Bali and back

Friday, May 31, 2024

The e-news written last week drops. What a relief not to have that pressure today, our first day back from a seminar in Bali. W and I walk the neighborhood loop, start work, and make calls. The neighbor's Vanda orchid smells like heaven.

Along the street, a tall tree is draped with white flowers and beans.

This is my usual view: 3 dogs walked by W on one leash. The little poodle out front? He is boss. PakG has washed him and brushed him out to white perfection. Today Casey comes over mid-morning so that makes a pack of 4. We're dog-sitting while his people travel.

Usually I journal or paint but not this trip. I write down what I remember this morning about the people met and places explored. We met some dedicated and creative leaders and made new friends.

Monday, May 24 - off to Bali

Bali is one of the easiest places to get to in Asia for meetings, conferences, and retreats. Because it's a tourist center, flights from almost anywhere are possible without too many layovers. (Elon Musk hosted a conference here last week.)

PakG gets up early to drop us at the 6:20 a.m. shuttle to the "new" (5-yr old) airport 1.5 hrs away. The nicely paved double divided highway is as bumpy (side to side and going forward) as a gravel road with potholes. I'm not kidding. I have to sit upright with a pillow behind my neck. The wrenching is so bad that I have mild headaches all week from the base of my skull. Sadly, there are no chiropractors here.

The bouncing makes it impossible to take pictures. This is what I get when I shoot out the front window: a thrust upward ... and a shot of the ceiling ... or a dip when the phone points to the floor.

The airport is almost empty.

Curbside, there's hardly anyone either. We few clients from the shuttle toddle off into the terminal.

Inside, I find a passable ramen for breakfast.

W and I arrive at the hotel in Kuta within 4 hours, door to door. We check in; it's basic and clean @$81 for all 3 nights. It is near the ICC (conference center). The ICC staff is excellent - what a great place for meetings. The snacks and coffee are good and the catered meals are tasty.

The pool, beautiful by day, glows by night. 

W and I have stitches after biopsies so we can't swim or get the bandages wet. The doc's office emails that all is well; there's no sign of skin cancer. We get checked once every 5 years in the tropics. I'm in the mood to pull out the stitches which must be healed by now. But I am learning patience. 

We keep forgetting to take the costly antibiotics. "Night and day for 2 weeks," instructed the dermatologist. After a week, we've maybe remembered 4 times. Oh well, better for our stomachs without strong meds.

Bali tourists are back in full force. Next door, the massive souvenir shop is crammed with 2-storeys of reasonably priced crafts. Balinese are creative with natural and artificial materials. I buy a 6" bronze goldfish for $6. Compared to Seattle ($200 paid for a bronze mouse 15 years ago), it's a steal.

We pick up a few things for our grandkids, too.

Even the grocer has tourist goodies. This $10 vase has been handblown onto a piece of wood roots. The glass container lifts off easily for washing.

We buy Bali peanuts - spicy and plain - from the same grocer.

The vibrant colors of Bali are everywhere.

Trucks are piled high with goods. (See this going to a mattress shop from the factory?) Many storefronts are empty or graffitied - lost to the pandemic. Slowly things are returning to normal. But foreigners are back! so traffic is terrible.

We unpack and head across a few busy streets and follow a roundabout to the Dijon Deli and restaurant. It's always worth a visit to this Australian-style fresh foods eatery. W orders his usual gut buster. (I have 3 yummy bites.)

I order a salad with cashews, feta, roasted eggplant, red peppers, beans, and edamame. Both are delicious.

We walk 2 kms in the afternoon heat (90sF/32+C) to catch a bus that's scheduled every 15 minutes. Nope. We wait almost 45 min on the curb before it comes. Then we hop out to walk to the pottery factory I love. I consider getting a tall vase ($50). Nah. Pretty though!

Supper is excellent: ribs (skinny ones) with soup, salad, and dessert. Too much! A server comes by with a paper towel and calmly snags a huge roach from the wall beside the next table. Good catch.

Tuesday

Jeff Leake starts the sessions with wise counsel. Young to old attendees agree that Jeff is one of the best seminar speakers in recent memory.

After lunch together, we have a session with Ed (HK), who offers an orderly explanation of how organizations grow and multiply. W and I are glad we came. The information is practical and useful. And both speakers are inspiring.

Seven gals pile into Gigi's van to cross the island to a wonderful artisan jeweler. It's too high-priced for us but the display of beautiful workmanship, set among the best crafts in Bali, makes it a worthy adventure. Everything is handmade, whether in the jewelry cases or arranged on walls and floor. I resist these hammered earrings at $200. But I know what's trending after that stop.

The employees are gracious and it's a fun "girls-only" outing. Built into these meetings is time for conversation and peer mentoring. We've come from across Asia, China southward. We talk about a lot of things, whether women are chatting in the shuttle or when everyone is leaning in around meals or Q&As.

In the evening, the group meets on the Jimbaran beach. Tables are set up inside restaurants and flow out across the sand to the beach. There are horses for riding, surfboards for surfing, and fishing or tour boats anchored offshore

This beach is known for its fresh-catch seafood and fish. Each one gets a plate with bitter green vegetables and a white snapper, prawns, and a lobster. What?! Delicious, fresh from the source. Rice is on the side.

The big draw is the sunset. Again, conversation, understanding, exchange. A precious time together.

Wednesday

I have a hard time sleeping during the night so I sleep until 8:00. It takes 11 min to get ready for our walk to the next hotel. We want to say hello to our Indonesian "grands." (Their moms lived with us during college in Seattle.) Their parents, dear friends Indra and Livia, have their hands full and big smiles on their faces. The kids have the day mapped out already.

We walk back to our hotel for a quick breakfast before the sessions. It's a full and fruitful morning.

After lunch conversations, W and I take a taxi to Seminyak and walk around. My mission is to find a gift for an expat's wife in the Philippines. I asked him, "What colors does your wife usually wear? Nature colors? Pale pinks, greens, and blues?" (He doesn't know what I mean by "pastels.") And, "Does she wear scarves? Are her ears pierced?"

He can't answer most of the questions but that's ok. I get enough info and see her photo on his screensaver. He chooses pewter-silver-copper earrings via photos. We find a Bali sarong (a big fringed scarf) and hand over a bag of peanuts as well. "She'll really like this," he says. It's obvious he loves his wife a lot.

Orange marigolds are popular at temples and shops. First we pass these stems, popped through different-height wires.

A little further down the street, they are laid in front of a door. Puffs of wind blow them slightly off grid.

And still further, they are strung as a mobile over planted water pots.

Workers are framing a roof without safety gear, welding metal above the busy streets.

My eye is caught by mixed media art in a high-end gallery: bigger than life-size, it's 9.5X6.5'. Oh for a wall to hang it!

Dinner is at Naughty Nuri's, our go-to for ribs and more. Near the sink where I wash my hands, there's a tiny baby changing table - maybe 🤔 70X70cm (2X2'). Obviously babies are smaller and less squirmy here than in the West. Or maybe moms are just more flexible?

Besides the ribs, the quartered and roasted corn cob is good ... once I wipe off the cheese and sauces. W gladly takes those for himself.

Another Bali tradition for us two is Gusto's gelato, 250 meters down the street. It's dark by this time (6:45pm) but 4 cases of ices glow a welcome. We share a cup of gelato in the quiet back courtyard.

Thursday

After the final sessions, prayers, and conversations, W and I check out. Mario and Daniela take us to the airport in time to board an earlier flight. THANK YOU!

It's 1.5 hours flying. We wait almost an hour at baggage claim for our small suitcases. Then we catch a 4-hr shuttle home. I sit near the back, while W takes the only other seat: shotgun at the front, the least relaxing seat in the van.

Indonesians don't like long uninterrupted travel. So the van pulls into a rest stop after 2 hours. The menu in't very appetizing. In the cooler is a Korean-style ice cream sandwich (2 bites of the ice cream between 2 waffles and I'm done) but we don't find anything else appealing. It's late anyway.

The shuttle arrives midnight Bali time (11:00 here) and PakG picks us up. He's registered our vehicle while we've been gone, an ordeal that takes hours. W is very grateful.

Friday

It's time to trim the Boston ferns upstairs. As soon as the fonds touch the roof, the ants use them as bridges.

We start to distribute the books piled on the Porch today. There are some interesting ones that I want to read.

Read more:

*You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.

I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. Psalm 63:1-4

Big free library (in contrast to a Little Free Library)

 Thursday, May 23, 2024

We walk 2 miles downhill (3km), meeting Troy and Veronica partway. It's a pretty river walk, though in places the paving has started to tilt toward the water below. Neighborhood drainage is on our right; a steep drop-off to the river is on the left

Indonesians are entrepreneurs. Cooking is one of their favorite ways to earn money. There are pop-up restaurants and food vendors everywhere, including new ones since we walked here a few weeks ago.

Can you spot the lady who sorts and sells eggs? Her shop is along the main road that we have to cross to get to the Treetop Walk.

The second half of the walk is literally in the treetops, 2km (1 1/4mile) long with guardrails on both sides. It's swarming with pedestrians, foodies, and family groups: today is another! Indonesian red-letter day (Buddha's birthday?) Vendors aren't allowed on the trail itself, so they set up in the parking lot to feed hungry families and students from the nearby university.

We meet John and Lisa at Delaraos buffet. The New Zealanders (J/L) and the Aussies (V/T) know some of the same people. Some common friends live in NZ now, but they lived here decades ago. It's fun to hear them catch up.

W and I hop an angkot (city van) up to the grocer but there is no money in their ATM. We walk the rest of the way home. Our watch and phones record +13,000 steps by the time we sit down at home.

I find some Trader Joes dark-chocolate coffee beans and peanut-butter cups. Formulated for cooler climates, they start to melt when they leave the fridge. 

Friday

We walk the dogs, of course. It's cloudy today with cooler breezes. I consider throwing on a blanket while working on the Porch but let's get real: it's 25oC (77oF). I need to write monthly newsletters and compile a few months of team devotionals. Tea smooths away distractions so I can focus on work.

W's off to pick up some library castoffs: this round it's textbooks and two commercial orange rugs. Well, maybe they're not enormous in a business office: 300X550 cm (10X16') and 450X600cm. At $10 each, they're useful as well as inexpensive. Good thing we're not afraid of orange!

Once again, we have stacks of books before we get the bookshelves. The shelves will be here in June. Thankfully most of these books are going elsewhere.

The Bandung Book Group says they'd love some essays for an upcoming discussion. I put those aside.

Between, I'm reading a recommendation: The Unseen Realm by Michael Heiser. So far, it's a little mind-bending. I'm wading chapter by chapter, deciding what to discard, what to consider, and what to include in a summer course.

Saturday

We walk the dogs. W and I have a hard time remembering to take the antibiotics prescribed on Wednesday. Are we reluctant because they wreck gut bacteria or forgetful because we can't feel our biopsy sites? We shall do better. We hope.

We do a quick run to Borma (similar to a small Walmart). Near the cashier is a display of baby and toddler perfumes. With mosquito-borne dengue fever and flies everywhere, why would you want your little kid to smell like fruit? Dunno. (I say, give them another bath.)

We buy rice (sembako), household paint, and cheap art supplies. 60c for oil pastels seems a worthy investment. I grab the blank notebook that I sketch or write in when we travel. No matter whether or not I draw or paint, I always write. I refill my fountain pen and tuck it away for the next trip.

An occasional chore is checking the guest rooms upstairs to ensure they are prepped for visitors. The kitchen and dining area is larger than most home kitchens.

There are recent additions to the guest wall behind the dining table. Instead of a guest book, we've left out markers for visitors to comment on their stay. Once in a while, I snap a photo to stay up to date.

A favorite art piece hangs in the guest living room: a shot-out target dragged home from the side of the street.

Sunday's floral arrangement consists of leftover leaves and button mums, plus garden additions: a few shoots of bamboo, fern fronds, and a red-gold-green branch torn off a shrub. We take it to the hall so we don't have to think about it tomorrow.

W has written the talk for next Sunday so we read it and edit it together. How nice to have time to think about it in advance.

Sunday

Shibli from Uganda is speaking today. It's always more interesting when the speaker brings friends, as Daniel did last week and Shibli does today. The whole team cheers for these first-time speakers, too.

After, we celebrate with lunch.

I drop off a neighbor's meal before heading home. W is editing the Sunday video so he heads home. What a blessing to live within walking distance of the international church!

Read more:

*You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. Exodus 23:9

*The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. Isaiah 9:2 NIV

*When the magi saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they knelt down and paid him homage. Matthew 2:10-11

*Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’ Matthew 25:37-38, 40

Moravian Prayer: O God of all, there is so much need in this world! So many people are hungry. Too many people must flee their homelands. There is so much injustice that it seems there is no hope. Yet, you give us gifts of time, talents, and treasures that bring hope and healing to a hurting world. May we remember that sharing food, refuge, and justice is our service in your Name.

Most holy Lord, you brought light into a world of darkness with the birth of your Son. Some days it seems that the world has returned to darkness, as violence, injustice, and conflicts increase. Let your glorious light be seen anew, that we may be reminded that you hold all things and all provisions in your hand. Amen.