wish i was there

this picture came out of the star online newspaper. how interesting i said to myself, to be able to see elephants in the wild... i mean, wild elephants in the wild??... but it is dangerous, them being so big and us being so small... even trained elephants in zoos can seriously cause sorrow when they want to.

now, this happened near Gerik, Perak. I know that area coz i spend 2 years of my life teaching in a school on a hill in the jungles of Gerik. in my 2 years there, i was kindda on the lookout for wild animals... wouldn't that be some kind of coolness?? this city gal can boast to her city family and friends "oh... just the other day we had elephants stroll through the front gate"... but no, never happened...

the closest i came to a wild animal was the cobra bai (my friend) ran over with her housemate's car. it was a hot (always) and sunny (always) afternoon, we were wizzing our way back to school from Gerik town. turned the corner and there it was, streached across the middle of the road this long glistening black thing. we both held our breath as we went over the sorry soul... (do snakes have souls??...)

but i think the snake had long lost it's life before our borrowed wheels crushed more bones. we went ka bump and that's as close as i came to anything wild... a dead snake.

the school i taught is a boarding school and i stayed in the school compound. dreading the warden title but car-less to stay outside. i got ready in the morning to the sound of the jungle coz every morning without fail, the monkeys greeted us with monkey noises... not chimp talk, it was something else. was somewhat soothing actually... hmmm... i wonder if only jakun city folk thinks that...

a guy in our office once told me of answering the phone and a lady at the other end asked if we have elephants in the area. the lady was suppose to come and teach but she never showed up. of course there's elephants in Gerik but it's not like they stroll down the street or anything... ; )