on the other side of the world

for starters, i am safe and sound. at the moment i am sitting in the family room, with my brother, jeffery, and my auntie zam sipping green tea while they read and i am criss-cross on the shag rug with this nifty netbook.
so i made it to malaysia, and got through customs with my luggage pretty easy. it was interesting, but most of it was clear and simple to follow.
there was a guy with an AFS shirt there to pick me and max up from the airport. he then told me that i will be working in a down syndrome house with children and that i do have a permanent family but they are overseas right now. then he bought us bottled water, called a taxi and sent us off to the hotel.
once there i was informed that we arrove a day late for the orientation in malaysia. then we were rushed into the details of a scavenger hunt within kuala lumpur. we (the AFS kids) split into groups of five with a leader and had to use 10 ringgit to buy one toiletry item, one souvenir, and one post card with a stamp. we went out and walked the streets, used public transit (subways and monorail sorta systems).
let me say here: malaysia is beautiful! everything is so luscious. i constantly feel like i'm in a scene from the amazing race, with the little cars, and motor bikes weaving amongst the traffic. tropical plants are everywhere and the streets are covered with the most interesting shops, so much color. there are parts that look so worn in, oozing with stories to tell, but then you will drive on to see some modern shops made of such perfection.  walking the streets was a blast. i was taken back by all that there was to admire and view. ah, exploration!!
moving on with my story: the mall we went to was in the bottom of the petronas twin towers! i believe it was five or so floors of shopping! my group was the first to finish and the only one that we each completed the list! oh yeah!
FF- i got baby lotion, a post card w/ stamp, & a pen.
there are around sixteen other kids but they are all in highschool. i am the only community service participant. they refer to it as "CSP" (so in the future, i will use that term). one girl is only fourteen! brave soldier living away from home for a year. 
the next day we woke up and got our stuff together because the host families were arriving that morning to pick us all up. i however, am without a permanent family still. so my chapter president was taking me in on behave of my future family. we went up in front of the families and had to introduce ourselves in Malay (:
we all ate, had tea. then went our separate ways with our families. so, auntie zam and i went off towards her home. she asked if i would be okay with running errands, which of course i was more than okay with, so we got to run around town for a bit. after a while we were back at auntie zam's.
i then met jeffery, her son and uncle rosden, her husband. also, they have a daughter julie who is studying in france. she is only seventeen and has graduated high school and is in her first year of college! i'm extremely impressed.
the home is in a gated community and each home has a gate around their property. they have six cars, and a lovely home with a spanish style roof (my favorite!) along with quite a few cats. only one cat however, is allowed inside. the weather in malaysia allows for the homes to be open, so they have open doorways and windows all over, with covered seating outside. i feel very welcome and at peace here; it's a shame this isn't my host home..
so, all the AFS participants will meet up in two weeks to have an in depth orientation. they wanted us to each stay with our families a bit and experience the actual home life. so now, when we meet we will have actual scenarios to ask questions about or we can share with one another how we have been adjusting. this way we get more out of the orientation period.
---got distracted and now i am picking this back up on monday afternoon---
so at auntie zam's i was a bit tired and went upstairs for a nap. it was a perfect nap. outside it was drizzling,  the windows were open with a breeze flowing through the room where i lay on a queen size down comforter bed. after my nap the family informed me that we were going out for dinner.
we ended up going to their club. it is apparently one of the top ten golf clubs in the world. they have thirty six holes and flood lights on the course at night so you can golf at any time. i am not sure the name of the place.. they apparently go out to eat there once a week. the food was incredible. it was open to the outside with this rich aroma due to all these stations placed throughout with men cooking all sorts of food. it was ah, i don't know how to explain it any better. top notch variety of malaysian cuisine with flair? how's that sound.
all the restaurants and businesses here are open to the outside. also, the shopping malls are mostly like that as well. they are strip centers or have openings up to the sky in the middle. (if that makes sense?).
on the way home from dinner we stopped at their friend's home to show me the dogs. they have four dogs, four birds, and sixteen cats. sounds awful, right? but it isn't! it is so clean. the dogs have their own room, as do the birds, and the cats. this family has five cars i believe was the total and their house was beautiful as well. we had coffee and chatted for some good time, about till eleven something?
the next morning (Sunday) i woke up to the sound of rain to go to the market with auntie zam. but first she had got breakfast for everyone to eat together. it was nasi lemak with squid. it was white rice with fried egg, peanuts, these dried fish pieces, sauce, and squid. rather interesting.. but it was actually not bad at all. spicy and strange but tasty.
now the market, this was phenomenal. (i have photos. don't you fear). there, i met her friend auntie jenny who is a florist there at the market. then we got all sorts of fruits and vegetables. as well as beans, nuts, eggs, fish for the cats, and some sauces. after there we went to visit her sister.
at her sisters where it is still raining, we chatted then had lunch. her maids made four dishes and served coffee and fruits. then we went out to the garden where auntie zam was given some plants to take home with us. the garden was beautiful, as well as her home. i continue to be blown away with the homes, i love the feel of them.
then we went home to take the groceries.
later on we went to the other market where auntie zam gets her fish. there was fresh fish straight from the sea. we were there underneath umbrellas while the sky continued to pour. we also got some more local produce and looked for some sort of fresh cookies but ended up walking the wrong way in the rain so she settled without them this week.
then we came back to the house to unload and chit chat with the family for a bit. auntie zam got cleaned up then we went to the actual grocery store. this was extremely exciting for me because of the parking alone. so you park underneath the store and each spot has a light above it with a motion detector. when a car parks in the spot, the light turns red, but when it is open the spot is green. so when looking for a parking spot, you just glance at the ceiling for a green light!! ah, i always thought they needed a system like this but i always thought of using flags? this makes so much more sense. i was beyond excited. to top it off, they have the buggy system like whole foods in austin or how stores are in los angeles where they have the slanted escalator for the carts to ride on without rolling. i always get excited to see these.
in the store we got drinks (fruit juices, milk, water) and some items like cereal. they don't buy much in the grocery stores here. the carts are the size of our pharmacy buggies.
back to the house we go and uncle rosden was making bread butter pudding. we were having friends over to "tea" but ends up we were having coffee? we also ate the pudding then they decided to cook noodles. so we ate oranges and the pudding while i shared pictures of you all. we all sat around and chatted and ate then they smoked.
side note: they all smoke. everyone drinks coffee and loves tobacco.
more family showed up and we moved into the family room and sat around telling jokes and swapping stories for a couple hours. slowly everyone dispersed around ten thirty.
i was exhausted but stayed up a bit later with auntie zam and uncle rosden while they showed me some photos and what not. eventually by eleven thirty i was passed out.
i slept like a baby till nine thirty.
after i ate some breakfast and showered i hung out with uncle rosden. he was prepping food and watching discovery channel so i made us coffee. then he, jeffery, and i went out to buy me a phone. everyone here has fancy phones but i got the cheapest i could find.. which was actually only 90 ringgit. but then i bought minutes for 20 more ringgit, which is only fourteen minutes. i will have to continue to purchase minutes throughout the year.
well, i think i covered everything? so much has happened and i keep getting distracted chatting or helping out. i just want to post this and let y'all ask questions. i will try and write daily from here forth because recalling this much information is too tough.
i love you all and miss you!!