Kuala Lumpur, a city of contrasts

By now it is more than fair to write about Kuala Lumpur (KL) as I have been living here for a month already. Nevertheless, I think much will be left unsaid for future posts :)

Kuala Lumpur (translate as "muddy confluence”) has an estimated population of 1.6 and the greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million. Quite bigger than any city I have lived until now heheh.

KL is a very busy city, there is a lot of traffic and even during the night there are many cars on the roads. Also, there are many places opened 24h a day, including street restaurants so you can eat any time you wish to.

It is a very tall city compared to the European cities I have visited and full of contrasts and disparity: in one hand it can be very new and modern and on the other hand, there are many traditional neighborhoods a bit old and dirty.

I’ve seen some nice parks and streets to have some walks but with this heat its hard to find motivation. Therefore, one of the most common things I find here is shopping malls, I mean with this weather, who doesn’t wants to go on a shopping mall once in a while with air-con?

Aside shopping, I found out something that Malay families also do: launch kites :) How nice is that?

Also, it is possible to find a lot of Muslim influence in some buildings, as well as, worship places for Indians and Chinese. Here are some which I have visited:

Batu caves, where there is a Indian Temple inside. At the entrance you can see a statue 43m tall of the God of War.

Inside the caves where a lot of monkeys live, as well as, some other animals...

With my friend and college Nicole with whom I went to visit Batu Caves.

The inside of a Chinese Temple in Chinatown where a worker places incense in the ceiling which gives it a great atmosphere.

Thean Hou Temple, the biggest Chinese Temple in Malaysia with my friend Inês, who is living nearby in Singapore.

Finally, the most important building of KL are the Petronas Towers, these were the world's tallest buildings before being surpassed by Taipei 101. However, the towers are still the tallest twin buildings in the world.

And of course, as any tourist in KL, here you go my picture with the famous towers :)

Life in Malaysia

So I'm gonna try to explain a bit better how my life is now in Malaysia because people keep asking me that.

I live in a house around 6km from the city (with traffic jam is a bit hard to predict how long it takes). There is a bus that goes to city center BUT buses in Malaysia don’t have a schedule due to unpredictable traffic so is very uncertain :S

The office of the NGO I am working in (http://www.spca.org.my/) is in the ground floor of the house I live in :) So I am one floor away from work. My room is fully equipped with everything needed (furniture, toilet, wireless and air-conditioned!!!). In the house there are some dogs and cats with which I became acquaintance of already.

The locals speak Malay but almost all the people I’ve meet speaks English so communication is going quite well despite the different accents which confuses me a lot!

The food is very diverse, there is Malay food, Indian and Chinese the most. It’s also possible to find western food (mostly fast food) and from Thailand, Vietnam and so. Of course the food is mostly spicy or sweet (I ate sweet noodles recently heheh) so if you are too picky this is not a good option for you :)

Indian Stand

Malay dish (they eat a lot of rise)

The place where we normally have lunch in.

A very curious thing for me is the time difference which is 8 hours ahead GMT. So, when I wake up at 9am, everyone in Portugal is sleeping or going to bed because it’s 1am there. When I finish my work at 6pm, people are only working for one hour in Portugal because it’s 10am there. Finally, when I go to sleep at 1am, in Portugal is only 5pm. So if you want to chat with me online and you haven’t found out why I’m not online at late afternoon and night, now you know!

Last, but not least, the people. As I said the diversity is quite huge physically but also religiously. Until now I found people very nice and helpful, in my work, in supermarket, in any shop. It’s very hard to guess from where they are because Malaysia had many colonizers, firstly the Portuguese, the British and also the Japanese. Aside that they have a lot of Indians and Chinese people living here, and probably from nearby countries as well. Despite the fact that most population is Muslim, I would say Malaysia is a very open-minded country and people are very opened to foreigners and quite used to it.

So life in Malaysia, despite the differences, is quite good! It’s different from anything I had experienced until now and much more is still to come!

Trip and first impressions

My first stop before arriving to Kuala Lumpur was London in which I’ve spend one night. I met 2 good friends, went for a dinner, and before my flight I ate an English Breakfast in a Spanish bar listening to Fado, Tribalistas and Buraca. That was very odd!

A short stop in Egypt, and then in Malaysia the first impact: the heat! I had been told that it was very hot and so on, but only experiencing it! I haven’t worn a jacket since I’m here basically and I sleep without any sheet on me. During the day is around 33º/34ºC, during the night around 25º/27ºC. Sometimes during the afternoon rains heavily so everywhere I go I need to carry an umbrella. Me and everyone heheh.

Secondly, I was impressed with the abundant nature everywhere! The airport is well designed so there are some interior gardens and all the way to the city there were fields and fields full of palm trees! Most of the roads have trees aside of many tropical kinds.

This is a photo of the airport interior.

I stayed for 2 nights in a student residence where I could hear a lot of animals outside (which seemed like a jungle), the praises from a near Mosque (more than half of Malaysia population is Muslim) and where I could experience 2 nights of sleep with that heat!

View from the residence window.

The second day after an interesting omelet with rise inside, I went for a near Shopping Mall and I have to say it was a cultural experience! There were so many people, lights, and noise, and impressively there was an artificial river in the middle of the shopping mall. I guess the photo speaks for itself!

Immediately I also noticed that the life standard is much lower than Portugal or Croatia, for example MacDonalds menu is around 2, maybe 2,5 Euros (I think this is the best worldwide example to compare prices heheh).

To finish, the amount of cultural diversity is overwhelming. Skin colors, language, clothes. It is a true cultural melting-pot country which I am very glad to get to know.

Next stop: Malaysia

It’s confirmed, I’m going Malaysia for two months in an internship through AIESEC.

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To resume firstly Malaysia is a former colony of UK with tropical weather which I am very curious to experience with 8 hours ahead of GMT. Aside this is a multi-racial country consisting of 61 percent Malays, 30 percent Chinese, 8 percent Indians and 1 percent of other ethnic groups.

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My internship will be in Kuala Lumpur which is the capital, but in the recent years, the administrative capital has been moved to the Federal Territory of Putrajaya.

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During the late 20th century, Malaysia experienced an economic boom and underwent rapid development. It borders the Strait of Malacca, an important international shipping crossroad, and international trade is integral to its economy. Manufacturing makes up a major sector of the country's economy. Malaysia has a biodiverse range of flora and fauna, and is also considered one of the 17 megadiverse countries.

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I will be working on a NGO, SPCA Selangor which is is an animal welfare organisation based in Ampang Jaya, Selangor. The aim of the SPCA is to protect defenseless animals and to alleviate their suffering. I will be working in Marketing, Education, events and doing any other administrative work needed. My internship will last for 2 months (February and March) and afterwards I plan to travel a bit around.

Can’t wait for it!

“It is harder to come back then to go somewhere in the first place”

My mom recently told me that since I returned from Croatia I am more anxious and impatient. I have to agree with this, not having an idea of what to do next and how to assure another peak in life brings frustration. .

But I have changed much more than this… Many things which I am not sure if I can put in words but I have been reflecting on this for a while so I think it’s great way to close this chapter in my blog by sharing a bit.

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My first year in Croatia was one of hardest I had in my entire life. I realized that until then I had been lucky with the people I worked with, I realized that I let myself be influenced by negativity and laziness and so many other things. In my first year I found out the worst side of me, I had many downs and at some point I wanted to leave.

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Looking back, I’m so glad I didn’t, I’m so glad I did exactly the opposite and pushed myself to stay a year longer despite my lack of motivation, confidence, trust… All of that based on hope and believe that AIESEC in Croatia should and could be better.

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So initially I became a worst person, no energy, no willingness, no strength, too flexible, lazy and I couldn’t recognize myself.

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Later on I picked up the pieces, I grabbed an idea, I stayed because I wanted better memories from Croatia and from my last year in AIESEC than the ones I had until then. So in the second year I again changed and I started recognizing myself again.

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So, comparing with the Catarina who left I am now more flexible (but just enough), direct, I accept jokes easier and I say them more often, I’m more confident with higher self-esteem, more extroverted, stronger, I feel more safe, I care less about what others think of me, I am more bitchy (in Croatia it is a trait), more tolerant and a bit more lazy, I use irony all the time, I am more independent, I am less harsh with myself and I am also more girlish heheh. I also started believing in relationships, I am less rational in it and I am so much more easy-going generally.

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My values became more solid, as well as, my personality. I think I will always be a bit Croat from now on, and I like it :)

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All of this came from the experiences I had and the learning’s I got out of those experiences. Maybe other people would have learned different things in the same situation, but these are lessons I took that will stay forever. So I learned:

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- What is like to work with people that bring the worst in me;

- To appreciate my country, to admire some of Portuguese values and history;

- To represent an entire country which is not mine based on trust;

- The difficulty to define “home”;

- Consequences of bad and lack of leadership;

- What is to be a Croat, to think as a Croat and what is the meaning of the Croatian flag ;)

- To be a tourist guide in Zagreb and Split;

- To realize that visas are a major issues outside EU;

- To be even less materialistic;

- To smile differently to take pictures;

- What is to work and live in the same house with the same people;

- Travel by train more than 24hours in a row;

- How war affects a culture and a country;

- What is to be rational, direct, concrete, honest in CEE style :)

- Balkan humor;

- The true meaning of “Saudade”;

- That I am a real AIESECer;

- What is Carnival without Brazilian music;

- Share the room with a crazy Serbian girl together with a Indian in the same house, and share a dorm experience with a Ukrainian;

- Dorm life;

- Push back the very barriers of my own personality;

- How hard it to use English to express feelings;

- I learned how the worst “me” is like;

- That sometimes my values fluctuate;

- To ask myself everyday “What the hell am I doing here?”;

- True friendship;

- Varazdin effect ;)

- How to drink Rakija without making a face;

- To be everyday out of my comfort zone;

- To gain perspective;

- Being able to read body language much better;

- All teams are different no matter how much we try;

- And a bit of Croatian language heheh.

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And to finish, do I miss Croatia? HELL YES! I miss people, much more than I would imagine when I first left Portugal. And I miss small things, like people calling me Cata, travelling by tram, the sound of Croatian language, people speaking loud in the public transportation, speaking in English, feeling unique because I was a Portuguese (here is not unique at all), the coffee bars, hearing “dobertek” before any meal, the nationalism, the hospitality, the bakeries and even the music!

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In the end, it was really worth, all the good and even the bad. Now I’m sure I did change but for better.

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Hvala puno to all who have contributed for this experience to be really life-changing.

“A man must travel. By his own, not through stories, pictures, books or TV. He’s got to travel by himself, with his eyes and feet, to understand what is his. To one day plant his own trees and value them. Knowing the cold to enjoy the heat. And the opposite. Feel the distance and absence of shelter to be well under his own roof. A man must travel to places that he does not know to break this arrogance that makes us see the world as we imagine it, and not simply as it is or can be. That makes us teachers and doctors of what we have not seen, when we should be students, and simply go see.” Amyr Klink

P.S: Sorry for the long post but then again, it’s the final one about Croatia so it’s special :)

Nomad Life

My last month in Croatia after the conference was one of the best gifts I could offer to myself. It was just what I needed to adjust to the fact that I was returning for good to Portugal, to say goodbye and see you soon to my good friends, reflect and finish all transition with the new team.

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I started the month by coloring my hair (actually, my successor did it) and by participating in another drinking marathon in Zagreb which was amazing and crazy :)

Then my friend Teresa came to visit me, we went to Slavonia (the north part of Croatia) to Slavonski Brod where my good friend Ana hosted us, then we travelled to Osijek to a party which was also by goodbye from this amazing city and people which always made me feel like home.

Then we went to Budapest where we meet Barbara and Marijana. I had time to get to know the city better and then we went for a day to Bratislava. We took a bus which cost 5€ and we paid 2€ for the return ticket from Bratislava to Budapest – only in Central Europe! I really liked Bratislava, it's small but sweet city.

Then we returned to Zagreb for a night, had a great breakfast prepared by Miran who hosted us, went to the coast, to Rijeka, then finally I visited Istria by going to Labin and Rabac where Alen and Irma received us :)

It was the perfect ending for the crazy trip with Teresa where we could rest and go to the beach.

Afterwards we got back to Rijeka for a very cool goodbye party that the Local Committee prepared, and Teresa left and I stayed in Zagreb.

Had good fun for a week, drinking Porto Wine by the river with good friends, went to birthday parties and visited Varazdin for a night. It was really worth going there to meet such people which I will miss a lot.

Then AIESEC in Croatia hosted the European Presidents Meeting in Zagreb where I meet some good friends and then some of us went to Split. It was rainy but for me what mattered were the people with whom I had great experiences, nights, morning and laughs during those days.

Back to Zagreb, Marta arrived, I had some goodbye party with Zagreb people and not only, including my non-AIESEC friends and the day after I finally visited Bosnia & Herzegovina. We went to Sarajevo where we were so well received by Dan and Zlatko, then travelled to beautiful Mostar where Reno hosted us. It was a very nice experience to visit this country, it's visible the huge effort being made to put the country in place after the war and the people are as nice and welcoming as I have been told several times.

Finally, back to Split for some resting because I got sick. But even so I went night swimming and had opportunity to visit Brac and have some crazy nights as usual.

Marta left to Zagreb and I went to visit Marijana at Kukljica where I finally had time to rest, relax and reflect. I also visited Zadar and then I left to Zagreb to catch my flight…

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It was a crazy and hard month. I was sick and tired of packing, travelling, sleeping here and there, I was sick of that nomad life but it has good things… The best was the possibility that I had to see all those people again, to realize that I made great friendships during my period in Croatia and that no matter what, I will return because these people are now part of me.