Nudi Gal: Dawera Island, Shit Hot

The Forgotten Islands are called that because they are "forgotten" from Indonesian culture. Much of it has disappeared. Today, in between our dives, we are going to visit the village of Gereja on Dawera Island to reclaim some of that culture. But first we dive!

I had a nice chat with Tim over breakfast. I love to ask people about their childhood and what made them who they are today. He is from Michigan but his parents were missionaries and he grew up in Japan exploring the mountain and ocean. He went to school with a lot of military kids in Japan. He attended Hope College then did graduate work at Harvard. He knows so much about birds and is a fabulous storyteller. He told me about a famous biologist, naturalist and author Edward O. Wilson. I need to read some of his books.

Graham said that the name of today's dive site is "Shit Hot" because one of the previous times he's been diving here, one of his buddies said that it was so good, it was "Shit Hot".

And he wasn't kidding.

The corals were gorgeous and there were tons of colorful fish on the reef. We also saw a big school of barracuda right at the end. I don't usually swim into big schools of fish, but I did this time. I was so inspired.

I even took my Go Pro in on the second dive. I'm not sure I will have anything usable, but I tried.

On dive three, Dennis pointed out a sponge spawning. It was so cool with what looked like cloudy puffs of smoke circling around.

We have been hitting the no deco limits on almost every dive since we are on air, not nitrox. I always make sure I am in the clear before surfacing.

After the third dive, we did the village tour. We took the skiffs over and walked past a cemetery before being greeted by schoolchildren. Ellen and Zafer were chose to represent us and one at a time, a child held their hand and sang this song directly to them. It was mezmerizing. Then the group sang, played flutes and drums and danced.

We then walked through the village, saw their "mini museum" and the beautiful beach where they do group guided meditations and where they make sopi, the local alcoholic drink. Not very sanitary!

Extracting the sopi:

A real sopi drinker:

Then they laid out a beautiful spread of snacks and treats. There were a few little trinkets to purchase if we wanted. They also had a huge monument to the missionary in front of the church.

We met at least one group on the island that was visiting in a "HomeStay". The locals have been protecting the area for a long time which is why the reef is so healthy. There is this big statue/lookout they used to spot any incoming enemies. It was very artistic and in the shape of a conch shell.

Information from Graham:

After today's village visit here's the text I shared about the island group and the very simple and quite beautiful philosophical concept they've had in this area.

The Forgotten Islands is an area in the far south Eastern corner of Indonesia. They are not only forgotten, some of the islands were destroyed of their high value crops by the Dutch so no one else had access to nutmeg. On Kei, Damer, Moa, Teun, Nila and Serua tens of thousands of nutmeg trees were destroyed, despite heavy protests by the population. Nutmeg had always been an important means of barter in local trade. The Kisarese people for example had a flourishing barter trade in slaves, mostly originating from Timor, with the inhabitants of these nutmeg producing islands. The lives of locals were heavily affected as they no longer had many goods to trade.

In The Forgotten Islands; particularly the in the Babar region and Dawera and Dawelor there is an ancient concept known as Mormorsol.

What is Mormorsol?

Mormorsol is a traditional philosophical concept from the indigenous communities. It refers to the physical, material body of a human being, which is viewed as temporary and mortal.

In local cosmology, a human being is considered a complete cosmic entity only when two core elements are unified. Those two core elements are Mormorsol & Dmeir:

Mormorsol: The physical body, closely associated with vital life forces like the heartbeat, breath, and blood.
Dmeir: The spiritual aspect, representing the unique, eternal soul, mind, and character of an individual.

The Boat Metaphor as used in The Forgotten Islands

The community traditionally uses a maritime or seafaring metaphor to describe human existence:

The mormorsol (the body) is conceptualized as the boat itself.
The dmeir ( the soul or character) is viewed as the helmsman or navigator.

According to this philosophy, life is an ongoing voyage, and a meaningful journey can only truly begin when the boat (body) and its helmsman (soul) operate in perfect harmony.

This individual concept is also extended to describe the structure of families and entire villages, which are often organized and symbolized as collective communal boats.

On the night dive, I used socks under my booties for the first time. It felt so luxurious!

At dinner, I learned that Mariasol is not only an environmentalist running and NGO, but she is also a presenter on Italian television. She has been filming some little clips putting together a story. I need to find out where I can see some of her work.

Hot List

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