Life and death in K.L.

The Masjid Negara, or National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur is the largest mosque in east Asia. It is an imposing building, with a 75m minaret and a turquoise 18-point roof (13 points for each state in Malaysia, and five points representing the five pillars of Islam). The building itself has enough room for 3000 to worship, and the grounds offer enough space for 15,000 more. It was just across the river from our guesthouse in Chinatown, so we thought we'd wander over and check it out. The experience turned out to be more eventful than we ever would have imagined.

Tourists are allowed to visit the mosque for one hour each day, in between prayer times, which take place five times a day. After changing into appropriate clothes- I in long pants and Caroline in a full robe and hajib (headwrap), we took off our shoes and walked quietly into the area surrounding the mosque itself. The building was meticulously clean and had stunning Islamic architecture with wide arches, beautiful fountains, and tall minarets. There was a young Muslim family in front of us, and their little girl, a toddler, wandered over to one of the grand fountains. Her mom yelled at her to stop, but before she could get there, the girl had gone over the four-foot ledge and into the fountain. The girl was probably 18 months old. Everything happened so fast- the mom rushed to the edge of the ledge and was screaming, and Caroline yelled, "Bri, get her!" as I was rushing over to the fountain. I ran and jumped into the fountain, only to see the girl floating face up in the pool while her bottle bounced up and down in the churning water. Her eyes were glazed, and she looked completely shocked. I scooped her out of the water and handed her immediately to her mom, who was frantic. The mom whisked the girl away, and I climbed out of the pool, soaked from head to toe.

We continued touring the mosque, and later the whole family, including the little girl, came back to thank me. They were very happy and obviously extremely grateful. I was touched that they came back and were so thankful. In the midst of the excitement (I don't rememberhow it happened), I hit the inside of my left knee when I jumped in the pool, and for the past week have been sporting a bruise that goes from the inside of my knee half way around my leg, and all the way down to the bottom of my calf muscle. I'm just glad that's the worst thing that happened.