June 20th
Each day of the two I’ve accomplished less than I expected, and ended the day exhausted. I guess I should expect it to be exhausting to spend the whole day speaking in a language you hardly know! The heat is something I’ll have to give my body time and lots of caring to adjust to, too. At noon I came home and lay in my hammock and felt sick for a while, before going back out. There is a growing line of empty water bottles on my front porch. I started to write about how often i put on sunscreen, when i realized, that was a pretty logistical thing to write about. I find myself wanting to write down the wierdest things. I think this is since there is no one around to just tell them to, like i normally would. Lets see, what did i do today... Maybe I should write about climbing along the rocky bolders of the shore. Scrambling over the surf kissed rocks in the sun, with the teal water rolling and tumbling out as far as the eye can see into the horizon. Maybe I should write about a puffer fish bigger than a two liter bottle huffing his spiny stomach at me as I floated over him. His black spots cruzing over the sandy bottom. Maybe I should write about kicking into the waves above the “coral reef” where 30 percent is dead and algae covered, 5 percent is sea anenomies, and 50 percent is bleached – par three weeks ago. Three weeks ago, it would have been easy to come to lipe and talk about the fishermen, the trawling boats off shore, the corrupt park office, the waste water problem and eutrafocation, to talk about the dangers to the reef. It would have been easy to write an essay on how irresponsible or uncaring, or optionless local management was putting in danger this paradise oyster, this ecological and beautiful treasure. Well, I see tying the global community to this issue won’t be hard now.
The reef was depressing. Today I snorkled off mountain resort and it was even worse that my Sanom beach. I’d say 40 to 50 percent was bleached, in someplaces more. I remembered while I was out there, to mildly nauseating surprise that reefs are usually described as colorful. This reef was like going on an Easter egg hunt in a newspaper factory… that just got hit by a tornado. I’d see one head, bright blue or green and the little coral symbionts just blooming. It was almost erie actually the way they would just GLOW these bright colors. But from that coral all I would see was the rust red of the massive heads (their good color) burned with the white frostbite bleaching marks, and then stone colliflowers, and dusty sandy broken pieces on the bottom, and algae consuming the dead parts of the older corals. I saw the normal fish. Normal being about a dozen species, which I expect is not so many as I should be seeing. The most interesting ones were the big parrot fish, green and purple, with their little flocks of grey younger parrot fish. The sound of the parrot fish chewing on the corals is like ice cubes cracking in a glass on a hot day. Its one of the only sounds you can hear on the reef besides your own breath through the snorkel and the rush of waves lifting your body overhead. The other most interesting fish were “Nemo Fish” as my new friend Som calls them. They seem to be doing O.K. in their screaming lemon drop annenomies. The best thing about clown, (or false clown) fish is that when you swim up to them, they see their reflection in your mask and their very territorial so they charge your face, waving their little white fins ferociously. The saddest thing was swimming right up to the bleached corals and seeing the little coral filterfeeding flowers in every pore, but pale white. I’ll need to read up a bit more, but I’m pretty sure that’s the coral, but minus its colorful symbiotic bacteria: the partner it needs to feed.
After diving, I explored the adventurer more today. Scrambling, and climbing over the rocky pier at the end of sunrise beach, to castaway construction sight, and crashing through the woods up to the road, and seeing another symptom of Thai island death: a poster for a full moon party on this “hidden beach”. Walking back and tracking into grey sticky mud which coated my flip flops, and trying to hurry inconspicuously through town (to the nearest foot washing station) without any one noticing this crazy farang girl, sweaty, with crazyperson feet.
I stopped at a road side kanom (snack) stand for dinner and got to know the people working there better. I orderd two of everything. Two grilled hot dogs on a stick, two sets of three pork meat balls on a stick, and two big meaty mystery patties on a stick, and ate them with sweet and spicy sauce and loads of raw cabbage. It was so delicious. There is Som (which means orange) the woman who grills the meat, she is a great person to learn Thai from because she speaks slowly and clearly and repeats everything I say, only with correct grammer or pronunciation so I can see what I’m doing wrong. Then there is Jai (which means heart, mind or spirit) who is classic –very- friendly thai man, who pops in and out and sort of hangs out while the women run the stand. Then there is a older girl who knows a little english I think, because she proudly clears up my and som’s un-understandings will key english words. Her name is Phone (rain) and she is smack dab in the center between cute and beautiful, also quiet with a great smile. She sells drinks while Som sells the food. I checked: They live on the island year round, but are from the mainland. New friends?
Love, Gigi
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