Zumba Night out!

Where is Fiona?
 

Amy, the karaoke singer extraordinaire!

Justita, the Zumba detective

Justita, the Zumba detective

Justita, the Zumba detective














Last Friday night was the first ever New Year's Party of the Ranau district  Zumba club, which is run 

by Justita, who is a police detective by day and a dancing queen by night! She runs clubs in three kampongs and normally us members see each other in our aerobic gear with sweat (some more than others) pouring off us but Friday evening was a chance to see each other in different attire. Well I hardly recognised some people and as for our teacher, she was wearing a micro mini skirt with a belly dance belt around her with a very small strappy top. So there were some Christian ladies wearing very tarty sparkly gear, some Muslim ladies covered completely and then there were the in between lot (both religions) wearing trousers and tops and then me dressed in my ethnic clothes - which they thought very strange! Anyway, there we all were sitting, eating, singing and dancing together with absolutely no division and all having a good time., without a drop of alcohol in sight. The karaoke singing was amazing. There were so many excellent singers in that room it seemed like a final for Britain's Got Talent. We all got a present and then there was a lucky draw and I won a prize!! I never am usually lucky in  draws but I won a pair (why pair?) of scales to weigh myself. Now on principle I have never owned scales - I don't believe you need to know your exact weight to know if you are overweight or not - so I had mixed feelings about the prize. I don't want to become obsessed about weighing myself so very reluctantly it is out of it's box and I am trying not to go on them too much!

A hard day at work!

There are days when I come back from "work" thinking how lucky I am to be here and today was such a day. I was at my rural school at the village of Kinapulidan which compared to some schools it is not rural at all but it still is about 8 kms along a gravel road and the Dusun language is spoken more than Malay, which is another hurdle for the children when they start school. I have been working with the Preschool teacher, David, and we are hoping to be recording English songs for the Preschoolers with a Dusun feel to it e.g. instead of Hokey Cokey we are singing  "Oh Mount Kinabalu" etc... - it's bound to be a success don't you think?! Anyway after the Preschool finished at 11.30 he told me that the parents were coming to garden and demolish bits and smarten up a hut in the playground.

  So we all got to work and to the parents' amazement they found that the orang putih could actually do things as well. So we took the planks off the hut and then stored them away, the next thing was to get rid of the four beams in the middle which weren't holding anything up. So the ladies got their parangs (machetes) out and got chopping. These parangs are used by everyone here and they seem to have a multitude of uses. I have seen 10 year olds carrying and using  parangs without any worries (except mine) because they have been brought up to use them and know how to handle them. So you can imagine the scene- we had very young children wandering around with everyone brandishing their parangs and I don't think anyone thought it was mildly dangerous apart from me! The next stage was making the hut "beautiful" with very bright linoleum on the floor and the benches and my sewing or carpet laying skills came to the fore and I was able to prove my worth as a helper. After we had finished it was time to sit in the now transformed  hut and have our meeting. David fortunately was able to translate for me as my Malay and Dusun are improving at a very slow rate. I was able to show them the 25 picture books I am giving to the school and we have organised that the parents will organise a lending scheme for the children to take one book home each week and they are going to sew bags for them to be looked after. Not a very original idea but the culture here is much more of an oral one and books really aren't found in homes so maybe the next generation will find a love of reading- it's certainly worth a try.

 After the very short meeting it was makan (food) time and we ate a delicious meal that probably cost practically nothing. We had young green papaya cooked in a slighty curry sauce and tapioca and papaya leaves with a handful of dried fish added and of course the red hill rice which is so much nicer than the white rice. They asked me lots of personal questions like everyone does - age, religion, etc.. and we parted and I drove home along the muddy road with a wonderful view of Mount Kinabalu thinking what a nice job I have!

                                              The view of Mt. Kinabalu from the hut.

Satin and Staples

So this is my one hundreth post on my blog and I feel I should write about something amazingly interesting in a wonderful literary style like Simon but how and what? I have never before kept a diary apart from some teenage efforts that only lasted until the first week of January. However, I have found that writing this blog is something  that I enjoy and need to do every week. In some ways it feels like having homework to do but yet much more pleasureable and during my week, I think about things that I've found interesting that I mustn't forget to write about.

Me pretending to be busy!

 Yes it is definitely the rainy season and for the last few days it has poured. The sheets from Simon's visit have been on the line since Thursday getting a "rainforest" rinse. It has been a busy week (and weekend) at school as my base school is having a BIG inspection on Monday. I suppose it is like an Ofsted equivalent and there are only 29 Primary schools in Sabah chosen for this honour. It is for excellent results, activities and file keeping by the looks of the way everyone is working on their files! It has certainly got everyone in the school working flat out and secretly I am thrilled that this "honour" has been bestowed upon them as things that I have been nagging them about like decorating the classroom, painting the stairwells, improving the classroom environments have all magically happened! Everyone seems to be carrying a staple gun and rolls of fablon and classrooms are being transformed. On Thursday I saved the day by showing them my photographs since August 2011 which captured many of the moments and highlights of the past year. I then made a simple  powerpoint of photos which has now been transformed into a fancy one in Malay that has bright colours and the captions spin or fade or merge - yes I have a lot to learn about powerpoints! Yesterday I went in to help and ended up in the library emptying cupboards, cleaning, chucking, disturbing ants nests and sweeping piles of termite dust and mice or rat droppings that had happily been undisturbed for years. I am no stranger to this sort of cleaning as being a very reluctant housekeeper and living in a very old house in France, I am guilty of stuffing away things in bags and cupboards for years, only to find them eaten or rotted by mildew or housing a nest of mice, when forced to empty the cupboards! We have displayed the new English books that I brought and I'm going back today to see what more I can do.

The Malaysian flag that took 3 days to paint!

  One of the things that I noticed when I arrived in Sabah was their love of plastic flower arrangements and satin draped around the school stapled around desks and windows to make it look "beautiful". The satin, (in very bright colours) hides a multitude of sins and one can transform an old wooden desk into a glamourous satin table for a huge bouquet of plastic flowers which is exactly what was done in the library yesterday. Meanwhile the headmistress had the idea that there must be a very long Malaysian flag hung somewhere in the school so that 3 teachers were busy painting that when I left. Her idea today is that we are going to paint the rocks at the entrance of the school  in Malaysian colours and then perhaps paint rabbits on the rocks! I definitely am getting more used to the "Changing Rooms" satin look which makes me wonder if I stayed here much longer would I be stapling a frilly satin skirt onto my table. Help - I need saved before my sense of taste has completely gone!

Simon's Travelogue from the Land Below the Wind

  
  Good Morning from the Land Below the Wind, the name given Northern Borneo by the old pirates and traders of the Sulu Sea. In the 1920s and 1930s it was the last surviving Chartered Company territory run by a board of directors in London and rather more Conrad than Coward or Somerset Maughan ,then it suffered the shock and destruction of the Second World War, got rebuilt as a British Crown colony in 1950s and 1960s and then became Sabah, the easternmost portion of modern Malaysia. I am here visiting old friend Fiona who is working with the British Council and based at Ranau 1,800 metres up on the flanks of Mt Kinabalu , the highest peak between the Himalaya and New Guinea. It is monsoon season and this morning when I emerged from sleeping off the effects of the 36 hour trek from East Sheen, London SW14 via Qatar, Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu it looked as if it might pour with rain, but the skies have cleared, it is a pleasant 26c and after a breakfast in town  of roti chanai  and fresh mango with some windfall rambutans and mangosteens, I am ready to explore...

 Some hours later , having spent the afternoon viewing the Sabah Tea estate and the tumbling green tropical forests below the cloud-hung heights of Mount Kinabalu ,as well as the sobering memorial to the 1,787 Australian and 641 British POWs who perished on the Sandakan-Ranau death marches of 1944-1945 it is time to slap on the insect repellent and have a cooling beer on the verandah as the muezzin calls the local minority of Malay muslims to prayer. The majority inland and up in the mountain country are Dusun, one of the indigenous peoples of Borneo, and who, like the numerous Chinese traders in the towns and on the coast are often Christian.  But this multicultural melange mixed with tropical languor is very laid-back and welcoming.

 On day two we drive along a switchback  road through the deeply forested Crocker Ranges to meet two other teachers on the British Council/Malaysian Government programme for a lunch of  “chicken with rice”  accompanied by “coffee O” at an airy restaurant, before climbing into the forest to  a local beauty spot and waterfall renowned for its spiritual healing qualities. Unfortunately as we were the only visitors this afternoon the lifeguard is not on duty in his kiosk beside the pool beneath the falls so we do not take a dip. On returning through the luxuriant green of the forest an off-duty park ranger tells us he wants to show us where a Rafflesia is in flower not too far from the trail. This giant carnivorous plant that is more similar in texture and appearance to a coral head than to other members of the plant kingdom. It flowers very briefly and then in putrid decay attracts insect life to death in its digestive system. We were in luck to see one of the rare gems of Borneo’s wilderness. Our off-duty ranger did not want a tip, he did want to practise his English and to enlighten us on some of the wonders of the forest. Such, generally, is the lack of hassle in these parts….

P.S. Simon has left on his way to Cambodia now but had a lovely visit to the orang utan rehabilitation centre in Sepliok. Fiona

Durions and Simon

     As soon as I arrived in Ranau on Wednesday, I could smell the pungent scent of the durion fruit, which rather like Livarot cheese, once smelt never forgotten and you either love or hate it. The people of Sabah say that their durions are better than Sarawak's and the people of Ranau claim that their durions are the best in Sabah. So at this time of year there are stalls lining the roads entering Ranau selling the creme de la creme of durions and the odeur wafts through the air. January is the peak season and people do literally gorge themselves on this fruit and it appears to be quite addictive and difficult to satisfy the longing for it. As a great fruit lover and been known to eat kilos of grapes, tomatoes, plums, pineapples, mangoes..... to excess, I have still not found the secret to love this fruit and when my landlady presented me with a durion I had great difficulty in looking pleased! There are many durion trees in our garden but on a more positive note there are also rambutan and mangosteen trees which are both delicious and in season now.

Mangosteens

Fruit from the garden

Simon posing at Sabah Tea plantation

My drive to school

  I have sort of got back into the routine of things at school and it is lovely seeing everyone again. It does surprise me how genuinely pleased they seem to be on seeing me and I am reminded again at how warm and friendly these people are and how lucky I am to know them. I returned to my zumba class this evening and they were all commenting on my chubby cheeks ( don't ask which ones )- they also tend to be very direct - and my work skirts are definitely feeling tight! It is the rainy season but so far it hasn't been too bad although one of schools that has to be reached on a gravel road is more of a challenge.

 My first visitor of the year has arrived who is a friend since university days. Simon and I have kept in contact and seen one another nearly every year since then - be it in Bermuda, where we worked or France where we both live. Sabah is perhaps the one on the list we least expected but it doesn't seem that strange really. Simon is the intrepid traveller and it would be hard to find a country that he has not visited. He is on his way to Cambodia to volunteer in an orphanage and has taken a side trip to check up on me and verify that I am actually working! I have a lot of admiration for him as a few years ago he had an accident in the Pyrenees and broke his neck. He spent the next 6 months in hospitals in Spain and England and very gradually started to make progress and was able to "walk" out of the Spinal Unit in Salisbury with the aid of two crutches. He has defied all the pessimistic prognoses that he wouldn't be able to live an independent life and through determination and a lot of courage he has continued to live his life on his terms. I have boundless admiration for you , Simon.

There's no place like home

The Christmas reindeer

Silly Games!

I seem to have lost all track of days but I think it is Wednesday and I am in Ranau but having left on New Year's Eve and only having a "sleep" on the plane, I'm feeling slighty delirious. Anyway I'm back at my little house that has been locked up for 6 weeks. The only real problem is that the water has been cut off and we can't find where at the moment. So a bucket of water will suffice for the time being and I just have to sweep the dead insects and gecko droppings up and it will be returned to normality - the advantages of having a small, new house. My car has been serviced and polished while I have been away and looks very smart. My landlady/ friend came to meet me from the bus station in Ranau and I was pleased that  the mini bus driver recognised me in KK and I paid the local price (5 ringitts cheaper than orang putihs!) Even Mount Kinabalu decided to welcome me despite being hidden for 4 hours up the mountain, she suddenly revealed herself when I arrived in Ranau. So as I sit writing this, missing all my loved ones and home in France, I am listening to the constant cricket sounds and watching the fireflies dancing around the garden thinking it IS nice to be back. I start work tomorrow and have managed to carry 20 kilos of children's books which I'm looking forward to sharing with everyone. The next nine months , I know will fly by and I really want to make the most of it.... so no more moping and wishing I was home. If  all year could be like the Christmas holidays with all of the family around coming and going and a whirl of socializing then I would never want it to end, however the reality is that it isn't and the family have all got their own lives and work to be getting on with and so must I. I had such a wonderful time seeing everyone and I do miss you all very much - thank you dear family and friends for making me realise "There's no place like home".

Christmas dinner

I hope everyone has a very happy and healthy 2013.

PS. I can't upload any photos still - must be my internet here - will attempt to find out why.