Bali, Bali, beautiful, enchanting Bali

Hello from Susan and Aaron. Remember, you should NOT have to join Google + to read my latest blog post. Simply, click link in this email.

We leave Lombok and return to Bali for our 3rd time in 25 years, 1990, 2010 and now. In many ways, this beautifully lush, spiritual Hindu home to the Balinese people has not changed and yet, in ways it has (Internet, more cars, Starbucks,...) however, the rich traditions remain.

Flower offerings In Front of Home

Lotus garden and temple NEXT to Starbucks!

Starbucks in Ubud!

Candidasa is our first stop. We fondly remember sitting outside our bungalow 25 years ago, figuring out how long we could live on the $4 dollars/day it cost at the time, for beachfront property, including en suite western toilet and meals, free tea and fresh fruit delivered to your door! It may have been the "trigger" to get us to work and save toward an an EARLY retirement!! LOL.

Our home for next two weeks is in the village of Penestanan, just outside Ubud, the cultural center of Bali. We learn that due to the number of volunteers here, our accommodations have been upgraded. Our "villa" apartment is a large one bedroom, with outdoor covered living area and kitchen, wifi and a fabulous outdoor shower. The stars at night are amazing. We are in a walled in space with a beautiful garden, including a sculpture of Ganesha. It is just lovely. Meals are delivered by Green Lion, the local organization we are volunteering with. We have had better food....and often go next door to the laid back Kopi Desa Cafe, and buy lunch and/or dinner, with an average good meal costing 5 - 7 dollars for the 2 of us!

Ganesha in our garden

We walk 1/4 mile to the Green Lion office, passing by homes adorned with flower offerings, wishing our "neighbors" "Selamat Pagi"......a good morning, in Balinese.  Aaron and I easily agree this is our best volunteer accommodation location to date. Candra (pronounced Chandra) and his wife, Made (pronounced Ma day) are our gracious hosts. They live in his family compound with Candra's 5 brothers in small one or two rooms along with their families, roosters, chickens, birds and cats. Our place is unique within the walled compound.

Our meals are delivered for every meal
in plastic divided containers. Cute huh!

Made, Candra and their grandson

Made dresses up and brings flower offerings
to our home each Friday

Our first week with Green Lion was a mandatory Orientation. We were skeptical initially, thinking, we sorta "been there, done that" but that was not the case! Green Lion staff provided a very hands on, authentic introduction to life on Bali. Below are highlights from our week! Hope you enjoy them?

Monday. We start with a walk to Ubud and the Monkey Forest. Ubud stores range from local paintings and wood carvings to, yes, a Starbucks, Pollo and Pandora. The market is traditional and full of crafts, wood and fabric, souvenirs as well as fruits and vegetables. Local fruits include mangosteens, dragon fruit and smelly durian. The Monkey Forest is just as we remember it. Full of monkeys and their antics. This time, we saw one monkey take a child's hat off his head and climb up a tree and another, trying to open the zipper on a girl's purse!  Even one trying to break open a coconut for a fellow monkey, perhaps his kid?g

A class on Cultural dos and dont's reminds us not to touch any one's head (considered holy), or use your left hand to point, touch or eat (considered unclean), though lefties fortunately, are given some leeway! Lucky for Aaron.

A visit to Ubud is not complete without attending a traditional Balinese dance show at night. This one, mostly by local men, who volunteer their talents, so ticket sales can go to the temple, enact stories of lore, such as the popular, Ramayana. They also perform a fire trance dance (walking through hot embers etc), at the end. The click "kecek" rhythm of their chant stays with you long after you leave. Check it out here.

Tuesday. Our cooking class begins with our cutting up many different fruits and mixing them in a blend of water, condensed milk, sugar and ice - filtered water of course. Called Ice Fruit, it was quite refreshing! Next we made Spring Rolls, full of garlic, carrot, onion and cooked pork, followed by Gado Gado, a local favorite, made with beansprouts, green beans, onion, cooked in peanut sauce. Just yummy!

Bahisian language class included two, two hour sessions, covering all the basics. Greetings, colors, numbers, animals, fruits and more. It is here, as we practiced out loud, we learned the ages of our fellow volunteers. Most are 19 to 25, one 30 year old from S Korea, us and a 65 year old couple from New Jersey! This time several Brits, Americans and a couple of Canadians and Chinese. A total of 100.... 60 new volunteers joining 40 others.

Wednesday.
It is time for our Batik painting class. We walk to a woman's home which is also her workshop. Patterns are distributed and we are told to trace them. Next, we are hands on and go through the entire process ourselves, well, mostly ourselves, with help from the local woman. She outlines our work in wax, we handle color selection, painting, it drys, gets washed and wa la, a pink and purple Batik wall hanging for someone special, to hang in their new apartment next Fall! Hmmmm...

Aaron helps fill in the color!

In the afternoon, we take a Village walk through rice fields and a painting village. I totally surprise myself, falling "in like" with a picture painted in acrylic, allegedly by the gallery owners father. An even bigger surprise, is Aaron chimes in that he likes the same one in a different color and why don't I try to get a better deal for 2? After some serious negotiating, we walk out owning BOTH! Happy more birthday to me or early happy 30th anniversary to us! I'll take it! Ha!

Thursday. After our 2nd language class, How to Make a Flower offering class is next. Only fresh flowers can be used. Each color has a different meaning/purpose and goes in a particular place in each of the small square baskets we make. Boy, you need nimble fingers! Some woman can make over 100 offerings a day for all their needs. Example offerings are for your house, food, fields, motorbike, intersections, temple and the list goes on. The next day, the SAME and the day after, the SAME....

Friday. The day before the important island holiday of Nyepi, we take a spiritual tour to a Holy water temple, where hundreds of people come to make wishes, offerings and avail themselves of the never ending flow of Holy water. When in Bali, do as Bali.....dressed in proper temple garb-------- sarong tied with belted waist, in we go! Aaron first. The locals go to each of the 12 fountains, making offerings, a wish, sipping water and then splashing water 3 times over their head.

Aaron's turn, then mine. Wish made, water
sipped, time to splash 3xs

Our volunteer "class of Jeffrey" our
Coordinator for the week

The week Orientation wraps up. We now have our volunteer assignments, teaching 5th graders for me and construction at a school, for Aaron. We are ready to go!

But first, we are lucky to be here for the parades leading up to Nyepi, a holiday of COMPLETE SILENCE for 24 hours. Everything is closed; all shops, restaurants, even the airport shuts down, no use of lights, no movement outside. For me, it is a hybrid of New Years Eve parade of Monsters (called Oga Oga locally), and the Jewish holidays of Passover and Yom Kippur!! You REALLY MUST read more about this special and sacred holiday by clicking here. Aaron dresses so he can join the day before Nyepi Eve temple procession.

Recognize Aaron?

l

Nyepi parade begins
in Ubud.

Boys carrying an Oga Oga.

We survive the day of silence, thanks to our host, Candra, leaving the Internet on! Reading, blogging, Skyping, and eating within the walls of our garden, the hours pass. On Sunday, the village wakes and goes back to "normal" save for cleaning up from Nyepi Eve celebration and packing up remains of the Monsters for next year!

Week 2 - Volunteering with IVHQ's partner, The Green Lion

It is our 6th, yet shortest volunteer stint. Orientation took up one week of the two planned to be in Ubud. I am hopeful to get a meaningful assignment where I can apply my TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) skills, teaching kids older than pre-school.

I luck out. I have 9, 5th graders in an after school program from 2pm to 430pm. The school is a half hour drive each way, that I share with other volunteers, including Olivia, a 21 year old Brit who is co-teaching with me. Although 10 years old, we quickly observe that our students know very basic English, little to no grammar and need help with pronunciation. Mission accomplished. At the end of the week, we hear improvement, we have all had fun and, all done without a translator! I feel good. The week ends and we pack up for Lovina Beach, in the north of Bali, where we are joined again, with Donna, our friend from Quebec.

Practicing directions.
Olivia looks on

Aaron's construction project is to help spruce up a school. He works from 1 to 4pm, after the kids go home around noon. Although the hottest time of the day, he finds what shade there is to sand and paint tables and chairs, mix plaster and cement to reinforce the garden as well as a few classroom walls. The volunteer crew is made up of 4 gals, 4 guys and a Coordinator. Aaron is joined by one other + 60 year old, an Electrician by profession....

We say goodbye to the Green Lion staff, our hosts, Candra and Made and Ubud. Another wonderful visit in a wonderful part of Bali. Who knows when we will return again?

Over the next 10 days will be on Bali beaches for last minute R&R (Ha!) and returning to Singapore as we make our way back to Boston. I am looking forward to seeing Welch Allyn friends and visiting our former home (2009 - 2010). 

We have a 7.5 hour layover in Istanbul, where by coincidence, my brother Jerry is vacationing with his wife, Marti and my nephew, Ethan (who is teaching in India)! I will deplane and meet them for a day before flying the final leg!!  Another opportunity to celebrate my BIG 60th over dinner with family in Turkey! Pretty cool. 

Our Blog will now come to an end along with our travels until next time. We hope you have enjoyed what we have shared? We have!

Susan and Aaron

Indonesia segment begins in Lombok

Remember, you shuld NOT have to join Google + to read my latest blog post. Simply, click on link in this email.


We arrive to Lombok via an overnight stay in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. But first, we are joined by Chandra, my former colleague and friend, from Welch Allyn, Malaysia. We meet him for a beer and dinner "just like old times." It was wonderful to see Chandra and have a chance to catch up in person. We hope to do the same with Gavin, Lilian and the Singapore team when we visit Singapore early next month! Ugh. Forgot to take a picture!

Lombok is the laid back Bali of yesteryear. It is the end of rainy season, but there is plenty of rain and thunder left waiting for us. Not bad, considering we have yet to wear our rain gear. Just wait! We immediately negotiate a taxi to Tetabatu, famous for its volcano and highest peak for trekking in Indonesia, Mt Rinjani.

The volcano is in clouds as we pull up to the Haikiki Inn, made up of a few small chalet/bamboo huts amidst the greenest of green rice fields. The best part is our friends, Donna from Quebec, Canada and Carol from Fairbanks, Alaska come out to greet us! Our idea to "perhaps meet again in our travels" that we came up with a year ago when we met in Costa Rica, becomes a reality! We are all happy to see each other.

The 4 of us and 2 of the hotel's dogs take a walk into the rice fields, with the dogs leading the way! We see so much potential to explore but realize quickly, the paddies are like a maze, confirming that the next day we will hire a local guide! The dogs do get us back in one piece, with combined efforts of all of us!

We wake to an overcast, but perfect day to explore the rice fields with our guide, Abul. Abul takes us along the narrow paths between the fields, explaining the planting and growth cycles of rice. There are grades of rice - high to low, white and black, sticky, long and simple! Who knew? It takes 3 months for the entire process.

Along the way, we pass small villages comprised of 4-15 cinder block and/or bamboo homes. Abul points out to us vanilla, cocoa, chilies, nutmeg, coffee (grown on trees vs bushes as we have seen other places), of course, bananas, beans.....all grown by and for the locals. We see people cutting grasses, tying them and carrying perhaps +100 pounds on their shoulders!? Not for me.

Chilies

Cocoa

Vanilla

Too heavy for me! Will stick to retirement.

Our destination is the local waterfalls. A refreshing ""shower" for Aaron, while the rest of us soak our feet, before returning to Haikiki Inn. We all agree, it was a full, very good day.

We finish the day with dinner where we sit in a rice hut and eat our meal, cross legged, on a bamboo mat floor. We are catching on that meals take time to make. Waiting time is 30-50 minutes as a norm. Patience. It is a laid back place. What is kinda neat, and may be cultural, or due to it being low, slow season, or both, is that the hotel as well as wait staff at restaurants, stop by your table while you are waiting, telling you stories, asking questions or just seeing how you are and what plans you have. Often, they remain even during or after your meal! What a difference from the hustle bustle of most wait staff at home. And, in case you are wondering,  tips are not customary,  so they aren't schmoozing for a tip!
========================================================================

We part ways from the gals to head north, to Senaru for 2 days, before meeting up with them again on the Gili Islands. Senaru is on the other side of Mt. Rinjani. Rather than the cone of the volcano,  you see the peaks of this tall volcanic mountain. An afternoon walk gave us an idea of this trekking base village for Mt. Rinjani climbers, and what we hoped to see the next day after talking to a few guide services about a cultural and rice fields trip to the local villages of the Sasaks....the local indigenous people of this area.

We managed to get back to our hotel after dinner in the pitch dark of night thanks to a power outage, one of several during our stay. I will admit the local dogs freaked me out as our flashlights lit up their many eyes. Phew....we made it back. I mentioned rain earlier, right? It came down in BUCKETS and whatever else you can imagine during the night. So much so, we mentally prepared to leave the next day.

Lucky us. We woke to light overcast skies that turned blue later in the morning. Our guide, Kutni, is a woman of 35 who, as we get to know her, is a true local pioneer! She is the first woman guide in the area and is training 40 other women to do the same. Her goal is to empower women, including herself, to be independent and have options other than staying home or working in the rice fields. She is a mom of 2, wife, cousin to over 100 locally and never stops! Kutni's English is extraordinary.

We meet at 8am to begin our cultural tour and are pleased to find that we will spend "a day in the life of Kutni"! We begin with a walk toward the Sasak villages, where Kutni points out the local fruit and vegetables that grow along the path. These are communal fields, cared for and shared by the community. Like Abul, she points out cocoa, beans, vanilla, chilies, different rices as if we are at Whole Foods grocery, including peanuts, which I forgot, grow in the ground, like onions.

Cocoa, Kutni tells us, is sold raw. She claims the locals don't know the taste of chocolate, and so, don't make it, since when they try, the result is sticky and not good. Sheri, can you imagine!?!





We learn that a young girl of 12 has died from we think, a brain tumor overnight, and we will be going to her village to pay our respects. We are told, the girl is Muslim (as are 85% of this island), and will be buried later that day. She will lay covered under a bamboo roof, with her parents and 8 siblings as the community come from miles away to prepare a large communal meal and pay their respects. Here you can see the women pounding rice, while other groups of men and women sit and wait, having brought gifts of food and other offerings.

That is beetle nut she is chewing
and will spew out orange liquid later

The girls invite me to join them.
None speak English!

Aaron joins the men. Shorts covered
out of respect.

Although Muslim in religion, the Sasak people have strong animistic beliefs and traditions from their ancestors which they incorporate into their day to day. Examples include a village Shaman/healer, attention to the sun, moon and sky influence over daily tasks, and the position and maintenance of local temples to protect the village. Additionally, Muslim practices of female segregation, the cumpulsory covering of womens' heads and the absence of alcohol are more relaxed among the Sasaks.

Stickers are a big hit!

Sasak girls bed in house, clothes on
table. No closets.

The day continues with our learning how to plant rice. Yep, ankle deep in dirty water and mud we bend over and place young rice shoots deep in the mud!  The women who teach us have planted 5 fields since morning. We slow them down! Off we go to the waterfalls to cool off a bit before lunch.

The day finishes up with Kutni taking us to the oldest Mosque in Indonesia, 400 years old, made of bamboo and then to her family village for a baby naming and meal with extended family. We are humbled and happy to be able to share in her day.

Oldest mosque - 400 years old

The baby girl is given a name by the village leader, marked with beetle nut and chanted over in prayers. Numbers for her astronomical "sign" are written down by the Shaman leader and given to her father. The meal includes bamboo shoot curry, banana tree nut curry, rice wine and a baked banana coconut "cake" wrapped in banana leaves and cooked over a fire.

Preparing banana dessert

We see local weaving before heading back later to our now "favorite" restaurant for dinner. Great food, infinity pool over rice fields and they take VISA! Kutni will return home late, put her children to bed and be ready the next morning for another tour! Amazing day for us.

Thumbs up day, thanks to Kutni

I leave Sanaru trying to think of ways to describe the unending variety of shades and colors of green, leaf shapes, sizes and textures we have seen since coming to Lombok......and decide I can't.  It is beyond description.

It is time to head to the beaches of the Gili Islands and reconnect with Donna and Carol. We stay at the Woodstock Inn,  on Gili Trawangan, where each room has a musicians name instead of a number. We are in Ravi Shanker with the gals in the room upstairs. Other rooms were Santana, Joan Baez, Janis Joplin etc. Bob, sound familiar!?

The island can be walked around in under 2 hours which is what we do. No cars, motorcycles or dogs make this a quiet, laid back village, with only the tinkle of the bells of horse drawn carts all day and funky music at night when this "party" island comes alive. We are in bed by then, but we hear it's a scene!?

Snorkeling,  diving, glass bottom boats are big here. After a HUGE rain at night, we wake to a pleasant day and after breakfast on our porch, rent a boat to check out Gili Meno, the 2nd of the 3 Gili islands. Another 2 hour walk around this sparse island, known for honeymooning, a bit of swimming and on our way back, our boat driver lets us enjoy the glass bottom boat views of turtles, fish, coral and even a few scuba divers! Very cool.

We skip Gili Aire, island 3, and instead, opt for biking around the island we are staying on and going for a swim after lunch on the beach. Donna and Carol join us for most, adding a bird rescue sanctuary and snorkeling to their itinerary. Despite the occasional heavy rains, mostly when we are in the room, we have 3 great days on the Gili's. Dinners are delicious and cheap from a selection of BBQ meat, fish and veggies at the night market.

We wrap up Lombok, a wonderful visit, with a local ferry ride from the Gilis back to the mainland, to Senggigi, a coastal resort area, before saying goodbye to Carol. We ferry over to Bali by fast boat this time, with Donna. We will begin our volunteer stint on Sunday and will see Donna again in 2 weeks. Stay tuned.

We call dibs on the 2 life preservers!
There are a few more at the front!?

To a great visit and travel reunion!