4/1: Last Days at Seri Puteri School

My view from my apartment - I moved into a three bedroom, two bath apartment, including a living room, dining room and kitchen. It's a little lonely not sharing Zuan's house anymore.

Three things I learned:
1. I was wondering why there are no dogs around, and I found out that for Muslims, dogs are considered dirty. After petting a dog, a Muslim must do a special cleansing before entering a mosque.

2. It is compulsory for Muslims to pray five times a day. The morning prayer, before sunrise, is called Subuh. At around 1PM is Zuhor, the afternoon prayer. Then at 4:30 is Asar, or late afternoon prayer. Immediately after sunset is Maghrib, or dusk prayer. And then at 8:30PM is Isyak, or Evening prayer. Of course the times are dependent on sunrise and sunset times, which don't change in Malaysia, being almost right on the equator. Many Muslims pray even more times, giving them extra "merit." They have a very strong focus on heaven and hell, so extra merit is a good thing. I learned that if a Muslim is traveling they can combine two of the prayer sessions together, but they must be at least 90 kilometers from their home.

3. To both Indonesians and Malaysians, I bear a strong resemblance to Chuck Norris.

Masjid Sultan Mizan, otherwise known as The Steel Mosque, since it is made of steel. This is a very new mosque, having just opened six months ago.

Besides teaching math to 8th, 9th and 11th grade students, I have taught two English classes - they set me up in their nice, huge lecture room and I talked about myself - that's all. It was to the entire 8th grade class, and then the entire 10th grade class. The teachers wanted the students to hear a "native" English speaker. Then yesterday I taught two geography classes for Zuan, showing the students pictures from my travels this year. Today I am back in the lecture hall, showing the photo show to the entire 11th and 12th grade classes.

I feel somewhat like a rock star. After my last class with one of the 8th grade math classes today, the students surrounded me, asking for my autograph. It was funny, silly, and a little embarrassing.

Zuriani, Yan and Miza, three English teachers, drove me into KL yesterday to pick up my Vietnamese visa. Zuriani said to me, "My students are quite in awe of you, Robert." To which I replied, "I don't even have to open my mouth. I just have to be white." Then Zuriani, who is pretty funny, responded, "You don't even have to be white. All you have to be is male. I mean, consider the student population." And all along I thought it was that they were impressed with the way that I teach.

Tomorrow is my last day at Seri Puteri school. After that I will travel around Malaysia for two weeks before returning to KL to fly to Vietnam to meet my Evergreen Students. I will be visiting Taman Negara, the oldest jungle in the world (I read yesterday) and a couple of remote islands in the Northeast, so I may fall behind in my blog for a while. The teachers here have been incredibly hospitable - taking me out to eat, driving me into KL (twice) to deal with the Vietnam visa, taking me on tour around the cities of Cyberjaya, Putrajaya, KL and Melaka, and answering my multitude of questions about Islam. They have even arranged for transportation to the jungle tomorrow. I especially want to thank Zuan for putting me up in his house (even giving up his bedroom for me), to Zuriani and Yan for all their efforts to make sure I have everything I need and for sharing their faith and their country with me, and to Principal Rashida for inviting me to come to her school and arranging food and housing. It was been such a wonderful and eye-opening experience for me. I so much appreciate the new friends I have made.

This morning, as I finished my meditation, a prayer of thanks emerged, and this is a fitting place to share it: I offer thanks for the blessings of patience and quiet in order to see and learn from the lessons around me.