I hope you like novels cause this one's a book.
Picture creds: Jason Yuhas, a fellow remote. Sick shot Jason!
After my first week in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia I’ve engaged in many new exciting experiences! These experiences have taught me about the similarities and differences between our American culture and theirs. My eyes have been opened, perspective has been shifted, and faith has been tested just in this one week alone. So what all have I seen? Where have I gone? What were the highs and lows of the week? Well, from tasting some of the best food in the world, singing on stage with a local band, and walking down the streets being offered sexual services, I’m not sure I can limit it to one high and one low. But let’s start at the beginning...
Arrival.
Walking off the plane in Kuala Lumpur (KL) was a great feeling. After 25 hours of traveling, I was ready to have my feet set on solid ground. I immediately looked around and thought to myself, “I'm definitely not in Kansas anymore.” With an open mind and a desire to experience more of God’s creation, I drew a slight grin and pressed onward.
It took me about an hour to figure out the bus system so I could get from the airport to my hotel and meet all of the other remotes. Sure enough, after struggling through language barriers I managed to get on one. Was this the right bus? No clue. But I walked on confident about one thing; "I have no idea what I am doing." It was a great feeling! After I took my seat, I tried asking the gentleman next to me if this bus was headed to Bukit Bintang (where my hotel is located.) He looked at me with a blank stare and proceeded to fall asleep.“Hmm. Thanks for the help.” My guess is that he didn’t speak English and was exhausted from his travels as well. So I was left guessing; staring at any and every possible street sign we passed hoping to see my final destination. No luck. Well, about half an hour into the trip, we pulled over on the side of the freeway. Weird. Seconds later, a man pointed at me and I was escorted off the bus. "Wait what?" At first I resisted. But after a firm prompting to exit the bus, I decided to go with it. I looked around as people stared at me while I left. Their stares had me thinking, “Am I in trouble? Why is no one else getting off?” I really thought I might have looked at someone the wrong way or said something unintentionally that meant something bad. I am in a foreign country after all. I was simply escorted onto a smaller van-type vehicle which took me further into the city and directly to my hotel. Whew, thank you Jesus.
The van ride was my first exposure to being in a vehicle while it is driving on the left side of the road (minus the bus, but I was so far in the back that I couldn’t really tell what side of the road we were on). This was crazy! Everything is flipped! I’m never renting a car here seeing as the driver is on the right side, while the passenger is on the left. Trippy!
Anyway, I checked in at the front, met a remote year leader and was given my room number and key. Let’s do this.
Room 803.
The 800’s are the first floor with apartment/hotel style rooms. This is convenient since the elevators are significantly slower than back home. So instead of traveling all the way to the 20th floor on a sluggish elevator, I travel to the 8th. Nice!
I walk into my room and meet my awesome roommate Adam! Him and I got along instantly. We exchanged travel stories and shared the excitement/nervousness we felt coming into this remote year journey. It didn’t take long for him and I to pass surface level conversations and really get to know each other without the typical “filters” people tend to put on their lives. With his permission, I have asked to share his story. This is Adam:
Adam is 33 years old. WOAH. Right? That one caught me off guard. I totally thought he was in his mid-20’s. Well done brother, well done. He grew up Philadelphia but lived to Washington D.C. where he worked as a Principal Marketing Manager for AOL. Adam is recently divorced from his husband but enjoying every moment of this new experience. He realizes there are two ways to look at his situation and he chooses to take the higher road being thankful for his life, the lessons learned and the opportunities that are presented to him. Respect, much respect. He is intentional in how he loves people and is constantly looking to make new friends where ever he goes. He has taught me many things in the short time I have known him and I am thankful to have a brother like him on this trip. I thank God for bringing Him into my life and pray that he grows and stretches more and more into the loving character he was born to be!
Btw, yes. That is bagged coffee. And no, it is not from Starbucks. That coffee is 1000x better than burnt coffee beans. That coffee is the reason I decided to title this blog, “Follow the Locals.” More to come on that later.
City Life.
After getting settled into my new apartment and meeting the majority of the other Remote Year participants, it was time to explore.
So I totally stole this photo from cavinteo.blogspot.com. No matter how many times I tried, I couldn’t capture a good street view picture. So there it is. I'm hoping I won’t get in trouble for infringing on copyrights since I mentioned their blog. Oh well. This is what almost every major street right outside our complex looks like. Countless restaurants, bars, massage parlors, convenience stores, merchandise booths, etc., you name it. It’s probably on one of these streets. This is definitely the touristy part of town in which my own experiences can attest to.
Every time you walk down these streets, you will be approached by business hungry Malaysians wanting your time and money. In my own experience, there is about a 2 - 3 second gap from one vendor to the next. The hounding is endless. In some ways, it’s admiring. These people are willing to work hard and invest time into their business in order to make a good living. They are almost forced to in order to support their families. Side note: did you know that $1 USD is equivalent to $4 Ringgit? Can you say loaded? So if I have $100 bucks in my pocket I have $400 ringgit? Gnarly! But this is why so many businesses are posted up next to the hotels. The locals are striving to make a living, willing to do anything in order to get the tourist's business. And I mean ANYTHING.
Story Time.
One day I was walking to the co-working space with Adam. This is the space that the Remote Year has set-up for us giving us access to Wi-Fi, conference rooms, desks, couches and more.
Picture creds: Greg Lincoln, another fellow remote. Thanks Greg!
So Adam and I are walking to the work space which is about a 15 - 20 minute walk depending on how many times the locals stop you. Again, they are ruthless. Well as we are walking, Adam and I are in conversation. We are intentionally avoiding eye-contact with the locals when I unexpectedly feel an aggressive grab to my crotch. This caused me to jump back, crouch forward and guard myself. Shocked, I look up and find myself starring at a Malaysian woman who was just attacking my genitals trying to get my attention. Well guess what, IT FREAKIN WORKED! She then proceeds to throw me a seductive look and offer a "relaxing" massage. Woah! Caught totally off-guard, I continued to protect myself as I politely nodded and respond, "no thank you" while walking away as fast as humanly possible without seeming rude. Impossible. Adam missed the whole thing when I brought it up to him. but he sure had a good laugh about it.
That my friends was my first encounter with a Malaysian woman attempting to give me a happy ending massage. At first, I was shocked. It didn't scare me or freak me out in any way. It was just shocking at how aggressively she pursued me. I mean, she straight up had her hand on my crotch. I'm pretty sure that's illegal. Forgive me if i'm mistaken, but I don't think sexual harassment is legal anywhere. I guess it doesn't matter here. These girls will do anything in order to get an extra buck or two. I'm sure it doesn't help that other males may respond differently than I did, resulting in a successful marketing approach. In any case it had me thinking. "Why are girls willing to engage in sexual activities for money?" My first thought is that they don't realize their worth. They don't understand how loved they are by God and how much He cares for them. God is always in constant pursuit of them (and all of us for that matter.) If people realized how amazing that is (to be loved and pursued by the maker of heaven and earth) they wouldn't sell themselves for anything less than what they are worth. And that being so much more than a few extra dollars fulfilling someone else's sexual desires. Unfortunately this was only one of the experiences that opened my eyes to the brokenness in this city.
It was Friday night, and I was up in the workspace giving online tutoring sessions via Chegg. For some reason, the sessions ran longer than usual and instead of going out that night, I ended up staying in the office until about 4 in the morning. I was exhausted. But being in the financial situation I am in, I had no choice. I have to take any/all work I can get. So as 4am rolls around, I begin packing up my things excited about jumping into my bed and falling into an instant coma. I throw my backpack around my shoulder, put my headphones on and start the mile walk to get to the apartment. About 10 minutes into my walk, I feel a tap on my shoulder. Hm. I take my headphones off and turn around to find a woman starring at me.
"Hi, how are you?"
"Good. Thanks, how are you?"
(I totally thought this lady was just a nice lady wanting to make conversation. Wrong.)
"Oh i'm good. Where are you from?"
"I'm from California; the United States."
"Oh I see."
"Where are you from?"
"I am from Ghana."
"Oh very cool! What are you doing in Malaysia?"
"Work."
(She then proceeded to grab my arm and pull me closer. Still oblivious to what I was engaging in, I continued in conversation.)
"Ok cool! What do you do for work?"
"Let's go home. I show you."
(Are you freaking kidding me?!)
"No thanks."
I instantly threw my headphones on and proceeded to walk. About 5 seconds later, another woman grabbed my arm and asked how I was doing. Now, aware of the circumstances I said, "no thank you" and walked away.
It breaks my heart thinking that this is someones daughter. This is someones sister. This could be someones mother! And here they are selling themselves. I'm not sure what their life is like. I'm not sure if they are being forced to do this or are willingly participating but my prayer for them is that God provides a way out. I pray that God opens their eyes to their self-worth and are able to find other means of work. Whether they realize it or not, they are destroying their lives by selling what should be sacred and saved until marriage. A part of me wishes I hadn't been so quick to leave. I should have taken this as an opportunity to present Jesus. I was so wrapped up in the moment and wanting to leave that I didn't think about taking this opportunity to witness. Next time, I pray that I will be aware of the situation, and strong enough to love on them the Jesus loves me.
I feel like I've written a book. I'll be shocked if anyone even gets to the bottom of this and can swear they've read the whole thing lol. If it was me, I'd probably scroll through and take a glimpse at the pictures. I guess I'm still a kid at heart cause picture books are my jam. Anyway, so much more has happened but i'll spare you those stories.
For now, let's end this post on a lighter note.
Welcome Party.
In order to kick off our first city on this 12 city, 10 country, 1 year journey, our program leaders decided to throw us a welcome party! We were blessed with authentic Malaysian Cuisine, drinks, and live music from a local band.
The food out here is arguably the best food I have ever tasted in my life! I've always been a fan of Chinese and Thai food, but let me tell ya... there is nothing like Malaysian food. See Malaysian cuisine reflects the multiethnic makeup of its population. Their population consists of people from Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand, and the Philippines. Each bring their own flavor adding various spices that give these dishes a bold, delicious flavor! I could go on and on about the food here.
But earlier that day, the 75 of us remotes created a personal slide and presented it for the group. This was a way for us to get to know about each other and what our interests are. On my slide, I had mentioned that I had auditioned and made it past the first round of American Idol. This apparently stuck with Trish, a Remote Year leader, as she later approached me during the welcome party and asked me to sing with the band. It took a drink and a shot to get me to do it... and well, this was the result:
Huge shout out to Huia Parker for recording this clip! This was definitely the highlight of my week! I mean, who gets to say they got on stage to sing with a local band in a foreign country! I am so thankful to have an amazing group who loves and supports this passion of mine!
"Follow the Locals."
This has been my theme for this trip. Whenever traveling to a foreign country, if you want to really experience the culture, try the most authentic food and escape the tourist attractions for a bit, then follow the locals. This has led me into some of the best experiences! Through each experience, I have been stretched and tested. I have learned many things about myself and who I am as a person in this past week and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
God is so good! I can't help but look back and see where and how He has been apart of this whole journey! I could not have made it this far without Him!
"Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit, unless you remain in me." John 15:4
Updates: I have had a couple interviews for remote jobs and am hoping to hear back from them this week! I am still applying daily to other jobs praying for one to come through. All I need is a job that will provide the $2,000 monthly fee to continue on this remote experience. Time is ticking but I am not throwing in the towel just yet.
Prayer Requests: 1. For God to work in the lives of the women here who are selling their bodies for money.
2. For God to provide the perfect job that will sustain me throughout this trip.
Thank you all for your love and support! I couldn't be here without you! Till next week!