Travel: Journals of Borneo
These journals are of my time traveling Borneo for 3 weeks. Sometimes they do not consist of fully formed thoughts. Sometimes they are simply words. But I hope you'll take away something from my journey.
Thursday May 25th 2017
First day waking up in Borneo. We've been traveling for about three days. Four flights to get here. Today I woke up to what I thought was a monkey howling but I think it was a cat. I sat and laid in bed listening. Then, I heard singing. Chanting maybe. Light, almost religious. Buddhist maybe. I listened for awhile longer. Then I thought it was time to join the world. Still early about 5:30 am. Still dark. I thought the sun would be up already but it wasn't. I did some light yoga stretching and began to journal. I think about how amazing it is to be here. I'm grateful to Matt. Immensely. I think about how I can better support him on this trip. Perhaps I should ask or tell him of my gratitude. I'm thankful for a great group. For a friend in Kate, who's in a similar part of life as me.
I see a few people around. A delivery truck drove past. A tall building. Shack style buildings. Another stray cat passes. There are a lot of stray cats and dogs. I saw one yesterday with a broken front paw. That got to me. Poor dog. How differently people feel towards animals in the U.S. I think of my sister getting emotional after not seeing her dog after three or four days. Distraught. I think of how she would react if she saw these animals.
Our dinner yesterday was wonderful. Top Stop. A few levels up in a plaza, a large restaurant area. We went to vendor 25. Shared a meal family style with the whole group. On the swivel plate in the middle was fish, crab, bok choy, tofu, and fiddle. And Tiger Beer, of course. It kept flowing... I felt so at peace. So content to be in that space. It was everything I needed in that moment of life. Bliss. Reasons I love to travel and be in new places. So thankful to be here.
I know it will get harder. It won't all be blissful. It will get much more painful than the maimed dog but I embrace. I will lean into every experience. I will take this opportunity in it's entirety. I will be respectful and compassionate. I wonder if I will see the sunrise from where I sit? I wonder if I'll be able to describe how this trip will make me feel? I wonder how emotional I will get? I think I will go on making observations and journal and make sense of it all later.
There's a cat at the hostel that seems like a pet. They feed it. Interesting dichotomy. I wonder where the singing came from? I wonder if the cat I heard was the pet cat?
_________________________________________________________________________________
Friday May 26th 2017
I slept in later today. That was nice. More people awake before me this morning. Hard boiled eggs. Yesterday was great. Waterfall hike - day one. Not too strenuous. I feel good about this. We take our time. It was really nice. Good group. We ate Indian food for dinner - 30 RM - $7. I want to dominate these trails. Yesterday felt good emotionally. Excited and concerned for the depth moving forward. Drinking tea. Talking to Jimmy about bananas. This is the life. I could see myself living this lifestyle for a long time.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Saturday May 27th 2017
I'm on the bus on the way to see captive orangutans. Last night was a lot of fun. We ate Philippino food. I got a bean, onion, garlic, carrot, tomato dish with garlic rice. It was amazing. It seemed simple but it was so flavorful. I can't wait to keep trying new food here. Dinners have consistently been one of my favorite parts. The entire atmosphere. A beer in hand, delicious food, good company, and bliss. It was also our first night out. We started and had one beer at yesteryear. Then Borneo Rednecks. I had a pint. Then we tried to find karaoke for awhile. We ended up back at Jump and had a blast there. We met some locals attending University of Malaysia and hung out with them for awhile. I love making local friends. I'm glad we could merge groups. Jimmy and I played pool. He won. Though they were attending university here, they were from all over - Kuala Lampur, India. People this age are people this age everywhere. Drinks. Laughs. It's all the same. I'm glad everyone had I good time.
I'm so grateful to be here. I hope spirits and morale stay high. I can't believe it's only been three days in country. I'm excited to be doing something a little different today. I love the hiking but this is a nice change of pace. I'm preparing myself for a possibly really hard emotional experience. I feel such a connection to primates. I appreciate how Matt has shaped the class through a justice lens. Also, had our presentation yesterday. Apparently we were supposed to cover the Dayak people of the 'past' and we focused more on them currently. But Matt understood. Although it seemed a bit strange at first, I'm glad I took part in the presentations. I learned a lot about the Dayak people and I think it's making this experience more enriching overall.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Same day. Post-Mutang visit
Fucking upset. Why are we so cruel? Why do we cage? How did we get to this point? It hurts so much. How did collective mainstream society get so off kilter? So out of touch with our emotional connection to the beautiful things around us. It keeps bringing me to tears. Feels so heavy. I think about my visit to Amsterdam and how we cage women. I want to cry more. I want to pain cry but I'm holding it back because we're on this bus and I need to be present and experience this rest of this day. But goddamn. Matt said he went through quickly this time because he couldn't stand it. Said he pays his respects, apologizes, and leaves. I apologized too. Just felt like that's what I should do. They're human. They're basically human. Rehabilitation center my ass. Zoo. Fucking zoo. I don't think I can go to zoos anymore. Animal cruelty matters. We have connection to all things. What a hard day. What a hard experience. But I'm glad we went there. I'm glad we did it. The truth hurts.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Sunday May 28th 2017
Writing on the bus again. I'm liking this time to write and reflect. Yesterday was hard. Both orangutang 'rehabilitation' center and then the cultural village. The cultural village was weird and uncomfortable. They were putting their culture and history on display panning to visitors for money. I get it. It just sucks. Workers kept trying to hide their phones. I kept thinking about what they must have thought of us. Bunch of white people coming to ooh and awe at their indigenous culture. I hated it. The Penan station looked like a wood shop with trash all around. People were uninterested to be there. Looks of boredom and annoyance. It felt uncomfortable walking up to people and it would be silent. I keep remembering the traditional tattoo station with the younger men. Guys that I could easily see out at a bar - in loin clothes and fantasizing their culture instead. I kept thinking 'lean in.' Lean into the discomfort. Don't run away. I want to keep that motto for this trip as it continues to be hard. We need to go out again and see people in a different context. Seeing people do the same things as you - helps build connection. Excited and nervous to see more orangs today. Thinking about making Facebook posts throughout instead of at the end. I also want to be immersed and totally present. This trip is exhausting. Got sun burnt. Feet and legs. I think from beach class. Ate Chinese last night at Noodle House. Quite good and quite cheap. Loving all these dinners. Love trying new foods. Can't wait to see what else we find. Emma and I talked last night about zoos. Good talk. Then went to bed early. Much needed.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Tuesday
We are on the bus leaving Bako. I woke up in the rainforest this morning. We arrived to Bornean bearded pigs, pit vipers, and monkeys. I saw macaws, which one almost took Matt's arm for his apple. Then came for my bag. Matt snatched it up and the monkey ran back. It was kinda scary especially since I've always had such an affinity for primates.
The entire island was filled with wildlife. It was so cool. We went on an accidental long ass hike, which none of us were prepared for. But we ended up at a waterfall and swimming in the watering hole in the middle of the Bornean rain forest. It was magical. We went on a night hike and saw an insane amount of giant spiders, scorpions, poisonous frogs, insect bugs, and a lot more. It was terrifying but also pretty cool. Matt was cracking me up the whole time. Making jokes about being crazy and dying.
Kate and I sat by the water and talked. We talked about the struggles of post-grad and where we were in our lives right now. I'm really glad and thankful she's on this trip.
Before we left we had dinner by the river. It was catered towards westerners but the food was good. Got a shot of rice wine (not wine). We walked by the river and found a kids area. They were blowing bubbles, riding fake animals, and the water fountains glowed different colored lights against the night sky. They went back and took the quiz. I went to sleep.
Earlier that day we went to Semangoh. The orangs 'natural' habitat and feeding area. It was pretty cool. Much better. Teared up at first sight of the orangutans again. We went back. Kate and I napped. Ate lunch at a small corner shop, had coffee (yum) and fried noodles. Talked more about end of the world. We went shopping. I got nice souvenirs. So cheap. couldn't resist. Shirt for me. Excited to give them to people. <3 On our way home now. Free day this evening. Probably nap, lunch, and then I heard karaoke is the plan tonight. Hopefully our friends from the other night will/can join us. Looking forward to more. This trip already feels short. Gratitude. Thankful to be here. Present. Peace and love, Liz
_________________________________________________________________________________
Wednesday
Bis writing again. Matt just went through hell to get the rest of the money for this trip. He gave out $1,000 RM to each of us to allocate for the remainder. Hoping people are responsible. I felt so bad for Matt trying to work out the money. Banks didn't trust him and kept turning him down. Lessons learned for southeast Asia. Aka don't trust westerners who think they know shit but don't. So thankful for Matt and all of us that it all worked out. I can't fucking imagine the stress. I've been thinking about my job, Greg, and the Bonners. Thankful for Greg. Glad I got him the gift and letter. He's truly been amazing to let me be here and go to Caretta without me. I know he appreciates me. I hope he knows how much I appreciate him. I'm going to try to be more intentional about that this year. Showing my gratitude more. So important.
To be continued...
Thursday May 25th 2017
First day waking up in Borneo. We've been traveling for about three days. Four flights to get here. Today I woke up to what I thought was a monkey howling but I think it was a cat. I sat and laid in bed listening. Then, I heard singing. Chanting maybe. Light, almost religious. Buddhist maybe. I listened for awhile longer. Then I thought it was time to join the world. Still early about 5:30 am. Still dark. I thought the sun would be up already but it wasn't. I did some light yoga stretching and began to journal. I think about how amazing it is to be here. I'm grateful to Matt. Immensely. I think about how I can better support him on this trip. Perhaps I should ask or tell him of my gratitude. I'm thankful for a great group. For a friend in Kate, who's in a similar part of life as me.
I see a few people around. A delivery truck drove past. A tall building. Shack style buildings. Another stray cat passes. There are a lot of stray cats and dogs. I saw one yesterday with a broken front paw. That got to me. Poor dog. How differently people feel towards animals in the U.S. I think of my sister getting emotional after not seeing her dog after three or four days. Distraught. I think of how she would react if she saw these animals.
Our dinner yesterday was wonderful. Top Stop. A few levels up in a plaza, a large restaurant area. We went to vendor 25. Shared a meal family style with the whole group. On the swivel plate in the middle was fish, crab, bok choy, tofu, and fiddle. And Tiger Beer, of course. It kept flowing... I felt so at peace. So content to be in that space. It was everything I needed in that moment of life. Bliss. Reasons I love to travel and be in new places. So thankful to be here.
I know it will get harder. It won't all be blissful. It will get much more painful than the maimed dog but I embrace. I will lean into every experience. I will take this opportunity in it's entirety. I will be respectful and compassionate. I wonder if I will see the sunrise from where I sit? I wonder if I'll be able to describe how this trip will make me feel? I wonder how emotional I will get? I think I will go on making observations and journal and make sense of it all later.
There's a cat at the hostel that seems like a pet. They feed it. Interesting dichotomy. I wonder where the singing came from? I wonder if the cat I heard was the pet cat?
_________________________________________________________________________________
Friday May 26th 2017
I slept in later today. That was nice. More people awake before me this morning. Hard boiled eggs. Yesterday was great. Waterfall hike - day one. Not too strenuous. I feel good about this. We take our time. It was really nice. Good group. We ate Indian food for dinner - 30 RM - $7. I want to dominate these trails. Yesterday felt good emotionally. Excited and concerned for the depth moving forward. Drinking tea. Talking to Jimmy about bananas. This is the life. I could see myself living this lifestyle for a long time.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Saturday May 27th 2017
I'm on the bus on the way to see captive orangutans. Last night was a lot of fun. We ate Philippino food. I got a bean, onion, garlic, carrot, tomato dish with garlic rice. It was amazing. It seemed simple but it was so flavorful. I can't wait to keep trying new food here. Dinners have consistently been one of my favorite parts. The entire atmosphere. A beer in hand, delicious food, good company, and bliss. It was also our first night out. We started and had one beer at yesteryear. Then Borneo Rednecks. I had a pint. Then we tried to find karaoke for awhile. We ended up back at Jump and had a blast there. We met some locals attending University of Malaysia and hung out with them for awhile. I love making local friends. I'm glad we could merge groups. Jimmy and I played pool. He won. Though they were attending university here, they were from all over - Kuala Lampur, India. People this age are people this age everywhere. Drinks. Laughs. It's all the same. I'm glad everyone had I good time.
I'm so grateful to be here. I hope spirits and morale stay high. I can't believe it's only been three days in country. I'm excited to be doing something a little different today. I love the hiking but this is a nice change of pace. I'm preparing myself for a possibly really hard emotional experience. I feel such a connection to primates. I appreciate how Matt has shaped the class through a justice lens. Also, had our presentation yesterday. Apparently we were supposed to cover the Dayak people of the 'past' and we focused more on them currently. But Matt understood. Although it seemed a bit strange at first, I'm glad I took part in the presentations. I learned a lot about the Dayak people and I think it's making this experience more enriching overall.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Same day. Post-Mutang visit
Fucking upset. Why are we so cruel? Why do we cage? How did we get to this point? It hurts so much. How did collective mainstream society get so off kilter? So out of touch with our emotional connection to the beautiful things around us. It keeps bringing me to tears. Feels so heavy. I think about my visit to Amsterdam and how we cage women. I want to cry more. I want to pain cry but I'm holding it back because we're on this bus and I need to be present and experience this rest of this day. But goddamn. Matt said he went through quickly this time because he couldn't stand it. Said he pays his respects, apologizes, and leaves. I apologized too. Just felt like that's what I should do. They're human. They're basically human. Rehabilitation center my ass. Zoo. Fucking zoo. I don't think I can go to zoos anymore. Animal cruelty matters. We have connection to all things. What a hard day. What a hard experience. But I'm glad we went there. I'm glad we did it. The truth hurts.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Sunday May 28th 2017
Writing on the bus again. I'm liking this time to write and reflect. Yesterday was hard. Both orangutang 'rehabilitation' center and then the cultural village. The cultural village was weird and uncomfortable. They were putting their culture and history on display panning to visitors for money. I get it. It just sucks. Workers kept trying to hide their phones. I kept thinking about what they must have thought of us. Bunch of white people coming to ooh and awe at their indigenous culture. I hated it. The Penan station looked like a wood shop with trash all around. People were uninterested to be there. Looks of boredom and annoyance. It felt uncomfortable walking up to people and it would be silent. I keep remembering the traditional tattoo station with the younger men. Guys that I could easily see out at a bar - in loin clothes and fantasizing their culture instead. I kept thinking 'lean in.' Lean into the discomfort. Don't run away. I want to keep that motto for this trip as it continues to be hard. We need to go out again and see people in a different context. Seeing people do the same things as you - helps build connection. Excited and nervous to see more orangs today. Thinking about making Facebook posts throughout instead of at the end. I also want to be immersed and totally present. This trip is exhausting. Got sun burnt. Feet and legs. I think from beach class. Ate Chinese last night at Noodle House. Quite good and quite cheap. Loving all these dinners. Love trying new foods. Can't wait to see what else we find. Emma and I talked last night about zoos. Good talk. Then went to bed early. Much needed.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Tuesday
We are on the bus leaving Bako. I woke up in the rainforest this morning. We arrived to Bornean bearded pigs, pit vipers, and monkeys. I saw macaws, which one almost took Matt's arm for his apple. Then came for my bag. Matt snatched it up and the monkey ran back. It was kinda scary especially since I've always had such an affinity for primates.
The entire island was filled with wildlife. It was so cool. We went on an accidental long ass hike, which none of us were prepared for. But we ended up at a waterfall and swimming in the watering hole in the middle of the Bornean rain forest. It was magical. We went on a night hike and saw an insane amount of giant spiders, scorpions, poisonous frogs, insect bugs, and a lot more. It was terrifying but also pretty cool. Matt was cracking me up the whole time. Making jokes about being crazy and dying.
Kate and I sat by the water and talked. We talked about the struggles of post-grad and where we were in our lives right now. I'm really glad and thankful she's on this trip.
Before we left we had dinner by the river. It was catered towards westerners but the food was good. Got a shot of rice wine (not wine). We walked by the river and found a kids area. They were blowing bubbles, riding fake animals, and the water fountains glowed different colored lights against the night sky. They went back and took the quiz. I went to sleep.
Earlier that day we went to Semangoh. The orangs 'natural' habitat and feeding area. It was pretty cool. Much better. Teared up at first sight of the orangutans again. We went back. Kate and I napped. Ate lunch at a small corner shop, had coffee (yum) and fried noodles. Talked more about end of the world. We went shopping. I got nice souvenirs. So cheap. couldn't resist. Shirt for me. Excited to give them to people. <3 On our way home now. Free day this evening. Probably nap, lunch, and then I heard karaoke is the plan tonight. Hopefully our friends from the other night will/can join us. Looking forward to more. This trip already feels short. Gratitude. Thankful to be here. Present. Peace and love, Liz
_________________________________________________________________________________
Wednesday
Bis writing again. Matt just went through hell to get the rest of the money for this trip. He gave out $1,000 RM to each of us to allocate for the remainder. Hoping people are responsible. I felt so bad for Matt trying to work out the money. Banks didn't trust him and kept turning him down. Lessons learned for southeast Asia. Aka don't trust westerners who think they know shit but don't. So thankful for Matt and all of us that it all worked out. I can't fucking imagine the stress. I've been thinking about my job, Greg, and the Bonners. Thankful for Greg. Glad I got him the gift and letter. He's truly been amazing to let me be here and go to Caretta without me. I know he appreciates me. I hope he knows how much I appreciate him. I'm going to try to be more intentional about that this year. Showing my gratitude more. So important.
To be continued...
Comments
Post a Comment