Who looks outside dreams, who looks inside awakens. - Carl Jung

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It was a packed day. We walked through the market in the morning; there were fish of all kind and in all stages of life, and after life, for sale. We tried a new fruit, "snake skin" which was actually really good! Once you peal off the skin (which kind of looks likes an old lychee) you can eat it in slices like an orange. The women let us try the various fruits and vegetables proudly
showing off their selection.

Then we went to visit a puppet maker. We sat in a circle and silently, without saying a word he just took a block of wood between his feet and started hacking away at it with a machete and saw. Miraculously, it morphed into a detailed puppet head of a Hindu god. After, he led us into his showroom with puppets surrounding us with their scary faces and sat down behind a makeshift puppet stage and proceeded to give us a professional, and passionate performance. It was obvious how much of his heart he put into his work and he was transformed behind the mask of his puppets! We actually already have some at home in the living room from my moms previous travels but I was glad the Swiss family bought one because I imagine it's not an easy business - but it's nice to see someone actually make a living out of something there good at!

From there we went to the Green Canyon. At first it was nice because it was a simple boat trip. The engine was too loud to talk so I got to listen to my book on tape and look at the mountain sides of greenery on either side of us - I was
happy. Then it got narrower and narrower and we reached black coral rocks which served as our dock. We climbed out of the boat and then slipped in the water into a swimming pool. The water was crystal clear and it was gorgeous because
the rocks came up all around us 50 feet high. Then I realized that people were swimming to the rocks and disappearing on the other side. I thought it was just another swimming hole but it turned out it was just the beginning of an hour long swim/climb on and around rocks in the canyon further and further in. There were strong currents and plenty of times when I thought "I don't HAVE to do this, I've seen a lot and I COULD go back" but I kept going and I'm so glad that I did. I used muscles I havent used in a while and I had to keep hoisting myself up and looking for parts of rocks to grab hold of and "use my core" to make sure I didn't slip over the side and break open my head. Half way through there were also tiny tiny crabs EVERYWHERE. The rock looked alive as every inch of surface was moving. At first when I saw them I would go to great lengths not to touch one. Then, by the end, I had no choice but to grab a piece of rock that was literally swarming with them. Another time I had to walk a couple of steps in a foot of crab eggs! It was one of the grossest things I've ever done, but I felt fantastic on the last rock at the end, the water coming down on us gently and feeling like I did it! There were parts when I just had to let go and not even try to swim and let the current take control, which is so counterintuitive - but poetic in a way too: letting nature take it's course. My mom said it was one of the most incredible things she's done in her lifetime! And that's saying a lot.

After that we went to a prawn cracker factory which wasn't too exciting, except that for those people it was their lives. There was an old man who's job was to count the crackers - there must have been tens of thousands a day! And counting them one by one couldn't have been the most efficient way of getting the job done, but even he had his role in the whole machinery of the place, which was nice.

We went on a nature walk and we went to a coconut "processor" of sorts. It was about 5pm at this point and these little old ladies were still hard at work cracking open coconuts and shedding the "skin." The man from the Swiss couple tried it and the old ladies could actually do ten in the time it took him to do one! All they had was a spear that they held in place with their foot! My mom made me try and the old ladies started cheering me on which I thought was adorable and made me love them haha I really do feel a sense of empathy with them because of our shared gender.

I've noticed that even though this is the "third world," the elders here are in such better shape than back home. Never in a million years could I imagine my grandparents cracking open coconuts all day or carrying wood all day or doing
any of the manual labor I see the people do here. Today I sat on the train next to an old lady who's skin was practically all
wrinkles. She had the most gorgeous long black hair with only gray highlights.

After that, we went to a brown sugar village. They collect it from the coconut trees. Mom bought a bag and asked me to pack it because I had so much more free room. This morning my bag was swarming with ants. I took the sugar out and almost immediately the hundreds of ants left. Thank god.

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