Hello from Malaysia! My name is Tyrone and for the past five months, I’ve been living in Perlis, Malaysia, the country’s smallest state. I am 23 years old and was born in Stamford, Connecticut and raised in Bridgeport, Connecticut. In May 2018, I graduated from Wingate University in Wingate, North Carolina with a degree in psychology. Three months later, I started a psychology PhD program at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. I am currently taking a year off from school to teach high school English in Malaysia because I was awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship.
Malaysia is a Muslim majority country, meaning that most people practice Islam, the world’s second largest religion. My housemate is a Muslim man from California, and it has been a pleasure learning more about the religion from him and other Muslim-American English teachers here in Malaysia. As a Christian living in a Muslim country, I have seen nothing but kindness from the locals. During Ramadan, the 30-day fast, Muslims do not eat food or drink water from dawn until dusk, and they break that fast typically at a mosque with other Muslims. This Ramadan, to show my support for my housemate, I fasted with him.
