Highlights

{Editors note: Micah wants to start a question and answer thing on his blog.  You can send your questions to him at mputnam@myldsmail.net and he will answer them on this blog.}

Ok, so for today's post I thought that I would rather than give a rundown of everything that happened in the week I would highlight some of the cool experiences:

So, on Monday we were visiting with a family, the Nings.  They sort of live in the jungle and their house is sort of completely enclosed.  What I mean is that the walls don’t completely go to the ceiling so birds fly in and have about three nests.  Anyway, we were at their house and they were serving us noodles when their cat comes into the house.  This is normal until we realize that the cat has mouse in its mouth and it’s still alive!  Anyway, the cat is playing with this mouse, letting it go, pawing at it and then biting it again.  So this crippled mouse is just trying to get away.  One of the kids takes that cat away so that the mouse can go free and instead of the mouse running for the door it climbs into my companion's backpack!  So we shake the backpack and the mouse falls out and starts limping over to the door, but not before one of the kids picks it up and starts playing with it!  Of course this whole ordeal is not a big deal to everyone, so I try my hardest to keep my cool.  And I think I did a good job :)

So I thought that maybe I would talk about my bathroom at my house.  So we live in a nice house, two stories, just the two of us.  We have one bathroom/ shower combo.  This room is like this:  It is a square room with a slanted floor so that water runs into the drain in one corner of the room.  In that corner is a shower head mounted on the wall.  opposite this corner is the toilet corner where we have a old, not so nice pot.  In the third corner is the sink and in the fourth is the door to get in.  It is a completely undivided room, no curtains or anything.  Also no have toilet paper.  You have one of two options, one, you use the bucket of water and splash yourself....ya, not my favorite.  Or two, there is a hose near the drain of the room where you can hose yourself down... fresh, and clean, my favorite.  The one concern is that there is no drying cloth so you put your pants back on with a bet butt.  I hope this was helpful, everyone be grateful for your toilet paper, it’s a great invention that has not caught hold here in Malaysia.

Another interesting story.  Everyone here thinks that my name PUTNAM is from Thailand.  Everyone.  They recognize that I’m not completely white and the first thing they say is, are you from Thailand.  I try to explain that in America Putnam is a very white person name, very white.  But it is possible that somewhere down the line of genealogy we as Putnams are Thai. The name Putnam also has some gang affiliations apparently so before I got here there was talk of me having to change my name.  But, it hasn't been much of a problem.  With the occasional snicker or laugh, my name has been accepted quite easily.  But it is pronounces Pootnam.