Meet The Family

My favorite part of my days with Sina Sarina was going to her home for lunch at 12 p.m. I liked it because that's when the kids come back from school, Sina's husband comes back from work, and we'd all sit down and talk and eat.

Sina and Uncle

Sina's husband (whom I call Uncle) and I got along very well. If there's one thing Uncle liked to do, it was making jokes. And as the new girl with little to no knowledge of the in and outs of Bario, he liked joking around with me. For example, the first day he told me their cat's name was (something I don't remember), and I went on calling it that name, until one day Mujan looked at me in confusion and was like, "kakak Ru, nama kucing tu Miao." Apart from that, Uncle also liked teaching me Kelabit words with the wrong meanings. Soon I stopped taking his word for everything and would just refer to Dayang, Sina's eldest daughter for the truth. It was funny, except sometimes when Uncle would introduce me to people as Shah Rukh Khan's cousin, because you know, Charu, Shah Rukh. Yep. All in good fun! Anyway, speaking of Dayang:

Dayang, Supang, me and Mujan!

On the left is the bravest 13 year old girl I know, Dayang. Dayang will take out the motorbike to come pick me up in the rain. She tried teaching me how to play the guitar, not an easy feat. She has taught me so many Kelabit words. And the memory of drinking sweet tea after lunch while Dayang plays and sings a Malay song on the guitar will not leave me anytime soon. I'd like to think that during our talks I'd imparted some wisdom on her, but to be honest, we did more silly talk and giggling about boys than serious talk.

Next is Supang, who is 8 years old and incredibly feisty. Supang asks a lot of questions, has big dreams of becoming a police detective, and she likes playing in the mud and nuba laya (rice wrapped in big leaves.) Supang didn't warm up to me in the beginning. It took me quite some time before she would talk to me, and once she did it was all bubblegum blowing contests with her. One day, after I said goodbye and started walking out, I heard someone yell "Ru!", I turned around, and there was Supang running to me for a goodbye hug.

Lastly we have Mujan, who's 3 going on 4 years old this year. Mujan is cute and so adorable and she's quite famous among my other batchmates because of her immense cuteness. Mujan's incredibly shy and it takes quite some time before she will open up and talk around you. The first day I spent with her she barely spoke to me, she was so shy. We communicated in shy smiles and mainly me, talking away at her hoping for a response. The second day I taught her the word 'star', and from there we progressed.

I don't have a picture with Ee Ee, Sina's oldest son. My relationship with Ee was familiar in the sense that we did that bickering thing I always did with my brother. Sometimes when he gave me rides on the motorbike back to the homestay, Ee liked to scare me by purposely trying to hit chickens or dogs, or bring the motorbike dangerously close to the edge of the road. Anyway, he was playing with my phone one day and he took this selfie. In case you ever read this, sorry not sorry Ee.

The Kelabit name that I was given from them is Lipang. And I say from them because my Kelabit name was kind of a family decision, after much discussion over tea one day. But what's in a name? To my Sina, I am Ru or Lipang. To the kids, I am kakak or kakak Ru, and I suppose I will always be Shah Rukh Khan's cousin, or muk (meaning girl) to Uncle. To that family, in the beginning I was 'Ru dari project', and then 'anak angkat' (adopted daughter), and then a simple 'anak' (daughter). This is the family that took care of me for 10-ish days. Sometimes it got weird because I hear my batchmates' stories about their Tepuq's old age and so on, but I got to walk into a warm kitchen and a happy family, and watch Ee play cards, help Supang and Dayang do their homework at the table, and watch Uncle and Sina pretend to cut a live chicken for Mujan's amusement (and my horror). I miss them very much. It is true that each of us have a different Project WHEE! experience, and for mine I'm grateful.

To know that I am missed in one corner of Bario is a privilege. To know that I can pick up my phone and speak to these people all the way in Sarawak, is something that I cherish. And I will never forget my time there.