Penang -- Week 15 -- Babywearer's Anonymous

Week 15
WEEKEND
Saturday is the babywearing group meeting!  YAY!  Too bad I'm feeling like crud all day.  Ah well.  It's potluck, but I don't feel like making anything, so I'm just bringing the big pot of gazpacho (cold Spanish soup) I made a couple of days ago.  They're going to think I'm so weird. 

We arrive at the "Caring Complex" and get lost in the maze of this building's corridors that go inside, outside and around.  Finally we find the room full of babywearers; moms and dads are standing in huddles and kids are running around and learning (or not) about 'sharing.'  It reminds me a little of when we used to go the dog park in Thornton.  Course, that used to remind me of the whole soccer-mom culture.  Basically parents (of children both hairless and furry) will take any excuse they can get to commune, commiserate, and brag, while their little ones are snatching each other's toys and sniffing each other's butts.  This is as true in suburban Colorado as it is in Penang.

Some things are different here.  Immediately after our entrance, a group of guys walk right past me without looking and shake George's hand and introduce themselves.  Likewise, some women cross in front of George and introduce themselves to me.  It's like the other gender doesn't exist!  But everyone is so friendly and they all have such warm smiles to share, that it's more of an interesting cultural difference than something to get myself in a feminist tizzy over.  When it's about time to start, we have a seat on the floor next to a Malay/muslim couple.  I know that they are Malay/muslim because she wears a tudung.  The families pair up to get to know each other.  We're paired with our Malay neighbors.  She's Shida, and her husband is "Jo" (Jowari or something?), they have a beautiful little daughter, Anis, who was born the same month as Regin.  Sorry Lyric, Regin may have found a new girlfriend here! 

In the middle of everything, Shida turns to face away from the group and starts nursing Anis.  Shida says she's passionate about babywearing, cloth diapering, and breastfeeding; indeed she organizes a local breastfeeding group that I may also join at some point. 

Jess, the girl I met at Little Penang Street Market, is basically giving instruction to the group on general use of slings and today's focus:  ring slings.  Her own products are really beautifully made, but she confirms my suspicion that the whole sling/baby carrier market is a scam:  you can easily just tie a piece of fabric (without sewing) and she shows us one method.  I'm eager to see another method I saw online.  I ask her about fabric stores and she suggests a big one.  But she warns me that it's not as "complete" as I may expect.  I may not find the notions and things I'm looking for, and they may not be able to advise me on fiber content.  She also recommends that I just go ahead and buy some batik for slings, since it's a traditional, local product, and the fabric works well. 

Some Brits and an Australian/Malaysian couple come late.  The Brits are fascinating.  They took a year off work to sail around the world, and here they are, something like 9 years later, and they still haven't finished their trip.  They have two kids.  They have been here in Malaysia for four years on a slight baby-birthing delay.  They have a new boat, but don't think they will be able to have it ready by January to sail to India, so they think they'll be here at least another year.  We're totally intrigued by their adventure, but the biggest question on my mind is how they are funding their lives.  They do mention a cash flow problem, but there is some mystery there.  Basically I want to know how I can achieve a similar life without George or I working.

The mom is a slinging pro, and she's totally DIY, no sew.  Looks like you really can use almost any old fabric.  Why did I let the American women online scare me into thinking it had to be very particular fabric or it could rip and the baby fall out.  This is yet another instance of how Americans live in fear over everything, and Europeans and Asians are far more relaxed.  What a relief.  Come to think about it.  What would be the big deal if the fabric ripped?  It's highly unlikely that it would happen so fast that I couldn't hold onto Regin and make sure he didn't fall.  And surely I would have some ripping sounds to warn me. 

At one point, the British woman, who is not quite so modest as Shida, whips out her boob and starts nursing in front of everyone.  But no one flinches.  It seems just as accepted here, even with a couple of muslim fathers/husbands present.

When Jess is done, we mingle and eat.  No one quite knows what to do with my gazpacho.  In fact, most of the people who try it think it's a sauce for another dish, despite the proximity of a stack of bowls and spoons.  Jess and her mom, however, are very into it and are asking about the recipe.  They can't believe that I just threw some veggies in a blender and didn't have to cook to make a soup.  George is also now admitting that he loves it and wants me to make more.  I guess he's over his initial reluctance to accept the absurdity of a cold soup.

Jess is so excited about George.  Even though every mom present has brought along her male counterpart, none of the guys are actual wearers of babies, and suggestions that they try are met with snickers and jokes.  George, on the other hand, without the slightest bit of self-consciousness, puts Regin in his sling and wears him for the rest of the meeting.  Jess must have taken ten photos of him to put up on Facebook.  Here are some of those and other photos that I stole from Facebook:

 

Regin (behind the ball) is playing with little Anis.  

 

Someone needs to tell George, because I'm obviously too busy daydreaming, that his sling isn't quite right and Regin is kind of... falling out a tad.

 

Above is our host and organizer, Jess, modeling one of her slings with someone else's baby -- her own is a bit too old (three) to fit in a sling in this position.

We have salsa plans Saturday that get pushed off till Sunday, then called off for the weekend because I'm feeling pretty terrible with my HG.  I really have to be better about making sure I get the right food at the right time, even when I'm at an event.