Sometimes I am amazed how far a bead on my mala has to travel as I move the string of beads across my finger with my thumb. Everything is relative.
Sometimes I can't imagine what I ever got angry about. My life is so blessed. Everything is relative.
At the airport, I watched a boy cross the crosswalk, jumping from white line to white line. Some games are universal.
Two days ago, when I arrived at the airport in Bali, I watched a boy happily helping his father retrieve the luggage from the conveyor belt. While waiting for the next piece to arrive, he sat at the edge of the belt, and his father had to tell him to stand - another universal occurrence.
Malaysia
A new adventure is beginning. The only place I had previously been in Malaysia is the island of Penang, off the north west coast, and that was back in 1985 (on my way from Singapore to Thailand), and then again in 1988 (on my way to Sumatra). So I know nothing about the country of Malaysia or the city of Kuala Lumpur (known just as "KL"), where I will be staying for a while. I found myself sitting on the airplane to KL smiling. I think that the prospect of all the unknowns made me happy.
I have been invited to teach at Seri Puteri, which is a Muslim girl's school, grades eight through twelve. But I arrived during their mid semester vacation, so I had a few days to get adjusted before school actually started up again. Zuriani, one of the teachers from Seri Puteri who I met while teaching at Modern School in Delhi last November, picked me up at the airport with two of her students, Nadz and Kelly, whom I also had met in Delhi.
This is Ridzuan (called Zuan for short, pronounced like the Spanish name, Juan). He volunteered to put me up in his house while the school was on vacation. He has taught geography at Seri Puteri for 8 years, and has been the greatest host ever, taking me into KL, out to eat, and to the beach.
One of the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, the tallest twin towers in the world, 10 meters taller than the Twin Towers in New York were. They were the tallest buildings in the world from 1988 through 2004. Driving from the school into KL with Zuan, I was impressed by the three lanes of traffic going each way - cars staying in their lane, and following the traffic lights. There has definitely been a transition from chaos to order as I have moved from India to Indonesia to Malaysia.
Quite a shopping mall - Kuala Lumpur reminds me somewhat of Hong Kong, with its tall buildings and impressive architecture.
China Town
Entrance to Seri Puteri, which is located in Cyberjaya, the Silicon Valley of Malaysia, about 30 minutes south of KL. It is a new city, with wide streets, huge housing and condo complexes, wide open green spaces, man-made lakes with foot paths, and sidewalks (I no longer take sidewalks for granted).
School buildings from the basketball court
More pictures of this very impressive campus, which houses 840 students and 82 teachers (70 women and 12 male).
During the last week end of the holiday, there was a balloon festival in KL. This one landed on the track field of Seri Puteri.
The beginning of the second half of the semester commenced with an assembly. Seeing all the girls in their Hijab (called Tudung in Malaysia) and school uniform was an impressive sight. I am having to learn proper etiquette with the population here. For example, I should not offer to shake hands with the students or female staff I meet, but if they hold out their hand to shake, then it is okay. If they don't wear a Tudung, then it is also okay to shake hands. First day of teaching: all I can say is that I love to teach, I love to teach, I love to teach.
This evening as I entered the dining hall, Nadz and Kelly (two students who knew me from their experience at the school in Delhi last November) saw me enter alone, so sat with me as I ate. I asked them about the classroom prayers that I observed today. Before the start and at the conclusion of each class, the student "class monitor" leads her peers in a short prayer. Each student stands with hands cupped in front. Nadz explained to me that the beginning prayer is to help remove distractions, and the closing prayer to to remind students to use their time wisely. So I asked if the prayers are just rote, or do they continue to hold meaning. Nadz replied, "It depends on how devout the student is. These are prayers of surrender to the one God."
I know this picture is out of focus, but I loved the feel of it. 
ooo I like that photo of the students, too - they look like flowers!
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