Enviro Ed



We're halfway through our month of Environmental Education programming on-site at the Marine Environmental Education Centre (MEEC) on Bunaken Island. It has been both challenging and refreshing. It is a wonderful reprieve from Manado to be living on Bunaken almost full-time... it’s a completely different reality than living in the city. It’s not dirty, stinky, or suffocatingly hot; there’s no traffic, other than the odd small prahu (boat) and of course, one can never complain by being awoken by the sound of waves rolling up onto the beach.... aaaahhhh. Water is a slight problem on the islands in general, so bathing is a challenge, and I'm considering either dreadlocks or a buzz-cut for the sheer convenience... But the real challenge is actually still the language. Seems there are at least 5 different words for naming any given species that we might see or be studying during our outings… and I’m sure you’ve not forgotten that these reefs happen to have among the highest incidence of biodiversity on the planet (not that I’m complaining – the diving is INCREDIbLE)… so, let’s just say that’s a LOT of new vocab to ingest!

The students are SOOO thrilled. This style of learning is a far cry from what they are accustomed to in their schools on a daily basis. They can hardly believe that they get a day to come on an adventure and EXPERIENCE the world they live in instead of being lectured to about it... and still call it learning. This, compounded by the general happiness it brings them to interact with a BULE... they all leave with broad smiles on their faces!

Tofu-mania

Tofu is found everywhere in Indonesia – however, the inherent health benefits that it usually is thought to have are over-ridden by the fact that it is ALWAYS fried.

Tahu Isi is my most recently discovered version of this yummy snack… It literally means tofu contents…. and it’s just that – a chunk of tofu filled with veggies (grated carrot and cabbage, and sometimes, if you’re lucky, bean sprouts).


Moto


One of the first phrases in Indonesian that Martin and I learned was “tanpa moto” due to the fact that moto is also ubiquitous in Indonesia. Moto is MSG, and it is used anything-but-sparingly in all manner of food... in fact, the only food that is sure not to contain moto is fruit.

The aptly-named snake fruit, or salak, is one of our favourite choices… it’s cheap, deteriorates less-quickly in the equatorial heat than most fruits, it’s peel-able (always a bonus to fight the invisible nasties that may be lurking in markets), and it’s funky.