June 22 – Snorkeling and Tais Market

 Bear Cub and I got our first day off since June 3rd today and took advantage of it.  Through a company called Free Flow Dive, he went diving, and since I’m not certified, I went snorkeling.  Either way, it was my first time snorkeling in a place that you could actually see something, i.e. not a pool, so I really enjoyed it.  We went to two places about an hour outside of Dili and I was able to snorkel for about an hour each time.  The first is called 41K; a clever name that it got because it’s 41 km outside of Dili.  I don’t think I had put on flippers or a snorkel mask since I was in middle school, so I had a bit of a learning curve, but after twenty minutes or so I got the hang of it.  41K was beautiful, and there was a lot to see.  I’ve seen coral reefs and such on Blue Planet: Seas of Life and other documentaries, but that doesn’t really compare with seeing it in person.             

Unfortunately, because of my gigantic feet the flippers were a little small.  I think this is the first time I’ve gotten blisters on the top of my toes.  After we finished at 41K, we ate fish on a stick that was caught and grilled within the last couple of hours.  Grant and I each had a couple fillets, plus a stick with squid and a stick with octopus, and a couple little bamboo wrapped rice things.  The fish all were grilled with Chile Timor to spice it up, something that I had a bad experience with at one of my first meals here.  This fish was a bit spicy, but it was perfect for both of us.  It was amazing, definitely the best meal I’ve had here.  Not only that, but for all of that we spent a grand total of $10, and I was completely stuffed.             

We went with the instructor who was from the UK and a middle-aged fireman from Australia who was absolutely hilarious.  The British guy, Phil, comes to that beach a lot and the Australian, Pete, bought a 10-dive package, so he has too.  There are of course stray dogs everywhere, and Pete and Phil had a favorite there they named Bruiser.  He was the smallest dog, but somehow the alpha-male – he just never backed down.  I think he got all of the food we threw to the 5 or 6 dogs there.  As we were leaving Pete yelled back “see you later you vicious bastard!”             

After that we went to a reef called Secret Garden; secret because the turnoff is hard to find and garden because the entire reef is laid out right in front of the beach and easy to see.  I’m really glad we went there second, because it was way better than 41K, a lot bigger with more interesting things to see.  It was really cool seeing the corals I used to have in my saltwater fish tank in their natural habitat.  Everything there (and at 41K) was just so colorful and… alive, I don’t know how else to put it.  There were schools of multi-colored fish everywhere, with so many different kinds of cool corals.  Now I really want to get into diving, I wonder if Cameroon has any?             

Though I was smart enough to put on sunscreen in the morning, I didn’t bring any to reapply, so I have another sunburn on my back.  Not that bad this time, I hope, as long as it doesn’t start hurting any worse than it does now.  There certainly is a stark difference between my back and where my swim trunks start.             

After relaxing and showering, Bear Cub and I went to the Tais Market, a local place that sells all of the scarf-type things and a bunch of other local stuff too.  I’m not going to say what I got, because I don’t want to ruin surprises for people, but I did spend a bit too much money.  The haggling was fun, and the shops were clearly in working together.  I paid with this really dirty and old $7 in one place (all of the money here is dirty and old, it is all American money and it’s not like they have a mint here), and then bought something at the shop next door for $3 in the shop next door, paying with a Hamilton.  Of course, I got the exact same $7 back.  A lot of the shopkeepers were hard to understand because of their mouths full of betel nut.  Out of the $184 I spent of my own money so far in Timor-Leste (if my math is right), $94 was spent on souvenirs for others and myself.  Time to go to dinner! 

Fish, squid, and octopus on a stick with little rice bundles = delicious! 

 So much to choose from! 

There are an unfortunate number of monkeys chained up around Timor-Leste

Electricity is... iffy in Timor-Leste

Shopping for food, apparently we are going to have cassava tomorrow!