Rule #32: Enjoy the little things.

It’s just over 4 weeks post-Project WHEE! for me, and like any other participant, I miss the experience beyond words.

From mornings spent in a paddy field, to mornings stuck in a lecture hall.

From hand in hand in prayer with friends before dinner, to ‘I think I'll grab a quick Subway then continue my assignment”.

From soaking up the sun, breeze and crisp breeze on morning walks, to sitting in traffic then stressing for parking.

Life back home just isn't as satisfying as it was in Bario.

Though, when I think back and indulge in the fond recollections, it’s always the small, little things that stand out.

It’s the little things that make the whole memory so much more than just recollections of an experience I hold dear.

It’s the little things that make me smile stupidly to myself when I sit in lecture halls. Although my ears hear things like ‘tensile strength’ or ‘pressure control’ (yea, engineering ain't fun), my mind is chilling by the fire in the longhouse.

Kalau tak habis makan, nanti hujan turun! (If you don't finish your food, it'll rain!)

It was a favourite phrase of our tepuqs in their attempts to make us eat more. After harvesting paddy all morning, we'd stop for lunch at 12 sharp in the rice hut.

(check out a 360 view of a rice hut here: Tepuq Ribed's Rice Hut! ) 

It was really something to look forward to. Thriya and I had the privilege of following Tepuq Ribed, Tepuq Uloh, and aunty Jenette. All three ladies are excellent cooks, so everyday’s picnic was something we would look forward to.

Lunch time at the rice hut

What makes it a little difficult though, is the fact that the ladies prepare waaaayyy too much food. With good intentions of course, they want us to eat so we have energy to harvest and don’t get too tired.. the typical grandmother excuses for making you eat.

Throughout, we could feel the love from these ladies as they genuinely cared for our well-being. They wanted to make sure we’re fit and healthy and had an excellent experience in Bario, which was why they came up with all sorts of cheeky excuses to make us eat so much, they care.

Nature Republic’s 92% Aloe Vera

After long days at the paddy field, everyone returns to the longhouse with quite a collection of cuts, bites and random patches of sunburn (perks of being chocolate flavoured, no sunburn for me). Shu Anne came to the rescue with this life-saving tub of Aloe Vera.

What started off as just everyone trying to soothe the wounds the first few nights, turned into more of a past time by the end of the first week.

Be it playing cards, watching a movie, or just chilling and talking in the hall, when you see the tub of Aloe an instant reflex would be to coat yourself with it.

A few weeks ago, I gashed my calf on my bike, got a pretty cool scar from it that made me want to get some aloe. That brought back memories of chilling with the rest of the gang back in the longhouse. From the stories shared, games played and aloe goodness, it was just spending all those nights with this amazing group of people that was amazing, and that was easily my favourite part of the experience. From being a stranger to these people on the same WhatsApp group to becoming close friends, these are people I’m going to hold on to for a long time.

Sharing the Story

One of my favourite moments in Bario was teaching a Form 2 class. We were tasked with getting the students excited about English, but had limited time with the students, only two sessions, each an hour long.

My first attempt failed miserably, I think the students participated out of pity for my really bad lesson plan. We basically played spelling games, so not much was value added, but it gave me a chance to identify the students and their personalities.

Switching things up for the next class, we got the students to draw themselves, identify their hobbies and favourite food and goals (ambition, PT3 results, and countries they want to travel to).

After sharing my story getting the class to share theirs as well, there was one last boy left to present his story. From the previous session, I noticed this kid was very very timid with pretty low confidence. After a little encouragement, he stood up and spoke pretty confidently with a smile on his face!

It really puts into perspective how much the little things can affect the people around. I was just trying to survive another lesson, but somehow I gave this kid a little confidence boost. Also, just sharing a story made me so proud of this little man.

Of course there were many many other little things about Bario that mean so much to me, but for today’s post, rice or rain, aloe vera and a little one’s story will have to do.

A dose of cliché:

Enjoy the little things in life, because one day you'll look back and realise they were the big things.

And yes, the post title is a reference to Zombieland

Yearning to be back in the longhouse,

Dev