It’s coming up to two months since I left the UK! February always seems to fly by like that. There’s a small part of me that is glad time is passing by, and another side which is thinking ‘Bea you only have just over 5 months left in the school!’ I couldn’t really decide a suitable title for this entry because it’s just going to be a mixture of some of the things which have happened.
On the Saturday after we got back from Penang, we decided to have a bit of a house clean... just thought I would mention this to impress Mum (if you’re reading!) We realised just how dirty the floor was. For those of you who know me well you will know that when I start cleaning I get a bit carried away... so we ended up moving loads of furniture and mopping the floors! It was really satisfying to sweep away the cobwebs, and slightly shocking that we hadn’t done it already... So now we have made it more ‘ours’ which is nice. I’m already jealous of next year’s volunteers as they will get all the stuff we have bought for the house!
Here’s another fun thing – I rode a motorbike for the first time the other day! Our friend at school lives in a small village about 6km away, so we cycled over and I had a go on his bike (the roads are pretty quiet). Apparently they only cost about 900 quid... and that’s for a new one! For a second I was tempted but then realised it was a bit of a ridiculous idea.
That leads me onto something which really bugs me about people here – the complete lack of environmental conscience they have... I don’t think I have ever been somewhere where everyone drives as much as they do here. We teachers live about 200m from the school, and yet they all drive to school?? Lift sharing in their eyes is a ridiculous idea, and if they call into someone’s house, they will just leave the engine running outside for half an hour or more. There’s not a recycling bin in site, and piles of rubbish (I have seen prams and electronics in them) are just burnt at the roadside. It actually really gets to me and makes me feel like all my efforts to be green at home are pointless. I am thinking about starting a recycling project at school, and introducing different coloured bins for the classrooms. Anyway – rant over!
On Thursday 16th, John Fraser from Project Trust visited our school for lunch. He is not our desk officer but had been visiting Indonesia and Thailand so thought he would fly (literally!) through. He doesn’t know us well but it was still nice to see a familiar face so far away. He is so experienced at the whole process that talking to him made me feel almost ‘grounded’, if that makes sense... He was also helpful as he spoke to the principal and organised our last day in the school, which will be the 3rd August. The next day we met him, some people from MARA, and the other volunteers at MRSM Alors Gajah (2.5 hours north). We had a small meeting, discussing how things we going and how and problems could be solved. It has been a slight disadvantage being the first volunteers in this project, as it is taking a while for the schools to get used to us. We are having to do all the work vis a vis getting involved, whereas I’m sure it will happen naturally next year. I keep telling myself the main benefit – we won’t be compared to any volunteers the schools have had previously!
Seeing as we had trekked all the way up to Alors Gajah, it seemed to make sense to make a night of it. We got a train into KL, and stayed in a really cool hostel opposite our favourite ‘Reggae Bar’. Grabbing the opportunity to drink outside of school, we had a fun night... I will stop there as I never know who is reading this blog!
KL is not my favourite place really, I find it a bit jammed and there are only so many markets I can walk through. It’s the sort of city I would prefer to explore with family, as to get to cool places you need to get taxis really (I can’t splash out on a 100 pound/month wage!) Me and Fiona left the others on Saturday and got a bus back to school, getting completely SOAKED in the rain, which timed itself perfectly with our leaving the hostel and arriving at the train station! Thank you sky..... I really wanted a day just to be at home because I have been feeling that if I am constantly away at weekends I am never really going to feel local, but always as a tourist. I also want to hang out with some of the students, and get to know them a bit more – seeing as they are so busy in the week.
This brings me up to today – which has been quite eventful actually. I murdered my first cockroach, which decided to take a nap in my shoe... (gave it a great battering....so satisfying!). I was also chased by a small cow when I went cycling. I won’t lie, I did scream. Don’t think I have ever cycled away so fast in my life!! I was feeling a bit down so I went to find a nice spot by some water to play my ukulele where no one could hear or see me. I am nowhere near as homesick as I was but I still get the occasional day when I just can’t see why I am actually here... so far away from the comforts of my lovely home, and planning lessons to teach kids who would much rather be asleep!
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