Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Not exactly around the world in 360 days OR That's all folks

It's hot in Ubud. 90 degree super humid hot. Melissa and I had just finished massages and manicures with our Arcata friends now living in Bali, Michelle and Kaila, and I'm going down...I was not feeling well but I'm dizzy and now attracting attention as I am laying on the sidewalk. A taxi driver appears (not unusual, every second person in Ubud has a 'taksi') He actually picked me up, which was some feat, as I think I outweighed him.The clinic was just a few clicks away, and by the time we got there my hands and legs were no longer numb. After waiting an hour, I described my symptoms to the doctor and she diagnosed parasites, and proceeded to start an IV cocktail. As I was quite dehydrated I soon felt better, and after a couple of hours in an observation room they let me go. I didn't think twice about the sorta grungy room, but it was a little disconcerting to see someone surreptitiously remove a half empty wine bottle as I was escorted in holding my pole. It was thoughtful of them to show me the sterile needle package. Thanks to modern medicine, albeit in a two star hotel setting (with a two star price), I'm all better now.

Melissa having a great time
on her first moto ride
Getting sick was not my plan for the last day of the last country of our trip...but so it goes. Better us than them, as when your kids are sick you are a little wrecked too. Tom is ailing a bit as well, as he took a tumble just hours before getting on the plane and now is walking with a decided limp, and has a toothache to boot.(or is that to mouth?) Time to go home~ The day and a half I spent laying around Melissa enjoyed being the nurse. We weren't doing much anyway. We were over the temples, stifled by the humidity, (did I mention it is hot in Bali?) done with shopping, and there were no waves. Bali is an incredible island of beauty, perpetual ceremony, omnipresent blessings, and resplendent daily offerings. But the other reality  is horrendous roads with way too many motorbikes and cars on them which means getting from one place to another requires fortitude. Regularly we revisit and rehash and linger over details of what we're looking forward to in Arcata. And what would that be? Our fabulous friends of course. Coming in second is sleeping in our own beds. Whenever we took a trip, my mom always said as we were pulling up in the driveway, "the best part of vacation is coming home."
Junking fishing boat

We traveled to a few different spots on the island, hanging at the beach in Sanur and riding cruiser bikes along the path, past street stalls, jungking fishing boats, locals at play, and plenty of tourists. For a few days we hung out further north in Amed, a small fishing village which boasted a shipwreck just offshore offering some prime snorkeling.  For our last stay in Bali we checked into Santi Madala, a little slice of peace positioned riverside and in the rice paddies, and across from a temple.The mighty fine restaurant with few customers, but lots of staff, served a tasty Pepes Ikan, which is a Balinese specialty, snapper steamed in banana leaf. As a bonus our room had a balcony for the many marathon scrabble games.We have had some slow days here in Bali. Getting plenty of sleep, lazing about, "chillaxing' as Eli puts it. But my what a lot of togetherness. There have been more than a few, uh, testy moments. But we know it's all part of the adventure. More than once this aspect of the adventure has been challenging. (oh, I meant to say a learning experience)

What a bonus it was to run into Andy, Michelle, and Kaila in Laos, and then be able to connect again in Bali! We feel like we don't know why we weren't friends in Arcata, we know a lot of the same people and had so much fun together. We'll plan to see them this summer when they come to visit. Monday after the fun in the clinic, they came over to our place and enjoyed the pool. Melissa and Kai (age 6) were fast friends by the time we left. Tuesday, in addition to being the day we had looked forward to for a long time because it was the day we started our journey HOME, we visited Green School, an  inspirational and difficult to describe international school where Andy teaches and Kai goes to 1st grade.The entire school, nestled in the jungle, is made of bamboo. Every building, desk, chair, basketball hoop, and soccer crossbar is bamboo. To say the architecture is stunning/incredible/beautiful/amazing just doesn't really say enough. Students from all over the world, aged 3 to 15, are enrolled as a community of young people invested in  learning and living sustainable practices.  The kids weed the organic garden where all the produce served in the lunches is grown, and participate in sports in the oval mowed by cows.There's a mud pit area for playing in and also for teaching an Indonesian martial art form, and gorgeous creative art and drama spaces. We only got a little taste as we were airport bound. (pouting face) Check it out. http://www.greenschool.org/

In addition to visiting Green school, we were also treated to a tour of nearby Green Village, a community in the process entirely built of yes Bamboo (and glass) Just one of the spectacular unique homes had been completed and  it was the most unusual home I have ever been in.  Stunning spiral design, set into the existing hillside, the doors to the homes are round glass, rimmed in bamboo, that revolve. Each handrail, closet door, table, window casing, counter, and knob was of phenomenal design.We were WOWED. It was an exceptional way to end our journey.

So, now in Sydney, this is the final paragraph of the final blog. Thank you to all my readers, it has been a treat to have your comments. I've enjoyed sharing our experiences through writing; getting the sentences right has a way of honing one's senses. I'll miss the challenges writing presents but I'm onto other tasks. Our year in Australia would not have been as sweet without the amazing friends we made...we already miss you so much. It is with great sorrow we are learning of the floods overtaking the entire southeast  QLD area. The beautiful country of Australia will always be dear to us for so many reasons. We were so lucky and so grateful to spend a year in such a magnificent place. May the rain stop soon!

Stephanie


Sunday, January 2, 2011

Happy New Year from Bali

Gustatory sensations:dragon fruit, papaya, mangosteins, dried water buffalo, chicken sate, baguettes, water spinach, pork, rice, curries, onion, tomatoes, Ritz crackers, Milo cereal, sticky rice,coffee with condensed milk, rice, Los Bagels (just dreaming), fresh squeezed orange and tangerine juice,bananas, nasi goreng, scrambled eggs, rice noodles, noodle soup, phad thai from a street stall, spicy tempeh, and green mango dipped in chili/sugar/salt.

daily offerings in Bali

Voices in the past :Australian, Thai, Khmer, Laotian, Thai, Indonesian.Voices in the future: Thai, Australian  and..........Jan 13...................American!

Perrett Chatter: Zip up your suitcase we're leaving in 5 minutes. Is it the same time zone there? I'm tired of
sticky rice. How many days until we get home? THIS is my favorite place. Give me the camera. How do you flush this kind of toilet? I don't have the key, I thought you had the key. Wow, this is amazing. Can I use the computer? Guess what I beat Dad at Scrabble, AGAIN! I don't have any more clean underwear. Did you see that? Where's my ipod? Let's eat on the street. I love you.

Markets, markets, markets.....Khoa San Road, Bangkok: Eli goes crazy with the choices of 2 dollar surf logo t -shirts, Mel and Steph try the fish massage, letting fish eat the dead skin off our feet, Tom delights in seeing the kids soak up the street scene and take in this city he knows well. Siem Reap, Cambodia night market: Scarves of every persuasion piled high in hundreds of stalls. More t- shirts, jewelry, pants, toys, trinkets,
'same same but different' Luang Probang, Laos, Hmong handicraft market: hand sewn, hand glued,
hand woven, hand carried....rows and rows and rows of goods, set out each night at 5, then  packed up by 10, piled on the back of dozens of motos and driven back to the villages. 
beauty in Bali....everywhere
Mothers with babies: cooking, sweeping, washing, resting, thrashing rice,walking, harvesting rice, flattening bright green river weed destined to become nori-like crackers, tending market stalls, making tea, drying rice,
cutting hair, driving motos with their infant suspended in a hammock between the handlebars.

walking home in the rain after a mountain bike ride
Sights::Roosters in bamboo cages, at the ready for Bali's gambling obsession, cock fighting. 50 people in a funeral procession walking down the street. Full grown pig on the back of a moto on the way to market. Long stalks of rice filling up the trunk of a car, dragging on the ground as it passes us on bikes. Cambodian Taxi: a truck with 20 people holding on, sitting and standing on top of the bags of rice. The Ubiquitous white grain: being harvested, planted, thrashed, dried, eaten, made into wine, stored, separated, cooked, hauled, milled, and served everyday, everywhere, all the time. Asia= Rice
This is the food for 13 people for a whole day, plus the white stuff.