But for this post I will focus on The Farm. Or the place where I spent the weekend, next to a town/village called Rembau, which is about 1h - 1h30 drive from KL. We were there because the organisation has these regular meet-ups for the people that work in their community centres across various regions in Malaysia. This is the reason why around 30 people gathered on the respective farm, where we did team-building activities, got to know more people and just talked a lot! And ate a lot!
Now, when I say farm, do not imagine anything extraordinary or colonial or whatever else. It was a very basic farm, in the middle of "the jungle" (not really jungle, but lots of weird vegetation and stuff) - 4 rooms and a veranda where we all talked, played and slept. Yes, there were literally people on the floor everywhere! :) Food was provided by some uncles and aunties and it was delicious! People were open and fun and, if you leave out the horrendous heat and the stickiness that ensued, you get a rather nice way of spending a weekend.
As always with these gatherings, the people and the conversations were the most interesting part. From the basic centres and NGO work conversations, to the nice life stories of various people there, to inspirational stories, to ghost stories, to discussing about science and religion and how people look at them in various cultures, to holiday plans, to plans for after the "NGO bubble" (this topic will require its own post:)), to comfort zones and how you should enlarge it (or not).
I enjoyed that people were coming from very different backgrounds (astrophysics, psychology, nutrition studies, international politics etc.), that everyone was open and non-judgemental, and that people were talking with lots of love and affection about "their centres" and "their kids". It also concerned me that I was soon "the Putrajaya girl" - I have a feeling that my centre is more politically loaded than I would have desired. And that I will end up dealing with high-end stakeholders - which was one of the things I was hoping not to have to do for a while. But I am totally embracing my new "be open and positive" philosophy! So let's see what happens!
Last but not least, we just bought our bus tickets for a trip to Penang, an island in the North, next weekend! It's Independence Day on 31st August, so we're going to experience it all in Georgetown! Yeyyy!
And here are some photos to reflect the farm experience :)
