Stage 2 of SE Asia: Work!

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On Irene’s one day in Singapore we spent hours traversing the winding trails of the McCruchie reservoir all for a few sweet moments up on a bridge through the canopy. It had been raining heavily before reaching the bridge, but as we stepped out into the tree tops the rain slowed to a trickle. I got tunnel vision watching as individual raindrops, seeming to slow, suspended in mid air like diamonds as they neared their destination, catapulted single mindedly below us, making a barely perceptible *plip* as they intersected with the leaves beneath us. We stood alone in silence, suspended dizzyingly far from the ground; the only sound the winds through the palms, the horizon stretched out into an oversized circle around us. The paths themselves seemed to drag on endlessly, and by the time we have extricated ourselves from the forest we are both wholly exhausted.

In the evening we head to the Marina for what has been touted as a “laser show”. The performance turns out to be one of the most overdone, over-the-top displays I have ever seen but, replete with bubbles, erupting flames, synchronized fountains, orchestral backing and all other manners of ridiculousness, it is highly amusing.

The next day as Irene enjoys her epic twenty hour flight in which no time at all passes (she leaves and arrives on the same time, same day), I head to my interview with Conservation International. I am offered the internship (I assume, in large part, because I showed up) but have been tricked! It requires multiple months of office work (unpaid of course) before any opportunities for field work will even exist. I decline amicably and ask them to keep in touch about any possible opening s in the field.

Two and a half days in Singapore are some of the hottest of my life. I sweat non-stop, and find movement difficult. Strangely, however, it appears to be an incredibly active city, indistinguishable from Washington DC in the number of young fit professionals out running or doing aerobics in the park. The parks are plentiful, full of well maintained paths and trees, dotted with benches and gazebos. The prices are also identical to any large American city and it is a bit of a shock to the system spending well over $10 on a meal that would previously (a few miles away) have cost no more than $2. As nice as all the toilets are, I am happy to return to Thailand.

I am currently staying on what is essentially a small animal sanctuary (1 Asiatic Black Bear, 1 Sun Bear, 1 Gibbon, a dozen or so Macaques, 6 Burmese Pythons, an indeterminate number of tame stray dogs, and one charming house cat who has been consistently curled at my side since my arrival) outside a small unpronounceable town nearby Pattaya (a city known mainly for prostitutes and Russian tourists). I spent my first day here cleaning out my room which had, with disuse, become residency to at least 4 frogs of varying shape and size (I say at least because I think there is at least one still in there but they’re good at hiding), numerous snails, two humongous spiders (larger than my hand laid flat), and endless spider webs filled with more tiny spiders. What I believe to be skinks are also in abundance, no sign of the giant geckos we’d seen elsewhere…I’m not sure whether I’m disappointed or not (very cool, but they make these loud awful noises at night). The cat is of some use in injuring the animals, making it easier for me to catch them. But they generally remain fairly mobile, and just a little bit more depressing in the game’s aftermath.

Today I began work on “enriching” the Asiatic bear’s enclosure. The bear has spent most of its life (at least 10 years) in a small cage at a local temple. I have yet to receive an explanation on why the temples require bears but the consequences are obvious. The bear engages in what is known as stereotyping behavior (I’m sure you’ve all seen at least once an animal at the zoo doing some repetitive motion seemingly endlessly), and spends most of his time in the concrete enclosure despite a wide open habitat available to him. While I’m here (for the next week) I’m supposed to figure out a way to convince the bear to spend more time outside. My hands are covered in blisters from digging. What fun this will be.

I swear to god my next blog entry will include photos.

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Photos

Wet in Singapore
On the bridge