Sunday, March 29, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
notes from today's dive log
1. loads of mantas ("manta point" actually lives up to its name!)
2. turtle
3. clown triggerfish
4. mantis shrimp
5. clownfish playtime
6. drift diving
while on the surface...a mola mola fin spotting. one day, i'll see one in the water. if i have to stay in bali longer to see one, so be it.
tomorrow, i start on rescue diving. i must admit, i do miss being a lifeguard sometimes. rescue diving is close to guarding, right?
2. turtle
3. clown triggerfish
4. mantis shrimp
5. clownfish playtime
6. drift diving
while on the surface...a mola mola fin spotting. one day, i'll see one in the water. if i have to stay in bali longer to see one, so be it.
tomorrow, i start on rescue diving. i must admit, i do miss being a lifeguard sometimes. rescue diving is close to guarding, right?
life in bali
it's another morning in paradise, and i'm at the dive shop waiting to go out for the day. we're going to do three dives at nusa penida, where i went on my first day here. nusa penida is a nearly deserted island not too far from here. the visibility there seems infinite, which is great for spotting dozens of manta rays. i thought the diving was great in koh tao (where i did my advanced certification a couple weeks ago), but i see as much in one day here as i saw in the entire week on koh tao.
life out of the water is pretty wonderful too. i live across the street from the beach in sleepy little sanur. life is good.
life out of the water is pretty wonderful too. i live across the street from the beach in sleepy little sanur. life is good.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
bali? bali!
sandy feet world travel just got a whole lot sandier! i am in bali now and euphorically happy. i start a week of fun dives tomorrow morning and then have orientation with the other interns. as for this afternoon, i am going across the street to the beach and settling into my little place, which is worlds better than my little place in the tb. maybe i will actually keep up with this blog now that i have wifi at the dive shop? photos to come soon.
BALI!
BALI!
Friday, March 13, 2009
already nostalgic...
i leave thailand very soon, and i am already nostalgic about my time here. there were a few long days at school, but my term here passed by all too quickly. i remember waking up with the chickens in chiang mai for teacher training, falling out of my hammock on koh pha-ngan the morning (um, mid-afternoon) after the full moon party, shuffling to assemble a dive bag on koh tao (trips #1 and #2), and, most frequently, matt knocking on my door for our daily walk to school, complete with a stops for water, coffee, and rice cakes, in that order. although i hate to admit it because i am decidedly NOT a morning person, mornings here have been my favorite times of the day. i love the way the world looks then. i love soi dee, my street, when the street vendors are just preparing their food...and the smell of the food...and the flowers we give to the monks on their morning walks...and my kids screaming, "teacher saaaaarrrrraaaaaaaaa!" at the top of their lungs until i smile and wave.
yes, nostalgia is already kicking in, but i am far from sad. on tuesday morning, i will be in bali to start my divemaster's! before i begin a very sandy part of my "sandy feet world travel," i thought i would share with you, dear readers, a few of my favorite moments from the past six and a half months.
1. most recently, i celebrated my 23rd birthday. i had a small outing along my canal (klong song, canal 2) in rangsit on friday night, the last day of school. on saturday afternoon, i said goodbye to my apartment, my gym, my weekly mani/pedi appointments with erin, and the rest of my little life there. sprouts was outside my building with her mom, who has a food cart there, waving as erin and i drove away. after a short ride downtown, the adventure began: eliza was waiting on me with a guns n' roses shirt of my very own. we dressed in our finest 80's (and early 90's) rocker attire and met up with the other teachers. it was a great night of big hair, tall heels, good music, and wonderful friends. it was a night, however, colored by our knowledge that we would all part ways afterwards--maybe never seeing some of the group again. after months of teaching, we were quite subdued compared to the group that used to party together back in chiang mai. nonetheless, it was the perfect way to leave things.
2. the weekend before new year's on koh samet and new year's eve with leslie and katherine. i love these two girls; we get into lots of trouble together, and i wouldn't have it any other way. i'll put up a few photos until i can write again...it's time for a massage (one of my last before bali!).
yes, nostalgia is already kicking in, but i am far from sad. on tuesday morning, i will be in bali to start my divemaster's! before i begin a very sandy part of my "sandy feet world travel," i thought i would share with you, dear readers, a few of my favorite moments from the past six and a half months.
1. most recently, i celebrated my 23rd birthday. i had a small outing along my canal (klong song, canal 2) in rangsit on friday night, the last day of school. on saturday afternoon, i said goodbye to my apartment, my gym, my weekly mani/pedi appointments with erin, and the rest of my little life there. sprouts was outside my building with her mom, who has a food cart there, waving as erin and i drove away. after a short ride downtown, the adventure began: eliza was waiting on me with a guns n' roses shirt of my very own. we dressed in our finest 80's (and early 90's) rocker attire and met up with the other teachers. it was a great night of big hair, tall heels, good music, and wonderful friends. it was a night, however, colored by our knowledge that we would all part ways afterwards--maybe never seeing some of the group again. after months of teaching, we were quite subdued compared to the group that used to party together back in chiang mai. nonetheless, it was the perfect way to leave things.
2. the weekend before new year's on koh samet and new year's eve with leslie and katherine. i love these two girls; we get into lots of trouble together, and i wouldn't have it any other way. i'll put up a few photos until i can write again...it's time for a massage (one of my last before bali!).
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
i haven't written here in ages (in fact, since i started teaching), so i thought i would try to fill in a few of the details of my past four and a half months while i have a little bit of time to do so. i am in kanchanaburi this week, taking a bit of time to get massages, play in nature, and rest before i go to bali to start my divemaster's. if i had the time and energy, i would include everything about my time here, but i can offer a few highlights for now.
1. TEACHING IN TB-RANGSIT. i love kindergarten! i finished school on february 27th, and i already miss my little babies--duckie, crayon-stuffer, fooksam, the fha's, hello kitty, and the happy hearts. i taught 900 kids a week, so if i couldn't remember their very long thai names, i gave them nicknames. my school wasn't the greatest, especially the administration, but i did love my kids there. in rangsit, i also had an amazing gym, where i spent every afternoon taking hip hop, thai boxing, spinning, and hot yoga. my trainers and friends there were my family; we even had christmas dinner (smoothies from the juice bar) together! after i left the gym every night, i saw my thai mom, a woman named nan who had a fruit stand on my street. i taught her children, and she treated me like her daughter. one day i told her i liked her shirt, and then she brought me one much like it two days later. apparently, her sister has a clothing stand. i appreciated the clothes and the fruit, but more than anything, i loved her company for so many nights of pad thai dinners.
2. KOH SAMET. it is one of my favorite places in the world. koh samet is only a couple hours from bangkok, so i used to meet my friends there frequently for weekend of sun, sand, fire, and buckets. we were local celebrities there. i twirled fire there. i was euphorically happy every weekend there, even when katherine and i were robbed. where else in the world would park rangers buy you breakfast and give you money to get home when you are broke?
3. KOH TAO. oh, koh tao. i think of two things when i think of koh tao: scuba diving and boys. i went to koh tao right before i started teaching with leslie and grappan naglin and again with eliza as soon as i finished teaching. i am an advanced diver now! i spent my days on tao diving and the nights playing at buddha bar. i love it there. in fact, i may go work there after i finish my divemaster's.
1. TEACHING IN TB-RANGSIT. i love kindergarten! i finished school on february 27th, and i already miss my little babies--duckie, crayon-stuffer, fooksam, the fha's, hello kitty, and the happy hearts. i taught 900 kids a week, so if i couldn't remember their very long thai names, i gave them nicknames. my school wasn't the greatest, especially the administration, but i did love my kids there. in rangsit, i also had an amazing gym, where i spent every afternoon taking hip hop, thai boxing, spinning, and hot yoga. my trainers and friends there were my family; we even had christmas dinner (smoothies from the juice bar) together! after i left the gym every night, i saw my thai mom, a woman named nan who had a fruit stand on my street. i taught her children, and she treated me like her daughter. one day i told her i liked her shirt, and then she brought me one much like it two days later. apparently, her sister has a clothing stand. i appreciated the clothes and the fruit, but more than anything, i loved her company for so many nights of pad thai dinners.
2. KOH SAMET. it is one of my favorite places in the world. koh samet is only a couple hours from bangkok, so i used to meet my friends there frequently for weekend of sun, sand, fire, and buckets. we were local celebrities there. i twirled fire there. i was euphorically happy every weekend there, even when katherine and i were robbed. where else in the world would park rangers buy you breakfast and give you money to get home when you are broke?
3. KOH TAO. oh, koh tao. i think of two things when i think of koh tao: scuba diving and boys. i went to koh tao right before i started teaching with leslie and grappan naglin and again with eliza as soon as i finished teaching. i am an advanced diver now! i spent my days on tao diving and the nights playing at buddha bar. i love it there. in fact, i may go work there after i finish my divemaster's.
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