The OCEAN !

For the past week I've been dying to see the ocean, but things just haven't worked out. Since I had the afternoon off, I borrowed a bike from school and set out to find the coast. It's not too hard to find a place to view the ocean, just head straight in any direction.

I cycled west and then south down Rt 1020, past farmland and a couple of oreums. The open field here are very pretty, but the buildings are mostly run down and small. All the land here is encircled by low  walls made from volcanic rock, and it reminds me of the old stone walls you can sometimes find running through the forests in New England. Here the walls are continuously maintained and to me appear to be precariously balanced with spaces in between the rocks. I've heard it said that the reason the rock walls have holes is to let the constantly blowing wind through, especially important during typhoon season (the current season).

Another interesting thing I've noticed is that all of the farms have a very distinctive smell. It's unfamiliar and a bit unpleasant. I haven't figured out what it could be, maybe fertilizer? Many of the farms here grow oranges, but all of the fruit is green at the moment.

Anyway, I knew I was getting closer to the ocean when I approached one of the distinctive oreums I can see from my room. I circled around the oreum, went down another stretch of road, and came to a town. I wove through a narrow street of small houses and came to a very small seaside park. There was only enough space for a couple of benches and exercise equipment. In the distance was a sort of a jetty sticking out into the ocean, and piled right beyond the massive concrete platform were giant concrete things that kind of look like jacks. I have no idea what they're called.