Bunaken again

Back in October, I had a chance to briefly visit the family that I spent a lot of time with while living in Manado/Bunaken...  It was great to see old friends and make new memories with the Kasehungs...  Ma and Pa are a little older, with Ma having lost most of her sight to cataracts, but they're both still as spry as ever, and going out to feed the 'ghosts' on a daily basis!  (they still tell everyone about my little language-learning slip-up!)

The town of Alung Banua is still as quaint and lovely as it ever was, but some change has been happening there as well - they have running water in their homes and school!  The pace of life is still slow, although I did experience on disappointment... I remember it as an island lacking the annoying motor sounds of the cities and towns on the mainland... now Bunaken has many motorcycles and even a few trucks as well!

Vera and Ellen and I went for a walk around the island and visited their seaside farm area... Lots of change there as well... someone has built a resort (several bungalows) on the property adjacent to theirs, and in doing-so has proceeded to rip out the natural breakwater what existed in the mangroves and along the coast, already causing huge amounts of erosion!  The unbelievable thing is that this is a Swiss foreigner, who, "should KNOW better", as Vera said!!!  They were both visibly upset by this hideous encroachment on their island... and with the response (or lack thereof) that they've received in response to their please to the owner for more sustainable development.  "What are we striving for and teaching... as locals, we care for our island, and then these foreigners just come in and do as they please!" they lamented.

One new experience for me was going with Vera and her brother out to 'the racket' - what fun!

Your going to feed your... ghosts!?!

One of the stories people get the biggest kick out of from my repertoire of funny language learning stories, is the mixup with the ghosts... In fact, on a recent trip back to Bunaken last month, I found out that the family that this occurred with still recounts the tale to all family and friends as well as any travelers passing through!

It was one of our first visits to Bunaken Island and the village of Alung Banua, where we would come to feel like family in short order...  And needless to say, we were still very much in the steep part of the learning curve of the Indonesian language.  Every day, early morning, Vera's father, a lovely man and respected leader in the community, would head off to the kebun (the farm/garden).  When we would all meet up in the afternoon after our days' activities, we would sit and relax in the cool shade of their luscious green garden and try to converse.  Vera's father, although not fluent, certainly had a decent English vocabulary, and was very patient and kind in aiding our attempts at learning Indonesian, so we stumbled along through stories and conversations, not getting much past the contents of our days...  When I was asking about what he did when he went to the farm, he would tell me about the crops, and the animals... And he said he would "kasih makan kambing"... 'kasih makan' I knew (he would 'feed')... but kambing was a completely new word for me... we played a little charades, and I still didn't get it... couldn't figure out which farm animal he might be referring to... then he said, in his timid English... 'ghosts'...   

Ummmm.... OK?

So, I tried not to blanche visibly... and carried on the conversation... asking him if he visited the ghosts every day... what did they 'eat' (since he had ostensibly been feeding them)... could anyone visit them, or was it only him that could see them... had they been there forever....  

I was getting more and more confused... and thinking that either this senior was not as on-the-ball as I had taken him to be originally or, he had some mystical connection to the next world... (you never know really - I wasn't willing to make any assumptions... what with the language and cultural barrier and all)...

When Vera came out with some fresh young coconut to quench our thirst, I couldn't stand it any more... I thought I must be going nuts, sitting having a conversation about this man and his ghosts that he visited daily, like there was nothing more normal in the world... I mean, if it were ghosts, you would think he would recognize the rarity in the situation, right!?!  So I asked her if she happened to know the English word for kambing... 

She said "Of course, you know, GOATS"!

I cracked up laughing and proceeded to try to explain to them the misunderstanding... and once we finally found the Indonesian word for ghost (hantu), we were all practically rolling around on the floor, tears streaming down our faces in laughter trying to imagine the two completely different conversations that were happening at the same time about the ghosts/goats!!!

Monkey Fish?

Ahhh… and another fabulous mystery solved for me… I found a very very very strange critter while diving in Lembeh Strait (only a few dives, and my fist in this ‘critter haven’)… Nobody I showed it to on the dive, nor to whom I described it afterward was able to tell me what it might be.  It was almost indistinguishable from the silty bottom on which I found it… and if it hadn’t been for a slight movement that I caught out of the corner of my eye, I might have overlooked it altogether… It was an oddly round shape, almost like a head with no body to speak of… kinda of fuzzy/furry, like it was wearing a coat of the seafloor.  And it waddled… I’m not kidding… it was sort-of walking/struggling along on it’s rounded pectoral fins.  I wrote it off to an anomaly, possibly a deformation of a scorpionfish or something… BUT, have just found out that it has a name:  Monkey fish!  How appropriate… and apparently it’s quite rare to encounter, so now I feel even more lucky!  Of course, I didn’t have my camera on that dive, but have found a few pics since to add here to give you an idea… apparently I saw it at the height of it’s camouflaged state… when it sheds its ‘coat’ it looks more like this!

Bubur Manado (Manadonese Porridge)

This delightful dish, the regional specialty of the city of Manado, is also called Tinutuan. All Manadonese claim that the dish improves health and vitality.  It is one of the three things Manado is famous for... The Three B's:  Bubur, Bibir, Bunaken!  (Their porridge, the lips (of their women, thought to be some of the most beautiful in Indonesia), and the island paradise of Bunaken).

This is definitely NOT your typical porridge... Tinutuan is more like a hearty vegetable stew than porridge. It is made with rice, pumpkin or squash, sweet potatoes, corn, greens (like cassava leaves, spinach & kale), lemongrass, tumeric, scallions, and of course, chilies!  And, true to the coast, it is usually served with fried salted fish.

As it was described to me, the word 'tinutuan' really means 'mish-mash'... a bunch of random things all thrown together into the same pot, boiled down and mixed around, the result being a wondrous new entity that come out delicious, and HEALTHY!  The Manadonese feel the same way about their city, which is why their slogan is "Manado, kota TINUTUAN" (Manado, the Tinutuan City).

I really miss this treat - it was one of the staples of my diet in Manado.

Pimp My RIDE!

The 'angkots' or 'mikrolets' (mini-van/short buses) in the city of Manado (where we lived for our first year in Indonesia) are renown for their unique style... although from what I'm told they're not quite on par with the ones in Padang, they certainly have a funny MTV vibe about them!

They are all base-blue, as regulation dictates I suppose, but they stray from the norm in any other way they can. Honestly, all the drivers pride themselves on their refurbishments and additions! This is a private public transportation system...




Alterations such as spoilers/fins, racing stripes, spinners for rims, glowing lights/ground effects are still within the mainstream... the insides are often adorned with black lights, disco balls, televisions, and gigantic bass-thumping speakers. The light system riggings are interesting, with the 'next stop' button often rigged to flashing multi-coloured lights! The space that these ultra-cool enhancements take up is no obstacle... even if it means the discomfort of the riders! Although several buses attempt to feign interest in the comfort of their passengers by using plush or felt seats in a variety of colours!




The leather racing stripe seat is a classic that doesn't seem to go out of style.



Funnily, especially in the evening, people will actually wait extra long, allowing many buses going their way to pass by, while waiting for a 'cool' mikrolet!




It’s also funny to note that bad, no TERRIBLE, English is rampant on these angkots... Slogans like 'Say no to Drug' are emblazoned in multi-coloured stencils on every available surface. Even better if this terrible English is used in conglomeration with copyright infringement. Some favourites are trademarks, logos and characters from international brands or companies like Billabong or Playboy.

There is still a little room for individuality in these, the art exhibits of the mini-bus drivers of Manado. Did I mention... a ride to anywhere in the city only costs the equivalent of about 20 cents!?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

Just a quick note to wish everyone a very happy holiday season... I hope it was a memorable one.



It was another tough one for us, being away from family and friends, home and snow (!?), for the second Christmas in a row (unheard of for our family!)! But of course, because of good new friends here, it was special and memorable in its own way! But I still don't think I'll ever get used to a green/hot Christmas!

So what did we do??? Well, after getting back from the wonderful diving trip, I met up with Martin in Manado (he had gone back ahead of time), and we spend the few days before Christmas just enjoying having our own space (our house, even though it has now become an office as well, was vacated for the holidays), and visiting with friends, and people-watching in the malls (which were over-crowded, stuffed, and crazy... and surely no longer adhering to building codes!).



We had a 'Latino-style' Christmas -- on Christmas eve we gathered together at the home of the soccer coach, with his family, and the other Latin soccer players living in Manado (above). We had a nice meal and drinks (a yummy Chilean specialty called "Cola de Mono" (yes, that's the tail of the monkey!)), and gift opening. I was spoiled with a guitar from Martin, which means I'll have a chance to continue to learn (since I didn't bring the guitar that my brother gave me for Christmas two years ago to Indonesia with me!)! I'll definitely have time once the boat arrives and we're at sea for three weeks each month!



"Cola de Mono"

6 cups milk
1 cup sugar
2 cinnamon sticks or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup instant coffee
2 cups tequila
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Bring the milk, sugar and cinnamon to a boil.
2. Dissolve the coffee in the hot milk mixture.
3. Put in the fridge to cool.
4. Once cold, add the tequila.
5. Pour into capped bottles and return to the fridge.
6. Serve very cold.
7. This keeps in the fridge for 2 weeks

We came immediately back to Sorong on the 26th in order to leave that same day on a boat headed to Ayau (the farthest group of islands in Raja Ampat), where we attended 'Christmas Together' and ran a 3-day education program.



What a neat few days. The Ayau people celebrate 'Christmas Together' on the 27th or 28th of December each year... all the people from the 5 villages spread around the group of islands gather in a different village each year for their celebrations. This means a trip as long as 12 hours by dugout canoe in favourable conditions for some! Their celebrations are fairly simple... they parade doing 'Suling Tambur' (drum and pipe bands) day and night non-stop for days! It's not a parade in our understanding of the word, either... because everyone participates, and there are virtually no spectators; the people who aren't playing a drum or flute are dancing (not marching) along behind! Each village has its own band (and sometimes more than one!), so there were about 8 different groups marching in the streets (that sounds funny... there are only TWO streets in the village of Yenkawir, and of course, they're sand). The instruments are mostly made from natural materials, of course, and the drums are absolutely wonderful... each one unique! They use tarps, pig, goat or shark skin wrapped taught over wooden bases they have carved themselves.








They usually also have a special church service and a 'feast' (which usually includes seaturtle!). This year, the people of Ayau have committed to not eating sea turtle, in an attempt to help conservation efforts... they have not been consuming it (apparently) for almost a year! CI made sandals for all the residents of the islands (about 2000 people) with the message 'thank you for not consuming turtle' in the local language, indonesian, and english, and we took them as christmas presents to the big celebration! Folks were thrilled!






After the 'Christmas Together' celebration on the 27th, we ran a conservation education program for 21/2 days in one of the villages with kids. The program included activities about corals and coral reefs (including a snorkeling trip), coastal ecosystems ecology and, of course, sea turtles! It was a lot of fun as well, and although our new 'education assistants' are still pretty rough, it looks like they're 'coming along'!








Needless to say, the kids had a blast!

Quite the Whirlwind!

Seems the eye drops the doc gave me are working... the swelling and redness are almost completely gone! Yay! Now, we're back in Sorong, and I can take some time to write a little update on the happenings over the last month!

Sooo... at the end of October we left Sorong, did a flying pass in Manado (for mango madness), and headed for Jogja. It was interesting to go back to the place where we really 'began' in Indonesia after almost a year and a half!



It was wonderful, not only to meet up with old friends again (the teachers from Realia language school, who of course got a kick out of our new accents and language abilities!), but also to meet the new CUSO folks who were just completing their language training, and of course, to be in that city so rich in culture!



Interesting, too, to see how our perceptions of places and situations have changed, probably because of a deeper understanding of the culture (and language!) I still hope we'll have a chance to go back again, just before returning home to Canada perhaps (it also has to be the best place in Indonesia to pick up interesting, inexpensive souvenirs)! We also had a great first meeting with PaperMoon, the puppetry folks who came to run the puppetry workshop during our training last week... we saw their studio, some of their works, and chatted about the upcoming training. Our evening activities were possibly the most fun part of our visit to Jogja (thanks to the new CUSO folks, who are just a wonderful bunch) - they included a jazz show in a mall food court (the singer was an ex-teacher of ours!), eating at a yummy thai warung, a spaghetti supper party at the school (DELISH!!!... even the teachers though so... after adding a generous spicing up with sambal (hot sauce)!),




the most healing foot reflexology I've had in Indonesia (KakiKu literally means 'my feet'),



and best of all, a birthday party complete with a spectacular live drag queen show (you can see from the picture that Martin is slightly uncomfortable with the whole idea!)!



Then it was off to Jakarta (where we took a ride on a Bajaj/Benkai - below, motor tricycles that the UN has warned against the safety standards of!), briefly, and on to Bandung, for the annual CUSO Cooperant conference.



The Conference was full of long days, and quite draining for me, because I was not only listening, and processing the information and discussions, but also doing my best to translate it all into Spanish for Martin (of which I'm afraid I didn't do a very complete job)! We had sessions on Gender, Funding, Results-based management and reporting, Community-based natural resource governance, Cultural Effectiveness, and of course, reflection and sharing specific to our placements and experiences in our various locations. We also talked a great deal about the imminent merger of CUSO with VSO Canada, and how it will affect cooperants.




Bandung is known as the "Paris of Java", and is the center for fashion and shopping in Indonesia, so we tried to take advantage of that and spent several hours shopping at the factory outlet stores (where they actually have sizes that fit westerners, and where the European and western name-brands are sold at bargain basement prices (I picked up a pair of Versace jeans for the equivalent of 7 CAD!). On our last day together we went to visit Koem-koem (the CUSO Indonesia Program Assistant) and her new baby, who was born prematurely, but who is now healthy and home with family... then we went out for dinner to a lovely Indian Restaurant in Jakarta (a trick to find, but much-enjoyed once we did!) and said our good-bye's to all our new friends. The social aspect of the conference was the biggest plus, as we got to get to know the other cooperants, and had many evenings chatting over beers, and going out (wow, almost like having a social life again)!


being silly at the conference costume party!






We came straight back to Sorong after the conference, and I had a week to finish preparing for the training workshop (completely alone, again!?), which of course included finishing up the program module and all the equipment needed for each activity. The week prior, I also facilitated an internal training for our new assistants, to help them get up to speed on the basics that they will be teaching to others at some point! Let's just say the level of knowledge is very, very basic, and we've still got a LOT of work to do... but I hope that the workshop gave them a bit more motivation and they'll use the momentum coming off this last week to push themselves to their limits!

My MUSLIM Bathing suit

The Manado/Bunaken area is not Bali, most people wear shorts and a t-shirt to swim, they don't use a bathing suit, and they CERTAINLY don't wear bikinis! Only foreign women wear bikinis, and, well, that's because they're loose floozies (at least this is the impression all the Hollywood movies - the only experience of foreigners for most Indonesians - have given them). So, because I'm working with children, and want to respect the local culture (and maybe make them change their mind about stereo-typing all foreign women as sluts; hey, I'm no floozy!), and also because I want to respect the sun's power and capability of causing skin cancer (!), I decided to look for more modest and appropriate swim wear. I had been wearing shorts over my swim suit, but this still received many stares (probably they were just thinking, man that's a lotta WHITE!), and even though I was applying superfluous amounts of sunscreen, I was still winding up sun-burnt.

My search for a 'lycra' or 'rashguard' to wear with my shorts came up empty - no surf gear in Manado! But the search lead me to one of the most amusing encounters I've had so far in Indonesia.

I was at the Matahari, one of the 'modern' department stores in Manado, looking for a lycra. When I spotted a whole section of what I would call 'skin-suits', only not the price you would normally pay at a dive shop! There were ones with full sleeves or short sleeves, full legs or shorts (a few even came with caps!), in all variety of colours and patterns. I figured right away these were for the muslim population, but it suited my purpose just fine! I noticed the stares when I started looking through the rack in earnest. (But stares are normal, so I connected it with the fact that I 'shine' here (as Martin says), not with the fact that I was looking at muslim bathing suits).



When I found one that I liked (obviously NOT the one in the above picture) and asked the sales women if I might try it on, she looked at me in complete disbelief and the following conversation went something like this:

Sales Woman: "You can't buy that."

Me: (stunned silence... running through the possible reasons why not and coming up with nothing viable (maybe it's the last one and they need it for display?)) "... uuuh, why not?"

Sales Woman: "Well, it's for MUSLIMS."

Me: "Yeah, I know, but I like it and I'd like to buy it. Would you mind if I tried it on?" (I knew she'd never believe me if I just simply said I was Muslim, although it probably would have stopped her in her tracks!!!)

Sales Woman: "But it's a MUSLIM bathing suit!"

Me: "I know. But it's just exactly what I'm looking for, it will protect me from the sun, and I'd like to try it on, please." (I thought I might have her here, since all Indonesians hide from the sun in order stay as white (ie. beautiful) as possible.)

Sales Woman: (somewhat haughtily, while indicating where the fitting rooms were) "Well, if you think so."

Me: "Yes, thank you."

(I tried it on, it fit)

Me: (moving up to the cash register with the suit, where there was now a group of saleswomen waiting) "Perfect. Just this, thanks."

Sales Woman: "You're sure?"

Me: "Yes, Thank you very much. Have a great day!"

Sales Woman: (still in disbelief, I think) "Shalom"

Me: (with a little giggle) "Take care."

Our first weekend in June was absolutely fabulous – we had a great visit with our friend Cecilia who, luxioriously for a volunteer in Indonesia, flew in to spend a long weekend with us! Cecilia lives on the same island as we do in Indonesia (Sulawesi), but that doesn’t say much, considering we are over 1000 km apart – we at the Northern tip in Manado, and she at the southern tip in the city of Makassar!… of course, we’re much more accessible to her here than we will be as of next month when we’re almost full-time in Irian Jaya (might as well be another country)!

We had a pretty busy weekend, but still lots of time for visiting and catching-up. Because it was a mere three-days, we wanted Cecilia to see as much as possible of this area… but we had to start off nice and easy because of her her delayed arrival (at 3 am – no big surprise with Indonesian airlines… if you’re not on the first flight of the day, you’re almost guaranteed to be delayed!), and of course, since it’s been 6 months since we’ve seen eachother we stayed up chatting ‘till 5am(!). So we had a liesurely breakfast and hung out at our place until mid-day on Friday, then hit the port just in time to catch public transportation to the islands (an experience in-and-of itself!). We had fortuitous timing all the way along, in fact, our stars were definitely in-line!

The purpose/pretext of our jaunt to Manado Tua Island was to go for a hike to see the monkeys (Sulawesi Black Macaque) which are said to reside at the peak of the mountain. We never did, by the way, see the monkeys, although we think we heard them, and I definitely SMELLED their presence! Manado Tua ‘mountain’ turned out to be a LOT steeper than it looks (and we’re probably not in the best shape of our lives after spending a year at sea-level), but we had a lovely, if somewhat more gruelling hike than we were expecting! We spent half of the hike on foot, and the better part of the descent on our butts!~ Our ‘guide’ was Hendra, a friend who lives on the island, and told us he knew the path to the summit - after all, he led the project to MAKE the trail! As it turns out, the project to create a path to the top of Manado Tua was completed about 10 years ago, and hasn’t been in use very much over the years… taking into account the rate of growth of lush, tropical rainforest, well, you get the picture: there was no path, at least, no continuous one. On the way up, this wasn’t a huge deal… we knew that as long as we were headed up (and it was straight up!!!), we would eventually reach the top… and we did, several hours after our ETA. (Some of the ‘several hours’ might be attributed to the frequent rest stops, including one at the family farm (how they farm on the side of that mountain, I can’t imagine!) for some refreshing coconut water…)



Of course, by the time we reached the apex, it had completely fogged over, and the promised, spectacular view that had kept driving us on all along was lost! Anyway, we had a nice rest, ate some peanuts, chatted, and prepared for what was to be the ‘much easier descent’. Well, it was the way down that was a departure from the plan… This is where the forever-stained pants come into the picture! As we hiked (bushwhacked) along, an occassional glimmer of hope would hit us as we came across a path, and followed it for a while, but it was usually short-lived, as we got a view through the trees which told us that we were headed toward the back of the island, or somehow off-course! So, we very literally, SLID our way down the mountain! What fun… but although we were exhausted, with aching feet, we were privy to some pretty fantasic views, and got a little exercise along the way! After a little break, and a late lunch, we headed back to Manado aboard Hendra’s K-ting-ting (that's Manado Tua in the background):



We slept well that night.

Sunday, before Cecilia had to catch her flight mid-day we rented a car and went for a tour into the Minahassan Highlands (and even to some areas we had yet to see in our year here!) The highlight was a beautiful lake which changed colours by the minute… due to the unique combination of its sulphurous nature, shallow depth and altitude, a slight change in the weather or the angle from which you’re looking at the lake seems to transform it completely – from deep blue, to green to aquamarine, to all shades in-bewtween!

Colourful Country

I was at the port the other day when it struck my that Indonesia is like so many other tropical countries, in that it's such a colourful place...



Sadly, it was the gas slick rainbow on the surface of the bay water that made me think of it... But really, the paint choices, the bright, lively colours are such a contrast to the shades of beige that are the "First World". Just stepping into the street is a kaleidescope of colour... the markets or ports are another dimension altogether!




Not to mention nature's palette -- like the absolutely GLORIOUS sunsets!

Soccer in Manado

We have an interesting, if small (ok, miniscule), circle of friends in Manado (outside our workmates, that is). They are the South American contingent of the professional soccer scene here - and celebrities to boot! I certainly wasn't anticipating becoming 'famous-by-association' (I thought my fame would be born in and of itself!?), but when my picture ended up in the society pages of the Manado Post, I had a good laugh! Now the people in the streets aren't only calling out after the "Bule", but the friend-of-the-wife-of-the-Chilean-soccer-star-Bule!

We have become pretty good friends with the Coach of the team and his daughter(Chileans), as well as the star player (also from Chile - a conspiracy if you ask me!), as well as a few of the other team members (mostly Latinos... for the obvious reason that poor Martin has only me to speak spanish with, and needs a break once in a while!) Just before heading to Raja Ampat, we had a chance to go to a big game... between two rival teams in North Sulawesi.

The game was a blast. Soccer is THE sport of choice here, and it draws quite a mixed crowd - The stadium was PACKED! So packed in fact that I couldn't help but think what chaos would ensue if the natural disasters that have been plaguing Indonesia this year chose that moment to toss an earthquake our way!

Roast Dog

Sorry, Bowser, I can hardly believe it myself...

WARNING: Content may be objectionable to your sensibilities (it is to mine!)

In Indonesia (well, Manado area is reknown for the practise), I find myself commonly asking the question "teman atau makanan?" (friend or food???), to avoid making friends with a doggie on death row.... You see, puppy chow up here doesn't come in a can... it's chowing down on the puppy itself.

"A party just isn't a party without a dish of roast dog", said a friend when I inquired about this 'delicacy'. It's part of the Minnahasan culture of North Sulawesi - I can't help but think that it arose from a dire need for protein at some point in history. Of course, it's possible they just picked it up as a replacement for cannibalism when it became uncouth and a dying trend.

I have yet to overcome my western sensibilities to try it... (maybe I keep thinking of Dice, whom I miss terribly). I have used as my excuse the fact that the mouth-afire, burning spices that they use to garnish the pups just doesn't seem delicious to me. This was before I could use cruelty to animals as another basis - I have just recently found out that they 'tenderize' the meat while the dog is still alive - how awful! Now, I have always subscribed to the motto "try anything once", but I'm afraid on this one, I'll have to pass. Same goes for the sausages. (The dogs are kept hungry for the last few days of their sad little lives, then, the eve before the roasting, they are fed lots of red meat, which essentially gets 'naturally processed'...)

This was a picture taken from the balcony of our home-stay the first month living in Manado... luckily we were spared bearing witness to the tenderization process.



To confuse things even further, dog isn't listed on any menu as dog (is there shame deep down for eating our loyal, furry friends?), but instead as RW. And, because it actually LOOKS like a delicious dish, Martin came too-close (for his comfort) to discovering how it tastes... I came to his rescue, having read about the alias, before he made the mistake of ordering (let alone eating)!

This was an old post that was kicking around in my 'drafts' section, and since I haven't posted in a while, I thought I would just throw it out there... sorry. Next post will be more on our current trip to Raja Ampat, and my work.

The house!
Here I am, finally getting around to posting a picture of our 'tiny' home in Manado as we're about to abandon it for several months! (That's me on the side terrace!) Now you can all have an idea of where we live... and where you can come visit! Note: This picture was taken AFTER we cut back the jungle that was our yard, but no doubt upon our return from Papua this time, it will be overgrown again!

Cap Go Meh!

This was the event that everyone was waiting for... the Chinese New Year Parade!





A few high/low-lights:

• Beautiful colours, floats and flags
• Thick crowds - more people than I knew existed in Manado! (& viewing from perches/rooftops, etc!), and of course, their resulting GARBAGE underfoot!
  
• Sad little princesses getting sick atop their lotus-flower floats from the heat... (this was obviously not a factor overlooked by parade organizers - there were pukebuckets on hand!)
• Dragons...
• Huge bamboo musical instruments! (my favourite of all)
  

Gong Xi Fa Chai!

The year of the dog in the Chinese lunar calendar has come to a close, and we're looking forward to a prosperous year of the pig. We're told that Manado is the place to be for this event, outside China of course, so we're holding our breath in eager anticipation for the big celebration this coming weekend.

A snippet from history: Traditionally, a festival is celebrated to welcome the first sun in the spring after a long cold winter in China. The cherry blossoms on the trees come to bloom in this season, giving the high hopes of an abundant harvest in the year to come for the farmers.

As Chinese people migrated to other corners of the world, they have brought this tradition with them although in some part of the world, like in Indonesia, it has been assimilated with the local tradition. Ethnic Chinese in Indonesia are mostly not farmers... they tend to be the leaders in trading business. There are no cherry blossom trees in Indonesia, however, the hope of a prosperous year is still symbolized by hand-made silk cherry blossoms which are hung on bare-branched trees.

During Soeharto’s reign in Indonesia (35 years up until May 1998), everything about China (culture, language, religion) was banned in Indonesia. Ethnic Chinese were not allowed to take civil servant positions, had special identity cards, and could not attend public universities. This made the life of ethnic Chinese very difficult, although some did well economically through this era of oppression. No Chinese New Year celebrations were allowed in Indonesia during this time.

Things changed, when in the year 2000, the Indonesian President at the time, Gus Dur, lifted the ban and declared Chinese New Year a national holiday.

Crown-of-Thorns Cleanup!

Martin & I went diving on Sunday; but it was anything but the lay-back-and-relax, let-the-current-carry-you, scenic tour we're accustomed to here in the world of Bunaken diving... we were on a mission to rid the local reef of the insidious "Crown-of-Thorns" Starfish (COTS). Armed with nothing but bamboo tongs, we scoured the reef for several hours.

This colourful, spiky critter naturally occurs in tropical coral reefs, but is very invasive in the reef ecosystem... more so in many areas because their natural predator populations (especially the Napoleon (Humphead) Wrasse fish and a Triton seashell) are declining due to exploitation and over-fishing. Could a change in climate also be a contributing factor? I'm not sure, but I wouldn't rule it out entirely.

So what do they actually do to the reef? Well, they basically eat it alive. The COTS feed on coral polyps (you all know coral is 'animal' not mineral, or plant, as most people believe, am I right?). They use their suction-cup feet to manoeuvre their way over the reef, then they basically extrude their stomach outside their exoskeleton (body) to cover a section of coral. The stomach then releases its digestive enzymes and they go to work!

Even though they are causing damage to the reefs, I find reason to marvel at COTS. They are voracious predators... one individual can consume up to 6 square meters of living reef in a year!

Anyway, because these little devils are nocturnal feeders and tend to tuck themselves in holes and under the reef to stay out of the sunlight during the day, it was no mean feat collecting them up! The local guys here say that for every one that we found during the day there are surely 4 more that we could find if we hunted at night.

For various reasons we didn't. Although it wasn't the official reason given, I have a feeling that the danger factor was the deciding factor. The long spines contain poison, which inflicts great & long-lasting pain if you get pricked. A friend of one of the local men we dove with was 'bitten' (that was his terminology) and became violently ill for a couple of days (including nausea and vomiting). Just another minor marine terror that I find myself in close proximity with!

The haul.

The Indonesian Government takes action regarding Bird Flu???

Given the rising number of cases of Avian Flu virus in humans, and the fact that Indonesia has the highest number of deaths attributable to bird flu thus far, the Government has decided to change a few things…

I just read an article in the Jakarta Post claiming that the Indonesian Government intends to implement a law that will see residential chickens banned throughout the archipelago!? This in an effort to curb the spread of the disease.

Boy do they have their work cut out for them!!! This is a country where street poultry is rampant (I mean, I literally have to watch my step on the way to work for chicken $#!*). In a place where there is no more common scene than chickens in the backyard, front yard, rooftop, fencepost or street-corner, I have to question whether or not this will be an effective fix.

We are taking our own precautions, and although we haven’t cut chicken and eggs completely out of our diet, we are being careful about how we prepare them, and of course, we’re not petting chickens on the street.

You can almost hear the grass growing…

The New Year also brought with it the beginning of the monsoon season. The ‘rainy’ (I fondly refer to it as ‘hurricaney’) season has brought more than just disasters to Indonesia…

It has a constant mouldy-humid stench on everything... because nothing ever COMPLETELY dries!

It has also increased the growth-rate of our lawn exponentially! We have been ‘letting it go’ for several reason… Aesthetically, I prefer the jungle theme we’ve created – it attracts all kinds of birds whose voices are much more pleasing to awaken to than the ambient street noise beyond; but more than this, there is part of me that is doing it out of defiance… we found out that the grass-cutting guy who cut our grass for us once more than quadrupled his charge, especially for us… (even after we invited him for lunch when he was done, and gave him ice tea while he worked – I’m pretty sure he doesn’t receive treatment like that anywhere else!) so we are refusing to give him any more business!

The neighbours may not be happy about it, but we wouldn’t know ... we don't know them... i think it's a medium-scale neighbourhood pretending to be upscale... so they're not into jungles, and most likely have a problem with the crazy white girls lawn… honestly, we've never even SEEN half the neighbours... they live behind TALL gates (which their ‘house-helpers’ open for them)... and they drive right up to their doorsteps, so the sun can only touch them for 1.4 seconds....



White = beautiful, you see!

You wouldn't believe all the whitening treatments, creams, scrubs, soaps, etc! (And although I haven’t seen them, Jonathan tells me that when he was here the big thing was the breast enlargement creams at all the checkouts (where you'd normally find the gum)!)