Three Unique Women

After my river tour, I decided to take a towel and book down to the beach and read while enjoying the sounds of the water and the breeze off the sea. On my way, I passed a girl who stopped me and mentioned she had seen me come off of the river trip. She asked me, in a British accent, how it was. I think her name was Tor, short for Victoria. She was a young woman, early 20's I would guess, with spiked hair, and an obvious proud independence. I was surprised by her forwardness in stopping me and shocked when she asked if I wanted to grab some dinner. I'm just not used to strangers being so open and friendly. I don't know if it's a countrywide cultural thing or just a result of my own sphere of influence, but that's not what I know. It was interesting to me, and I was fascinated by it. I would never walk up to a stranger, ask them a question about something I saw them doing an hour before, and then ask if they wanted to get dinner. I was a bit flabbergasted. I told her I was going to the beach at that time to read, but I would be happy to meet her later for dinner. We agreed to meet outside where she was staying at 7:30.

Sometime between the river trip and dinner, I had fallen into Cherating time, which is to say I stopped paying attention to time. Therefore, I really had no idea what time it actually was when I reached Tor's guesthouse. I waited a few minutes, but when she didn't come out, I decided to walk down the street and come back. Still no Tor. So I walked down the street back towards my guesthouse. As I passed The Bistro, I heard someone call my name. I turned and saw Tor at a table with two young Malaysian women. Apparently, I had been late so Jo had joined these women, PeiLee & Yo, for dinner. I joined the threesome. They were beginning to know me at this restaurant.

PeiLee & Yo were students from Kuala Lumpur. The four of us had a delightful conversation and all three girls were fascinating in their own right. Tor was a brave, adventurous girl in her 20's. She had driven on her own from England to Katmandu. I thought Katmandu was just a restaurant in Linthicum! She had been throug Turkey and raved about the interior of the country, commenting that the coast is just a bunch of embarrassingly drunk Brits on holiday. She had travelled through Pakistan in 115 degree heat in a bus with no air conditioning. She had had her tennis shoes stolen in India. After Malaysia, she was going to Australia where her car had been shipped. Truely amazing.

PeiLee had been to New Zealand and Switzerland. Yo had finished school for optometry in Kuala Lumpur. PeiLee was still in school in Kuala Lumpur for psychology. She pointed out that Malaysians do not seek out psychologists and therapists for help like Americans and Europeans do. Only people considered "crazy" see psychologists in Malaysia. Tor was interesting becasue she was a young, British woman who was thriving on travelling the world on her own. She, like me, thoroughly enjoyed travelling alone, not worrying about an agenda, timetable, or what anyone else wanted to do. I am so happy I had the opportunity to meet PeiLee and Yo. They were really the first Malaysian women with whom I was able to have a good conversation. While I saw that Malaysia was a diverse and culturally accepting country, I had wondered about women's roles. I had seen plenty of working women in KL, but I had seen few local women in Cherating. While I didn't get into the gender roles in Malaysia with PeiLee and Yom, the fact that they were two educated, young, single women travelling on their own demonstrated an independence and self confidence. It was enlightening and satisfying to see. They also spoke perfect English which make me feel very stupid for only be able to say, "I like dogs" in Malay. Seriously though, those three young women were inspirational, and they were all on a path for greatness. I felt richer for having met them.

We finished our delicious dinner and prepared to part ways. They asked me if I had a "facebook or facepage" or something. I suddenly felt like my mother. I had no idea what they were talking about. It was apparently the new "myspace". Of course I didn't have a facebook page (I do now, thank you very much. And I even visit it once a month!). I did give them my blog address. I got a comment on a previous post from PeiLee! I was so excited. I have a friend in Malaysia! At least I did a year and a half ago when I was blogging in a timely matter. Like all of my friends who have come and gone from my life, I still consider her my friend in my heart. Even if we only met for an hour or so. She, along with Yo and Tor, taught me about myself and about the world. I think that makes them my friends. Thank you, my friends.