Lunar New Year

 Lunar New Year starts today, welcoming the Year of the Horse, specifically year of the Fire Horse. Rowan is a horse and the horse generally represents energy, perserverance, vitality, independence. This year with the Fire Horse is said to represent change, optimism, and opportunity and I'm leaning into this with hope for what it may mean for the US. In our neighborhood this means that fireworks are going off all. the. time. Especially late at night, I feel for the animals and am thankful that we all have earplugs.

Marcia (Grandma Bell) arrived last weekend and she was able to come to some of our school activities (two track meets and the Lunar New Year assembly) as well as explore the area on her own. It has been wonderful having her here and sharing our community with her. 

We have enjoyed some tasty dinners out, a little bit of pingpong, and the reopening of the Valencia Pool. When we've been at school she's been able to explore the area and then come back to swim and read. It's been awesome to have access to the pool-definitely not something North or I ever imagined in terms of living spaces-a golf course community with a pool!

Talus completed two track meets in the last two weeks as well as eleven football games (scoring off a penalty shot, multiple assists, and many saves as a goalie, taking 3rd place in his tournament). His U9 football team is shaping up to be strong and his group of friends ran the 4X100 relay with smooth hand-offs and a lot of support between all of them. He medaled a lot in the first track meet (see below) and not so much in the second more competitive one; the kids were all super supportive of each other and as one of the ES coaches I got to be out in the hot sun seeing it all happen which was a fantastic bonus. 

Rowan participated in International Day-walking with the flag, dancing with friends-and then had a full couple of weeks with football and track as well. He chose to run in his most recent meet which was quite competitive and he took a personal best in the 400. His football team is shaping up to be strong this season, they seem like they are communicating more and working as a more tightly knit team than last season. Rowan most frequently plays defense though his coach has been playing him at midfield a bit recently-exploring the different team dynamics and strengths of the players. 

We are on Lunar New Year break-a week off-and had plans to go to Cambodia to explor Angkor Wat. However, North was feeling off and on the way to the airport the decision was made to stay home and get him checked out. Good thing he paid attention to how he was feeling and the different symptoms as he went in for an appendectomy the evening of the 15th. He was home with us the next day and slept well last night (amidst all the fireworks), this morning he is moving about, eating well, and in good spirits. Thankful that we are living in a place with access to good medical care and also really appreciative of the fact that Marcia is here with us to support him (and all of us) as he recovers. We will play and explore locally this week and take the time to rest and reset. Walking around the golf course we came across this bird who is the local snail eater-he was not bothered by us and we managed to get close for some pictures.

Along with Lunar New Year, Ramadan starts on the 18th. Many of our students (and staff at the school) will be fasting sun up-sun down, as the fasting includes not drinking water the boys do not have any league football games for the next month and one of Rowan's track meets was postponed until after Ramadan. Ramadan is a time of introspection, connection with God, and community-it is the holiest month of the year for Muslims. Families get up early to eat and then stay up later to gather and eat dinner-lots of tired kids (and teachers) during this time. 

The combination of Lunar New Year and Ramadan and the experience of being in a place where so many different holidays and religions are acknowledged feels really good to me. Although Malaysia is a majority Muslim country there are federal holidays for Indian, Chinese, and Christian celebrations. The school has major assemblies for Diwali (Deepavali), Christmas, Lunar New Year, and Hari Raya (the ending of Ramadan also called Eid al-Fitr). It's increasing my awareness of all of these different cultures and something that I think we could do a better job of in the US...It encourages me to take the time to connect with myself and community, to think about the things that I hold sacred, and really appreciate the diversity of different cultures and beliefs. Along with that to recognize (as an outsider) how similar so many of these celebrations are-the commonalities that have developed across cultures often in connection with the phases of the moon and sun. It reminds me of a book I used to read to the boys Mama Says: A Book of Love for Mothers and Sons it has short poems from mothers of different cultures to their sons and a lot of them connect to religion/spirituality-many of them referenced things that I didn't fully understand at the time and now feel like I have a lot more cultural reference for; I guess I'll have to dig it out of a box when we return to the States.

Gōng xǐ fā cái 恭喜发财-something that people are saying for Lunar New Year-roughly translates to wishing you wealth and good fortune (Talus was helping us pronounce it-gong zi fah tsai). Take care all.