The National Mosque was built after Malaysia gained independence. Malaysia became an independent nation in 1957, and the mosque was built in 1965. It holds 15,000 people at once every Ramadan. Central Market and Petaling Street are large shopping stalls with people selling clothes, accessories and household decorations. At these stalls, shoppers barter, which means they speak with the person selling the items to ask them for a lower price. Imagine doing that when shopping at the grocery store or clothing store in New York!
Step Two is spending time with locals. I had two friends from home connect me with their friends who are Malaysian and live in Kuala Lumpur. One family met me for dinner at a restaurant near their house and then we went back to their home for dessert. They are incredibly welcoming and informative. They told me about the differences between the different regions of the country. First, Malaysia is a country split in half. One side is called Peninsular Malaysia (the west side) and the other side is called East Malaysia or Borneo. Kuala Lumpur and my placement state Malacca are on Peninsular Malaysia. The Peninsular has the country's capital, national park, beaches, more cities and islands off both the east and west coasts of the peninsula. East Malaysia is known for Mount Kinabalu (highest peak in Malaysia), a massive orangutan sanctuary, jungles and world-class scuba diving and beaches. Basically, the whole country is incredible. The other connection I made was with a young married couple: the husband is from the U.S. and the wife is from Malaysia. They were very informative about how the races and cultural backgrounds of the country affect each other and how the political climate is impacting life in Malaysia today.
