a day in the life: clogged arteries and bureaucracy

Life on a beautiful island isn't quite as one imagines. People joke, "Ah, what a great job! If you can call that work, it's more of a working holiday!" Ha ha ha. Whereas it's true that I get to go snorkeling on my breaks and the views are breathtaking, the work never ends. I have 200 students and teach about 35 classes a week by myself. Then there is the marking, preparation and admin which could easily take another 30 hours. I am essentially a one woman act playing the part of a teacher, an administrator and a director of studies. Then I must remember that although alone in all of this, I must relate to my hotel and its staff. I live, eat and work with my students and there are very few others on the island. This is what you call, "FULL ON". I'm not complaining, I'm not saying that I don't like it. There are many pros and cons and right now the pros far outweigh the cons and I remind myself of it in every bad moment. (The bad moments are usually because I'm very tired). In fact, I quite like it, but it is very difficult. When I say "very" I mean "EXTREMELY" difficult.

Today is my pseudo day off. This means that I wear jeans and a top of my choice instead of my uniform, hope nobody will complain about it, I don't teach classes and I work and hide in my office most of the day and I'm grumpy because it's not a good day, a restful day, but it's the only semblance of one that I've got.

As is coincidentally usual, I was awakened by a business related phone call. (The hour of these phone calls has thankfully moved itself until after 10.00 or 11.00. I used to get them at 8.00, and I usually work until 1.00-2.00 in the morning.) I ignored the apparent urgency and continued to wake up as naturally as possible. It is after all my pseudo day off.

After taking my usual stab at Yoga, I washed my face and brushed my teeth, pondering why we use Listerine as a mouthwash when the label warns that it may be fatal if swallowed. I used to try to count to 30 before spitting, but now I realise that that's about the time when the acid ingredient starts to become extrememly painful, and I would opt to spit then anyway- whether it's 20 or 30 seconds and you've followed the instructions doesn't matter once the acid begins to eat away your mouth. Briefly working some styling wax through my newly trimmed hair (which I did last night at about 3am for lack of other free time to do it), I donned some clothes and went for lunch.

Lunch in the canteen was gruesomely disappointing, as even the once pure steamed vegetables are now covered in artery clogging butter, oil or grease...I grumpily opted for a bowl of cucumber slices with some grated carrots and a liberal sprinkling of canned tuna for protein. This has been my lunch/breakfast everyday for the last 2-3 weeks. I can't face the fat laden foods glistening in the afternoon's light, and I keep hoping something other than the cucumbers will call me. It's not going to happen.

It's very difficult to stay healthy here.

Now I'm writing reports for the government. We must register all courses with them, and mine in particular is the worst, since I have about 30-40 classes a week and 200 participants. Everything must be red-taped just so, and I've got until today to do it.

Happy un-birthday to me.

sharks

I find that most people on the island become sedentary and don't like to "do" anything, so it's really best to simply do things by myself. I do quite a bit of lone snorkeling, and am getting to really know the islands' reefs and fish. I've swum in the vicinity of sharks on a number of occasions, including a 2 meter nurse shark which lives at the end of the jetty. (The jetty is a great place to jump off of with a friend at night and just tread water and chat...if you have a friend so inclined). On one occasion, I was night snorkeling with a friend and we were waiting to climb onto the jetty, but had to wait for the boats to leave. We had arrived at a busy moment and there was oil in the water from one of the local's dhonis. We were feeling quite cross with oil burning and itching on our skin and faces. Just then, he aimed his flashlight below my feet and there was the 2 meter nurse shark sleeping not more than a meter below my feet. I shrugged, more concerned with the engine oil on my skin than with the shark.

We have an unusually large concentration of sharks around our islands (my two resorts). The sharks we have are mostly reef sharks- white tips, black tips and nurse sharks. We are in fact doing a study on the black tips to try and find out where they go after they reach about 2 meters. Sharks are disappearing all over the world and are expected to become extinct. An estimated 100 million sharks are killed every year, and we would like to protect them. They are beautiful creatures and I love watching the babies play in the waves at night. When snorkeling over the drop-off I almost always see a lone shark in the abyss. Usually they steer away from humans. Most of the ones I have seen are between 1 and 1.5 meter reef sharks. The nurse sharks are the bigger ones, but their bodies aren't great and hulking, but grey and sleek with a rather large tail. Sometimes I have even swum after sharks (to their mild distress), just for fun. Once while doing just that, I caught myself thinking, "Hmm. That's funny behaviour I'm exhibiting. Chasing sharks. Hmm...no fear."

Yesterday however, I came undone. You see, late last year the Discovery Channel did a special on Bull Sharks. Although a lesser known shark, they account for more of the shark attacks on humans than any other shark. They have been known to travel up to 3000 kilometers upriver- yes, in FRESH water! They also hunt in very shallow water. Now, the Discovery Channel was trying to prove how these sharks didn't attack men on purpose, but just because they mistook them for fish. If you didn't wear jewelry, didn't go in the water after dusk, perhaps wore gloves because they could mistake the white flashing of your hands for fish...you'd be fine. In one particular scene, the cameraman, the scientist and the interviewer were all standing in murky river water with 8 foot bull sharks swimming around them. The cameraman had a camera above and below the water. Suddenly, one of the sharks took a bite of the scientist! Granted, with all of that blood in the water, all three men could easily have been in great trouble, but the truth is that the sharks didn't seem especially interested in pursuing. Still, I wouldn't want to be "tasted" to see if I taste good. He lost his calf.

Yesterday I was snorkeling to a part of the reef I had never been to before but that had been highly recommended. I was in shallow water, no more than 1 meter deep and had just reached the first outlying coral gardens. Suddenly there was a massive shark in front of me. Snorkeling goggles make things appear 25% bigger, but this was STILL a big hulking shark! It was broader and bigger around than any shark I had seen here previously. 2-3 meters from me, the shark veered and circled, giving me a view of the rest of his/her body. They looked to be over 2 meters, and really big around, rather than like the slender sharks I knew.

My first thought was that this was an ocean shark that took a wrong turn and ended up in our lagoon! My second thought was what kind- I knew it wasn't a tiger shark...I couldn't help the next thought. "Bullshark". We don't have bullsharks in Maldives. "Bullshark." We don't have bullsharks in Maldives. He/she circled me. They looked like they were just beginning their hunting. It was about 6pm, an hour before sunset. They checked out the coral gardens, and circled me again. I laid still on the surface of the water. Although I knew that I was too big to register as food, I was worried about my skin flashing like fish. I knew there was a patch in midriff that was exposed. I wasn't even thinking about my anklet with shiny silver/black dangling crystals flashing in the sun!

I stood up to get a better look at him. Yup. Still huge. What were they doing in such shallow water? Just then I got a clear view of the dorsel fin and breathed a great sigh of relief. It had a black tip on it. It was a rare sighting of a very large reef shark. Knowing it was a reef shark brought such incredible relief. I looked up at shore and knew that despite the relief, I still wanted to get out of the water. The mental damage was done. I had spent a few minutes in the water alone with a potential hunting bullshark. Knowing it wasn't a bullshark couldn't erase those minutes of uncertainty.

Thinking on it afterwards, I think my fear came mostly from feeling claustrophobic with the shark. He was so big that I couldn't see his dorsel fin, cause it broke the surface so that he/she didn't scrape the bottom. If we had been in the deeper ocean, I would have been more understanding of why it was there. Also, I think it wouldn't have been so close to me. If I had been with someone else, it wouldn't have been as scary, because that would be two people with the knowledge that these sharks aren't going to hurt us, rather than one person with the imagination and memory of the Discovery Channel show on bull sharks.

To be alone with one's imagination is to be with the best or worst companion imaginable.

home at last

Returning home to the Maldives has brought about an interesting mix of emotions. The first few days were exceedingly difficult as the effects of the tsunami weighed heavily upon my mind. Some of the staff have lost their homes. More have lost most everything that they own. All have been having bad dreams since it happened.

When I first arrived back, everyone wanted to touch me- whether a handshake or a hug. It was a definite affirmation of life. There was a rumor going around that I had gone on a beach holiday in Sri Lanka. I'm not sure why- my last holiday was in Lanka and I returned home a week early because I didn't like it. (I was heavily accosted by the hard-sell habits of the locals because of my skin color.)

My hotel has been very lucky. Although it has beach front properties in Phuket, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Maldives, relatively no damage to its properties and no staff or guests were injured in anyway whether in the hotel or on holiday (some staff were on holiday in affected areas). A few people have suggested that it was karma. My hotel is unique in how much money and effort it spends in not only being an eco-friendly hotel, but also in research and programs to help the environment. Further, my hotel has programs to help the local communities through education, vaccinations- whatever is needed in the area.

Last night, the owner came to our island. He basically came to speak to the staff to assure them that no jobs will be lost because of occupancy levels. A report on the BBC surveyed hotels that are still open in the effected areas in the Indian Ocean gave an average occupancy rate of 10%-25%. The most difficult thing right now for recovery of affected areas is lack of tourists.

The most important thing for the owner of my company is helping the recovery. Our hotel is the first to do a partnership with the United Nations for extensive recovery efforts. Rotating teams of volunteers are working on rebuilding an island that was demolished by the tsunami. My classes have greatly reduced in numbers as so many people have gone home to help their families and others have volunteered to help. Across the company, employees have donated 5% or more of their salaries to the Asian Tsunami Fund, which the company has matched.

It's inspiring to see people from so many countries pull together to get something done.

my last day in Borneo

In a couple of hours I will head back to Kuala Lumpur and then tomorrow back to Maldives. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here. Kuching is the capital city of Sarawak (a Malaysian state in the island of Borneo). It's a charming city around a river. Rivers are the blood of Borneo. Many places here are only accessible by river despite the new road which has made bus travel possible.

I have just returned from a 3 day jungle trip (short but sweet- and sticky, very sticky). I stayed in a longhouse of the Iban people, along with a Danish family of four. The Ibans are the largest tribe in Sarawak, and but this longhouse was fairly small, housing 22 families. The people were tremendously at ease with themselves and the world. The chief, now an old man was one of the few with the traditional ear holes, although he wasn't wearing any rings in them. He also had all of the traditional tattoos covering his back and arms. His wife was a lovely older woman with the breasts of a young woman. When I met her, she was wearing only a sarong wrapped around her waist and a kindly smile.

The first couple of hours in the longhouse, I chatted with the people. (They in Iban, me in English). They were very excited about my guitar and a few of the young men and young boys asked if they could play. I passed it around and some of them were pretty decent, although they were too shy to sing. The women all wanted to know if I was married and had children. They clucked disapproval as I tried to explain that there was no husband. I'm quite old in their eyes to not be married.

Interestingly enough though, they were quite happy when I compared tattos with them. I have an interpretive butterfly on my neck and a large chinese dragon on the small of my back (this one will wash off in another week or two, but they didn't know and I couldn't explain that). They were well impressed.

The longhouse I went to was located about a 6 hour trip from the capital. The first three hours by car and the second three by longboat (with a motor). It's the last longhouse up the river. They have quite an ingenious system of using the river for running water and also to raise fish in ponds so that they no longer have to spend hours catching them in the river, but only a few minutes with a net or a basket to catch them before dinner. The chickens walk around freely until the day when they are butchered. Wild boars are kept in little box-type houses and dogs and cats roam freely with the ducks.

The Ibans used to be some of the most feared head hunters, but are now a peaceful farming people. Longhouses are self-sufficient. The land has no title here and the people can still move about as they like. An old fashioned long house like the one I visited is on stilts and has bamboo and planks of wood for the flooring (which you can see through to the ground below). The roof is made from corrogated tin, and each family has a room and a door that opens into the common area. The days are spent either farming, processing the food or making crafts. The men still hunt from time to time, but the women usually stay at home except during harvest time. Children from the age of 7 on spend most of the year at a boarding school upriver, coming home for the holidays and harvesting. If they are lucky, they will come home for some weekends as well. The government pays for the schooling, food and uniforms, but the people of the longhouse have to pay for transportation and petrol is expensive. You can't grow money.

Farming is done in the jungle. Sarawak is one of the largest pepper producing areas in the world. They also grow rice and vegetables and fruits are in great abundance. No one could go hungry here. It's fantastic to see.

A several hour trek into the jungle (I thought I was being boiled alive) brought us to an abandoned longhouse. The set up was the same, although there were only 16 families in that longhouse originally. We had to take great care with the boards, as some of them were rotting and threatening to go through with the wrong step. We were greeted by a long green snake (more than a meter)on a tree branch just outside. There was also a gecko so large that it barked like a dog!

Nowadays, they use quite a few modern things, but when showing someone around, they will show you the old way of doing things. This includes cooking everything in bamboo over a fire. I was lucky enough to experience a bamboo barbecue, where everything, including the tea was cooked in bamboo and DELICIOUS! It was all so good that I couldn't even resist the chicken- and I've been decidedly vegetarian for more than a year now (just because I can't stand any kind of meat). We all ate too much and had to rest before considering how to move in the afternoon.

Ready for fishing? Sure. The Danish family and I were thinking we'd sit by the river with poles. I brought my journal and Kenneth (the dad) brought his mobile and camera. Little did we expect that it would involve trekking upriver throwing a net every few meters! I was lucky and wore my swimsuit and sarong, but had to make sure my jacket with my journal didn't get wet. Kenneth looked miserable and Lisa (the mother)and I finally took a wrong path through the water and got soaked almost up to our necks! We laughed and laughed. "Fishing." What can you do? Of course, it's the "Iban way," we laughed!

When we finished the fishing trip, we came back to the river just below the long house and our guide said, "Ok, you swim now?" Sure. We stripped down and dived in. The porters were soaping up and I thought that looked like a good idea (although I didn't have any soap) so I tried scrubbing my head with the brown river water. The porter nearest me laughed and offered me his soap- body shop peach! I soaped my head and myself and then the family joined in too. We soaped and laughed and fell and swam. It was a fantastic moment in the middle of the jungle with only mild visions of crocodiles floating through my head.

Dinner was the fish the porters had caught in the river, crispy fried. We asked how to eat and our guide said "Just eat. Head first." We froze. Lisa asked our guide to eat one. He did. She even checked his mouth. All the Ibans laughed. She ate one. There was nothing for it. I did too...with my eyes closed! It wasn't bad. I didn't even notice it was head. I gave up on the third one..it was too big to eat like that and I nearly choked on the bones.

to be continued.....