Happy Holidays

     I thought that I was going to be very homesick and maybe even a little depressed this year over the holidays because it was my first time being so far away from home. Surprisingly though, I did npt really miss home too much because I was having so much fun. My chapter president arranged for us, all four students in the Johor chapter and 6 from Kedah, to stay with a Catholic host family for             Christmas. From the 24^th –28^th I was placed with a lovely host family that attend the same church that I go to. Another Italian exchange student named Selva was also placed in the same family which made it more fun. Before I left my host family to go to the Christmas family, I hung up Christmas stockings for each one and put their names on it. Inside were small gifts and some sweets. It wasn’t much but it was the best I could do. I hung them up in the middle of the night so that they could wake up and see that “Santa” had come. They are Muslim so they do not celebrate Christmas, but I still wanted to give them something because I love them and appreciate all that I have done for me.

      From the minute that I met my Christmas host family they were so warm and kind to me and Selva. On the 24^th of December we went to mass at 4 pm instead of the traditional mass that ends at midnight because we have babies in the family. One of them was only one year old and the other was two and they were both equally as adorable. They would call us jie jie Jackie and jie jie Selva (jie jie means older sister in Chinese). Afterwards we went to a resort that they owned where we had a small party with turkey and spaghetti. We spent practically the whole night singing Christmas carols because they had karaoke. The following day, on the 25^th we stayed home but we had a lot of visitors. We had two groups of visitors. Some came over for lunch and some for dinner. All of the family and friends were very nice and kind to us. At the end of the night we played games just like some that I would play in the US involving Christmas presents.

Christmas tree at the mall

The Stocking I made my Family 

The resort where we celebrated Christmas Eve

The two youngest playing on stage 

Maxine, the youngest sister

Selva and I at Legoland

     My Christmas celebration was pretty much a lot like how I would have spent it in the U.S. All the family gets together and eat. Only the food we eat back home is very special. We eat tamales on Christmas because I am Salvadoran. We usually only eat these tamales on Christmas because they are very difficult to make, they require an entire day to make and my mom and my aunts will still be cooking through the night. Sometimes they won’t finish until 2 or 3 in the morning. Also I am not going to really celebrate New Year’s because school starts on the 1^st of January. I guess the start of a new year is not that important here.

Visiting a Buddhist temple

All my host sisters and Selva 

Trip to Hat Yai, Thailand

     This weekend I went on a trip to Thailand with another exchange student from Austria and her . whole host family. I had such a great time even though the journey there was exhausting. I spent 4 hours on the road to KL and right after another hour and a half to Tapah Road in Perak. Upon arriving at the train station Anne, the Austrian exchange student was waiting for me. I was mildly dissapointed to see she was alone and that there was no car waiting to take us because that meant I had to walk with my bags. Fortunately, it wasn't that far of a walk. It was less then ten minutes and on the way Anne kind of briefed me about her family and her village so that I sort of new what to expect. It was certainly different then what I'm used to. The house was small and cozy and there was a lot of Buddhist statues around the house. I was a little tired but I still agreed to let Anne show me around the village. The rest of the houses were even smaller then Anne's and there was the palm oil plantation very close to the house. After the little tour we went for a run in a nearby field and then bought some food for dinner at the bazaar.
     At around 10 pm the bus came to pick us up from the house. Most of the family was already on. The bus was very cold even though I was wearing a thick long sleeve and a sweater and shawl on top, it still wasn't enough. The buses get very very cold at night. We didn't arrive to Thailand until around 8 in the morning. Partly because we made a few stops before for breakfast and to shop at the duty free store near the border. Also, it was very crowded at the border so when we had to go through customs there was a very long queue.
     Once we got there, the Thai Chinese tour guide lady took us to some Buddhist temples, a few shops and then for lunch. It was around 4 when we finally got to the hotel. I was so relieved because I had spent most of the time travelling. In one day I went from the very South of Malaysia all the way to Northern Malaysia into Thailand. I rested for a little, but I was too excited because we were right in the city in a new country I have never been before. I wanted to explore. So me and Anne went down and walked the street of Hatyai. I bought a few souvenirs and we bought some kuey from a lady in the street. It was a little frustrating though how things were so overpriced for us because we're foreigners.
     The next day we went to a couple more Buddhist temples and then we went to a camp were we could ride elephants. I was so excited to be able to ride an elephant because well its not every day one gets the chance to ride an elephant. It was a little upsetting though to see how they treat the elephants, the trainers would jab them with sharp sticks and some were chained. Also while we were on the ride, the man handling the elephant offered us some necklaces and bracelets made out of ivory. I got a little angry at that.
      The next stop was lunch right next to the South China see. Afterwards we went to a park where they had a huge dragon spitting out water into the sea. Then we went to a very old town where we couldn't go in with the bus because the roads were too narrow. Some of the buildings there are over a hundred years old.

People trying to get coins into the belly of the statue

Praying

Monk that has been dead for many years

The dragon is a tunnel to get to the top of the hill

Inside a dragons mouth

Anne and I before the elephant ride

Ice cream with egg yolk

We go to keep the cups as souvenirs

. We had to go in a different vehicle. We got to try ice cream topped with raw egg yolk and coco powder. It was actually pretty good, you could hardly even taste the yolk. We got to keep the little ceramic pots that held the ice cream as souvenirs. The trip was pretty fun and I got to know Anne a lot more so it was definitely worth the long, tiring journey to and from Thailand.

Kak Long and Abang Long

     This week that just passed, I got a new brother here in Malaysia. My oldest sister, Nadhira or kak long (older sister), got married this past week. It was one of the most beautiful Malay weddings I've seen. We held it at our house and had a garden theme. Ayah wanted to make it simple, but I thought it came out very elegant and grand. The decorations were beautiful, there was a photo booth, the tents were the people ate had chandeliers, the food was amazing and the deserts were delicious
     Ayah was pretty nervous, he had to repeat his speech three times before he finally got it right. When both ayah and akmal said it right, the ustaz could finally say "sah" and then Akmal and Nadhira were officially husband and wife. So now I have to refer to him as abang long meaning older brother. It was a great day filled with happiness. Not even the little rain that came down that day could ruin it.

The most perfect couple 

Ibu and Kak long were looking beautiful 

Sharing a sweet moment

The two lovers

Candies :)

Che'a was also looking adorable

Ibu gave a heart felt speech that brought everyone to tears. She was handing over her daughter to Akmal, now Abang long

Throwing candy to the children

Even the adults tried to catch some

Ibu and Kak Long holding hands

Baby in a baju melayu