On Tuesday evening, we went with all of the children to a local night market. We got to the fruit stall bit and Kirsty nearly had to deck some of the local men. Never known any jaws to get so low, they were literally gawping at us. Then at the mango stalls, we were verbally abused. They sounded like a group of chimpanzees on speed, no joke. The kids all got neon light gooey bouncy things on a string, they all seemed to like them! The following morning, Kirsty and I braved the heat and went along to see the last of the sports, half a day this time. We were under the sweltering sun from 8am-1pm and afterwards Kirsty felt like her soul had been sooked out by one of those dementor things in Harry Potter, but instead of feeling cold, she was hotter than a roast potato and redder than a polished tomato! We both had no energy. Constantly being pulled into camera shots by various students. But the absolutely gorgeously cute Sagita (little visually impaired girl) kept us company. She had a million dollar smile that made our hearts melt. She wouldn't stop playing with Kirsty's hair and my nails, she was just too sweet. The DPM deaf department won 15 medals, representing Sabah. 3 golds, 4 silvers and 8 bronzes. They sure were proud by the look on their faces, smiling away. Kirsty and I have come to the conclusion that even though the last few days have for us have been the most frustrating, energy zapping and down right uncomfortable, at least it's another major thing to add to the 'experience list'. Kirsty never really got to experience what it's like to be the one and only white person in an area. We're just more than grateful for our placement now. We didn't realise just how Christian Sabah is, as well as the local culture of Kadazan, which is also pretty laid back. And the Chinese population is quite high, so we feel comfortable wearing short sleeved t-shirts or knee length skirts, where as in Kelantan, hard core covering up is needed. What surprised us was that yesterday, when Kirsty asked Liya what is the meaning of the headscarf, worm by Muslims, she didn't know. She had to go and ask another Muslim. It just made me wonder why if some Muslims don't know the meaning of the traditions they follow, why follow them? It's the same with the deaf children, I've had conversations with them about their religion, they told us that they don't understand any of the religious stuff, they just have to follow what the person in front of them in the mosque prayer room is doing. This made Kirsty and I think, we've been here and haven't learnt much about the Islamic faith so we asked Liya a few questions. (We'd previously asked the kids about it but they didn't really know anything about their religion). So Liya then told us that the headscarf was just part of the religion, it had a special name. Muslim girls start wearing it when they're 'ready' or when their parents decide it's time for them to wear one. Some don't wear it cause they're either not as strict or the girls aren't ready to wear one yet. Liya started wearing hers when she was 14 years old. Women must always wear their headscarf unless they are married and in the home, or in the presence of other women. During sports, the Muslim kids wear like trendy small headscarves. We asked her about prayer and they pray 5 times a day, facing Mecca, but women don't pray when they have their period and they are not allowed to enter a Mosque at that time either because they're seen as being dirty. Kirsty asked 'What if a man has an bad injury where the skin is broken and he's bleeding? Is that dirty?' She didn't really have an answer to that but said he was still allowed to pray and enter the Mosque. Men go to the Mosque most often, every Friday and whenever else they get a chance. Women are not expected to go so often. Liya told us that Muslims see dogs as being very dirty and if they touch one, they need to do a handwashing ritual. They have to wash their hands in something mixed with soil first, then wash normally 6 times again. She said that some people get lazy and don't bother though. Mecca is for those who want to get rid of their sins and before they begin their journey, they must apolgise to those they've caused harm to. She told us about clothing and how, a woman should be covered to her wrists, ankles and neck. If not, then they should wear long gloves under a t-shirt to cover their arms (We've seen most women wear these at the sports day). We've seen a few women wearing the full shebang, with just slits in their head wear for their eyes. This would be disastrous for deaf Muslims using this dress because they couldn't use their lip pattern to communicate and you can't see any facial expressions. Muslims that do have shorter sleeves on, cannot touch a man shoulder to shoulder (when getting their picture taken), unless there is something covering the woman's skin. Men and women are obviously forbidden to show any signs of affection, or to be alone together unless married. Penelope was telling Georgie that a couple were seen kissing in a public park in KL a couple of weeks ago and were both arrested, they weren't even Muslim. We know we are to follow the country's codes etc, but KL is a very westernised, modern city, so it was a bit out of the blue. Homosexuality here results in the death penalty, but we've seen plenty of gay divas strutting their stuff in KK (not Muslim though). All this really got Kirsty and I thinking about whether there are any rigid rules we follow to do with religion or culture. We couldn't think of anything we change in our lives just because we're told we have to. We would always question, 'But why do we have to do that?' I'm still trying to get my head round these religions and since I don't have too much of a clue about my own so called religion I'm reserving judgement on others. x