Our stay here in Malaysia has been a very different one than that in the Philippines. So far we have lived with 2 different families in 2 villages, some of us climbed a mountain and now we are spending time in Kota Kinabalu where I spent some time on a beach yesterday. In the Philippines we stayed with one family the entire time and spent the majority of our time either in class or alone with our families. Here our activities were much less planned and it has allowed me to really experience SE Asia at my own pace. While climbing mount Trusmadi this past Sunday and Monday was not a cultural experience, it was probably the highlight of my trip so far.
We got to hike through the heart of the jungles of Borneo up to the top of the second highest mountain in SE Asia, stay in a tin shack, only to have the peak be completely covered in clouds. While this was a bit disappointing the whole trek was amazing. The following day was spent on a beach near the city, snorkeling around beautiful coral. This too was a highlight of my trip.
It could be noticed that my favorite parts of the trip so far have had little to do with local culture, religion or people. It is not that my experiences with these things have been negative, only that they have all felt forced in some way. My experiences on my own or with a small group, being with nature, have been the genuine parts of the trip that have impacted me the most.
When they tell us to do a blog on one particular subject that we have observed while traveling, it sounds easy enough, and then when we try to think of a subject to write about nothing comes to mind. But then you realize that there is so much to write about!!! Asia is so different, even from country to country, region to region. Looking at the two countries that we have been to so far, the Philippines and Malaysia, the difference in culture, lifestyle, language, so many things are different. But there is definitely one thing that I have noticed that they have in common and that is in every home that I have been to, they are so hospitable. I have had people giving up their rooms for Katie and I, change their plans to do what we have planned, give us western food when we are missing it, and I think that the most generous act that my families have done was just to share about their faith, their lives and their culture. So far on my trip I have had three host families; one in the Philippines and two in Malaysia. They have been so different and wonderful but there was one that was totally new to me – Keningau Malaysia. For a girl that was born and raised on the East Coast of Canada to experience a village like Keningau was a true blessing for me because I got to experience what it was like to live in a “100% Muslim Village”. When we got divided into our home families we were told that most of us would be in groups but when our names were called Katie and I were all alone and at first I was a little nervous about this but I think that we have had the best experience out of the entire group. It wasn’t like I was afraid of where I was it was just I had no experience with living in such an environment. But I have learned so much but just scratched the surface of what it is like to live in a Muslim environment. Their close knit village had some similarities to SSU which I found surprising. For instance, the community has a cleaning day where every family has to take part in cleaning the soccer fields, public buildings and roads, and/or their own property. And if they miss or do not part take then the family gets a small fine; it’s like the SSU cleaning days on Monday. Another thing that makes it a lot like SSU is just the sense of community that I felt and the unity in their faith. With the knowledge I have learned about their faith and how it applies to their family and community life I would like to compare it to other Muslim communities and see if they follow the same set up or see how they are different. This has been a cultural experience that I will never forget and am truly blessed that I got to be a part of it.
By Angela
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Posted in Uncategorized
I am fair skinned, I am pale, I am white…and after a few hours at the beach yesterday, I am now red as well. It’s interesting, I am red and I am white, the two colours of my nation’s flag. Being the ‘white girl’ in Asia means a number of things, one being that I stick out. Walking down the street in the Philippines or here in Malaysia, I stick out like a sore thumb, the giant white girl (and yes, I’m pretty much a giant here). On TV, both in the Philippines and Malaysia, I’ve seen ads for skin whitening products. The people here want to look like me, they want to be white, which is a pretty strange concept for me, I know the drawbacks, like really bad sunburns that make you look like a walking veggie. Why is it that no matter where a person is in the world, there seems to be this desire to be something or someone other than who or what you are.
This experience is still stretching me, I’ve tried new foods (something that is very hard to get me to even think about) like mangoes, and seaweed salad and squid. I’ve trekked through the jungle, swam in the ocean (a warm ocean!) and have become closer to different people on my team. This place is amazing, it is wild and beautiful in a way completely different than my home. Where I come from, mountains, pines, cedars and maples rule, here, it’s tropical. It’s different but still breathtaking to come to a part of the world that is rarely seen by people like me.
Soon we’ll be making our way to Thailand, a return trip for me and a first for many of my friends. We’ve been through so much already and we still have just over a month left in this trip. For now it’s difficult to even begin to think about how I may have changed because of this. I’m sure I have, for it seems unlikely that a person can take part in an adventure like this and not come out changed in one way or another. And so the adventure continues onward.
for now Peace Out <3
While trying to choose my topic for this blog, I was suddenly overwhelmed by all the possible people, places, and things that I have been blessed to experience. Each day here, it seems, has been an adventure worthy of recognition.
On our last days in the Philippines we had the opportunity to travel as a school to various historical locations and learn about their significance. My favorite part of the day was when we visited the Church of Paoay. This Church with its Gothic like peaks and ancient structure was built in the year 1593. That fact alone was enough to captivate me. I instantly fell in love with its tragic history. It was built by the forces of cruelty, exploitation, and corruption by the hands of the Filipino people under the surveillance of Augustinian missionaries. As I sat in one of the many pews, soaking in my surroundings I couldn’t help but feel the weight of the countless others who had sat there before me. Their feelings of pain, and desperate prayers for hope and redemption still resonating within the ancient walls. I had become apart of something so much bigger than myself, I had become History.
To me the Church is a symbol of hope for the future. Despite its past, the church, just like the Filipino people, has overcome countless obstacles and has persevered through them all. The people have come so far and achieved so much that they have become an inspiration to me. I can only hope that I can learn from their lives and their examples and triumph through adversity, just like the Church of Paoay.
Everything is moving very fast. We’re starting on week three of the Southeast Asia trip, and already I’ve experienced and have learned so much about a part of the world that I have never thoroughly studied. I have felt a dose of ‘cultural fatigue’ as we moved from the Philippines to Malaysia, but I have started to gain a bit more energy by taking some time for myself to reflect on the amazing hospitality and kindness that I encountered at Northwestern University and with my homestay family, as well as with the Muslim community in Keningau, Sabah.
My first mosque experience was an incredible eye opener. As I sat and observed the young and elderly men of the Keningau village wash their feet and bow towards Mecca, I began to look past the practices of Islam and tried to focus on the heart of these Muslim men. I realize that faith involves rituals, traditions, and practices but I also know that there is much more to Islam, and to all religions, which surpasses head knowledge. I began to search for the heart of Islam, which in turn forced me to reflect on my own values and faith.
The intensive classes which prepared me to understand the practices and rituals of the Muslim faith only partially prepared me to enter a mosque. I tried to combine both head and heart as I sat on the cool tile of the building in the community of Keningau, in order to give me an understanding of the emotion and spirit that every human possesses, no matter what their background or religion is.
The last few weeks I have been jotting down words and phrases to help me process and reflect on the spiritual side of my travels. I have found it to be quite difficult balancing reflection, community, and experience in a neat package on a day to day basis. I am beginning to gather some of my musings and confusions in music, poetry and song, when I am unable to string together eloquent sentences to explain what is on my heart.
Already we have visited two countries and are on the last half of this incredible experience. Thailand seemed like a distant objective when we landed in Malaysia, but now here we are, about to be amazed again by the culture, geography, and spirit of another country in Southeast Asia.
Jian and Jaylord are twin 6 year old boys. The moment Nicola and I heard about them (as we were driving to what was to be our home for the next week) we made eye contact, expressing to one another the excitement we felt. The one thing we both wanted in our homestay was kids to play with. When we arrived at our home, we tried to interact with the kids and in return we received a pair of identical, blank faces.
It is not uncommon for kids to be wary of strangers, but this particular situation presented a few more barriers. First, we were told that we were the first white people they had seen, so in an obviously unracist way we were funny looking to them. There was also the fact that we only spoke English while they mainly spoke Tagalog and Ilocano. Finally, they were quite shy. The process of breaking these barriers was slow, but it worked. On day two, Nicola made them laugh with her dancing while on day three I coloured with them, communicating through pictures. We quickly found out that it was the little things we did that were most effective in engaging these little boys. By the end of the week they were dancing and playing with us, hardly giving us a moment’s rest.
Adventuring through Asia has brought me face to face with a lot of barriers. This has been only one yet it has taught me a lot about the importance of not giving up as well as in taking small steps. Sometimes the barriers (whether its the food, the people, the situation, etc.) are difficult, sometimes they’re frustrating, sometimes they’re fun, sometimes they’re funny; what my experience here has taught me is that it is worth getting past them. My heart soared when in the moments before our bus left for the airport, Jian gave me a hug and said “I love you Ate Laura”.
When I arrived in the Philippines I felt overwhelmed. I did not realize what I had gotten my self into. As days passed it started to occur to me that this trip was not a luxury trip but required my full participation in everything I had. The Filipino family I was assigned to was nothing but caring and giving. It was overwhelming the love they poured into our friendship. This poor modest family was ready and willing to give everything they had to satisfy my needs. I learned so much about generosity from them.
I also was introduced to Asia’s love for Videoke. This horrifying act of embarrassment is often funny when you watch the first two people go up and make a fool of themselves. After the second singer you are already bored, but this does not apply to Asians. They never tire of it.
Malaysia has been a completely different experience than the Philippines. Being here in Malaysia has spoiled me rotten. Anything I would like to eat that is western food is right at my finger tip. My home stay had lived in London, England for a few years and had a good idea of what we westerners eat. He provided us with toast and eggs! Finally no rice in the mornings! Yippee. I have greatly enjoyed the mountains of Malaysia along with the beautiful clear waters of the ocean. I hope to return today.
Yesterday I had at least 50 of the most beautiful coloured fish surround me while I was snorkeling. They were nibbling at my fingertips. It was definitely an experience of a life time. I am so gratefulfor being here and am trying to enjoy every moment to it’s fullest.
There is an old fashioned method of courting in the Philippines that is sometimes still practiced in rural villages: the love-struck fellow stands underneath the lady’s veranda and sings songs to her with his guitar. This is called Harana, and Tira and I had the privilege of experiencing it our fourth night in the Philippines. Some young friends of our host family gathered outside the door and I was awoken from my late afternoon siesta by their sweet serenading coming in through the window. We went downstairs and the boys were invited in so they could continue to sing (they were only minimally distracted by the Filipino soap opera on TV). After a while they persuaded Tira and I to join in but there were only a few songs that everyone knew well enough to sing along to: “Stand By me”, “Killing Me Softly”, and “Hey Jude”. But it was so much fun. In fact, this experience encapsulates my entire experience of the Philippines. Filipinos know how to have fun. They sing, they dance, they eat, they laugh, it’s lovely. I think one of the most lovely things in the world is a group of friends smiling, laughing and singing off key, encouraging the funny looking white girl on the karaoke mike who doesn’t quite know how the song goes.
And I would just like to close with one last note: for all you lovestruck young men reading this blog, I recommend trying Harana. I’ll bet that it works.
The two countries that we have been to thus far have been two completely different worlds. Experiencing the Philippines and then Malaysia has introduced a new perspective on life. When in the Philippines, our host family wanted us to gain a real sense of Filipino culture and way of life, resulting in time spent with them and seeing the world through their eyes as well as stepping out of my comfort zone and Western perspective, being introduced to true Filipino culture. One of the experiences that I will take with me from the Philippines is the kindness of the people and the value that they place on family and community.
Moving on, Malaysia was completely different yet one thing remained – the sense of community that was felt with the two village home stays that we had. Spending my twenty first birthday on Mount Trusmadi was one experience that I will not forget. The thought of being able to do this on my birthday was very special even though the overall climb was a challenge. It was well worth the blood, sweat and multiple thorns. The contrast between the past two days has been very extreme – two days spent on the mountain and then spending today on a tropical island snorkeling in the South China sea was amazing. I was so privileged to experience such things as live coral reef, magnificent tropical fish and sea creatures. It was wonderful to just relax and enjoy the beautiful ocean. I am sad to be leaving Malaysia. I have really enjoyed the time that I have spent here and I feel that it has not been long enough. It seems that you just arrive in one place, meet new people and then you are saying farewell, packing your things once again to move on. But I am looking forward to Thailand, a different experience altogether and one that may present new challenges. I will attempt to embrace them and experience everything that I can. Being a backpacker is an idea that I have become used to and I find that I have developed an interest in other travelers and their journeys now that I have traveled outside my culture.
For me the thought of climbing a mountain in Asia had many interesting imaginations attached to it.
Having now climbed Mt. Trus Madi, I feel like I have some interesting reflections to mention. As the blog’s title says, I had thorns in my hands. The thorns were embedded in my hand as a result of touching particular plants along the trail.
The trail up the the summit of Trus Madi was treacherous. Endless tree roots made our path a jungle gym. At times we would have to duck under trees to keep moving, at others climb over top trees. Sometimes the trail was very steep and beside dangerous sheer drops on a cliff face. The trail also had some pretty invasive wildlife too! In the lowlands there were leeches on the tall grasses. These would crawl on you until they found a patch of skin to suck blood from. The trail’s regular sleeping accommodations housed a family of hungry rats, who came out at night to eat what food was left on the floor inches away from our beds. The beds themselves were only plywood and sheet metal and were hardly anything more than a way to keep dry. It was a bitter-sweet arrangement. It was cold and raining and we could be dry by sleeping in the shack on these beds, but the shack was very cold. Out of all the negative things about our climb up Mt. Trus Madi, the worst was that there was no view except fog when we reached it’s summit. It was just cold and wet.
Now I it might sound like I had a terrible time, and the truth is I did have a terrible time. But I would do it again if given the chance. Why? Looking at the thorns in my hand after the climb I thought “why would people put themselves through such terrible things so willingly as I had?” The reason why anyone chooses to do anything is because they figure it’s worth it one way or another. What is worth climbing a treacherous path is the redeeming qualities along the way. Such as the spectacular views, the exhilarating challenges, and the incredible wildlife.
Mt. Trus Madi did have spectacular views (when the clouds did part if only for a moment), it had plenty of exhilarating challenges and it had incredible wildlife (I should mention we saw a wild boar sprint across the road on our way down).
What is significant about any of this? In this kind of reflection there are parallels that could be drawn. One has to do with God and the problem of evil. The problem of evil is a philosophical issue that deals with how an all powerful and all good God could exist while evil also exists in the world. What can be drawn from climbing Mt. Trus Madi and be applied to the problem of evil is how humans themselves will willingly take part in horrendous challenges because somewhere along the way they expect a few redeeming qualities will make it worth it. Perhaps that is a way to look at how God created a world with horrendous suffering. Perhaps God feels for a few things that it is all worth it even though His creation destroys itself and gets destroyed constantly. Of course that is speaking of God in a human frame of understanding, it just might be something we would do too.
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