Malaysia was a great experience for us. Having worked predominantly in Latin America, the majority religion has been one not so very different from that in which we were raised. Malaysia, on the other hand, has a majority religion of Islam. It was eye-opening to check into hotels with arrows on the ceilings pointing toward Mecca and prayer rugs in the closet. To hear the daily calls to prayer broadcast on loud speakers throughout Kuala Lumpur. To see women walking in head-coverings (and some with more). There are two other main religions in Malaysia as well, and Hindu and Buddhist temples are quite prolific. We were glad to have this cross-cultural experience and to enjoy the tastes and smells of a new place.
When we went to Malaysia, we thought that we would find food quite like Thailand, because it borders the southern coast of Thailand. But we found ourselves mistaken - at least it wasn't like the Thai food that we had in Chiang Mai and Bangkok a few years ago (to our disappointment). Malaysian food has 3 flavorings that are quite distinct and used in most of their foods: tamarind, fish sauce, and shrimp paste. Unfortunately, we can't say that we like any of them. Our favorite food spots were actually a fantastically cheap Indian restaurant not too far from our conference hotel (where we had the most tangy lassi ever) and, to be honest, Pizza Hut! Some would say, why eat at a chain restaurant in a foreign country? But those of you who have traveled know that not all US chain restaurants are the same in other countries! The menu was full of new options - and the stuffed crust was different than in the states. Actually it was quite a bit better - and the Chicken Marsala pizza (spicy Indian flavored - do you notice a theme here?) was to die for. Oh I'm sad that they don't have it here! Move over pepperoni!
Now that we're home, we are glad to have seen several family members here or there, and friends too. It's always good to be back. We have shuffled a few furniture items and made sense of our space again. One thing about coming and going so much is that we never really get a good rhythm of life going. We just settle into a routine when we find ourselves packing for another trip. This makes it so that even when we return home, we still have to unpack, reorganize, re-set our schedule, re-decide which church service to go to, and sort of re-set our brain. It is home, but it also feels like a vacation home - familiar, but always needing to reset the normalcy button and make things "just-so" so we can settle back into our home-work life instead of our travel-work life.
Peluche is officially the sweetest dog ever and he is actually helping us create some schedule - something that we anticipated and appreciate. It's nice to have book ends to the day - when it's just us, it's easy to justify not making a schedule and just letting our to-do list for the day happen...then we find ourselves working late and not taking the breaks we need. Peluche helps us out by bringing us his tennis ball or rag toy and telling us he (and we) need a break! Now, of course, we know we could do this without a dog in our lives - but we'll take the extra incentive! Especially a cuddly soft one. Two nights ago, we were sitting on our couch, looking at the lit-up Christmas tree, sipping hot drinks, with Che by our side. It seemed so blissful. We love quiet nights at home.
We're ready for December!
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