Bunaken Beach Resort

Note:  This post was started on Monday, finished on Tuesday...
Today is the last day of "Spring Break" here in Lippo Village, and kids all over are scrambling to finish their homework.  In my home there's a lot of printing off the internet, cutting and gluing as posters are assembled to be handed in tomorrow.  The hot season seems to have descended upon us and so it's actually nice to be indoors, with all the doors closed and the a/c on, listening to the kids work hard.  Tris has just returned from a golf game and he and I are simply savouring the last few hours of idleness.  We did go on a trip for the holidays, but returned with 4 days of freedom remaining.  Lots of time to continue the relaxing we started in North Sulawesi.

Our trip began on my mom's birthday, April 16th (unfortunately mom was still in Canada though).  We flew out with the Weedas and the Mercers (the latter would head to the same destinations, only mirrored dates) and landed in Manado in the evening.  Although it was dark and I was a bit apprehensive of boating at night, our ride to Bunaken Island was a dream.  It was a clear, starry night with a full moon and puffy white clouds.  As we sat on the roof of the wooden vessel, we all chatted and laughed and reminded each other that this was truly a night to glue into our memory banks.

On the other side, we were welcomed by Bunaken Beach Resort staff who were running about preparing for their boss' wedding, to be held the next day.  At one point we spoke with the bride-to-be about my unique dietary needs and she seemed as calm as the ocean we'd just rode in on.  After a long travel day, the Whites and Weedas all headed to their rooms (Lehmans had arrived earlier and were already asleep) and under a single sheet each, feel asleep to silence.

The next day, sitting in front of Tris' and my cement hut, overlooking the ocean and the mountains beyond (for any West Coast Canadians reading, it was very much like being in the Quatsino Sound area), I called my mom to wish her a happy birthday.   I described where I was sitting as a little piece of "primitive paradise," not only because of the beauty but because of the quiet.  That was all to change for a little while.

At around 7 am the wedding sound system was set up, and the man in charge of the 12-speaker sound system began to adjust for the 2 pm wedding.  After a few hours of what sounded like "serenitY, serenitY, serenitY" (how ironic) coming through the speakers, the volume was increased and they began to play pop songs. Not bad, except that when the actual wedding occurred, our entire group was so overwhelmed with the noise (the volume was increased even more during the wedding, we're sure of it) that instead of participating as originally intended, we headed off to the nearby village for some quiet.  So much for our anticipated first day of laying on the beach, listening to people chatting, babies crying (little Aliya just turned one and we anticipated some baby noises on this trip) and watching the tide go out.  We were able to snorkel a little, though it was awkward walking through the guests in our bathing suits and gear to get to the ocean. I admit that I was a little disappointed, because had the volume been lower, we all agreed later that it would have been fun to head into the wedding crowd, chat with the guests, and to eat some of the buffet (but not the dog-rat stew!). Thankfully, true to the resort host's word, the party ended at 6:30 and we were able to eat wedding buffet leftovers in quiet.

Aside from the unanticipated wedding, we enjoyed the resort. The adults (except the Lehmans with their little ones) had their 'love huts' along the ocean, complete with a/c, fans, a hammock and further out, an area with a table & deck chairs to call their own, the boys their own room, and Abby and Hope had theirs (ok, a little scary for mom to have Abby in a room on her own but everyone else was fine with it so I went with the flow.  All went just fine, just like all the other adults said it would).  The snorkeling was outstanding.  As you swam out from the beach the water was incredibly warm, then it cooled a bit and coral appeared. Further out the coral dropped off into nothingness.  Mysteriously freaky.  I missed the sea turtles but others said that they saw them hanging around the drop off.

There was one time that was a bit scary, and that was when Janet, while snorkeling alongside me, said she had tingling all down her right leg and arm.  After a few moments of indecision, we headed back just in case it was something medical (we hate to admit it but we're all getting to the age where we have to consider that tingling may be more than just a result of sitting on your feet too long!).  Once on land, she found she had swollen patches along her arm and leg.  Turns out that she had swum through a cloud of little electric-blue plankton and had a reaction to their stings.  We all had our own turns swimming through them but there were no further reactions.  Regrettably, although they were beautiful, I never stuck around long enough to inspect them.

Bunaken is a small island with very little to do but relax.  The options are snorkeling, boating, taking a glass bottomed boat out to the reefs (which we did), scuba diving, walking or riding a motorcycle to either end of the village, and reading.  If you need anything to eat, there aren't any warungs (small roadside stands) or hotel restaurants or anything.  Very much a camping atmosphere so if you don't like roughing it a bit, this isn't a good place to go.  However, if you are like our family of four and you like to experience life quite simply, this resort was perfect.  The food was simple, served on time, and there were always cold drinks on hand.  The rooms were clean enough with very basic plumbing and no hot water.  The staff were helpful--especially when our three teenage boys got lost (a different post to come)--and although I think I freaked them out with my Celiac diet, they tried to accommodate our needs whenever we brought any up.

Our stay lasted 3 days and 3 nights, and by the time it was time to go, we were looking forward to our next stop:  the cool mountains and Highlands Resort, Kinilow (or Tomohon)..  We packed up by 9 am, loaded up the wooden boat and headed back to Manado.

One last word on being a Canadian girl

I received this forwarded email this morning, and it made me chuckle.  I thought it went with my previous post. For the record, I've never beat my husband...

Three friends married women from different parts of the world.

The first man married an American girl. He told her that she was to do the dishes and house cleaning.

It took a couple of days, but on the third day, he came home to see a clean house and dishes washed and put away.  
The second man married an Irish girl. He gave his wife orders that she was to do all the cleaning, dishes and the cooking.

The first day he didn't see any results, but the next day he saw it was better. By the third day, he saw his house was clean, the dishes were done, and there was a huge dinner on the table.  
The third man married a girl from Canada.  He ordered her to keep the house clean, dishes washed, lawn mowed, laundry washed and hot meals on the table for every meal.

He said the first day he didn't see anything, the second day he didn't see anything either but by the third day, some of the swelling had gone down and he could see a little out of his left eye and his arm was healed enough that he could fix himself a sandwich and load the dishes.

Canadian Girl All the Way

Bacon and Eggs over a Campfire

 A few days ago I got into our car, and out of the corner of my eye I saw a rope hanging from the top of our car to the front of the hood.  Immediately I thought it was a canoe rope hanging from our rooftop, and our canoe was obviously tied to it.  In reality, this was only a trick being played on my eyes by the hot afternoon sun, and there was no rope, no canoe.  It made me think of how ingrained my Canadian roots are, no matter where I move and hopefully, no matter how long I live there.  I will never stop thinking about and loving the outdoors, especially the rugged Canadian ones:  camping, fishing, canoeing, hiking, biking, skiing, swimming in rivers, tubing, and the list goes on.

Canadian Girl in Training

Our family is preparing to head northward to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi in a couple of days for the Easter break.  Hopefully there we'll be able to snorkel and swim and maybe even go whitewater rafting. After that we hunker down for 2 more months and then we're home...6 weeks of west coast Canada (and a little bit of Alberta and even Idaho, USA too!).  I think that that was what was making me feel homesick the other day, just knowing that we're heading home soon.  Time will fly by and before we know it, we'll be in our old van driving down the quiet New Island Highway, windows open and passing the odd car now and then.

An image we hold fast to on hot, Indonesian days

I was thinking of all the things I learned growing up in a small forestry town, things that as I grow older and meet more people, I realize are truly unique.  I know I have a lot to experience in this world, and hopefully I'll have the opportunity to travel and learn so much more.  There are things that even my kids may never experience or learn because of their own circumstance:  their parents uprooted them from their semi-rural home, french-speaking school, and took them from their family, friends and even their corgi so that they could experience new things! gain new perspectives on life, to learn new languages and meet new people.  Although we've all settled into our Indonesian life here, there are things I will never, ever forget, and they will always make me the West Coast Canadian Girl that I am.

Canadian Girl with Canadian Boy 

I know how to identify some types of wood by the way they smell when they're cut***A toque is a knit, tube-like cap that sometimes ends in a pom-pom**dandelions bleed a white substance when cut, taste terrible when bitten, and when their stems are pulled apart and put into water, the stems will curl into pretty whirls that you can join together to make a necklace**pitch (Ontarians call it 'sap') is a great fire ignitor**salmon will swim great distances and through any waterway to return to the place they were hatched, to lay their own eggs...then they die**dead salmon lining the rivers are intriguing but very, very stinky**I know how dry a piece of fir firewood is by its weight, and where to hit it with an axe so that it'll split apart in--hopefully--one swing**when you put your bare foot into the dirt in the spring and the ground feels warm, it's time to plant (ok, you can use your hand but your foot is so much more fun!)**never, ever ride your bike blindly into a huge mud puddle because you a) don't know how deep it is b) don't know how sticky the  muck is at the bottom c) never know what living creature is lurking at the bottom!**it is possible to have snow, cold rain and warm sunshine all on the same day**I've skied down a mountain with just a t-shirt on (and pants, of course)**Whisky Jacks are little birds that are so brave they'll take a bit out of the sandwich that you are eating, WHILE you are eating it**black bears have set routes that they establish over time, and when you build a fence in your backyard it really confuses them**I've had a MARS water bomber drip water on me while it was ascending after filling up with water**huckleberries, salmon berries and thimble berries mushed together taste good to a 5  year old but become bitter as you age**the list could go on, and that's an excuse for another post...

Photos from last post

gravestones, wood fuel, recycling carts and sorted recycling

 Some photos of the area I wrote about in my last post.


Thanks for reading.

fresh graves

outdoor kitchen

bathing/fishing/laundering area

Darren, Tyler, and poverty (not related)

It's funny how life can get really busy and I don't have time to write, and then when I have an evening free I can't remember the phantom blogs I've written in my head.  There are a variety of topics that I've been thinking on in the last while, one of them is homesickness, and another is poverty. Why?  They are things I've experienced in the last while.

Just over a week ago, for a few days, I felt extremely homesick.  Not sure what triggers it, and how to alleviate it, but I do know that as I am in it, the weirdest thing happens.  I see my brothers everywhere here in Indonesia.  I saw Darren, my big bro, in a mall, as an actor in a sitcom and a movie, heard him talking behind me in public.  I see Tyler, my baby bro (36 and still my baby bro) in an Indonesian driver, on the local golf course during a tournament, and when I look at my sons legs (identical!).  Why that is, I do not know.  If you think about it, it's weird.  These are two people I lived with for less than 1/2 of my lifetime (Darren about 12 years, TJ about 18) and who I didn't always particularly like when I was in the same room with them for at least half of that time.  I'm pretty sure, and would bet money on it, that they didn't particularly always like me either {Note:  I'll never forget, when I was little,  I'd be so angry at Darren and all I could think of was to yell "I hate you!" at him, and he'd make me even madder by saying "I love you, Kimmie" right back at me. Can you believe the jerk??}.  It must be that although as we age we spend less and less time together (rather difficult to do so when I live halfway across the earth), their lives have impacted me.  Things they've said, choices they've made and things they've done have influenced my life, making it so that no matter where I live, I will never forget that they are eating, sleeping, living, working and playing on the other side of this globe.  I miss them.  I like that.

Completely unrelated, the other day I headed into the slums with my camera, able to take photos much more freely than usual because I was with an Indonesian woman who goes into the area regularly, and she was also toting HER camera.  I just followed her around like a goose and stopped when she stopped.  It was an extremely bright day and so the photos are all quite shadowy, yet we were able to capture some pretty incredible shots.  Incredible because they were of newly dug graves sitting right next to a person's home (not their family's grave...that of strangers), of a woman trying to boil water in a large pot using garbage wood for fuel (pressboard, plywood, glue-based wood products, painted wood), sitting out in the open with a tree as her kitchen wall.  On it hung her fry-pan, string, and cooking utensils. A large, brown river was her backdrop, as was a crystal blue sky.  On the river men in rickety catamarans were plunging poled baskets into the river, fishing for whatever they could scoop.  Often what they came up with was plastic or mud...I didn't see many fish.  Across the trail from her were piles upon piles of plastic, already sorted, and more graves.  I do not have these photos up yet, as my own computer is still "down," but I hope to show a few at least, later.

What is really apparent to me is that if I was to move home, back to Canada, it's these kinds of settings that I will miss.  I'm not really sure why because they're dirty, uncomfortable, challenging and quite sad, really.  I think it's because they have impacted me so deeply, and I love being there.  I love the kids, I love the potential photos (most I don't take, I just store in my personal memory-bank), I hate the lifestyles that these people are forced to live and it makes me think of what I can do to impact others, either them or someone else, in some way.  It inspires me--although inspiration and actually DOING are two different things--and I love living where I'm forced to feel deeply.  It's kind of weird to admit, but sitting in a graveyard, next to a river, surrounded by tropical trees and grasses, I feel like I'm closer to nature than in my own world here, too.  Yes, reading it over, it does sound weird.

O well.

Thanks for reading.