Bali 2008 - December 11

Well, last night was Lace's turn with whatever made me so sick. I had originally thought that the chicken sandwich I had for lunch on Tuesday disagreed with me, but obviously that wasn't it. We got Made to drive us to Murni's for lunch, but Lace didn't feel like eating so she and Jake went back home while Macaela and I visited the ATM and went grocery shopping.

When we got back, the kids did some reading and writing for a couple of hours. Macaela wanted to go swimming and I needed to go online so we went to Melati . . . again. They have a very limited menu, and I think we've had it all.

The tokay that lives in my ceiling has apparently gotten comfortable with me. He's hanging out just above the light bulb on the balcony and he didn't run when I went to get the camera. I appreciate the tokays; they eat their weight in bugs! I just wish I could get a picture of him licking his eyeballs!

Funny Things

Just about everywhere you go, you'll find a man sitting near his car calling out "taxi" to everyone who walks by. One morning, just as I stepped off the sidewalk at my destination, a man sitting there said "Taxi?" "I'm already here," I said. His reply - "You want to go somewhere else?"

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In the states, when you have purchased something, the hopeful vendor will realize that someone else has already made the sale. Here, if you've bought one (or ten) you must want another. People will even look in your bags to see what you've bought so they can try to sell you more.

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The currency has been so devalued here that the individual rupiah is worth next to nothing. However, you still find prices that include something other than zeros on the right hand side. Going to a store, let's say your total is 107,325; you give the cashier 120,000 - you'll get back 12,600 and 3 pieces of candy. So it seems that in Indonesia (or at least Bali), the hard candy is the new 25 rupiah coin.

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When we got here, our refrigerator was dead as a doornail. We try to help out when we can, and things are generally cheap here, so we checked into getting a new fridge. We could get a nice one for under $150. We bought a new handheld shower for less than $5. So when it came to buying a new mattress, we were surprised to find out that the mattress would cost more than the fridge. Go figure!

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Bali 2008 - December 10

I had thought that we might visit Nina and her family today, but I was up sick all night, and still not feeling well this morning, so I slept until 3:30. Lace took this opportunity to get some packing done, the kids did homework, and they all played cards. It rained off and on all day, so it was just as well we weren't going anywhere.

When I did finally wake up, everyone was hungry so we walked to Melati. I took the computer to catch up on things. Lace and the kids ate dinner (I had a boiled egg with butter), then they went home. I stayed behind to stay on the internet. At some point it started raining again. I kept messing around, waiting for it to stop, but it didn't and it was getting late. Finally I packed up and asked to borrow an umbrella. The only one they had was really broken, so the waitress wrapped my backpack in plastic to keep the computer dry. I tromped home in the rain to find everyone on the balcony playing rummy.

Balinese Names

You may have noticed that my story is peppered with Mades and Ketuts. No there are not only two people here. The Balinese name their children in order of their birth - Wayan, Made, Nyoman, and Ketut (#5 starts over at Wayan again) - with I in front for a male and Ni in front for a female. So the Made we stay with, who drives for us and generally makes life easier is I Made Latra, and the Made who makes clothes for us is Ni Made Wenten. Kadek tells me that modern mothers are using Putu, Kadek and Komang to replace Wayan, Made and Nyoman. We had been told previously that these names indicated a different caste.

Another difference is the lack of family names. Made's name is Latra, but his father's name is Londo, and his wife's name is Dewi. You never know who is related to who, and sometimes they won't tell you!

Bali 2008 - December 9

We're scheduled for dinner with another Aussie group this evening at Cat & Fiddle in Sanur, so we start out early to get in some shopping on the way. In Seminyak we found a shop with lots of cute shell jewelry, and their business price was good, so we bought lots!

The dinner had been organized by BuBenny of the Forum, and we knew where (sort of), but not when. We got there shortly after 5:00 and were joined by David and Moira (of Pacung Indah). There was a great discussion amongst the restaurant staff because we asked for a table for 10. They already had a reservation for 10 at 7:00, but none of us knew the person who made it. After a while, with Gemma's help, we determined that we were the 7:00 party, so we moved to that table, causing more discussion about whether we were supposed to be there or not.

Eventually the rest of the group showed up. We were more than 10, so more tables were moved to accomodate us all. The food here was good, but I don't think they were prepared for us. I feel like it took about an hour from ordering for us to get our food. I finally went and told the staff my children were hungry and that seemed to kick things into high gear.

During dinner, we were entertained by a Balinese band playing Irish music. They were pretty good! After the first set, they were joined on stage by some white men, and we were told one of them was the English consul. The kids fell asleep after eating, so I called Made to take us home.

Bali 2008 - December 8

We all slept a bit late this morning, and woke up to another of Kadek's wonderful breakfasts. We didn't have anything scheduled for today and Made had been hired to drive someone to the airport, so we sat around talking about what we wanted to do until about 12:30. We decided that we would go to Bedugul for lunch at Pacung Indah. We called Nyoman Santra to see if he was available to drive, and by 1:00 we were on the road. We enjoyed the buffet lunch at Pacung while visiting with David, the owner of the restaurant and of the Bali Chat Forum.

Since it was fairly late, we had to hurry to get to the Candi Kuning market before closing time. David made a call to let them know we were coming, and I'm glad he did, as we arrived right at 5:00. We bought Pashminas and looked around for beads, then headed back to Londo for snacks and bedtime. Another late day!

Weekend at Gemma's Part 3

Today Gemma took us to Balangan beach. This beach is north of Dreamland and is much quieter. We took lots of photos and collected shells and coral. Before we left we relaxed for a while in a little warung on the beach, and watched the local men fishing from a nearby cliff cave. One caught an octopus, which he brought to the warung to put on ice. He assured me that there were many and bigger if I wanted to go catch my own. We went back to Gemma's for lunch instead.

The kids and I then went to the Dreamland pool, part of which is still under construction. It has only been open a few months, and is quite beautiful, but it looks like it will be spectacular when complete.

We were scheduled to meet some Aussie friends at Jimbaran beach for dinner, so we went back to the house, showered and changed, and packed our stuff for the trip back to Ubud. At Jimbaran, there is a line of stalls on the beach that sell fresh seafood. You walk through and choose your dinner, then it is grilled and served with rice, vegetables and fruit at a table on the beach. You really can get 12" long prawns here, and lobsters with bodies 6" wide, but we passed on those and got red snapper and jumbo prawns instead (only about 6" long).

Made had been waiting for us for about 2 hours when the party finally broke up around 10:00. We went back to Gemma's to gather our things and say our goodbyes. It was midnight by the time we finally got home.