If only I knew Indonesian this would have been posted days ago!

·      Just got back from our nightly swim at the restaurant pool. I love swimming at dusk here, not cold at all, stars and pounding surf our backdrop.  I better continue the good fight, getting all these memories recorded before mono-brain eats them.

·      I now realize that the last entry should have read FRIDAY, 23 JUNE 2011.  We lost a day in flight. Moving on . . .

Saturday, 24 June 2011

Auggie had fallen asleep the afternoon before on the hour-long car ride from the Denpasar  Airport to Ubud. We tried to wake the bear when we pulled into our friend’s village. No one survived. He slept soundly until 4 a.m.  Luckily, my friend, F, was soon up and we watched the sunrise over the back of her garden villa, the rice paddies and banyan trees in the background, Auggie cannon balling into the pool in the foreground.  The new sound of dawn.

Andre and Auggie on a motorcycle is a pretty sweet image. They motored around the village, checking out the wood and stone cutters, the temples, the little store, the cemetery (where they pulled on the Banyon tree, not knowing they were disrupting the spirits, letting them escape by pulling back the Banyon vines). They let me sleep and try to recover from dizziness and bleeding gums (I looked like a native from a Nat. Geo. issue chewing beetle nuts).  At one point I did walk to the village with them; yes, a green snake slithered off the path into the rice paddy, about 10 feet from me, within three minutes of our walk. Shudder. None of us has seen one since then, just pure luck on my part.

My friend’s villa is amazing. I would love to attach pictures but, well, the camera didn’t make it through the day. Neither did the hair dryer, flaming out despite the 220v claim on the handle. Lying piece of flaming crap. The camera made it a few hours longer, recording our morning and then an afternoon swim. It was the underwater shot that killed the little bastard. But maybe it’s for the best  considering I can’t fix my hair.   We were able to get the pics off the camera, so I will put those on the blog as soon as I figure out how to the change the blog tabs from Indonesian into English.  That will be hard since the instructions are in Indonesian.

It is true what “they” say about the tropics and colors. Absolutely everything has a vibrancy and color here. The flowers are everywhere. Picking a banana from a tree in my backyard is a treat I never expected to experience.  The little ants are crazed. The air is heavy and warm; I can feel what I breathe. It is not oppressive, it is . . . comforting.

The architecture is absolutely the best aspect of this trip. The smallest hut to the most ornate temple incorporate layers of detail in the walls and roofs. I cannot stop looking at the ceiling in our room, peaked groove and tongue teak.  Oh, and outside bathrooms!! Even these are works of art.  Granted, so far I have only seen inside my friend’s villa. I’m sure the basic local homes are not quite as ornate.

My friend, F, has a cook, a cleaner and a driver. Cadek is sweet and shy, quietly creating beautiful meals. Made is the grounds keeper/errand boy. He found a coconut to cut open for Auggie, giving it to him with a straw. They both are kind, helping us with some basic Balenese terms, trying to make us feel welcome and comfortable.  We are not used to servants, that is for sure. I feel awkward handing my dishes to someone and walking away.

I’m already plotting. How will I get the Auggie-sized, stone Elephant God back to the states without Andre noticing? It’s not quite as easy as hiding a skirt.

Sunday,  26 June 2011

I woke up unable to walk steady, the dizziness really kicked up a notch. Both Andre and I are frustrated – illness makes everything so much harder, stealing the joy. But I rallied.  Taking a morning swim with Auggie and F in the villa pool was relaxing, until the noodles became jedi light sabers. Then it was just plain old fun.  Auggie could care less that he is in Indonesia, he loves the pool and the motorcycle. Rice paddy? Big deal. Temples? So what.

The monkey forest:  Andre and Auggie rode on one motorcycle, I on another with F, from the village into Ubud. Beautiful, sunny day, about 85 degrees with occasional clouds. The monkey forest is sacred, consisting of temples, carvings and statues in a tropical forest loaded to the tree tops with bearded monkeys. A human with food will be swarmed. They will also try to take loose jewelery, bags and flipflops. We watched a little dude snatch a water bottle from one unsuspecting tourist, unscrew the lid and start drinking. I could have spent all day in the monkey forest. I felt the magic.

 Auggie, on the other hand, proclaimed loudly, “Listen. I hate monkeys. I always have and I always will.”  (He has never gotten over being charged by an orangutan at the Portland Zoo.) Having said that, he just wanted to run free. Thank god Andre is his father. Two energetic peas in a pod.

The only flaw was that I couldn’t walk up and down the stairs. Literally, I looked like a 97 year old woman trying to walk. F held me up half the time. Transporting my body was like moving an old sofa bed, heavy and unwieldy and just as ugly.

 I let the boys go on an adventure on their motorcycle, they let me go on an adventure to a spa. Ahhhhh, I tell you, that was the best damn massage I have ever had in my life, no exaggeration.  An open air room, filled with floating, gauzy material, soothing chants, thick warm air, lomy-lomy massage . . . I could do that every day.

After the massage, oily and glowing, I wandered through the markets by myself for awhile then took a taxi back to the villa. I felt very adult, bartering and maneuvering around by myself in a foreign land J.

Auggie finally saw his cobra.  If it had been a free range cobra, I wouldn’t even be able to tell this story, I would be in the nut hatch. Andre took Auggie to the Reptile park after being led on a wild goose chase 40 miles out of the way – but, boy, do they know their way around now. Auggie has not stopped talking about the King Cobra since then; Andre has not stopped talking about the bad directions.

That night, I was taught body healing yoga. Complicated. Not sure I understood most of it. The main point is to listen to the body, focusing on the biggest ache. Become one with the ache. Go with the ache. Do not fight the ache. By concentrating on the ache, the body is subconsciously sending energy to the injury, helping to heal the area. Sounds easy. Concentrating, concentrating, concentrating . . . ooo, a butterfly! What was I doing?

Monday,  27 June 2011

We needed to go to the market to get supplies for our stay on Nusa Lembongan so the four of us once again hopped on the motorcycles for a ride into Ubud. Juuuust as we drove into the village WHAM! Pouring down rain. We decided to keep going , we were already soaked.  All part of the experience, right?  If only I had worn something other than tan linen pants. Do you know what happens when you wear tan linen pants in a rain storm? Without underwear? I do, I do!!

Auggie was a total trooper. Winding through the market alleys, we had to wade through calf-high water and floating debris while being deluged from above. Sellers would offer us head scarves from under their tiny tarps. Already soaked, we just smiled. Auggie was stoked when we found a carved wooden cobra. I was stoked when I bartered them down. After a bit, we left Andre to finish the shopping while Auggie and I took a taxi back to the villa.  Don’t worry, Andre liked the adventure.

I was still dizzy. F brought in a cerebral-something-something healer. He worked on untangling knotted conduits in my brain by holding my head. I fell asleep. I woke up still dizzy but pretty mellow.