Bunaken

This weekend, some friends came into town to celebrate my birthday with me. We watched a movie, ate waffles, and yesterday, went to Bunaken, which is the name both for an island near Manado and the marine park next to it. There's a public ferry, but it doesn't go very often, so the four of us rented a boat to take us there and back. The picture above is the view from the boat. The island that looks just like a mountain is Manado Tua, or Old Manado. For some reason.



We didn't go straight to the dock on Bunaken Island, but instead they put down these glass window sort of things on the bottom of the boat and went over the coral reef so we could see it. All of us were amazed; this reef is huge, and only about three feet deep into the water. None of us had ever seen anything like it before, and the men on the boat thought it was really funny how shocked and amazed we were. But it's really very beautiful, and easy to see even from above the water.



So, instead of swimming at the beach, we stopped in to rent some snorkeling equipment (except me, I used my nice mask and snorkel from scuba training) and took the boat back out to an edge of the coral reef. I'd never really been snorkeling before, and I was a bit skeptical about it, and especially about doing it in the ocean and dealing with the salt water in your mouth, but it was just as simple and easy as could be. We basically drifted along the edge of the reef and looked at the coral and the fish and had a great time. The reef drops off, so there's sort of a vertical ledge, and it's very easy to swim along next to it.



We spotted some scuba divers beneath us, and now I'm very excited to go back soon and dive, because it looks like the easiest dive you could imagine, and it was very beautiful in the water. At the end of the day, my friends left for their overnight drive back to Gorontalo. I was very tired afterward, and sunburned on the backs of my legs and in a nice line where my two-piece separated, but my burns are pretty mild and so I'm fine today. All in all, I had a great time going to Bunaken and now I can't wait to go back! But it will have to wait, because I've got plans to travel for the next couple weekends!

(Sorry there aren't more pictures, but I was too busy snorkeling!)

Sometimes you feel like a nut...

Well, life has been going on here more or less the same. It's still very hot, and it hasn't rained for a while, though I'm told there's a rainy season SOMETIME. I'm on my second week of teaching now. Mostly we sing simple songs (this week it's a song I learned at camp about pizza), play games using language, and do some activities. This week, in anticipation of Halloween, I'm telling my students the story of the ghost of Bloody Mary (who appears in the mirror if you call her name three times (in the dark)), and then they write their own ghost stories. I've learned a lot about Manadonese ghosts, some of which are pretty scary.

This Monday I got sick. I don't know if it was something I ate (the rolls I got across the street are the prime suspect; the rambutan seemed fine) or what, but I was pretty sick! And Tuesday I woke up with a fever, but it was an improvement from the night before, anyway. So I stayed home, and the Oma I live with came up to check on me and try to help me about FIFTY times, mostly because she's very forgetful. She told me that eating would make me healthier, and I wanted to say, "I don't think you understand the nature of my illness," but since she doesn't speak English I just ate a little rice. Later, some teachers from school came by and decided that I had gotten sick because I was so tired from doing my own laundry.

Anyway, I feel just fine now, better than fine, even, because my friends from Gorontalo are coming to visit me tonight! Alexa and Sarah, who live together in Limboto, actually, outside of Gorontalo, are driving up here for the weekend to celebrate my birthday, which is very exciting. Hopefully we'll go to Bunaken, and at the very least we're going to have waffles and hang out and have a grand old time.

I have quite a few pictures, but unfortunately I'm having some technical difficulties on that end, since I'm using a computer at school. So, next week, at least, I will sort it out and put up some pictures of my current life. Until then, here are a couple pictures I stole from other people. This is us at Tangkuban Prahu, one of the volcanoes around Bandung!

Manado

Sorry it's been a while since my last update. I'm in my house, but I don't have internet, although I've been trying for the last two weeks to get it. It'll probably be a while, so I'm stuck at internet cafes, where my time is limited. So I'll try to give some information about my life right now, but a bigger update will have to wait.

I live on the second floor of a house, renting from an old woman who doesn't speak any English, which isn't a problem. My house is very close to my school, so I can easily walk back and forth, though sometimes I get escorted home by teachers or students.

Things I do not have:
the internet
a stove (yet)
hot water
a bathroom sink (I brush my teeth in the kitchen)

Things I do have:
air conditioning
a flushing toilet
a refrigerator
a gecko living in the kitchen
a couple cockroaches, some ants, and some tiny moths
rolling blackouts

Manado is very hot, but during the last week it started to rain every day, which helps. During the dry season the power goes off regionally every day, so every afternoon I've been without air conditioning or running water (because I live on top of a hill, it takes an electric pump to bring me water). But this should be ending now with the rain, which is nice.

The city is pretty easy to get around, so I've been downtown a lot, where there are restaurants and shops and things. So far I've had a lot of time on my hands because I was just observing in the class, but tomorrow I start teaching, so that should keep me busier.

Everyone here is very friendly and helpful, and I've been feeling fine. I've invested in some pest-control, and everything seems to be working all right. Hopefully I'll get internet at home next week, and then I can post come pictures!