Half-Seas Over

You learn something new every day on this island. Some days it’s a species of fish, some days it’s a new part of the island to venture to, other days it’s the fact that you’ve been washing yourself with an ass blaster.

I noticed this nozzle in the shower area within the first day or two on the island. But if you’ve read my previous blogs, you’ll know that I wasn’t used to the fact that the shower and toilet existed in the same stall in Malaysia. This nozzle is perfectly positioned a little below waist level in between the toilet and shower area. Upon seeing it the first few visits to the stall, I avoided it out of confusion. “What’s this nozzle for? I have a shower head, a toilet, I don’t need it so let’s not test it.”

But within a few days consisting of sandy trips to the bathroom, I ultimately figured out that it must be for hosing off sandy feet and legs after a few hours of swimming, tanning and beach volleyball. “Goddamn these Malaysians are considerate” I thought each time I ventured to the bathroom to hose off my sand covered feet, rinsing the day away to return to the beach with clean flip flops.

This bliss was shattered today. After a morning dive I sat with my dive group and instructor, all of whom were from Europe, and we got on the conversation of cultural differences between our countries. Upon talking about some of the conditions here at camp and how they compare to home, we got on the conversation of the bathrooms. With this conversation, someone mentioned the practicality of the bidets here, and how they prefer the bidet fitted bathrooms here apposed to the ones that don’t have them.

With this I asked, “Wait what? Where are there bidets?” To which I was answered by everyone at the table, “Ummm in each shower in the Long House.”

Now the Long House is my prime bathroom/shower area due to its proximity to my tent. “Huh? I’m in there everyday and have never seen a bidet.”

When met with blank glances, it was at this moment that I realized what everyone was speaking of- this shower hose that I thought was for washing off sandy feet after a day on the beach was actually meant for hydro-blasting your pants cannon.

My shower and after sun routine have been ruined, I’m questioning my role on this earth and wondering why bad things happen to good people. But I hope you have a great weekend.

This blog is dedicated to my new favorite condiment, Sambal. At my first few meals here, I would hear whisperings of people asking “Sambal, who has the sambal? Is there sambal? Did someone make sambal?” Samba? Somba? What is this thing everyone can’t eat a meal without? Well I quickly figured out this condiment everyone covers everything in is sambal, “a chili sauce or paste typically made from a mixture of a variety of chili peppers with secondary ingredients such as shrimp paste, fish paste, garlic, ginger, shallot, scallion, palm sugar, lime juice and rice vinegar” (full disclosure I had no idea what was in this amazing sauce until I just looked it up on Wikipedia). It originated in Indonesia but is popular throughout Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Singapore. It has that special combination of the right amount of spice and flavor paired with omg I think I just burned my face off. Scrambled eggs? Hit it with the sambal. Rice and vegetables? Sambal. Noodles and meat? Slather that bitch in sambal. I can say for sure I’ll definitely be attempting to make this at home when I return to the states.

Today was our first deep dive, where we dove down to about 50 feet. This was probably the coolest dive I’ve done and also the most fun. Rather than learning a bunch of skills, our instructor Matt brought some props down to demonstrate the changes in pressure, air density, how we perceive color, and how our mental speed is affected at such a depth. First we cracked an egg underwater and saw how it stays together to the point that we could play toss with it.

Next we played a counting game, where Matt had a chart with numbers 1-20 scrambled on a grid. He timed us to see how long it took us to count the numbers in order at 50 feet below, and then repeated this test with us on land. It took me 30 seconds to tap the numbers underwater and only 17 seconds on land, showing how our thinking slows down and thought processes are affected due to the depth and pressure.

Lastly, Matt showed us a color chart on land that was in rainbow order, but when we looked at it underwater, all of the reds and oranges appeared brown. It was pretty cool to see how our perception is greatly affected at these depths, and also loved playing with a floating egg yolk just for fun. Also got some decent footage today, think I’m getting better at this GoPro thing!

Ended the day with some more beach volleyball and an insane sunset. I don’t think I’ll get tired of this view.

Today was some more leisure diving, with a dive to a ship wreck in the morning and a dive to the North Jetty in the afternoon. I think now that we are done with all of the basic skills I’m starting to really enjoy diving and find being underwater extremely peaceful. All of a sudden I’ll look at my dive computer and realize we’ve been 25 feet underwater for 30 minutes and not even realize how much time has passed.

On my second dive I took my GoPro on its first scuba dive and managed to get 0 seconds of usable footage, which also made me realize how much I suck at filming underwater. What I thought was a perfect video of me swimming over a sea turtle turned out to be a green blur of nothing (see below). Hoping to improve on this…

The day ended with our introduction to the Advanced Open Water course, where we will complete five dives and at the end be able to dive up to 60 feet, along with some more beach volleyball and celebratory beers for no reason… but when you’re on the beach do you need a reason?

This morning I walked around the island again while failing to realize it was high tide, resulting in me wading across waist-deep water holding my bag with my phone and iPad above my head in an outfit that didn’t include a bathing suit. Still, not much to complain about.

Tonight we listened to a practice presentation of one of our Science Officers here, who will be presenting in the next few days at a Dive Summit in Borneo about what we are doing here at TRACC- more to come on that in the next blog. Even as a participant of what is going on here, I learned so much during it and was more inspired by the ongoing effort being put into marine and reef conservation here by students, staff, and volunteers. Being on an island as tiny as this and hearing about the growth and progression that has gone on since 2011 really hammers in the idea that no matter how small, a tiny bit of effort can have a long term affect on our environment and the habits of those around us. #humpdaymotivation 😎

As of yesterday I am officially certified! We did our last dive yesterday morning and took our exam after and the four of us passed with flying colors. This means that we are now certified to dive up to 18 meters (30 feet). By the way the whole thing with the US not being on the metric system is really screwing me up here. We dive according to meters, choose the weights for our scuba weight belts in kilograms and discuss temperature in Celsius, and I’d say I’ve figured out the conversations for these things only about a fourth of the time. You can say to me all day that it’s 28 degrees Celsius and I’m still checking my weather app for the Fahrenheit temperature.

On our leisure dive in the afternoon we went down to a different jetty and saw the most marine life we’ve seen on a dive, including a turtle cleaning itself on coral, a lobster, a lion fish, and a trigger fish (I think I can’t actually identify all of these on my own!). We finished off the day with some beach volleyball and celebratory beers. This week should be some more leisure dives, and then it’s on to our Advanced certification.

Today is International Women and Girls in Science Day if you couldn’t tell from the title (definitely was only asked to be in this photo strictly because I’m a girl) ((did you just assume my gender?)) “Females make up 51% of the global population, but only 31% of scientific researchers. Today, the 11th of February, is a reminder that women and girls play a critical role in science and technology, and that their participation should be strengthened”. The girls here are super knowledgeable when it comes to the sea, marine life, and conservation efforts and I hope to learn a lot from them during my time here.

Mondays are our Sundays here, so nothing is scheduled throughout the day. I spent the morning on the jetty trying to work on my tan and catch up to these people and the afternoon lounging in the hammock.

Yesterday I attempted to do laundry which I will probably never try again. Instead of clean clothes, I mostly got a pile of of still dirty clothes, only soaking wet and filled with soap. I used way too much detergent, and since everything has to be soaked and hand washed here, I managed to get out maybe half of the soap I dumped in after rinsing four or five times. Maybe I’ll just shower with clothes on?

Whenever I start to miss the luxuries of home like washing machines, air conditioning, a bed without sand in it, Taco Bell… I just have to look up. Can’t complain about much when this is your front yard.

Almost done with Open Water scuba certification! (Obviously snorkeling in the pic above but you get the point). We have three of five dives completed so by Tuesday I’ll be able to dive up to 30 feet. We saw some sea turtles yesterday which was pretty cool.

Yesterday morning I also got to join on a field study trip. We took a boat to a local island and the students here had the task of snorkeling and measuring lengths of coral underwater and observing how much coral was dead vs alive and noting the species of fish that they saw. This task made me realize a few things-

-I don’t know shit about fish. Each time I went down and returned to the surface, someone would ask what fish I saw, to which I would respond something like “a blue one? A small orange one with a stripe?”. People here are great at identifying all types of marine life, so I’m hoping to pick up on that because I was pretty much useless. At one point I surfaced and told the instructor that I saw the clam he was pointing out, to which he responded “uhh I was pointing at an eel”.

-What I considered being able to hold my breath long underwater is also nothing compared to these people. As I would surface after 10-15 seconds, the other members of my group would swim the whole length of our section in one breath. Apparently this also gets easier after some practice? We’ll see.

-Don’t fuck around with the sun here. I’ve been pretty good about slathering myself in lotion everyday, but made the rookie mistake of missing the tops of my ears and hands. On a Jersey beach this can slide, but after two hours on a boat and snorkeling yesterday, I’m left looking like I have some kind of rash.

-Even thought the area we were in had tons of live coral, there were hardly any fish. Someone in my group explained to me that most of the islands around here are completely over fished. The ongoing trend around here seems to be that the local people are so desperate for food or money that any respect to the marine life is completely disregarded.

Last night there was a beautiful sunset that a bunch of us sat on the dock and watched. Not bad for a backyard view.

Today is “Sunday Funday” where only fun dives are scheduled. Since I still am not certified I can’t go on any, so I have nothing on the schedule. Monday’s are dry days, so Sunday nights are when people turn up around here. Booze, the beach and free time sounds like a good combination to me so it should be a fun day.

In case you’re traveling to a remote island in the near future and are looking for this season’s hottest beauty tips, below are some ways to be island chic-

Island Fashion:

– loose fitting items that are multipurpose (ex: sarong as a skirt, dress, cover up, shawl)

– the bathing suit or sports bra with shorts: an island classic

– your best $1 pair of Old Navy flip flops 

Hair: I cannot speak highly enough about the braid. Keeps hair tame and is your best chance of detangling it after a day in salt water. A messy bun is great after a shower, but in the water is disastrous.

Jewelry: You know those string bracelets you used to make at camp in elementary school? That’s the new Tiffany’s. The brighter the better. A water proof watch from Walmart or a McDonald’s happy meal is also great. Anything made of hemp, string, palms or rope is your best bet and will have the fellow islanders be like girrrrrll who’s your designer.

Perfume: On an island it is not so much about attracting that certain someone, but rather repelling a certain something. For this reason, choose your favorite scent of Off!

Nails: Don’t even bother, just cut them all off. They’ll be broken or filled with dirt and sand before you know it, so consider this one a lost cause

Makeup: REALLY don’t bother. All you’ll need on your face is your finest SPF

When in doubt, remember there are no mirrors, and as the old saying goes, ignorance is bliss. Plus everyone else looks like shit along with you.

Today was my first day of scuba diving!! I was probably in the water for a total of 6 hours, which was awesome. We had to take a few more practice tests and then got in the water for training. We got a whole day of the basics- hand signals, how the gears works, learning how to breathe with the regulator and get used to breathing underwater, how to control bouyancy, and a ton of other stuff. My first few times under I became aware of the fact that I had been under for 5+ minutes, which was a cool thing to get used to. I still haven’t taken any underwater pics because I didn’t want to be that ass taking videos while we were trying to learn, so hopefully some of those soon.

A lot of our training involved clearing our masks of water, taking them off and putting them back on under water, and practicing not being able to see. I was the only one in the group with contact lenses, so while everyone else could keep their eyes open I just sat blind and waited for the instructor to tap me and let me know my mask was properly drained. Damn these eyes. While we were under doing some of the skill training, we heard a loud boom, which I thought was a nearby ship dropping an anchor. When we surfaced, our instructor told us that that was a stick of dynamite that was thrown in nearby from one of the locals practicing my fish bombing. It was an odd thing being in the water training to take part in a reef conservation effort and hear the very thing destroying all of these reefs explode right near us. 

The gear is super heavy and putting it on/taking it off takes a decent amount of time. We ended the day with a 200 meter swim test and 10 minute water tread. I thought I would crush that (shout out to my time on the Willows swim team) but a 200 meter swim in current is waaaay different than a 200 meter swim in a pool. Aside from getting kicked in the face by a group of 8 year old Asian snorkelera, overall it went well.

After training all day, I jumped and flipped off the dock with a few girls for about an hour. I was going to pass after being in the water all day, but I’m so glad I didn’t. I’m trying not to say no to any opportunity that pops up while I’m here. 

Tonight I was on dinner dish duty. We have a rotating list of chores to make sure everything gets done, but everyone helps out which is nice.

It’s starting to drizzle a bit now and it’s the coolest it’s been since I’ve been here, but it’s a nice change after a few nights in the mid 80s.

Tomorrow will be more training, but by the end of next week I’ll be certified to dive up to 60 feet. Before tonight ends I’ll be working on detangling and ripping the knots out of my bees nest of hair, wish me luck 💁🏼

Yesterday was filled with a lot of learning, some practice tests, and sitting in a classroom for 3+ hours, which I haven’t done in almost four years. Although the classrooms here consist of an open gazebo and and a wooden hut with open windows on all sides, so that was a plus. Us four newbies learned about the history of TRACC, the animals in the water that may be dangerous if we encounter them, and then did three chapters of introduction to our Open Water scuba certification. At the end f the day we had about an hour to snorkel off of the beach, which was pretty cool. I was surprised to see as much marine life as I did so close to our beach.

It was interesting to hear about the purpose of this whole organization and the ongoing issues that they face. TRACC is a conservation group tbt strives to repair the reefs that have been destroyed by the local practice of “bomb fishing”- throwing dynamite in the water to catch as many fish at a time. Locals took up this practice once they realized they could get a large yield of fish quickly, by in return have obliterated so many of the reefs around here. With no reefs, fish are left homeless and migrate to other areas, leaving these areas wastelands. In addition to this issue, we also learned about how the simple practice of recycling has been a challenge. Our science instructor, Alessio, told us about how recently TRACC has not even been able to dispose of their own trash and recycling because the mainland landfills are completely filled with no where to empty them, so they are completely shut down. With structural issues like this, their hands are tied in a lot of ways.

Last night I hung out and got to know some more of the other volunteers. We got talking about the differences in the countries that we come from, like schooling, food, expectations from parents, and weddings (everyone thought Americans put way too much effort into these, not a knock on you Kelsey lol 😉). It’s interesting to hear about these differences and think about how much your life is impacted just by the country you were born in.

We also have two island pups here, Joey and Monsoon (Monsoon is below). They’re no Riley but they’ll do.

Some things I haven’t done since being here:

-gone inside: there is literally not a building to go inside of. Showers, bathrooms, kitchen, sleeping are all done in outdoor structures 

-looked in a mirror: I think there may be one mirror here? I probably look like Tom Hanks from castaway at this point so I’m okay with that 

-sat on a dry toilet seat: the showers here are within the bathroom stalls, which makes the toilet seats wet all the time. Slid off that bitch like a slip n slide on my first bathroom encounter 

Off to learn more and hopefully get some diving in today!