We Love a Rainy Day. You Crazy!



Phyl & Michael

 G- (groan) What time is it?


P- 6:15am

G- WHAH!!!!! I need to sleep! I'm not sleeping well at night because I'm sticky and hot. In the morning, when it's finally a little cooler, the damn roosters start and the sun is beating through the windows. Whah!!!!

P- No whining, Agnes! I feel your pain. Let's close the curtains on all the windows and take off the mosquito net and see if we can fall back asleep.

G- Whah! Ok.

We did manage to fall back asleep for a little while, but by 8:00 am it was warming up and the wasps, which we only see in the mornings, had started flying around the room. We got up as a gecko ran across the floor and back into the bathroom where it's wet and cool.

P- It's freakin wild kingdom in here!

G- I am very proud of the way your handling the bug and gecko situation.

P- I am doing well. At home I would have freaked out and we wouldn't have gone
to sleep until you had captured the gecko and gotten it out of the house.

G- And now you watch them run along the floor and walls without batting an eye. It's not as though you have any choice, but you've come a long way in a few short days. Desentization is an amazing thing!

P- I'm dealing with them, but one of the bastards had better not run on me or I'm gonna freak out.

G- Did you hear the frogs and crickets and cicadas last night? It is amazing! I had no idea that frogs could make so much noise.

P- You think it's all frogs?

G- Not sure, but I think it's mostly frogs. And maybe some critters we've never heard of or seen before.

We joined Michael, Laurie & Bo at the breakfast table. Mary soon arrived and we began a discussion about Ubud, travel, our jobs (or prior ones), and any other topic that crossed our minds. Michael gave suggestions of places to eat dinner, and we enjoyed a very slow moving morning. After everyone had gone off for the day, Phyl & I took cool showers, wrapped in our sarongs, and sat on the porch to read.

G- Ooooooh!! Thunder! Look how dark the sky is over there.

P- Good! I hope it rains for a while and we can cool off a little.

Ayu watched the clouds and frowned. She had just put the laundry all around the courtyard (on laundry racks, on the cement, hanging from the tree) to dry.

G- Looks like it's gonna rain.

Ayu – I don't like rain.

P- We love it. Especially the rainstorm we had the first night we arrived.



Wayan

 Ayu- Why the Americans love the rain? Michael say he loves rain too.

G- Maybe it's because we grew up with fantastic thunder storms in New Orleans and then we moved to California where they get little rain showers, and we really miss good storms.

Ayu – It crazy.

While it poured we sat and talked with Ayu. She explained, in her really good, but limited, English about the 4 names of the upper caste in Bali: the first child is named Wayan, second is Made (sounds like Ma day), third is Nyoman, fourth is Ketut. Then it starts over with Wayan again, preceeded by a word that means something like 'the second one'. So, Maday her husband has one older brother. She said that she is from the poor caste, so she did not get a name like that. It seems most people have one of these 4 names, but we've also met some people named Gusti, which we think is from a different caste level. It's all very confusing and trying to translate this in discussion was impossible. Also, the caste system is not rigid in Bali, so there is marriage among the castes.

view from our window

Ayu told us that Maday's parents do not like her, but we never could understand why. Maybe they think he married down? Not sure. Also, Maday (I'm spelling it like this for ease of pronouncing it) & Ayu have a 14 year old son named, Alit. We asked why he was not called Wayan because he is the first born, but we never got an answer we could understand. Lost in translation.

Ayu and I spoke about raising only sons. She lamented the fact that although he had once worshipped her, he was now moving away from her and more to his friends. I told her that was normal and he'd come back one day. She seemed genuinely happy to know this. We talked about how she and Maday had married 15 years ago, purchased this land and gradually built the 6 rooms they rent to tourists. Only days before had they hired someone to help, a guy named Wayan, but previously she had done everything herself. It seemed they had really done well for themselves, especially by Balinese standards. She asked questions about living and working in America and we learned about their life in Ubud.



sunset from our window

 G- Now that was fantastic! That's exactly one of the things I wanted from this adventure; to connect with and learn about the lives of real people in the countries we visit.

P- I wish we could've understood why Maday's parents don't talk to her, because I've seen his mother walk through here to see Maday, but she never talks to Ayu.

G- It was funny when she passed at exactly the time Ayu was talking about her. I made a face at Ayu but she said it didn't matter because the mom couldn't understand a word of English. We could talk as loud as we wanted.

P- She does have a lot to do around here, but I think she thinks it's worse than it is. How many women do we know in America who work, take care of kids, take care of the house and there is so much more to be done.

G- It does seem like a simpler existance here, cook the breakfast, laundry, clean the rooms, but the pace is much slower. And by Balinese standards, they are making a fair chunk of change on a daily basis. She said the place is usually booked. Michael lives here full time and has for the last year.

P- It doesn't seem too terrible, but she's stuck here running it everyday.

G- True. People are all the same, aren't they?

P- Yes. They are.

G- I'm sure we're going to find that everywhere we go.



Ayu & Maday

 After our chat with Ayu we ran from the breakfast area to our bungalow. The rain was still coming down and it was actually breezy and cool. Thank all the Hindu Gods for a small break in the oppresive heat!!! Phyl took a nap and I read.

Breeze or Malaria?

Our driver, Mede, phoned Maday, the owner of Nirwa Homestay in Ubud, for directions and Maday met us at the main road. Maday (accent on the last syllable) was on his moped and took our backpacks and road ahead to his home. We followed......................... up the hill for approximately 30-40 yards, then along a drainage ditch for about 2 blocks. I struggle for the right words because it isn't really a ditch but more of a runoff or artery coming from the river, so it's fresh water, but it's only about 3' wide.

The path that runs along the ditch is anywhere from 2-4 feet wide, depending upon the location, and flanked by a wall on the other side. Of course, the pavement/pavers/dirt is uneven, so you must pay close attention to your footing or you might fall into the ditch.

P- How did he pass down this little path on a moped?

G- I don't know. Once he rounded that curve I couldn't see him. And I haven't seen our packs in the water, so I guess he managed with those on his bike too.

P- It's unbelievable!

G- Look up ahead, someone is standing in the ditch washing their clothes.

P- I guess that's a designated clothes washing spot because it's the only place with a concrete slab about waist high.

G- Shit, it's hot. When you phoned didn't Maday say it was cooler in Ubud?

P- Yes, he did.

G- Well he lied.

When we reached the home, the path lead up at a steep angle to the front gate. We then climbed a flight of steps, in varying heights, with one being particularly high. Maday lead us through an inner courtyard full of tropical plants to our bungalow #3. There was a nice porch with 2 chairs and a table and our own laundry drying rack. The bungalow was a large room with a queen size bed, desk, big wooden chair, separate single mattress on the floor and attached bathroom. The bathroom was spacious and the shower was big and modern with just a half wall separating it from the toilet area. The sink, on the wall opposite the shower head, was a stone vessel on a counter top. Overall we were very happy with the accommodations.

We chatted with Maday, closed the door and windows to keep out the mosquitoes because it was dusk, and set off to get a bite to eat.

G- Phyl, be careful on this sidewalk. Your little foot could easily slip into the grate on the drains.

P- Thanks. I've been watching that. Damn, this is a workout just walking on the sidewalk. Why does the damn thing go up and down like this? The streets flat.

G- I have no idea but it is quite the workout.

P – I just keep telling myself... “Asian diet, Asian diet....”

As we walked down the sidewalk, we passed shop after shop and at each shop encountered a shopkeeper who asked us if we wanted to come in or buy whatever they were selling. We smiled and said 'no thank you', but it was quite the mental workout to watch your footing and decline the offers of each and every shopkeeper.

G- I'm sweating.

P- Me too and I'm not all that hungry because our lunch was so big.

G- I'm not that hungry either, but we need a little something. I don't want rice. What can we get?

P- There's a store, let's go see what we can buy.

After perusing the store, we settled on peanut butter, bread, & yogurt. We needed something different and that's all we could turn into some kind of a meal. We returned to our bungalow, via the winding footpath, and were thankful it was not yet dark.

G- Dear Gawd!!! It is stifling in here. Open all of the windows and leave the door open for a while.

P- Oh yeah, because that's gonna let the cool breeze in?

G- At least it'll let some of the hot air out. What made us think it would be cooler here?

P- We're idiots!!! It's hotter here than along the coast.

G- “Too cool for air con”, my ass!!!

P- I'm going to stand under a cold shower. I can't eat when I'm this hot.

After a cool shower our body temps were low enough to sit on the bed, under the fan, and eat our dinner without sweating. Barely. It had been a long day and by 9:00 pm, we were ready to go to sleep.

P- Do you think we can sleep without the mosquito net? I haven't seen any mosquitoes since we returned. (The words had barely escaped her lips when a mosquito landed on her nose.)

G- (smacking her in the nose) Um, I think not. What better place than surrounded by rice fields to get malaria.

P- Damn! If we close the mosquito net around us, it'll block the breeze from the fan.

G- Decisions, decisions................. breeze & malaria or protection & heat ............I think I choose protection. I'm a safety girl.

P- Sweet Jesus! I might prefer to take my chances.

G- I'm leaving the windows open and there are no screens. I think it's the right choice. What sense does it make to lock the door when there is an open window right next to it.

P- None, but I think we're pretty safe at the end of this path, up the steps and at the back of the courtyard.

We pulled the mosquito net around the bed and tucked it under the mattress. Within a few minutes, we fell into a warm, sticky coma.