My Surroundings

Yesterday my "mini-bar" arrived - a perk of being a long term resident. I have stocked it with water, cereal, milk and an orange. I am pleased to have this new addition - especially since I leave for Malaysian class before the canteen opens. Plus I am not convinced that a breakfast of noodles and egg is the best start to every day.

I also snapped the view from my "front door" actually at the right time one notices the hills that surround the campus. This picture doesn't do justice to the really attractive surrounding (beyond the tall buildings) but it gives you an idea. The building pictured is the Institute of Archeology - when I return home in the afternoon there are bunches of women washing rocks (my apologies to any readers who are serious scientists.)

This morning I sat and chatted in the office of a colleague in the Housing Department. It was a great conversation and I learned more about Sunni and Shia differences. Maybe now I can keep straight which is which. Malaysians and Indonesians are largely Sunni.

When I returned to my office I wrote several "maybe you have ideas?" e-mails. This is my favorite subject line for "please help me." This afternoon one recipient contacted me - he has put me in touch with someone who will speak to my class on how Malaysian public officials use policy analysis. I am convinced that the students in the class believe that the gov't uses no analysis or use it for window dressing. I will follow up on the contacts tomorrow. I am impressed with how generous and helpful people are.

Next weekend I am meeting with the cousin of my roommate from VPI (where I went for sabbatical). The timing will be perfect after a month of weekends spent trying to figure out the community it will be nice to be with someone who actually knows where she is!