celebrate good times

I have to apologize for the lack of blog posts lately, but to be honest, blog posts seem like quite a daunting task. How do I pick one or two things to share about, or tell you everything I'm up to? As a result, I have avoided my blog for some time. Here's attempt one at playing catch up. :)

One thing I have learned about Malaysia is that they love their public holidays. Since I've been here, we're already enjoying our third public holiday. And, if you were wondering, public holidays = a day off of work. Earlier in the month we celebrated Malaysia's Independence day, last week was Malaysia Day celebrating Sabah's independence from Britian, and these past two days have been Hari Raya, marking the end of Ramadan.

Each of these holidays have varied in celebration styles. For Malaysia's Independence day, we gathered with the STS students to attend the city's celebration. Unfortunately, our hike down into town was in vain, as the city's celebration was moved to a smaller scale and location for H1N1 precautions. We were not ready to give up though, and stayed awake until midnight to watch the fireworks from the roof. Yet again, our plan failed, as we could not see the fireworks from our perch. All in all, though, it was a fun evening and a great way to begin meeting some of the students.

Malaysia Day was last Wednesday. I attended a celebration with Thomas, a seminarian whose practical is at the same church I am assigned to work at on Sundays. The youth of the church gathered with many other BCCM youth to put on this celebration. They had prepared different acts, reminiscent of an Olympic opening ceremony-- a flag processional, tambourine dances, flag twirling, and the like. The BCCM church here is very reform and charismatic, similar to a Pentecostal church in the US. Overall, it was a very new experience for me. The government is promoting a program called 1Malaysia to promote unity between the peoples and races in Malaysia, and this celebration prayed a lot for this unity.

And now onto today, Hari Raya, marking the end of Ramadan for Muslims. For our holiday, the volunteers attended a church retreat at the base of Mount Kinabalu (the highest mountain in SE Asia). I have to admit, I'm not sure I've ever stayed at such a beautiful place before. The retreat center was perched high on a peak of a mountain, and mountains were as far as the eye could see. We attended the retreat with a church called Canaanland, also apart of the BCCM. Today a few of the volunteers and I went to a church member's neighbor's Hari Raya celebration. It is very common for people and government leaders to have open houses as celebration-- the hosts' outfits, as well as the food spread, were extravagent. It reminded me of a formal graduation party, and afterward, I definitely felt I had eaten my fill in sweets.

I have to say the dynamic between peoples in Malaysia is quite interesting. For example, we are celebrating an Islamic holiday, but with primarily Chinese Christians. Sabah, the state I am in, is much more lucid than say, West Malaysia, in terms of peoples and differences meshing, but many things are still very separate.

This Saturday we have a STS Teacher's day at the local beach. I'm hoping it will be a good opportunity to mingle and meet some more of the staff and students (I have to say this is a slow process, I wish I was better at remembering names!). We've visited this beach before, and I'm looking forward to the traditional Malay satay beef kabobs. Hopefully soon I'll take the time and upload some photos. :)

Till next time-