I must say, working with an "Adventure" Company rarely has dull moments. Is anybody ready to move down here with me yet to be a paid tourist? Do I need to entice you with more photos? What will it take?!?!
The past week was a long one full of ups and downs. I did a lot of exploring by scooter, truck, and on foot. I have been upgraded to TRANSLATOR status and will be trying to exploit that soon. We stayed the night in a convent and had breakfast made for us by nuns and I also got to participate in the ceremony at Repi for my house.
Flores is insanely huge. When you look at the map, it doesn't seem like much. Once you're actually out here wandering around you find out that there is a never ending stream of new jungles, roads, villages, bays, beaches, and trails to explore. If that's not enough, all of it is incredibly beautiful. I have been awing at a lot of the gorgeous landscape and fun traditional housing. Out of my peripheral I have been eyeing the flora and fauna but am moving too fast to really get to know it. I will officially live in Repi in one week and am excited to settle a bit so I can spend some time staring at the birds.
This week also consisted of driving a truck over a hole in a concrete bridge only to have the concrete break and suck the truck into the hole. Fortunately, the Manggarai people are incredibly selfless and very industrious. An entire village arrived with sticks, made a lever and removed our truck from the hole. It was pretty unbelievable. More pictures of that shit show later!
We went for many hikes, crossed through rivers, swam in some waterfalls, treaded through rice fields, annoyed many water buffalo with our cameras, and only acquired 1 leach in the whole process.
The ceremony in Repi was really amazing and I feel so honored to have been a part of it. In their culture, the women and children don't get to be in ceremonies. They spend their time in the kitchen or playing outside. So to have the ability to sit with all the elders from multiple villages and be a part of their culture may have just reached the top 3 best moments in my life.
The point of the ceremony was to bless the land where we are building my house, to keep it safe and to thank the ancestors. It was very interesting and lots of fun. I love this culture, as a whole, they are consistently the most innocent kind people I have met to date.
Our visiting friend took pictures throughout the whole thing and will be sharing them with me once she gets back home. I will then share them on here so you can see how crazy it all is. I feel like words can't really do it justice.
Everyday I am still waiting for this vacation to end. Every day it doesn't end I am getting more and more excited for the things to come. There are so many opportunities for growth and exploration that it is mind boggling.
My brain is melty from lack of sleep, lots of sun, much exercise, terrible coffee, being terribly in love with this island, and expediting myself to Bali for the next 4 days to take care of paperwork only to return and go on another long, hot adventure.
I'd like to take this chance to remind you all that I have switched sites for my "Professional Blog". So if you are interested, or know people who are, in turtles or coming to work with me you should head over to my other site. However, if you're interested in the more sappy writing, looking at my personal pictures and hearing about what type of laundry soap I use, you can stick around here too.
Panta Hera Blog
The past week was a long one full of ups and downs. I did a lot of exploring by scooter, truck, and on foot. I have been upgraded to TRANSLATOR status and will be trying to exploit that soon. We stayed the night in a convent and had breakfast made for us by nuns and I also got to participate in the ceremony at Repi for my house.
Flores is insanely huge. When you look at the map, it doesn't seem like much. Once you're actually out here wandering around you find out that there is a never ending stream of new jungles, roads, villages, bays, beaches, and trails to explore. If that's not enough, all of it is incredibly beautiful. I have been awing at a lot of the gorgeous landscape and fun traditional housing. Out of my peripheral I have been eyeing the flora and fauna but am moving too fast to really get to know it. I will officially live in Repi in one week and am excited to settle a bit so I can spend some time staring at the birds.
This week also consisted of driving a truck over a hole in a concrete bridge only to have the concrete break and suck the truck into the hole. Fortunately, the Manggarai people are incredibly selfless and very industrious. An entire village arrived with sticks, made a lever and removed our truck from the hole. It was pretty unbelievable. More pictures of that shit show later!
We went for many hikes, crossed through rivers, swam in some waterfalls, treaded through rice fields, annoyed many water buffalo with our cameras, and only acquired 1 leach in the whole process.
The ceremony in Repi was really amazing and I feel so honored to have been a part of it. In their culture, the women and children don't get to be in ceremonies. They spend their time in the kitchen or playing outside. So to have the ability to sit with all the elders from multiple villages and be a part of their culture may have just reached the top 3 best moments in my life.
The point of the ceremony was to bless the land where we are building my house, to keep it safe and to thank the ancestors. It was very interesting and lots of fun. I love this culture, as a whole, they are consistently the most innocent kind people I have met to date.
Our visiting friend took pictures throughout the whole thing and will be sharing them with me once she gets back home. I will then share them on here so you can see how crazy it all is. I feel like words can't really do it justice.
Everyday I am still waiting for this vacation to end. Every day it doesn't end I am getting more and more excited for the things to come. There are so many opportunities for growth and exploration that it is mind boggling.
My brain is melty from lack of sleep, lots of sun, much exercise, terrible coffee, being terribly in love with this island, and expediting myself to Bali for the next 4 days to take care of paperwork only to return and go on another long, hot adventure.
I'd like to take this chance to remind you all that I have switched sites for my "Professional Blog". So if you are interested, or know people who are, in turtles or coming to work with me you should head over to my other site. However, if you're interested in the more sappy writing, looking at my personal pictures and hearing about what type of laundry soap I use, you can stick around here too.
Panta Hera Blog