Malaysia life update

Welp, we've been in Malaysia for nearly three months now. Two months to go and then it's back to Paris! Here's a long overdue update on our experience in Malaysia.

It seems that basically anywhere you move to, this is the process that follows (at least if you're like me): 

1. Overwhelm phase. Traveling to the place and settling in is overwhelming and exhausting. But once you're settled, you move to the...
2. Honeymoon phase. You're enamored with the place and everything is new and interesting.
3. Hate life phase. Reality sets in that you're in a foreign place and nothing is familiar. You struggle to see anything but faults with the place. 
4. Get over yourself phase. You work through the tough things because being miserable on top of adjusting to a new place isn't fun.
5. Content phase. You genuinely enjoy and appreciate your new home, the people, the culture, and everything that comes with it.

We went through this process in Paris too, and it was interesting to go through it again a year later here in Malaysia. It's not an intentional process—it just kind of seems to happen. And I'm really grateful to be on the other side of it here in Malaysia because man, it can get rough at times. But I can honestly say that we love it here now. Do we love absolutely everything about it? No. Did we love absolutely everything about Paris? No. But we love them all the same and we're grateful for the chance to learn and grow in both.

Here are some of my favorite things about living in Malaysia:

• It's insanely cheap to live here. $1 is equal to 4.15 Malaysian Ringgits. In other words, the U.S. dollar is very strong here. Our apartment here is twice the size of our Paris apartment for half the price. Plus it has a pool and gym! We're enjoying the luxury while we can.
• One word: MONKEYS. There's something about seeing a monkey in person that just fills me with squeal-level joy. And monkeys abound here. It's not like we see them hanging around our apartment building or anything, but there are known places where you'll see them (one is this Indian shrine called Batu Caves—you have to watch your step, there are so many monkeys).
• The people. Malaysians are known to be extremely friendly, and it's a nice contrast from what we were used to in Paris (not that Parisians can't be pleasant too). We especially love our church branch and the members who have brought us in and made us feel like family.
• Malls are everywhere. It's all too convenient to get to my favorite stores (not that I buy much because we're living out of what fits in our suitcases). One train stop away from us is the seventh largest mall in the world. It goes on forever. And ever. And ever.
• The food! We don't eat out much, but I kind of love that I don't have to trek out to an Asian market to get my fill of Asian foods—the grocery store has it all. Cause this is Asia. The end. But also, the night markets are amazing.
• Ease of travel. I can only be here for 90 days at a time (I couldn't get a visa), so we took a weekend trip to Bangkok and it was honestly my favorite trip we've taken together. And it was a two-hour flight away or something like that. So great.
• Last but not least, the Church. Our favorite part of wherever we live is always the opportunities we have to serve in the Church. It brings more fulfillment than anything else. Somehow we were lucky enough to land the calling of teaching institute for the few months we're here, and it's been the best thing for us. 

That's just to start. But I should also say that, lest anyone thinks our lives consist of constant adventure and glamour, most days look like this: Freddy goes off to work at 8:30 am; I stay at home, work online, and attempt to keep myself sane through a variety of means (Marco Polo/FaceTime, exercise, and making clay earrings are my current tactics); Freddy comes home at around 7 or 8 pm and then we put everything aside to spend the evening together. If we can, we'll try to go out and explore on the weekends. But we're definitely not having a big grand adventure all the time, although the experience as a whole is certainly an adventure.

And that's our life here in Malaysia. It's hard to believe that our time is almost up—it's going by so fast. 

#PHOTOTIME. Sadly, I haven't actually taken that many pictures here. When we go to cool places, I take a lot, but on a day to day basis, I hardly take any. But here's a smattering of photos from the past few months.

Monkeys at Batu Caves. Only one of the best days of my life.

Batu Caves, an Indian shrine covered in monkeys and rainbow colors.

Our apartment building. We live on the 17th floor (of 30)! Lots of high rises here.

Our blessed pool. I usually swim once or twice a week.

Pre-monsoon.

Middle of monsoon. Yay for monsoon season! It was hazy and unhealthy to go outside for about our first month here, so we're really grateful for the storms.

We went to East Malaysia for a weekend trip and got to take a river cruise to see PROBOSCIS MONKEYS. I didn't get any amazing photos of them so you'll just have to believe me.

Night market in Kota Kinabalu, East Malaysia. I love, love, love food markets here.

Malaysia is a Muslim country, so you'll find mosques and Islamic architecture scattered throughout. 

Chopped my hair because the heat and fluffy, animal-like qualities of my long hair in humidity were getting to me.

Polymer clay earring making: my new happy place.

Thailand was amazing in every possible way, minus being sweaty and sticky all the time (but even that felt like a badge of honor).

Another one of the best days of my life. HOW WAS THIS REAL. (I'm learning something about myself: give me up close animal encounters and I will be very happy.)

A salt-crusted baked fish, a common thing to eat at Thai floating markets. So perfectly cooked.

French chef and omelette for Halloween. I hand-sewed my costume the day of and I'm super proud of it.

Us yesterday just to keep things current. Taken while waiting for our Grab (Asian Uber) driver to pick us up for church! Freddy really loves my spontaneous mirror selfies. Only not really.

I'll try to blog again before another three months have passed. No guarantees though. But here is a very small reflection of what our lives have been like the past few months. Life abroad is soul-stretching and these two hooligans definitely need to be stretched. We're grateful for it.