sabang

a few weeks ago, we ventured out to Pulau Weh, an island off the coast of Aceh that is commonly referred to as Sabang. all the same rules apply, but enforcement is quite a bit lax. we lazed around on the beach and snorkeled and i swear to god i saw a barracuda and almost swallowed half the ocean swimming back.

we spent the first night at Gapang beach (first two pictures) and the second night at Iboh (the third picture). Iboh used to be sort of a backpacker hang-out but since the tsunami, it's mostly visited by NGO staff looking for a break from work.

Iboh is also home to a woman named Mama. Mama has these daughters who wear short dresses (scandalous!) and flirt. with everything. viciously. if no one has ever flirted with you viciously, you are missing out on what i'm learning is a very important life skill - namely, deflecting vicious and unwanted flirting. the narrowing eyes, the your-boyfriend-doesn't-need-to-know argument (good one, that. very convincing) and the ambiguity that surrounds every encounter until you are backed into a corner. i can't handle it, i am so annoyed.

i'm learning what the "development community" really consists of and that is aging men with an agenda that i want nothing to do with. if one more man sits down at my table all innocent-like and then launches into explaining how he is going to show me a good time or how he's glad my boyfriend doesn't monitor my email because he wouldn't want anyone seeing what he's going to send me (no kidding, this really happened), i am going to quit what i am doing and switch to knitting. jesus, i could knit some really hot leg warmers and not have to deal with this shit.

i fully get that people are lonely and this inspires some degree of pity, but people! there are better ways! if it is that bad, why do you not just go home? you do not have to do this for a living.

anyway, this island really does melt your troubles into tiny puddles of distant memory. the ferry takes about an hour and while the lapping of waves on the beach might imply that the entire ocean is a sapphire, the open sea is a pock-marked bruise hiding anger just below its surface. so placative as we're thrashing about in this boat, so turbulent when a storm rolls in. you can feel the strength of the sea and the wind being here. i've never felt nor heard wind so violent as this. i can't even count the number of times i've woken up at night imagining an earthquake as the doors shake and the frame of my room trembles. i've only felt one actual earthquake while i've been here, and someone had to point it out.

the drive from the ferry to Iboh is about an hour. on the way there, we met this guy and 20 of his closest friends and family. after sitting on the side of the road and looking cute for about 5 minutes, he became crazed and charged the car and looked right at me as though he had drawn a bullseye around my head. still, so cute.