26 Malaysia Menlo Abroad

 Selamat pagi from Malaysia!  Yesterday we had a day full of fun activities. In the morning, we woke up early to get a tour of the palm oil plantation nearby. There, we learned it is the third biggest plantation in Malaysia. The tour was very educational and we even got to try cutting down the fruit and branches from the palm trees (it was very difficult)! We also learned about the negative effects of the palm oil industry on the environment from Andrew, our guide, when we returned. Although the industry is controversial, we heard ways to help combat the impacts such as introducing owls and snakes rather than pesticides, and adding ferns to cool off the palms while simultaneously increasing biodiversity. We also learned that the palm oil industry has regulations to prevent burning to help preserve some of the forest still left. Although sadly, only 55% of rainforest remains in Malaysia. After learning about the plantation, we had lunch as a group at Angha's and played lots of ...

 Hi all, Students will provide more updates on what we did today, but here are some photos! - Ms. Buxton and Mr. Chang

Yesterday, we were at the Tekoma resort. We had a day full of activities and fun. We swam in the pool, played poker, pool, and watched the movie Crazy Rich Asians. We awoke to Mr. Chang as he banged upon our door. We didn't know what was going on, and at first we freaked out thinking that our room was being invaded. However, as we came to our senses, we realized that all was well. With daylight flooding into our windows we had survived the night. We returned home to our homestay Fadil's sanctuary. Everyone else went to do their own things and we were able to spend the rest of the day with each of our individual home stays. After recollecting ourselves we went out with Fadil to fish down at the Tehan Negara river, since only one of us in the group had fished, the first 15 minutes became a struggle. Teddy casted into the ground multiple times and cast his rod without any bait not realizing it had fallen by his foot below him for a good five minutes. Jackson was semi-successful bu...

 Hi everyone!      Today was a chill day. We took a break from the homestays and stayed at the Tekoma Resort.       We did laundry at a local laundromat and walked around town. Then we visited the mosque in the area! We had to dress up in the traditional clothes necessary to enter the mosque--the girls wore headscarves/hijabs and modest clothes and the boys wore a long tunic paired with loose pants. We talked to the Imam (which is the person who leads the prayers), and he told us about his journey into Islam. He told us about the six pillars of faith in Islam and what it means to practice and pray day-to-day. After our amazing experience at the mosque, we headed back to the hotel and received our room assignments. The rest of the afternoon was pretty chill, some people went to the pool to swim or talk, some went around town to buy snacks or ice cream and others just stayed in their rooms.       While today was not as action-pac...

 Selamat Hari Raya semuah! Yesterday was the main celebration for the Islamic holiday Hari Raya. Hari Raya aidiladha marks the end of the annual Hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca and celebrates Prophet Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his own son. In the morning, some of us visited the local mosque and sat outside while our homestay families listened to the sermon and prayed. Then, we all visited the families and friends of our respective homestays (filled with cats and chickens!). For the holiday, each extended family sacrifices a cow in the name of Allah. They then butcher it themselves and pass it out to family and the needy. In the evening, some of us then did some detective work when we saw big blotches of poop on the road, and when we came to a stop we were able to see a herd of elephants on the side on the road!  Today, we went on an amazing 2 mile hike. There were many ropes to help us keep our balance. The view from the top of the mountain was breathtaking. When we were do...

  Hello parents, The trip leaders are taking over the blog today! Students spent the entire day with their homestay families to celebrate Hari Raya Haji ( Eid al-Adha), an important Islamic holiday (a festival of sacrifice). Students were given outfits to wear to the mosque. Some saw the sacrificial cows, where the meat was given to the less fortunate. Here are some photos that have been shared with us of their day. Avery and Siena reading an Islamic proverb Warm regards, Tanya & Yu-Loung

 Selamat Pagi (good morning) Today was a preparation day for Hari Raya, an important holiday in the Islamic faith. We met together as a group at base camp and helped to prepare for the meals tomorrow. First, the boys gathered some wood for a large fire to cook the food, and the girls prepped vegetables. The girls may or may not have sung many songs from Hamilton. Then, we all came together to fill bamboo shoots with coconut milk and rice. We cooked the rice over the fire that was made earlier in the day and enjoyed our time together playing card games. Later, we split off with our homestay families to continue festival preparations and unite with extended family. A few of us had dinner at a restaurant in the village and we enjoyed Nasi Goreng along with other Malaysian dishes. We're excited for the festivities tomorrow! Video of students preparing for festival Competition and Games Video From the Nomads: Sophia and Emily

Salamat pagi (good morning)!  Today, we woke up bright and early to have breakfast with our homestay families! We then got picked up and walked over to base camp, where we journaled about our day and our morning check-ins. After, we took a boat up the river to a waterfall and river rapids where we got to jump into the water and cool down. Unfortunately, there were a bunch of bees around us, but for the most part, they were stingless (mostly)! On the way to the rapids, we stopped by a protected cove where we saw and fed many endangered fishes (golden mahseer). We also saw a super cool and pretty pink dragonfly! After our swim in the river, we hiked back to our boats, returned to the dock and had a nice lunch on a floating restaurant. Later, we went back to our homestays for rest time and then met back up at base camp to play some traditional Malaysian games. We got to play a potato-sack like game and Andrew even promised the winners boba! Also, we played a mancala-like game called c...