Eye Wide Shut

P- Good morning.

G- Morning.  Uh oh!  I can't open my eye.


P- What do you mean you can't open it?

G- Well, let me be more specific. MY LEFT EYE IS STILL CLOSED, EVEN THOUGH MY RIGHT ONE IS OPEN, AND IT APPEARS TO BE CRUSTED SHUT!!!

P- Let me see it. Oh my gawd! It is totally swollen and red!!! Stay there and I'll get a warm rag for you to wipe it.

G- Great! Aside from my morning mucus expulsion, I was starting to finally feel better.

P- Well, that makes me worried. Maybe you should take your antibiotic.

G- No. I only have one prescription and it's too soon in the trip to take it. Besides, I'm not running a fever and, based on the color of the mucus,  I don't have an infection.

P- Well, we need to go to a pharmacy to see what they suggest.

We ate breakfast and called, via Google phone, all of the nurses we know. Finally, we reached Phyl's Aunt Faye and Uncle George, the doctor, who deduced that my tear duct was clogged with mucus. Great! We went off in search of a pharmacy. Along the way, we passed a group of children hosting their own little parade. They played symbols, drums, and some kind of sticks. Two of the kids were dressed in a dragon costume. It was cute. Unfortunately, we never could get a clear answer about why they were doing it, but it had something to do with the Galungon celebration.

At the pharmacy we purchased a theraflu type tablet to break up my mucus and some eye drops. I always have to get the freaky things. We then went to the Bintang grocery to buy some cough drops and a washrag.



inside the Bintang Grocery

 P- No washrags. Maybe we should look in the baby department.

G- I don't see anything here that would work, besides bibs.

P- What about this one?

G- Too scratchy. I already look like cyclopse. I need something soft?

P- This one is soft and it has a cute little bear on it.

G- Alright. That one will do. I just need something to keep moist and use to wipe my eye.

P- And here's a little squirt bottle that you can use for a Neti Pot.

G- It was a big mistake not to bring my Neti Pot, but it was just to big and awkward. I think this will work and it's only 40 cents. Let's try it.

Just outside of the grocery, in the parking lot, was The Scooby Doo Burger & Hot Dog stand. It was most unusual; it was surrounded by a counter with soda shop stools and in the center was a BBQ grill. We decided to have a burger and were very excited that it did not come topped with a fried egg. We ate and watched the people come and go. At one point there was a major traffic jam and nothing was moving, not even the motorcycles. Horns were honking and the drivers were getting crazy. We paid and headed up the street, back to our hotel. As we walked, we had to dodge motorcycles that were driving on the sidewalk.

P- This is ridiculous!! Isn't this illegal?

G- Well, I'm kind've doubting it because they're passing cops and the cops don't seem to be the slightest bit alarmed.

P- (to a cop as we passed) This is crazy! They're on the sidewalk.

Cop – (smiling) Yes. Crazy.

G- Well, apparently it's not a problem for him that they're on the sidewalk because they're almost running over his feet and he's not doing anything to stop them.







Adiyanti





Back at the hotel Phyl put drops in my eye and Adi gave me hot water to disolve my antimucus tablet. Not too bad of a taste; it reminded me of lemon/lime Theraflu. Of course the walk had made us sweaty messes, so we jumped into the pool and floated for the remainder of the afternoon. We watched as new guests arrived, and we were soon joined in the pool by Mike and Hannah from New York. They were the first Americans we had met since leaving home, and they had already been to China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, & Malaysia. They were a wealth of information and we just enjoyed talking to other Americans. Their next stop was Australia.



Mike & Hannah













We ate dinner at the hotel restaurant, Indonesian dishes: Nasi Goreng (fried rice with chicken and topped with a fried egg) and Sayur Hijau (green vegetable with prawns or chicken served with white rice). Both were quite tasty. I coughed myself to sleep as the new medicine began to break up my head and chest.

Make Banana Strong

Sinar Bali Dining area

Our first day back at Sinur Bali was vegetation day. We got up, ate breakfast, worked on the internet (we had no internet access at the Bulan Baru) and lounged by the pool all day. We even ate dinner at the hotel restaurant. The hotel staff welcomed us back with smiles. Garth & Pam were still there, as was the odd guy who sat on his patio all day either reading or on the computer; even he welcomed us back. Unfortunately my head cold worked it's way into my chest and I began to have a nasty crouping cough.


The next few days pretty much followed the same pattern. Because I was not feeling well, waking up every morning with diarrhea and having to blow my nose & cough up copious amounts of mucus, we stayed close to the hotel. Also I was exhausted, and having to be out in the heat and humidity for everything other than sleeping, was really wearing me down. The only respite was to stay in the pool. Fortunately my cough drops were now ant free!

We met a British guy, Rob, in the pool. He had been living in Australia for the past 4 years and was currently in exile in Bali, for 30 days, due to visa issues. He seemed pretty lonely, missing his girlfriend, and was ready to go back home. His room had an awesome mini fridge that kept beers very cold and he lavished us with ice cold beers that first afternoon. He definitely knew the way to our hearts. We spent several days chatting in the pool and going to dinner together. Rob was a big dude, and a BIG eater, usually ordering 2 meals at dinner. At only 33, his metabolism had not yet slowed to a snails pace. Several nights we ate at Patrick's Warung where we actually ate pretty good Mexican food. The girls who worked there were adorable and they had the coldest beer we had in Bali.

Of course, like everywhere, we were harassed by the hawkers while we ate.

Hawker #1 – You look DVDs.

G- No, thank you.

Rob – What movies have you got?

P- Are you interested in buying anything?

Rob- (British accent) No. The quality of the movies is absolute rubbish.

G- Then stop encouraging them to talk to us.

Rob- It's fun.

Hawker #2 – You want wallet?

G- What the hell? (flames shoot out when you open it) That's about how fast money can go when you're traveling.

P- Oh, and everyone needs a flaming wallet.

Rob – No, thank you. Please go away.

Hawker #3 – You want lighter? Sunglasses?

Rob- No. Please go away.

Hawker #3 – (leans into Rob conspiratorially) You want pill make your banana strong?

Rob- (shocked and appalled) What?! No! I don't need anything like that!! Piss off!!!

P- hahahahahahahah

G- hahahahahahaha (to Hawker) Dude, he's only 33, go find someone old to sell that to. Freakin hilarious.

Hawker #4- You buy CD?

G- No, thank you.

Hawker #4- Look, Pink, John Lennon, Beyonce, Michael Jackson.

Rob- Look, we're trying to eat. Please, go away!

G- (to Rob) You're encouraging them. Don't make eye contact.

Rob got us into a bad habit of getting ice cream bars on the way back to our hotel. The problem was, the shop was, of course, not air conditioned, and even if we had made it through dinner without sweating, we'd start dripping while buying our ice cream.