Penang -- Week 11 -- Little Penang Part 1

SATURDAY, May 24th
I've decided. I'm taking up babywearing again, for real this time. Mostly I don't want to spend the outrageous money it would take for me to buy a babycarrier here for hikes and such, and I've had it in my head that we will soon hike up Penang Hill with Regin in the sling. Well, I have to train for that! So I'm going to start carrying him for lengths of time on my back. I wonder how many days/weeks of this it will take before I am ready for a multi-hour hike. Today we walk to lunch at a Chinese restaurant a few streets away. When Regin finally gets to sleep I switch him the front so I can sit and eat, but I end up keeping him that way for his whole nap because it's so yummy to snuggle like that with him it's amazing.
It's like what a pregnancy is in your dreams: a baby that you can really feel, snuggled and warm, but with none of the physical complaints, though it does wear out your back after a while. Regin seems to like it too. He's taking to it much better than when he was an infant.


SUNDAY
Today I'm slinging it again.
And it's our sight-seeing/cultural experience day today, so with Regin on my back (for a few minutes), we visit Little Penang Street Market. It's a small arts & crafts and performing arts festival that happens once a month.
There's a little tent with some artwork hanging.
Oh thank goodness for art. I have been missing my First Fridays in Denver! There are some other tents with food and crafts for sale.
There are portrait artists and a performance area where, right now, there is a group of kids performing music.
Get this, there is also a table where a girl is selling handmade slings! She invites me to a babywearing group meeting. Can you believe it? Right when I decide to take it up again! I'm especially excited about this. I have been really wanting to connect with local people more and connect Regin with more kids, plus it's tremendously thrilling to find some like-minded people when you feel so disconnected from what you know.

I'm taking tons of pictures, mostly of Regin with his balloon (post to follow), but I'm not the only one who wants to take pictures of Regin.

Penang -- Week 1, Part 4 - Impressions

IMPRESSIONS OF PENANG

The Food
Lots of noodles, sauces, and spice. Sometimes I don't mind the heat (when it's not strong), but sometimes I order something to take a break from the heat and it ends up being super hot. Other than Little India, we didn't start getting into the more authentic foods until Sunday (will write about it in my next post). But most of what we've had is pretty good. Food here in general is fusion food, so when I speak about Indian or Chinese food, you have to keep in mind that I have no idea what those foods taste like in those countries. Chinese food here seems to have a little more depth than I'm used to. The sweet sauces aren't just a combo of sweet, sour, and/or spicy, they also often have some kind of nutmeg/cinnamony spice in them. Sometimes I like it, sometimes it's not my taste. But until we get to the hawker foods, apparently we're not eating anything totally authentic or what Penang is known for -- delicious. My favorite so far is the Indian place. I asked the girl there what everything is called, and she's like, "that's carrots, white carrots, cucumber and yogurt," and I'm like, "and this here?" "Vegetables." "But it doesn't have a name?" "No." Haha! So much for me trying to start to learn the names of everything so I can be in the know like the locals! Other than this trip though, I'm feeling a little led on about the cuisine in Penang. And we haven't ventured over to the hawkers yet because, well, everything looks dirty and open to the flies. There was a rat running around at the hawker/restaurant next door to the cleaners. And that, by the way, is my first time seeing a rat outside of a pet store.

The Costs
I'm feeling a little led on here too. Ok, so going organic is going to be very expensive, but I didn't expect to pay for imported American goods. And the clothes? I guess I am supposed to go to the little (flea) markets and shop there. But I'm realizing how westernized I am. I don't want to! Oh sure, I don't mind looking for local wares (trinkets and things) there, or buying fruit from a wet market (at least I hope I won't), but I want a certain kind of atmosphere when I'm buying clothes (George feels this way about the eating, and he's struggling to change that), or I am grumpy and uninspired. If I head to the mall, I have my environment, but now I am paying for imported goods from the States and elsewhere. I guess hawker stands will offer us cheaper foods, but restaurants here aren't much cheaper than the States.

The People
Another place I've been led on. Maybe I just haven't interacted enough, but I don't find the people here to be especially nice. Nice enough, absolutely, but not especially nice. Again, Japan was a little exceptional in this regard, so maybe I can't gauge it all that well right now. George is a little weirded out by us being such an obvious minority. There are a lot of Asian faces around us and the westerners stick out like a sore thumb, but I actually don't notice this most of the time. At least I don't notice the Asians. I totally notice the white faces. And I notice that there are no black people at all. (We've since seen one.)

The Language
It's fun for a little while to be in a place where you're forced to alter your methods of communication, but after a while this is really going to wear me out. I have started dreading eating out because it's so much work. I have to learn some more Malay.

The Roads
Terrifying. I don't want to walk, bike, drive, or ride in a car driven by someone else. It's a nightmare.

The Scenery
The jungle-covered hills are really beautiful. That's totally what Florida is missing. But we don't see them enough. And the ocean views aren't the most amazing I've seen. The colonial architecture (if you can find it) is nice, but a lot has been allowed to get a run-down look here. Maybe it's that weather is too harsh, or the humidity makes it impossible to keep up with things like rust, but at times I feel like we're verging on third world. They have all these amazing high-tech, ultra urban developments planned, but half the island needs little more than a fresh coat of paint and maybe a little tidy up.

The Wildlife
I LOVE THAT I HAVE SEEN WILD MONKEYS!!! Other than that it's been mostly pests in our hotel apartment: ants and lizards. My standards are lowering there. You have to get used to it I guess. But if nothing else it's helping me to be a little more on top of cleaning, I think. I can't believe I saw a rat at a place to eat. George got bitten several times at dinner one night by mosquitoes. Regin and I escaped, bite free. We're a little worried about all the biting things around here since there are a few possible diseases, and we haven't vaccinated (not that I'm convinced vaccinations do anything anyway.) I'm, as always, acutely aware of Regin's vulnerability, and part of me can't wait for him to be big so scary things like this will threaten him more with illness than with death. Still, I'm trying not to overreact and buy into all the fear that people peddle these days.

The Climate
The heat didn't hit me when we first got here. It seemed very tolerable, and certainly nothing close to the hottest I'd felt in Florida. I guess those were a cool couple of days. We've had hotter days since and it's pretty miserable, but still not the worst I've experienced. I'm happy to report that they do have functioning cooling systems here. What they call air conditioning (or "air con."), seems to be an installed swamp cooler in the more important rooms. They work so well that it's either frigid indoors (in those rooms), or, if you turn them off, baking hot. I can't seem to find an in between yet. It's really difficult to do anything here outdoors during the day. And in fact the island comes alive at dusk. Markets open up and people pour out into the streets. Apparently the wet markets are an early morning affair. The rain has been no big deal at all so far. But they must have some sudden torrential downpours here because the locals start panicking and tell you to cover up your baby whenever there is a light drizzle. There is also a pretty major drainage system here, the sidewalks are super high and riddled with ditches, but they laugh when we asks if they get floods.

Regin
Regin is doing well here so far. He seems to be great when we're taking him out all day and he gets to see different things. But he overheats quickly and that is frustrating and scary. Hopefully he'll be better adapted soon. We've been neglecting his development in many areas; we really haven't worked with him in any kind of way to encourage his growth in speech or walking or motor skills or anything. He's forgotten some of his signs and the potty thing has been completely put on hold. Switching to disposables has been a huge set back. Sure, they're convenient when you're traveling around, but he's pretty much forgotten how to use the potty, and he rarely uses it now. When I put him on it, he gets mad. His sleep patterns are all over the place, but he seems to be waking only once or so every night. His skin is definitely so much better here. He hardly ever scratches himself anymore. And he hasn't had his usual rashes. I've already reintroduced some of his questionable foods. I may even reintroduce carrots. He's had a voracious appetite. He may be growing, or maybe all the processed foods I've been feeding him don't fill him up. He rarely gets anything homemade anymore. The apartment can't come soon enough for that. But his mood is generally great as always, and people here absolutely adore him. We're stopped everywhere we go. People talk to him and even touch him. On Sunday (while out sight-seeing) a girl came and grabbed him while we were sitting on the grass, sat him on her lap -- without asking -- and posed for a picture for her friends' camera. People are constantly remarking how beautiful he is. But it is interesting to see how different cultures interact with babies, and the difference in personal space. Our bell hop at one point (while he was waiting in our hotel room for us to be ready to switch rooms) picked Regin up and held him for a while. Side note: when he put him down in front of me, Regin's momentum allowed him to walk his first couple of steps towards me! We haven't been able to duplicate this yet though.

Other
It's so fun to see some of the products I grew up with. The stationary sections of the book stores feel so European (the pens and things remind me of Europe, and they use A4 paper like England), and there are some grocery store goods (candies, etc.) that I haven't seen in a while. But I haven't braved the sweets yet. I don't want to push my hypoglycemia.

Summary
I'm not really loving it here. George either. We're wondering what it is that Carmen loves so much, and I hate to say it, but I have to wonder if it's her semi-colonial lifestyle she's leading. But, to be fair, we haven't had much chance to do the fun stuff yet. And I'm still glad I came. I would have regretted missing this opportunity for sure.

Penang -- Week 20 -- Little Penang II

SUNDAY, July 27th

In the morning there is a walk to the wet market.  

Then...

Little Penang again today.  I have no intentions of getting obsessed with photographing everything like the first time, but then I see the most amazing dance performance and suddenly I'm snapping everything.  Enjoy...

These dancers were fabulous and stunning.

The people packed all around the tent, and there were photographers galore.  Check out the row of people sitting on the ground.  All photographers!  I think there is a photography club that goes to this event every month because I see this gaggle of photogs whenever we go.

Cool peacock dance.

All kinds of costume changes.

They were interviewed after their performance.

Tents and tables of sundries.

Jess (from babywearing) was there selling her slings and things.

There was a crowd around this guy.

He was making a "Malaysian grasshopper" out of a paper or plastic strip.

The guy sitting next to him makes paper airplanes out of flyers.

George is bored and ready to leave.

This is Jack -- someone we've met through babywearing.

When we got home we saw this.  Malaysian grasshopper?

More (arty) photos from the day on my art blog.

Penang -- Week 33 -- Babywearers on Parade

Week 33
WEEKEND, October 24th - 26th
Friday is Shanti's last day before Deepavali. She's been hinting around like crazy since Wednesday for the bonus that a month ago she informed me I should give her. Finally, after a lot of back and forth in my head, chats with other expats and locals, I decide to give her a little something. It's just less than two-week's pay, which is plenty big to me, but she'd asked for a one-month bonus. I explain our financial situation nd apologize, but she seems tickled with whatever I give her, so I think we're still good.

On Sunday we're helping to support Jess, the organizer of our Babywearing group, and the creator and chair of Malaysian Babywearers. She's trying to promote International Babywearing Week (November 12 - 18) in Malaysia and she's enlisted us all to help out with several booths and a show at this month's Little Penang Street Market.

It's a huge success! We're drawing tons of attention from current and prospective babywearers, we're being photographed left and right by the gaggle of photographers that show up here every month (they're like a club), and we're being interviewed by all the major Malaysian newspapers.

Photos...

 

George shows how manly babywearing is.

  

Jess and others man the booths.

  

Jess and Bee Gaik help this woman try a pouch for the first time.  (I also gave a demo of the pouch and the wrap rucksack carry)

  

George and Regin break for lunch.

 

Regin is a nut for juice, or as he says, ooh-oh (as in "jugo").

Valderiiiii, valderaaaa, valderiiii, valdera-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, valderiiiii, valderaaaa, my baby on my back!  (Still have Oktoberfest on the brain!)

 

Debz (on the right) is talking to an australian woman who might start coming to our group meetings.  We're like a cult; we recruit.

George was busy for a while with this reporter who I think was from the Straits Times.

 

Alison and her baby, Sabastien.  She's been babywearing for ages, but has recently taken up the ring sling.  She asked me to teach her how to do back carry with the ring sling.  Seems like no one but George and me use the carriers on their backs!

  

Eloise (Alison's daughter) with Regin.  Such a beautiful little girl!

  

Valderiiiii... my boy on Papi's back!

  

All the kids were playing in this phone booth. I have some sweet photos of Regin "making calls" in the phone booth that I'll put up later.

  

  

This was during our show in the entertainment tent.  This is by that same New2Mac guy that got our Oktoberfest picture.  Too bad he didn't get one of George.  I thought he was totally hot in the show.

 

You can see more of the pictures from the day here.

P.S. There was a gorgeous Swiss-Malaysian girl teaching salsa later in the day!  Naturally, we introduced ourselves.  She's lived much of her life in Europe as well as Penang and speaks 8 languages including Spanish!  She's been living in Singapore most recently.  She seems to be a pretty cool chick.

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.