Sea Urchins and Travel

I just want to point out that these internet pics of sea urchins do not do my foot justice- the one that hit me was vicious and and the spikes were bigger- much bigger- BIGGER I tell you!!
Comosta! Anyone been stung by a sea urchin before? This is my newest injury to hold up proudly and tell stories about around a campfire. Bryce and I are skipping around the Philippines right now, on a vacation from school. We planned for some adventure and some running around the white sands. So far, we've got a little bit of both and quite a bit of actual traveling around on buses, airplanes, jeepneys, tricycles, habal-habals, rented motorbikes, ferries, cargo ships, horse carriages and taxis. Its been 'quite a ride'. I'm getting rather tired of the transportation.
We arrived in Manila, and checked out of the cockroach motel after succesfully catching one of them under an ashtray in the room. Moved onto a much more upscale place with a garden and nice restaurant, build in an old family home that was bombed out in the war, but has been rebuilt. There were no windows, or full walls to the ceiling, but we only had a couple of invertebrate visitors who were only a fifth of the size of our previous friends. It was beautiful.

After 24 hours that included both the best massage and one of the worst traveling experiences I’ve ever had (separate incidences btw), we moved onto Mindanao where we headed directly to a beautiful little island called Camiguin ( playfully written on all signs as "come again" but pronounced "cum ageen") where we stayed first in an incredibly magical place that was built into a tree (meaningfully called "the Treehouse").

It truly was a unique place that was owned by a bunch of artists who had some incredible sculptures and art in every nook of the place. We loved the spirit that the place had been built into, but I suppose it was the off season because none of the artists were there and there was no food. Which wouldn't have been so bad, except we were 15 minutes from town when we could actually find a mode of transportation from where we were. We couldn't keep any food in our room of course because where there are trees there are ants. PLENTY of ants. So we moved to a beachside resort, a thatched hut on the beach with a bar and plenty of food and music. It was very simple and everything we wanted. Excellent weather and we used our time to swim and snorkel.

We dove into an area called the "Sunken Cemetary"- It has an enormous cross floating on the water, marking a cemetery that was covered by water years and years ago. I'll tell you it was pretty morbid and creepy snorkeling around there. In the end, I didn't see any skeletons, or lost treasures of the crypt, or even any gravestones for that matter. Either we didn't swim out far enough, or the large coral boulders that were suspiciously evenly spaced out covered the graves we were seeking.
We also rented a motorbike and drove around the island with a couple of friends we met-Reagan and Jaime. We went off-roading to a secluded site where we snorkeled around a nice area that has been preserved from blasting for fish. So, there was some beautiful coral to take in.

You would think I would have met the urchin monster out there wouldn't you. But oh-no, it was the seemingly innocuous beach we lived in front of that hosted the creature. Our hosts had told us not to snorkel there because there was definitely nothing to see. hmph!
We jumped in after a night of touring around, and were jostling around when I jumped back and screamed out in pain. I thought I had gashed open my foot or something. Being the responsible diabetic I am, I knew I had to deal with foot injury immediately so as not to risk future amputation. (no smart ass remarks about why I wasn't wearing shoesies to begin with please!) So, I jumped on the motorcycle, we went out to eat dinner at a fancy restaurant complete with incredible tiramisu, and then when conversation was dying I decided to head to the 24 hour island hospital. After signing a few forms to allow the invasive procedures, etc...I had the most painful anesthetic ever. I was screaming 'holy jesus' to the framed photos of Mary and crosses everywhere (very Catholic country) while they stuck 3 inch needles into my already tender heel. Once my foot was frozen however, I was much happier, since it seemed they pulled a spike just over an inch and a half out of my heel, along with 4 others of various sizes. I am pretty sure it was digging into my bone. I had tried to get the spikes out myself thinking they were simply stones, but they weren't moving for me. Thank God for the doctor. She was excellent. They went a bit overboard on the medication afterward however. Two tetenus shots, soem penicillin and lots of dressing. I can still go swimming when I feel brave enough however- that is when I buy some water shoes. Ever Philipino who saw my foot felt it necessary to tell me that when it happens to them, they just pull them out and pee on their foots. uh...feet. I tried to explain that I was a diabetic...and.... well.. it got lost in translation. I just looked like a wimpy-whitey.
Like I've said before. I'm not 21 anymore. My feet seem to agree. So what? I'm in the Philippines and am having a blast.

I'm including photos as soon as I can get the bloody thing working. Probably when I return to Korea. More to come.