Oh hello again,
I can’t believe it’s been nearly half a year now. Here we are, almost at the end, a bittersweet and overwhelming time.
I’m going to keep this one short and sweet in hopes of remaining in the moment and dedicating as much time possible to the work that remains and to my people here.
Today, like every other day, I walked from our office to the MSRI school building, papers in the crook of my elbow, mindlessly nodding hello to the same people I pass multiple times a day, instinctively assessing the traffic as I crossed the road. As I approached the school, I realized how mindless this routine has become. How it really wasn’t like this in the beginning– and how it now feels like there was never a before. It’s wild how new experiences and time work like that. Now, I know my way around, am familiar with the people, and feel confident in what I’m doing (most of the time).
It’s like one day I blinked and realized that among the mundane moments of typing and stapling and walking and talking, I have been accomplishing things I had dreamed of. Working for an NGO, becoming a regular with an order that everyone knows at a restaurant, and living in a city across the world…
September was a welcomed break from the busyness and chaos of August. A lovely visit to the beautiful Penang (known for it’s beautiful scenery, rich cultural diversity, laid back culture, cute cities and incredible street food) was also in store. Oh and another wedding!
October was filled with many visitors who we got to share a slice of our life here with. This made for a very social month. In October we also made connections and spent time with people on a deeper level than I imagined we’d get to. We were lucky enough to attend birthday parties, eat dinner in people’s homes, and sing our hearts out at karaoke nights with coworkers. At the school, we hosted student workshops, attended student mentoring sessions with partner organizations and organized two field days for the students (which are so great since the kids don’t get any play/physical activity time at school). Of course having lots of people around also meant many fantastic meals. Yemeni, Afghan, Thai, Filipino, and Indian were some of my favourite cuisines sampled this month.
As with all of our months here, we experienced Malaysia’s religious diversity here by visiting Buddhist temples, attending Christian church bazaars, enjoying fireworks and sweets for Diwali, and visiting Malaysia’s federal mosque.
This month I also became a visitor once again as I did another visa run. A piece of advice to future interns: meeting up with other interns during your placement is so worth it. It not only offers a change of scenery and a change of conversation topics, but also comfort in knowing other interns are on the same page as you, and….. a whole lot of fun.
As it gets nearer to the end, I’m doing my best to savour every moment and write down what I can, knowing that soon I will miss the busyness and long days and the constant warmth.
Thanks for reading and catch you on the flip side,
Gwen
