It’s Tuesday the 21st now, and I was just getting ready to upload a little note I wrote two days ago about how pleasant the daily rains have been and how good the drainage system is here. As I began to get online, the sky broke open and dropped great torrents of rain, completely flooding […]
Category Archives: Journal
Salams from Sarawak
Hello everyone. Life is still very hectic here in Kuching. I’m riding around town in a rented Proton Wira trying to set our household in order. No phone, no internet connection yet, so I’ve had to steal an hour here and there just to check email at cyber cafes ($.50 US/hour!). But I am alive […]
Hijrah
I keep promising to go away, and yet here I still am, blogging as before. How can I miss you if you won’t go away, you may be saying to yourself. Well, this time I mean it. I’m waiting for the shipping company to arrive as I type this who will pick up our 27 […]
Libraries Are Changing
I won’t embarass myself by saying how long it’s been since I went to a municipal library, but I’m in one today. My, how they’ve changed. Here I am updating my blog and catching up on correspondence on a blazing fast internet connection and a sleek flat-panel monitor in the Ford Centennial Library. Thank you, […]
A Home in Kuching
I resigned from my job yesterday. What a great feeling. I’d been there over two years, which is the longest I’ve ever worked anywhere. It was a good job; people were friendly and relaxed, and I could go to Friday prayers without any hassle. I probably wouldn’t have left for any other reason than this […]
Friends in Cold Places
Had I known Brother Fendi had a website up , I would have added it sooner. As it is, I noticed it in my referrer logs, and went to have a look. To my surprise, he has a section on the muslims of Poland! Now down to few thousand souls, these people are Tatars who […]
Moving
First, a quick update on the travel plans: After the shock of The Midnight Fax wore off, we were able to get in touch with the university and plead for mercy. Their hearts were not unmoved, and gave as a month reprieve to set our affairs in order. So for the moment, our departure looks […]
Boris speaks
So I was having this conversation with an atheist from Russia about how I wanted to live in Malaysia. I can’t blame him his perspective; he’d moved from arguably the worst place on earth to arguably the best. So he told me this story. I wasn’t swayed, mind you, but it bears repeating: A man […]