What happens when you’re following Yes and you get what you’ve been working for? The answer: Life. Of course you get Life. What else would you get?
Murray and I are getting our sea legs, learning to live in paradise. Here’s a quick update about how it’s going:
Housing
We looked at many villas, entertained the idea of leasing a villa for 19 years, and then came to our senses. We decided rent something for the first 5 months so we can get used to living in Bali.
I’ve stayed at Melati Cottages 5 different times now, and I love it here. We’ve rented a little house that is a few steps down the hill from the main hotel. We get breakfast, housecleaning, and access to the pool and Wi-Fi for about $550 a month. Just a year or so ago it was about $330 a month. We still feel were getting a great deal. The staff is so sweet here.
We moved in this morning, so we’re still getting used to things. It is not air-conditioned, but there are fans and a cool breeze, so we’re hoping we’ll be okay. I would rather get used to the weather and not live in air-conditioning anyway.
There is a path next to our house and I can hear Balinese talking and laughing as they walk by. We’re in a small village next to Ubud and there is plenty here for ex-pats, including a new raw foods juice bar. But there is no doubt about where you are when you’re living in our house. We are in Bali living among the Balinese, which is exactly what we wanted have happened.
Transportation
Murray has been renting different models of motorbikes to see which one he likes best. When he finds one he likes well enough, we’ll rent it for a month which will cost us about $50. Once we decide on a model, we may buy a used motorbike and then sell it when we leave.
We wear helmets and Murray is a great driver, and there are a gazillion scooters here. The traffic looks like chaos to a Western eye, but there is a rhythm to it. People are aware of where other people are in traffic and it’s more a dance than a contest. Even so, there are lots of motorbike accidents, so we are being extra careful.
When we need to hire a car, we have lots of options. I hope that my “Balinese son”, Adyus, who is working on a cruise ship until November, will be able to be our main man while he’s home. He’s planning on getting married in January, so he might be busy with some other minor things besides taking care of my every need. Our other main man is Putu. When I first visited Bali in 2007 on a trip with Jana Stanfield, Putu so impressed two of my travel companions, that they set up a his college fund for him. He is a peach. He came over on my birthday and gave me a special ceremonial sarong. He’s working, going to school, and also running his own tourism business. He laughs easily and he is the quintessential Balinese man.
Food
We eat breakfast every morning at Melati next to a fountain and the pool. We can have coffee or tea, eggs, about any way we want them, fruit salad, black rice, banana pancakes, but Murray has special rice mush because of his sick belly. We now have a kitchen in our home, a Balinese style kitchen, and we will be able to cook our own simple dinners and lunches. We can eat out for $4 at a little Japanese restaurant down the street. The food is yummy and you can get about anything you want: pizza, pasta Bolognese, Indonesian food, of course, and Chicken Cordon Bleu with garlic mashed potatoes.
Drinking
Bintang beer is available about everywhere for about a dollar a bottle. Wine is more expensive, except for the local rice wine called Brem. There is a hard liquor called Arak made from rice, and it can knock you on your ass.
I have ginger tea almost every day, iced or hot. And there are all sorts of wonderful fruit drinks containing turmeric, and other great healthy stuff.
Entertainment
Every Monday there is fabulous salsa dancing at a gorgeous restaurant up on the hill called Indus. There are young men there who are fabulous dancers, even dance with senior citizen ladies like me. Ha ha.
Every Wednesday there is a wonderful singer and band at a restaurant called Casa Luna. She will even share the microphone occasionally. There is dancing there as well.
There are plenty of other places with music during the week. I’m sure we could go someplace every night if my introverted husband would be willing to do so. (It’s all his fault). There’s no way I would ever want to go somewhere every night anyway.
Special events
The Ubud writers Festival, which is supposed to be one of the 6 best writing festivals in the world, starts next Wednesday. Murray is going to take a cooking class at Casa Luna and get a tour through the market on how to buy fresh food. There are many events that are free. I plan on going to a lot of those, since many of the other workshops were already full.
Massages
I can walk to over ten spas from where I am right now in about 10 min. Facials, pedicures, massages, body scrubs,–soaks in flower petal baths it’s all yummy and inexpensive. I found a woman in town who I like very much. She gave me an hour massage and Murray a half an hour massage and charged us $10 for both. She is very excited that we will be coming to her regularly. A little room in her family compound costs about $16 a night, in case you’re interested in a true Balinese experience when you come to visit.
Technology
Murray bought a Blackberry so he can be on the Internet all the time for about $20-30 a month. I bought a device that keeps me on the Internet all the time. It’s about $10 a month. There’s Wi-Fi everywhere, though, so staying connected is not difficult. usually. This is a Third World country, and stuff happens.
Skype
If you want to Skype us you need to try once before the real call so we can accept you. We will accept you. You are accepted. We are practicing unconditional loving acceptance of all the people who want to Skype us. Aren’t we adorable?
Computer to computer skyping is free, and calling our Balinese number is very cheap through Skype. We have international service on our phones, but again, the service is not completely reliable.
The Weather
I am finally warm. I’m a little afraid I’ll get so used to being warm, I will never be warm in Oregon again. I’m also afraid of living without air conditioning, it gets so hot I want to scream. There are cool breezes, the swimming pool is delicious, and I love getting up to warm usually sunny weather. It’s rained several times since we got here, and that warm rain is wonderful too. We don’t go motor biking when it’s raining- yet.
The Balinese
Most of the Balinese we meet are simply wonderful. Of course, there are people who just want to sell you something, and there are people with weird personalities, just as there are everywhere. But for the most part, the Balinese are gracious and kind. They live in gratitude and service is one form of gratitude
Psychological Truths
Murray and I are committed to telling the truth every day. We can feel those “should’s” coming in trying to stake claim in our brains, and we confess those feelings when we feel them. There’s no right way we should feel. We are committed to allowing ourselves to feel what we feel, let it go through, and see what happens next.
But shouldn’t we have gratitude every moment for being in this tropical paradise? Aren’t we lucky beyond belief? We are also human beings. We get scared, neurotic, and overwhelmed. We judge ourselves, and usually we can laugh about it all. But we give ourselves space to be whatever we are in the moment, trusting that by trusting we will move into the next moment.
An invitation
We do have a 2nd bedroom with a twin bed. We would be happy to put you up, and if there are 2 of you, we’ll figure something out. You can rent a room at Melati for about $30 a night that has air-conditioning. I’ve already booked a room for some friends, Cleone and Bob, and my son Martin and his girlfriend Katie are thinking they might come over for Christmas. That would be heavenly.
Don’t forget us! We are not forgetting you!
Love, Vicki