In a lot of physical ways, today pretty much sucked. I have blisters and sore muscles from merentas desa and a very exhausted brain. I also may have put on another kg or so.

In a lot of intangible ways, however, today was one of the best experiences I've ever had.

Today started out with Merentas Desa ("cross country running") and I got all hyped up for it and I brought my phone plus my earphones, I put on sunblock, I brought a cap and I got a nice big bottle of 7up Revive. Even though I'm still getting over my cough/sore thorat/flu I still wanted to go cause it was my last year and I wanted to have an excuse to take a walk with my friends.

Upon getting to school, I find out that the so-called "cross country race" is only like... 1.5km long. Which is riddiculous. What kind of track is only about 1-1.5km long? And how is running along the road outside school "cross country"?

Anyway, so I get there, get my number, then we spend a reaaaalllly long time just kinda standing around. There were was a speech by the headmistress then we had to sing the school/state/national songs like a usual assembly. Then we listened to the school band play, which was as usual - average to below average. They've got nothing on high school bands in the US.

And then they let us loose. Boys first, then girls. Debbie and I decided to walk so she brought an umbrella and everyone wound up laughing and cheering. We were one of the last few people at first, then we decided to speed up. In the end, I decided to run the last stretch so I made it in at the front of the last 3rd of people. I think Zack and Vic did a pretty good job of taking lots of pictures. They seem to be taking it really seriously, which is really cool.

After that, we pretty much just hung around for about an hour. All of our usual gang gathered in the PA room and I finally got to eat some of Debbie's de-lish brownies and I got a Valentine's Day card from KP and a heart from Ro then a cupcake from Wan Qien. It was a lot of fun and I swear, these people are out to make me fat or something :P. After that was prize giving then more hanging around waiting for school to end. Debs and I just hung out in the canteen then Hon Yu came to join us so we listened to music and dozed. Then we got home.

The cool part about Merentas Desa was the relaxed atmosphere. It didn't feel like we were under any pressure and we just went there to have fun. The bad parts were that Valentine's Fever was in the air and a whole lot of couples were going all coupley and giving each other gifts, plus it felt like a waste of time.

After that, the whole family joined the Teaching Campaigns in Desa Mentari and Pelangi Damansara. Anisa went to Pelangi, I don't know what she experienced yet, but if it's anything like what Alayna and I had at Mentari, it was awesome.

After a few mishaps along the way, Alayna and I finally found ourselves in Desa Mentari. As soon as everyone arrived, we said our hellos then we went straight into teaching. We were divided into 5 teaching teams, I was in a team with three Baha'is I didn't know very well and our new addition to the community: Je Han. The Baha'is that could speak Tamil did most of the talking while we prayed for their success. Eventually, we left and met up with the rest of the team in the park between Blocks 4 & 5. All of us were just hanging out, standing there watching the neighbourhood Ponggal [I think it's an Indian Harvest Festival] celebrations when the neighborhood people just asked us if we wanted to learn how to make Ponggal!

So we joined in and all the Aunties (and even some Uncles) all taught us how to make Ponggal! Even Nikolai, a visiting Baha'i from Germany joined in. The boys got to make one pot while us girls got to make out own.

What we learned while making Ponggal and on the trip to Omnachi's house:

1. There are 3 different kinds of Ponggal: Suria Ponggal (Sun Rice Pudding), Bal Ponggal (Milk Rice [Nikolai said they have this in Germany too, but they eat it with cinnamon]) and Kani Ponggal (Young Ladies' Rice).

2. What we made today was Kani Ponggal.

3. When you want to make a wood fire smaller, you just pull out a couple of sticks.

4. "Sini" is sugar in Tamil. "Karepasini" (I think that's how you spell it) is brown sugar.

5. To make Kani Ponggal, first heat up some milk until it boils then add rice. When you add it in, you must add it in gently saying "ponggaloponggal" (but I guess that's only applicable on Ponggal). We have to respect the rice. Stir it often so it doesn't stick to the pot. Then when it starts to boil again, we add cashew nuts and raisins. Last, we add in a lot of sugar. Every once in a while, we added in a little bit of water to control it and stop it from boiling over, but I think that isn't necessary if you make it over a stove.

6. The community in Desa Mentari is just so amazing. It doesn't matter who you are or the colour of your skin or where you're from, to them, you're always a guest who's always welcome.

7. We learned some German from Nikolai that I forgot. (Sorry! I only remember how to say "thank you", "good morning", "hello", "I'm fine, thank you" and the sound for the letter "y". I need to hear it again.)

8. We learned some cool things to do when your car is stopped at a traffic light:

a) Get down and run a few rounds around your car just to see people's faces.

b) If you're driving in a group: switch cars!

c) If you know the person driving the car in front of yours: run in front and pull up their wipers.

10. All the Baha'i Youth in Germany know each other. (I think that's so cool).

Over all, I guess I spent this Valentine's Day learning about love and all the ways in which it can manifest itself. From the love we have for each other as friends and classmates, the crushes schoolmates have for each other, to the love Baha'is have for each other as members of the same community and for the people they teach to the love people can show to perfect strangers by inviting them to join in with their customary celebrations.

All in all, I loved.