roommates and the same day of this ice cream social, 3 men broke into their dorm room and stole an iPhone. The girls are all physically okay, a hand was not laid on them; the news just gave us all a little scare. As you read this, would you please pray that we would be protected, safe, and at peace in our building? Thanks! 

Our 12 Day Adventure

This is overdue but about a month ago, 27 of my friends and I got back from a "12 Day Adventure Trip" in Borneo (East Malaysia).

We stayed in 3 different locales and it was awesome. This would be one long entry if I mentioned everything we did so I'll write about some of my favorite moments.


White Water Rafting! The fourth day of the trip was the most fun for me. We left the Strawberry Garden Hotel up in the cool hills of ____ and traveled 3 hours to a cite where I would enjoy white water rafting for the first time ever. With close to 30 people, we split up into 5 different groups of boy and girl teams. My team: Tina, Wen Shiow, Schumy, Chee Lum & Alejandra. My team had the lightest, fastest raft and it was my pleasure to assign myself the imaginary role of Raft Motivator. There was a lot of shouting. I'm sure they had as much fun as I did, especially when we were the first to reach the end. At one point a boy walking on a bridge about 20 feet over us (probably home from school) stopped to dangle a chocolate bar over our heads and when I put my hands out, he dropped it. Our raft fell into laughter and 4 seconds later into the hands of torrential waters. No worries, we all made it out without injuries.

The Amazing Race! I let my competitive side out a little when my team went up against the 4 other teams in a scavenger hunt during our stay at the Tambatuon village. I had to shampoo my friend Wen Shiow's hair in the river. I carried a really heavy rock across a really questionable bridge. We made a makeshift scarecrow and checked dozens of locals' clotheslines for our team leader's missing shirt. Oh it was as fun as it sounds.



Discussion Time. On 8 of our evenings in Borneo we had team discussions on real-life issues like friendship, the meaning of success, the purpose of life... it was a privilege to hear different thoughts and opinions shared about some of life's biggest questions for all of us. There was a moment of apprehension for me before each discussion that someone might offend someone else on the team but we all listened to one another and even felt the freedom and curiosity to ask questions. My favorite discussion was the one on friendships; people were surprisingly real, open and honest about the ways we've been hurt in friendships - this set the tone for the trip and allowed us to connect in a way I've been waiting for since I got to Malaysia...

Favorite sight of the trip: The Tip of Borneo.
I fell in love with that amazing sandstone!
#GeologyRocks

First Semester of Masters: Completed.

Linguistic Theory Class

A couple of years ago I would NOT have imagined myself going on towards a masters, especially not in Malaysia. Now that I'm here, I truly appreciate being able to learn something I'm interested in alongside people from Nigeria, China, The Philippines, Iran, to name a few...

It's been difficult to adapt to the expectations of my lecturers, who are much different than my professors at the University of Arizona.  Oh, and you know how some students complain about having trouble understanding professors with an accent? I never did. But it is REALLY strenuous getting together with a group of people all speaking Malaysian English (comparable to Spanglish) for hours and collaborating ideas to write a paper together. They were all lovely, intelligent ladies but oh the headaches! I was humbled by my dad when talking to him about it when he encouraged me by saying "Study hard. You only have a year to learn there and then you have to come home." My dad is awesome.

Things aren't always what they seem.

I can't say much for what has happened and changed the last couple of months because I've spent so much of this time in my head. The best way I can think to describe it is to compare it to driving through a tunnel and in the darkness I couldn't see anything around me but was left to my thoughts.  Thankfully, I'm coming up on the other side. Sorry I can't provide a more fun description of my adventures in Malaysia!

I've had to think a lot lately about my interactions with people because of some rough sailing and have found myself surprised at how such an agreeable, young lady could ever have any trouble getting along smoothly with others. I did think too highly of myself but the bigger problem was thinking too highly of humans in general. It's taken my Malaysian experience to realize that when people spend this much time together, people are bound to make mistakes no matter who they are.  I only wondered why it took me so long to figure that out. I think that before now I've refused to see my sin, I mean unless it was really obvious but I'm a pretty well-behaved girl so that didn't happen too often. Having friends that always understood and saw things from my point of view whenever situations did arise made me less inclined to think any further on it.

I can only consider it a good thing to be "convinced of the depravity of man", as a friend of mine put it. Unrealistically high expectations of what man can be and a denial of my own sin got me into a mess, into a tunnel of anger and confusion.  Thankfully, I'm a little more rational now and I can see things from a better perspective.

The way I feel doesn't mean as much about reality as I used to think. I feel like someone is insulting me but that doesn't mean they are insulting me. I feel attacked but it doesn't mean they are attacking me. I feel someone is hinting that they don't want to spend time with me but it doesn't really mean they are hinting so. I feel someone made a remark in anger but it doesn't mean they did. I hope that whenever I'm disappointed by someone's actions I remember to ask myself, "Did they really mean that?" and "What am I really expecting from them?" because sometimes it's impossible.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!!

For those of you who don't know, Chinese New Year is an event that goes for 15 days. YEAH. The Eastern Hemisphere knows how to celebrate. The way it was explained to me was, "Chinese New Year is what Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years Eve is to Americans, all in one." This year it started February 10th and ended February 24th.

Doug, Alex, Ashley and I traveled to 4 different cities, first south and then north of KL to visit different friends and their families. On that trip we got to participate in the tradition of Lao Sheng, where a special kind of salad (it looked like confetti but tasted like sesame) is brought to the dinner table and everyone helps toss it, lifting as high as possible and simultaneously shouting what you want that coming year - WEALTH, SUCCESS, PROSPERITY! We got to see embarrassing baby pictures of a couple of our friends; that's always a good time. Mostly, we ate huge meals. To me it felt like Thanksgiving 4 days in a row, and seafood instead of turkey.

The Riverfront In Ipoh, Perah

Lao Sheng!

It is an old tradition in Malaysia for the last day of the Chinese New Year to be a sort of Valentines Day. A much more fun Valentines Day, in my opinion. We got a group of about 20 University of Malaya students, and 5 visiting Americans, together to participate in a community celebration. As part of the tradition, single ladies write their name and contact number on an orange and throw it into the lake everyone is gathered around. Guys stand around with nets and try to fish for these oranges in hopes of finding their soulmate. For the more proactive gentlemen, there is the option of writing their name and phone number on a banana to hand to that one, special girl they've admired from afar. Oh, it happens. A girl standing near me got two.

Some of you may recognize our visiting friends!
It was so good to see them all. Margaret in the center is a fellow
U of A alumn!

Hopeful girls! ....
Kidding. But we did have fun :)

After the orange tossing and banana receiving, people wrote wishes on lanterns and let them float up into the night sky. Even though it made me a little nervous every time one bumped a tree branch, I was overwhelmed with the gratitude of being there. It was beautiful.

Photography by Poh Kai Sin

"You two are not American girls anymore..."

Ashley and I have been trying to get rid of bed bugs for a little over a month. We think we are at the tail end of the process. Whoo!! We had 2 fumigation treatments, were required to pack everything up and move out of our room. Finally, by order of the Orkin man or a representative of a similar company, we had to boil all of our clothing and linens. Ashley caught a picture of that action.

We haven't moved back into our room but gave it a thorough cleaning a couple of days ago. Ashley and I make an excellent team, by the way (she hates sweeping, I hate mopping). I swept underneath and behind our desk, behind our bed, and got the stuff you don't get unless you move furniture around. As I was in the sweeping zone, trying to get the dirt out of that tricky spot where the floor meets the wall, I heard a loud gasp. My first thought was, "No. No. Ashley found a bed bug in the cabinet she's cleaning. Or worse. A colony of bed bugs."  It wasn't Ashley but Zuugii, our Mongolian friend, who had been frightened. A dead roach was hanging out in my dirt pile, waiting to be picked up. When Zuugii realized I knew it was there but was finishing up my work behind our bed before I picked up the roach to throw it away, she said, "...you two are not American girls anymore..."

We both took it as a compliment. Of course I know we'll always be American girls but it is fun to think that at least Zuugii sees a success in our adjustment by the way we respond to cockroaches. I can't help but feel a little proud.
**Terms and conditions do apply: live roaches, especially in movement, will never cease to send a chill down my spine.

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!

A New Temporary Home

Doug, myself, Ashley & Alex at the
Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur

My roommate for the next 21 months. I've been
blessed with many shared heart-to-hearts, hugs,
tears, raucous laughs, hopes, ... love this girl!

Though only 2 of these girls are my roommates, our apartment
is a SOCIAL HUB & we've always got a group of friends over!

Wei Shan graduated from UM in June. I'm glad
she decided to stick around because she is a
quality girl!

"I know the plans I have for you..."

During my last trip to Tucson, I got to meet & hang out with a great group! 

Since I started this whole business of 'movingtoMalaysiafor2years', a small voice representing my fears has been trying to convince me that the culture and language barriers will prevent me from making friends. I've panicked at times because, well, I can't live without my heart-to-hearts! I practically live for listening and sharing. 

There were a lot of places I could have gone and they were appealing for different reasons. I'm going to be honest and let you all know that I didn't land my first choice. When I tried to picture myself in the Middle East I thought, "At least I would blend in." The thought of going to Europe wasn't scary; tons of my friends studied abroad. When I thought of Asia, all I could think was how unfamiliar everything would be. 

So somehow I ended up at this meeting for international students - I wandered around for a little bit unsure of who I should strike up a conversation with. I was feeling a little out of place when something wonderful happened... one of the leaders called the ladies forward to line up for the dinner buffet! I started talking to the girl in front of me (I'll call her "Gina"), we sat together, talked the whole dinner hour, and again later that night when we were split up into small groups. In the midst of our conversation, I learned that Gina is from China, has been going to the UofA for 3 years, and became a Christian in college. I asked about how she came to faith - she explained that she started out on mission to prove to her friends God didn't exist. I was intrigued. When Gina was finished, I told her my story. Now I'll admit I was sleepy, but I started crying while we were sharing. What?! That doesn't usually happen.  

I realized I was so touched because I remembered how my worries about not being able to communicate on a heart level had made me hesitant about my decision to just dive into an Asian culture. The cultural differences seemed too great. I thought about how it wasn't something I really wanted at first, but I knew God was leading me in that direction. And what if I had given in to my fear? I felt as comfortable talking and praying with Gina as with any other of my friends - even more comfortable than with some of my friends. 

So the moral of the story is: 2 years ago, no way I would have picked this adventure for myself but as God promises in Jeremiah 29:11, He has a plan for me, to prosper me and not to harm me, plans to give me hope and a future... and I know it's going to be a lot of fun.

The countdown has begun... this group of friends is leaving for Malaysia in 29 days. 

Ashley, Alex, Doug, Alejandra
The most laid back group you've ever met. We think this will serve us well in a new culture. 

"Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time..."

As, I suppose, many of you know - I've finished my time at the University of Arizona.

Four years ago, the plan was to teach right after college (in an inner city school, inspiring disgruntled youth). But, things have turned out differently and I will be leaving for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on November 1st with three friends.  

Our original departure date was October 1st and it has been pushed back a month. It was hard for us hear that we were going to have to wait another month for something we were so eager for. It was hard for me not to see the news as a punishment.  After emotions passed and rational thought set in, I realized our departure date may have more to do with God's plans than my actions...

During my tawG (time alone with God) today, I read through Numbers 9:15-23. I'm so thankful for this particular explanation of God's leading, what it's like to follow Him, unsure of where He'll take us or ask us to remain on any given day. A cloud rested over the tabernacle to let His people know to stay and lifted up to let them know to set out. Verse 22 says "Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, abiding there, the people of Israel remained in camp and did not set out." I'd like to follow the model of the Israelites who set out when they were supposed to, and camped out when they were supposed to. I pray that I will be given a joyful patience as long as God has me remain in Arizona. Lord, You are wonderful and You guide me continually. You satisfy my soul in drought.