Peace Ninja

While volunteering last year in NYC, most activities more expensive than free were difficult to budget for.  One of my roommates kept insisting that if we would just explain that we're volunteers, the doors would open widely for us, as if "volunteer" was some secret password.  We then decided that the reason for this would be because we were the equivalent of something we termed "peace ninjas".
Well, in Malaysia, people seem to have caught on to this idea.  This week, I was treated to a three day, three night trip to the Borneo Rainforest Lodge in Lahad Datu on the east coast.   My KK host mom (I have two host families, one in the village and one in the city) works for Borneo Tours, and was going there to attend a "green practices" workshop.  She had asked me to go when I first arrived in Malaysia, but all I heard was "green conference"..."east cost"...trip....and gladly agreed to go anywhere.  I didn't realize the location was a swanky lodge in Danum Valley rainforest, a place I could only hope to visit maybe 10 years from now once I get some real income coming my way...
Needless to say, both the manmade and natural environment were beautiful! I got to eat western food for the first time in a long time, went trekking wearing "kampung (village) adidas" which I borrowed from a guide since I was so unprepared to be where I was, saw a leopard cat, orangutan, red leaf monkeys, lazy loris, and many birds, amphibians, insects, and reptiles.  I also got to hang out with the staff the whole time and learned a lot about ecotourism! The woman leading the workshop was from the Netherlands and had lived at the Lodge for nine months previously to help them "go green", and it was great to hear about someone else's challenges as the sole orang puti (white person) in an organization.  One of the guides was also very helpful in explaining some of the finer points of cultural differences that no one else had explained to me.  Unfortunately, after this, I realized how many people I've probably irreversibly, and completely inadvertently, offended.  I was also offered a job there (probably a joke, but...) as a tour translator.  I feel I could be like a "green supervisor" or something too ;-) And, now I have contacts in the Sabah tourist industry so wow!
On  Monday, I go back to the village, hopefully rejuvenated and positive.