Wednesday, August 11, 2010

typhoons and sand miguel

flew in a few days ago. the typhoon that came with us was insane. it poured rain on us as we waited to try and get into our locked up hostel. the lights were off and the rain was coming in sheets. a crowd of filipino men gathered on the far side of the road. standing both in the rain and in the shelter of a small ice cream tienda kind of store.
it was a shady establishment, although the owner was kind and generous, the beds were out of the rain and the geckos all about would take care of many of the mosquitos floating about. we drank a few san miguels, which cost 25 pesos a piece. 45 pesos is a dollar. the beers were cold, we were the only people at the hostel. there was no place to go out to in the area. but in hindsight, we proabbly should have just walked about and seen what there was. the rain was not cold, tropical at best.
the next day we went to a different part of town, in manila. called malate. we met a german named daniel. he was travelling around the world, and spent the day with us. he recommened the palawan islands, where we are already planning on going. said it was the most beautiful thing hes ever seen/ we are going to rent out a boat, and island hop. explore reefs, lagoons, beaches, snorkle. im so stoked. its gonna be amazing.

also the couple staying in the bungalow next to us have a sweet little set up. they live here, but stay in the hostel to meet travelers and sell them real estate here. for very very little. a large, beachfront building here, think they said like 150 square feet maybe 200, not sure. was like 250,000 dollars. to buy a house, here, looks nice, beach front, 180. insane. thinking about buying some land here (proabbly not on boracay - but some other island, and set up a hostel, bar, resturant, activities - life goal achieved).
we walked about that night, in between the typhoon bands that plagued the city with periodic down pours and high winds. the bars int he are were though, unfortunately, filled with women of the night. we could not find a normal bar in the area. and we searched extensively. it was a really interesting experience. the moment we stopped walking, a crowd of soliciters would swoop in.. push women on us, or bar literature where they would try and push more women on us. we went to a hookah bar. but the searchfor it caused for us to pick up and elderly woman of the night who was followed us for upwards of 20 minutes, making cat calls, winks, blowing kisses and generally lewd behaviour. it was pretty funny, her persistence was laudable. albeit misguided.
we flew into boracay monday. and have spent the past two days lounging on the beach. a storm blew in today, (yesterday was clear skies and scorching heat. an amazing day).



so we sat and watched it come in on the porch of our little hut. the rolling thunder and downpour was interesting, a great way to start the day. i didnt even mind that it was thundering and raining. afterwards i went to the beach. julian took a nap. iwatched some locals start to build the evenining sand sculpture.

they build sculptures every night to celebrate the occasion of another beautiful day here. i love it. tomorrow, we will explore the rest of the island. mostly we have just been exploring white beach and the surrounding roads. the people here are the nicest people in the world. all so jovial and merry. wish i lived here. the pace and style of life is so simple and laid back. priorities are in a line with the people here. they know what is good.
best friend one. over and out.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

doldrums

imagine a boat. sitting idly on a placid sea, an ocean perhaps. you are stranded. for days.with nothing to do but sit and wait until the wind picks up to carry you towards some destination - any destination really. any port is better than this.
i have read all the news i can take. CNN, New York Times, LA Times, Google News. I have sat on facebook for hours, chatting with random people from my past, acquaintances i have not communicated with for months, if not years.
I have watched movies from grade school: Little Nemo, Fern Gulley.
I have drawn pictures.
I have created a semester plan for class objectives and topics.
I wish i had the wits to create a plot worthy of publication. I certainly have the time to write a couple thousand words a day.

I leave for the Philippines on saturday morning. So there is a finish line in sight for this doldrums session. I will be there for two weeks. i return back to the ROK on the 18th. get back in around 7pm. then i have the friday saturday sunday to readjust to the life here. get out of the beach mode. settle in to the school planning. create a couple of power points for the first couple weeks lessons. maybe think of a new morning lesson. maybe ask when im supposed to be paid for my extra hours i worked all last semester.

I'm guessing they are not going to pay me for any of the lessons worked. some kind of bureaucratic red tape they set up to keep me from getting mine.

im ready for the wind to pick up and carry me to somewhere more entertaining than this chair and this computer screen. my eyes are burning from the time spent here.

all the Chinese food at lunch has been nice though.