Hello Bario

9^th: Touchdown!

Twin Otter plane

We have reached Bario! After about an hour's journey on the MASwings flight, we arrived at Bario's airport. The airplane was a small Twin Otter plane. The ceiling was too low to stand upright but it was fine. We are grateful to experience this interesting flight, sitting so close to the cockpit. The airport is a small house-like building in the middle of mountains and trees. The weather is very cooling even when the sun is bright. It is now 10am and we will wait for our friends on the second flight to arrive.

The sun has gone down, and so has our food. Lunch and dinner was deliciously cooked by Tepu Sinah Rang. She is very loving to us and is such a sincere woman. Before dinner, we all held hands and Tepu prayed for the food and for us too. She thanked God for his blessings of the food and also for us coming to help the women here. She was the sweetest and most genuine.

We had a lovely day sightseeing around the village. First, we had to walk a 45 minute walk to our village. It didn't feel too long, though. In the late afternoon, we walked around to other homestays, visited their art galleries, as well as went to this longhouse that was burnt down before - twice. The view here is absolutely beautiful. There is no wonder why tourists do make visits here. Even though it is quiet and bland here, it is a nice quiet and bland.

Bario

After dinner, we met some of the Kelabit woman that we will be teaching English to. The woman that I will be teaching is Tepu' (Grandma) Sina' (mother/aunt) Doh Ayu. She is very sweet too . She was willing to make the effort to speak with us even though she is more of a shy character. Also, she is the only lady among the women that has the long ear lobes, famous here at Bario. It is famous but becoming a dying tradition because many outsiders look at the women funnily. Therefore, some have had their ear lobes cut.

I am very happy with Tepu' Sina' Doh Ayu. She says that she likes to speak English but she is not good at it. I introduced my name numerous times but she couldn't remember. It's okay,  I couldn't remember Ngadan Kode (my name is) though repeating it throughout the day. In the end, I decided to ask her to call me Ann - like 'N'. Well, I hope I can help her sikit by sikit. I do hope that we can build a strong relationship and have fun with each other's company.

Tomorrow we begin our Community Service work and on Sunday,  we will be going to their church. I have learnt that this place is a very Christian village. I'd like to thank you God for blessing us with such beautiful women and a wonderful time so far.

Good night for now. Petabi de dhum!