Bulehs in Bunaken

If you asked me at this time last year what I would be doing for Thanksgiving in one year, I never in my wildest dreams would I have answered “oh, I’ll most likely be cooking Thanksgiving dinner in a kitchen on a remote island where I can hear the waves with a few good friends that I haven’t met yet;” however, that’s exactly what I was doing.  Thanksgiving morning instead of watching the Macy’s parade, nine of us boarded a boat with a dread-locked and tattooed Indonesian to travel to the Seabreeze resort on Bunaken Island.  The boat ride itself was fantastic with gorgeous mountain views and sea chantey sing alongs; but, it was made even more fantastic by the fact that as we got closer to shore we could look into the crystal blue water at coral reefs. We were greeted by Terry, the Australian owner of Seabreeze, and after settling into our family bungalow a few of us went to work cooking Thanksgiving dinner which was punctuated by swim breaks in the ocean that surged directly under our kitchen. Cooking dinner was a challenge in an Indonesian kitchen without an oven or large range; but, we pulled it together and the Ibu-Ibu who cook in the resort were gracious enough to cook our chickens over an open fire for us.  We shared our tradition with Terry and his family, the staff, and the one couple who were staying at the resort with us at the time. Since we were the only group staying at the Seabreeze for the remainder of our stay, we had the staff and their boats at our disposal. Friday morning began with an early morning dolphin tour where we literally saw hundreds of dolphins at play in the open ocean. The rest of our trip was just as amazing with snorkeling to see Discovery channel quality marine life and coral reefs and swimming in turquoise water; but, most of all just loving life and each other’s company, and not feeling like such a buleh.  It was difficult to return to the real world especially since everyone at my school is appalled by my tan (my Ibu asked me today when my skin would “go back to normal”). At any rate the memories made on this trip will be more than enough to hold me over until our next rendezvous which surprisingly begins next week.