Good Morning Kuala Lumpur

I have had the craziest day.

[I should maybe preface this by saying that we are now entering CRAZY ADVENTURE SEASON 2.0!!!]

Today has been the first stretch of the newest leg of my adventures, which will be mostly comprised of India, India, and more India. I've gotten a cheap flight on AirAsia (which, if youre doing anything in our around SE asia, is the cheapest way to go) and i'll be in the country of boundless faith until early febuary. I've got a short stop in Kuala Lumpur (ie, where I'm writing to you from right now) and then the journey really begins.

Thats right. Me, a country I don't know, languages I don't speak, no guidebook, no internet, lots of mistakes, confusion, laughter, and revelation. It'll be good.

Let's start with today. Today was insane.

i ended up on a plane next to this guy -- http://www.100goals100weeks.com/ -- who was really, really cool (not to mention drop dead handsome and charming) we chatted for about 4 hours straight. he was awesome, renewed my faith in the ability of others to be totally awesome and helpful, and showed me that super cool people that do cool things with their life really do exist- and they dont have corporate backers or wads of cash. they do it on their own, on their own terms, and make it work. and have sick amounts of fun doing it. i like that.

got to KL, got lost, went to use the internet, ran into a family of 7th day adventist vegan health nuts who chatted with me for about...an hour and a half straight, then offered to drive me to the place i needed to go. They were really cool too. Did you know that 7th day adventists are all about health and helping people, and arent insane crazy religions freaks? i personally didnt know anything about them or their faith, but this family was open, intelligent, and very generous. very good ambassadors.

got to my couchsurfing place, met up with Vern [the guy im staying with] and went for what in malaysia passes as a snack- massive banana leaf--BANANA LEAF-- plate onto which a heaping helping of rice is dropped, and promptly surrounded by two curries and a cucumber cooling dish, all washed down with a 'digestive' drink made of onions, peppers, cardamom leaves, and something that burrrrrns all the way down.

why didnt i come here before?

really, a day of spectacular conversation. Ian told me about running with bulls, partying with elephants, and how to make 500o$ for two weeks work driving mining trucks off the coast of australia. The Johns' taught me about 7th day adventism, the kindness inherent in human nature, and the monkeys that terrorize their dogs/ the pythons/cobras invading their life (weekly). And vern told me that malaysian is just like mandarin, but without the tones- as in, no tenses, no conjugation, and very very easy to pick up.

love you all. talk with you soon.

jess