Living with Islam: Malaysian Homestay program - Matt Payne

MALAYSIA —  It is just after five in the morning and there is a monsoon outside my bedroom window, pounding on an aluminum roof.  Jerry, a yellow tabby is one of four resident felines. He,creeps along the thin partition separating my room from the rest of the house. In a few minutes, just before sunrise, my host father will knock on the wall next to the floral cloth draped across the entrance to my room.   It is time to get up for Mosque. I am not a Muslim.  I am however in the Islamic country of Malaysia participating in the Malaysian Homestay, sponsored by Tourism Malaysia.  My temporary home and family is located in a Kampong, or village, called Teluk Katapang in the state of Kuala Terengganu.  Kampongs are enclosed agrarian villages common across Malaysia and like Teluk Ketapang, they are mostly well kept, family-oriented, and self-sufficient. The Malaysian Homestay Program, offered across this culturally and ecologically diverse country is designed to give tourists the opportunity to live with the Malay while participating in traditional Malaysian lifestyle. Want to read MORE ? Click Here  ( Thanks Matt, For the review )