Bicycling Down the Volcano

My son Martin and his girlfriend Katie joined us in Bali over Christmas.  The lack of holiday frenzy was a huge relief.  Christmas Day we went to the beach where I got a massage, ate a fabulous lunch of poached pears, got dizzy, and threw up in my napkin.  a very satisfying day indeed.

Murray posted some of the photos of our bicycle trip, which included a visit to a coffee plantation and the opportunity to drink coffee that was pooped out of a cat like animal, a visit to the rice field, a giant spider crawling on Murray, and a visit to a family compound.  A great day and all for thirty five bucks, which included transportation, breakfast, and lunch.

Vicki
Photos of our bycycle trip

What do these frogs want, anyway?  Loud Bali Frogs

Thanksgiving Thanks

Ever wonder what it would be like to spend the holidays abroad?  Here is one example.  Let's just say it included many, many, many barking dogs and a dark but not stormy night...
Thanksgiving Thanks

Small Island, Big Bugs

Today's feature is brought to you by Karma Cleanser, the new way to clear debris and baggage clogging up your life.  Karma Cleanser, like a carwash for the soul.

     A 2-part lesson arrived last night in a familiar, but otherwise unwelcome form. One part allows me space to be on my own and craft a few days to explore Bali, while my beloved attends a special wedding ceremony in a North Bali village named Sudaji.  The other part is a little weird. I'll explain.

      It started when a terrier sized cockroach, (a.k.a. the C word) crawled over me as it tried to share my pillow during the night. I catapulted out of bed. Needless to say, this was creepy. It took impulse control to refrain from packing up our bags.  Remember Jaws, "we're going to need a bigger boat." Grabbing the can of Raid, I thought, "This? We're going to need a bigger can."  We debriefed the next morning, and Vicki helped me regain sanity, and perspective.  I felt calm. It was time to put down my negative judgments toward cockroaches. I finally put down the Raid. It may be time for a cat.

      Last night, it was time to test my new C paradigm.  While finishing the the video of Cowboys and Aliens, I happened to notice a big C walking up the wall. Perhaps I was mistaken. It could have been a small squirrel.  Hmmm... Keep calm.  Do you have a reservation? How long will you be staying?  

      Anyway, without too much fuss, I gently but firmly served him with eviction papers.  Having selected a proper tool, namely a shoe, I terminated the little rascal. I  He/ she may have been related to the previous intruder as there was a strong family resemblance. Sedatives were not required. My heart rate remained steady.  

     While I continue to evolve spiritually, and hold C's with more compassion, I'm not quite ready to practice a catch and release policy. Until then, we'll have to keep some Raid, and Karma Cleanser on the shelf. Om.

UTI Fun in Bali

Bali Update:  An overshare about getting a UTI in Bali.  Not for the faint-hearted.   Listen in...Listen.

Why Worry

Hati- Hati: (be careful)

Are Balinese people just amazingly optimistic?  Is there an unspoken widespread death wish in the culture?  No one in Bali thinks that bad things can happen to them.  Judge for yourself:  motor cyclists driving the wrong way on 1-way streets, balconies have rails that are no higher than your knees, open manholes along the sidewalk, everywhere.  That is not exactly tourist friendly policy to encourage return travel.

We had a wonderful young man install Internet for us the other day. He shimmied along the edge of the tiled roof, barefooted, to place the radio receiver.   No helmet, gloves, ladder, or safety cable.  Later he spliced electrical wiring without bothering to turn off the power to the house.  He’s fine; I’m still taking deep breaths.

Ergonomics have not made much headway.  Local women carry cement and bricks on their head. Their shoulders are bigger than mine.   They carry loads that would give a buffalo a hernia.

Farmers and gardeners jab coconuts with 20 foot poles and hop out of the way as they crash down.  No protection.   Perhaps they need to genetically modify the trees to make soft coconuts in the interest of worker safety.

As beautiful as Bali can be, you have to be mindful.   Manholes, falling coconuts, and dare-devil drivers are reminders to stay in the moment.

P.S.  Since I’m not the most optimistic person, and do not have a death wish, we had the rail replaced in our house. I am not ready to be one with the universe.

How Much Language Can You Learn in 5 Weeks?

Murray and I started bahasa Indonesia lessons five weeks ago.  We had classes three times a week for four weeks, and now we have a month off to practice before we start our Beginner 2 class.  We are having so much fun, and so are the Balinese as they laugh at us and correct us, full of generosity an heart.

We had lunch this afternoon with two Balinese men, one in his early twenties and one in his early forties.  (If you need a great guide, we will connect you with Dewa.)
The younger man does not speak English very well, so Dewa, pronounced Daywah, helped keep us all connected.  There was much laughing and brain frying going on as we traded inside secrets to speaking like a local and like an American.  For example, we taught them how to say "sh" and how don't answer a "Why" question by saying, "Why I like to go to the beach is because..."  They helped me learn how to roll r's, and how not to use the word for no, tidok, unless there is really no hope.  If there is hope, we should say "belum," which means "not yet."  It's about optimism.

Our guru, teacher, Nyoman, sent me this email recently, and, the great news is we understood it!  We are so impressed with ourselves!
Here is the message:

Selamat malam Vicki, apa kabar? Bagaimana makan siang dan latihan bahasa Indonesianya? Maaf saya tidak bisa datang karena saya harus bekerja,, sampai jumpa dan salam untuk Murray, selamat malam :)

Vicki

What You Should Know if You are Coming to Bali

Coming to Bali Prep List

Passport

1. Make sure your passport is valid for a year beyond your return date. I learned this the hard way.
2. It’s a good idea to have a xerox copy of your passport somewhere separate from where your carrying your passport. If you lose your passport, you will be very happy to have this copy available.
3. You need to have a blank page in your passport for your immigration stamp. This blank page must be at the end of your other immigration stamps. In other words, it can’t be at the beginning or in the middle. Someone else learned this the hard way.

Shots

1. Make sure your tetanus shot is up-to-date.  Other than that, you don’t need any shots.

Transportation

1. Your hotel will pick you up at the airport for $25-30.  Or, we will arrange pickup for you.
2. If you want to rent a car or motorbike, you will need an International drivers license. Go to the AAA office fill out the form, pay your money, about $15.
3. Getting transportation is easy, whether on a motorbike or a van. Riding a motorbike has it’s hazards, but it’s adventurous, and lots of fun. Murray and I rent a motorbike and wear helmets. Even with lots of awareness, it is still a risky business.

Visa

1. You can buy a 30 day visa at the airport for $25 US you can renew this 30 day visa without reentering the country, but it’s very expensive to do so. If you’re planning on staying longer than 30 days, give me a call.
2. Leaving Bali:  HAVE 150,000 Rupiah per person for exit fee. 

Meds

1. If you are taking any medication, bring them with you. It would be a good idea to have a copy of the prescription with you to, just to be safe. 
2. Bring polysporin, insect repellent, broad spectrum sun screen, foot fungus powder, Imodium, something for stomach upset, Band-Aids, cortisone cream, supplements, and any special items you use occasionally such as hemorrhoid cream.

Toilets (Kamar kacil)

Generally, the more you pay for food or massage, the better the bathroom.  It’s a good idea to carry tissue and hand sanitizer with you just in case.  Some toilets have a scoop in a water bucket and you are supposed to pour water down the toilet after you do your business.  Some toilets have a handy, not as much fun as a bidet but fun nevertheless, hand held nozzle to spray your who-who.  (That would be huhu in bahasa Indonesian.) Some toilets are the hole in the floor variety, and, if you can see, it’s not a big problem to put each foot on the side of the toilet, squat, point yourself in the right direction and let go.  These toilets never have paper and sometimes don’t even have the friendly huhu sprayer.  Use your left hand adn then get the hell out of there. 

Clothes

 1.  It’s a good idea to have rain clothes, but you can buy then here very cheap. You can get umbrellas,  vinyl ponchos, rain jackets, rain pants–all for $3-4  apiece.

2.  The temperature varies from about 77° to 88°. It is humid.  I suggest you bring lightweight summer clothes that dry easily. You can get lots of great clothes in the market, but come with at least a weeks clothing so you don’t have to rush to buy things.

1. When entering temples you will need a sarong and a sash, and you can buy them here easily. Often your driver, or the temple has loaners for you.

Shoes

1. You will be taking your shoes on and off a lot, so bring shoes that make that easy. My crocs served me well as they are easy to slip on and off and it doesn’t matter if they get wet. 
2. You’ll feel cooler without socks.

Money

1. The airport usually is not the best rate change , but you want some money for the driver, tips, etc. ,$30-50 or so.  US banks can get you Rupiah with a few days notice.  Saves you having to endure an extra line at the airport. Change rates on the weekend are lower.
2. Bring new $100 bills to get the best exchange rate. Bring money in cash, and then store it in a safe box.. All hotels will have a safe box for you to put your passport in extra money in.  If you pay with Visa, you will pay 2 or 3% extra plus whatever your bank charges you for international charges.  Capital One Venture Card has no charge for international charges.  You can get this online.

1. Rupees look-alike. I separate my hundreds and 50s from my smaller change. It’s a good idea to have small change because many of the taxi drivers don’t have any change. If you only have a 50,000 rupiah note they will happily take it all, even if the fares only 30,000 rupiah.
2. The exchange rate used to be 10,000 rupiah for a dollar, but it has fallen. If you can get anything close to 9, grab it.
3. Make sure your bank knows where you are, so they don’t’ cancel your credit card.  It would be a good idea to have two different credit cards to make sure one works.  Again, learned the hard way.

 Internet and Phone

1. If you’re going to be here very long at all, I suggest you buy a phone. It only costs about $30-$40. You can use your phone to call internationally, and people can use Skype to call your phone directly from anywhere. It’s great for communicating among your friends in Bali.

2. Internet service is free in many coffee shops and at Melati Cottages where we live. It is not as reliable as it is in the United States.

1. Skype. When Skype works, which is most of the time, it is really great. Skype is unreliable, though, so that’s why having a phone is back up is a good idea.
2. Internet Highway is one Internet place that we know of in town that has the bandwidth strong enough to download audio books and upload movies to YouTube. It charges per hour.

Bargaining

1. The stores with glass and air-conditioning sometimes have fixed prices and are more expensive, but usually you can bargain. If they say it’s 100,000 rupiah, offer 40,000. They expected, and they lie. We found out in our language class that the merchants have a special God that gives them permission to lie. It’s a game; it’s fun. If you really want to see what the lowest prices, start walking out the door. Ask them for their best price. Never tell them you just got to Bali. If they know you are fresh meat, well, you are fresh meat.

Food

1.  You can get almost any kind of food here you would like. Indonesian food is delicious. Some of it can be spicy.. You can trust all the local restaurants to serve you clean water. If you’re sensitive to MSG, you better ask about it. Do not buy any food from the food carts as they may have added plastic to the food to make it crunchy. Really.

1. Water. Do not drink water out of the faucet. Do not rinse your toothbrush under the faucet. We buy our water in 5 gallon jugs, and you can fill up at our house. You’ll get by with 2 liter bottles.
2. You might want to eat food your stomach recognizes for the first few days to give your system time to adjust.  Bali Belly(the local version of gastroenteritis, or traveler’s diarrhea) is common, but temporary. 

What NOT to Bring

1.  Too much stuff.  Check to see how much weight your airlines will allow you per bag.  On Eva Airlines it is 50 pounds per bag.  Leave some room to buy all the gorgeous bead work, hand-painted sarongs, wood carvings, paintings and such you will want to take home with you.

A Closer Look: Photos

Murray has ten photos for your perusal.  I've asked him to take some shots of Trouble in Paradise or the trash, the Holes of Death on the sidewalks, the begging mothers with their small children or babies, dan lein lein.  (ETC.. in bahasa Indonesia.)

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=Share-_-Personal-_-Email-_-Sharee-_-Images&_requestid=395456

Enjoy!

Do you want a large water or do you want to poop?

Murray and I are taking language lessons and we learned something very important yesterday.  If you order "a large water", you will be saying you have to poop.  If you want to order a large bottle of water without betraying the status of your intestines, you say, water that is large.

The reverse word order is the key; a small difference that could determine your relationship with the waitress and any Balinese who can overhear you. But then, I believe that a good blooper is healthy for all. 

In case you are wondering, we asked if there were a Balinese equivalent of "overshare" or "TMI."  There isn't.

Actually, the Balinese are quite willing to help us learn the language. And they don't refrain from laughing at us as they teach us.  It is such a sweet laugh that we don't mind.  I may just tell the staff here at Melati cottages, where we are well-known and, dare I say loved, that I want to poop just to see what happens.

He who laughs last, poops or drinks water. And he who laughs, lasts.

Massages in Bali: From Ahhhhh to Yikes!

Massages in Bali: From Ahhhhh to Yikes!

Honestly, if he had pressed any harder, he would have been doing surgery.   It was so good when it was OVER.

Bali Travel Hint 404.2: Toilets

Toilets (Kamar kacil)

Generally, the more you pay for food or massage, the better the bathroom. But it’s a good idea to carry tissue and hand sanitizer with you just in case.  Some toilets have a scoop in a water bucket and you are supposed to pour water down the toilet after you do your business.  Some toilets have a hand held spray nozzle to spray your hoo-hoo; not as much fun as a bidet, but so refreshing. (That would be huhu in bahasa Indonesian.)
Some toilets are the hole in the floor variety.  If you can see, it’s not a big problem to put each foot on the side of the toilet, squat, point yourself in the right direction and let go. And no, there are no shoe covers. You take your chances. That gives me a product idea...  These toilets never have paper and don’t even have the friendly huhu sprayer.  Use your left hand, and then get the hell out of there. 

Why Bali?

This is the link to my website:  Outrageous Visions: See Who You Are Meant to Be  The page you will find yourself on has movies I made about the Balinese New Year, a walk on a path, and the story of why Bali has drawn me and millions of others to her.

Let me know what you think.

Vicki

In Bali for 18 days

Note:   Murray and I arrived in Bali on September 18, 2011.  I wrote this for my newsletter, and I thought it would be good background material for this blog. Murray and I have been in Bali for 2-1/2 weeks now, and things are settling down as we settle in. We go to bed with the frogs and crickets, and wake up with the chickens. One wall of our house borders a local path and we hear the Balinese villagers as they chat and laugh going along the path. Our little house is a sort of duplex, and our neighbors are from Spain. We don’t know much about them yet, but we can hear them talking as our bedrooms share a common wall. Their unit is air-conditioned, so the bedroom is closed to the outside sounds. Our unit is not air-conditioned, so we get to hear the sounds of the village in the rice fields at night. We hear an occasional motor scooter, but mostly the more gentle sounds of village life. We have a housemate in the form of a gecko.  He patrols the beam in the center of our bedroom and, you may not know this, geckos poop.  Their poop is brown and our wood floor is brown, so I am practicing stepping over the section of the floor under the beam. Murray is on gecko poop detail, so the next time someone asks us what we do in Bali, I have an answer: avoid gecko poop. The article this week goes into detail about some of the aspects of settling in to a Third World country. I’m not sure this is going to be of much interest to anyone, but I’m going to go ahead and print it this week, hoping to hear back from you. I can continue to let you inside the process that we are going through as we follow our yes to Bali, or I could write more general articles about what I’m learning from this journey. I’m listening for the answer, and I would appreciate anything you have to say on the matter. Murray and I have established 3 agreements as we follow Yes: # 1 We agreed to tell ourselves and each other the truth about how we feel, what we are thinking, and what we want.  We have to keep an honest flow going, even if we feel we “should” not be feeling or thinking or wanting something. # 2 We agree to allow each other the space to have all of our feelings, all of our thoughts, and all of our wants without judgment. We have a tendency to shut down each  others feelings and desires because of our own insecurities.  Normally, this is not a problem for us, but this move is a stressful situation even though we have chosen it, and we are surrounded by great beauty, both earthly and human. # 3. We agreed to center our lives daily in lovingkindness, gratitude, and a healthy sense of humor.  The Balinese laugh easily and begin each day with an offering.  I want to be worthy of being a guest in their country, on their island, and in this sweet little village. I intend to make a movie to show you where we are living.  Completing it may have to wait until after the Ubud Writer’s Festival that starts on Wednesday the 5th of October. We will be pretty busy then.  We are committed to going with the flow, loving ourselves well, and picking the “shoulds” off our souls like the leeches those thoughts are. We want to be present in the moment, present to ourselves, present to each other, and open to whatever Yes wants to do. Yahoo! Blessings, Vicki

Pity the Bali dog, and Dog Lovers

Pity the Bali Dog, and Bali Dog Lovers

Try to talk nice to a dog here, and you get snarls for your trouble.  Bali dogs seem to be descendants of two dogs that seized control before independence from the Dutch. One was a white, short-haired, medium sized dog with a pointy muzzle and long tail. It fell in love with a black, short-haired, medium sized dog with a pointy muzzle and a long tail.  They met, fell in love and were so happy, their tails curled.

I suspect that one reason the Dutch left was to get away from these one-time domesticated beasts.  Once upon a time in Bali, people and dogs lived in harmony.  One day a disoriented traveling pooch missed his port call. He had too much Brem, the rice brew reminiscent of American Ripple, with a little Nyquil thrown in for flavor.

Being true to its colonial heritage, he fathered a few offspring, and soon marked his territory from Seminyak to Batur.  The nascent breed became pack leaders, talked tough and took charge. Calm, gentle dogs were soon following in their footsteps. Well-kempt dogs began to neglect their appearance to fit in. 

Dog brushes have been collecting dust for decades. Vestiges of dog grooming appear in cave drawings west of Tabanan, but modern canines refuse to go near water unless they are very thirsty. The newer breed abandoned traditional customs and values. Dog obedience test scores plummeted.

Who can blame island residents for indifference toward dogs today? Erstwhile dog lovers stopped buying can food. “If you’re going act like that, you can eat dry food.”  And so the rift between humans and dogs remains at an impasse.   Dogs seem indifferent to their human counterparts.  They scare me, and if they don’t want their shots, fine.  I’m not getting mine either. 

Let’s be fair. Many Bali have social graces. For one thing, they poop in private.  They must have learned to dig latrines as I rarely see any dog poop on the road.  Can’t say that for French dogs. In Nice for example, the dogs prefer to use clean cobblestones.  They have also been known to sign their work.

My gratitude goes out to people of Bali Animal Welfare Association, who are devoted to animal rescue, placement and welfare (www.bawabali.com / 0811 389 004). Be nice to them.

Following the YES

Well, Murray and I are in Bali for nine months, following our dreams.  We are available to see what happens to us as we learn bahasa Indonesia, get massages, swim in the pool, walk through the rice fields to eat smoked duck. We meet people from all over over world. Many of them are following their own call- right here to Bali.
It took us eighteen months of preparation to get this big chunk of time. Now we let go and see what happens.  Murray quit his job as an occupational therapist in the schools, and I brought my clients with me via Skype.  I am a coaching therapist with a wicked sense of humor.  I have to tell you, playing with clients as I sit poolside among the palm trees and aromatic flowers feels pretty damned wicked and wonderful.
We live in a two bedroom house on the grounds of Melati (jasmine) cottages in Penestanen, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia. If you have to look up where that is, you will be just where I was in December 2007 before I made my first trip to Bali.  In the Balinese language there is no word for art because everything is art.  The people laugh easily, smile with humility, and live every day in gratitude.  If you love going to sleep listening to frogs and crickets and geckos ( a barking lizard) and waking up with roosters, and you love being warm, you might love Bali too.
We'd love to respond to your questions and comments, so bring them on.  I've been longing for a longterm overseas adventure for forty years. Murray is willing to bring his sense of humor and adventure here to support his wild wife.  For the record, he is a peach.

Vicki

P.S.  This link will take you to a You Tube movie from our Bali Birthday bon voyage Blast we threw in our backyard right before we left on our adventure.  It might make you laugh, especially if you are nearly sixty.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln7JqdZNePk