Day Numero Uno!!! Spiel time.

First things first. It is hot here. It is ludicrous just how much humidity is going on. Not that the wet is bothersome all on its own, though. As anyone who has spent any time in a humid country knows, it is the reality of non-evaporating sweat that gets you. There is simply more water in the air around you than there is on your skin. 


However! This makes for fantastic biota. Just on a quick jaunt around the campus today, we were lucky enough to see some water monitors (Varanus salvator - pictures to follow), bats, geckos, weird pond fish, some amazing birds including the crested myna (Acridotheres cristatellus), frogs, neato insects - all amazing! I have unfortunately attracted some not so neat insects. It appears as though my dorm bed may have bedbugs. Which love to drink my blood. Unnerving. 


Fortunately, Penang is a great city. It is a state of Malaysia as well as a city and island, and due to some crazy history (which I learned a good chunk of in our first 2-hour lecture this afternoon), it has huge diversity in terms of ethnicity, tradition, and especially religion. There is wonderful mixing of Chinese, Malay, and Indian culture (and cuisine - yumm!!!) similar to what can be found in Canada, but with an extra few hundred years added on for good measure; a melting pot left to simmer.

Not much else to report on today - it was mostly filled with orientations and confusing tours of the massive campus. Seriously, everything is so spread out here! The food is amazing and uber cheap (we ate out for ~11 ringgets or $3.50 CND each), as well as delightfully spicy. It's fun being the only one at the table not crying from the spice. Thanks for the practice, da. 

Whelp...this was an enormous post. I warned you about the spiel. Maaf, dan selamat malam!