Plevyaks in Bali

John and I got our 2nd Hep A and yearly flu shots here in Bali.  Walked to Potato Head to 'recover'

 Rams is a huge movie guy.  Which makes it difficult that there are no movie theaters in our touristy town of Canggu.  After much discussion and research, we went to our first movie this weekend.  We chose  Level 21 (it's hype, it's happening,) where I had previously purchased Ramses' replacement Casio watch.  WOW, is there a difference between mid day weekday and weekend.  It was a really hype and happening on a Sunday afternoon!   Turns out, in Bali, they show movies from around the world in their original language with subtitles in Bahasa Indonesian.  So we chose American made Hunger Games: the ballad of songbirds and snakes.  I read all of the other 3 books and I have to say, she grew as a author and the character development made this story rather poignant.    Rams' friend Varo joined us and it was a lovely afternoon. After the movie, the kids checked out the video game arcade and we finished the fun with sushi for di...

At Green School, 12th graders do a year long project called a Green Stone as a culmination of their learning.  Green Stones often reflect a passion and give something back to the community.  I was delighted to help Jordan with his Green Stone:  building a blacksmith shop with multiple forges in the Innovation Hub.  Jordan received a micro-loan to purchase equipment and then raised $ to repay the loan.   John and I were happy to be 'Forge Founders'.  Paying to learn to use the Forges to make a hook by hand (and fire). What I lack in skill with a hammer, I make up for with enthusiasm and persistence .It was a hot and challenging 4 hours, but I'm really glad to have tried it, and I love my hook. 

Part of our BeWeGoes was learning some Bahasa Indonesian via Duo Lingo.  After 145 days of Duo Lingo, I felt I was only qualified to take the Beginner Bahasa Indonesian class offered at the Green School Bridge (School for grownups).  After all, I could select words from a multiple choice list, but past 'Thank you' I couldn't speak Bahasa Indonesian AT ALL.   So, when Guru Soma, my Bahasa Indonesian teacher, asked me to be in a Bahasa Indonesian language training video, I figured he and his crew must really be desperate. I said yes, because where could he go from here? The team was very professional.  They shared the script with me, and  I dutifully used Google translate to know what I was saying. It was way past my language level.  I could pronounce the words thanks to Bahasa Indonesian's fantastic phonetics, but I found memorizing the lines impossible. Fortunately for me, as I said, the crew was very profession.  The day of, they had my lines on ...

One experience I was hoping to avoid in Bali was visiting the ER.  But this morning, when Ramses said the lights were flickering and promptly lost conciousness, we decided to check out Siloam Hospital. Siloam is a beautiful , modern hospital collocated in a small mall.  There are restaurants, a grocery store and even a movie theater.  The staff was amazing and the process to get us in and out was very efficient.  The doctors were super nice as well as professional: testing (CBC, electrolytes, EKG), diagnosing, treating Rams and getting us back home to rest. Total cost of the visit? Around $300 US. We are happy to know we have great health care resources available to us on our island home.

Rams has a bit of a cold, but he sucked it up this morning to snorkle Menjangan, the tiny island just east if our resort.  It's kinda why everyone comes here, and we chose Nusa Bay because of its proximity to the island (and its luxury) The water was bathtub temperature and the fish and coral were like an aquarium.  The reefs in Indonesia are so much healthier than the ones we have seen recently in Mexico and Hawaii.  The views from Menjangan are of Java with beautiful volcanic mountains....maybe we will go there some day! One if the unexpectedly wonderful things here was the outdoor shower.  It completely enclosed and private to our villa.  Only the cheeky monkeys invade my privacy.  I think my candy colored travel toiletries look tasty, so I hide them quickly when they come to watch me shower!

Nusa Bay is a very quiet resort.  We slept in, had a good breakfast, Rams did some homework (he has a lot this term) and we hit the coral reef.  Right off the dock is an amazing aquarium just for us.  The Damsel fish were very curious about us, following us around and nibbling on John's toes until he put his fins back on. This is a national park, so we share this lovely space with deer  Lizards that look like baby crocodiles. And of course the aforementioned monkeys that require us to keep our belongings in a metal box. I wish I had a recording boom.  They are very vocal, and sound like sentient squeeky toys.

Friday was another early release day.  The last early release day we went to Trans Studio Mall which was terrific.  This time, we travelled 3 1/2 hours north to the very top of Bali.  Nusa Bay is a resort facing the tiny island of Menjangan, known for excellent coral reefs.  The resort is in the shore of a National Park, so wildlife abounds. We arrived by boat from Labuan Lalang harbour.  There were only 8 of us on the boat. It was very White Lotus. Our villa is actually a compound with our own beach. And we have monkey boxes to protect our belongings from cheeky monkeys.  Note:  monkeys are supposed to be Outside the box.

Some of you may know that I did parent tours of Brightworks for years.  I thought that would be an easy and fun way to give back to The Green School community cause I have no fear pretending to know what I'm talking about. So I signed up, did the training, customized the tour for myself and today I did the first one! My planned path had to be modified as it's rainy season and we got a torrential downpour! There were no paths that were less than ankle deep.  The kids were all barefoot and joyous So, Dian (my GS tour partner) and I agreed to a modified loop that would decrease the chances of anyone ending up in the Agung River, but still show off the cool architecture and classrooms.  It was a nice group of people and I really enjoyed giving the tour. Dian gave me this cool flower wreath as a congratulations!  Come tour with me, I'll be here most Thuradays!

Yesterday, Cindy went with 6 other Green School parents to a Mangrove Forest in Sanur.   Mangrove Forests are good for protecting land from erosion, and for consuming C02.  In times past, this area was naturally a Mangrove Forest.  Later, it was deforested and became a fish, crab, and shrimp farm.  More recently it has been replanted with a variety of Mangrove species.  They plant seeds in their nursery and wait until the seedlings have 2 trunks before planting them in the forest.  Even then, only 20% of the seedlings take hold.  The restoration process is ongoing and continuous.   One problem they have is trash washes in from the ocean and that's not health for the ecosystem.  So on occasion, Green School parents go for a paddle and pick up trash.  This was my second paddle and it was a wet and wonderful adventure.  I'm 95% sure that this map shows the Mangrove Forest we were in.  You can see the Bali Mandara Toll Ro...

Thanks to the book The Box, I have a greater appreciation for containers and the increased volume, diversity and availability of goods, containers give us.   This morning Join and I went to a co-working space X hotel X yoga studio X cafe. Containers formed the 3 story frame, surrounding the courtyard pool, with floating ping pong. 1st floor rooms opened directly into the pool and a 2 sided spiral staircase provida access to the upper levels and roof deck.  The food was good too!

 After the mask workshop, we circled up with John (who was at a Mask and Puppet museum down the street) and drove to Tulamben.  We stayed over at a hotel, relaxing and doing homework. On Sunday morning, we met Rachel & Co from Intrinity Divers.  Their dive shop is right across the street from our house, but they travel all over Bali for dive excursions.  We had an amazing couple of dives.  The water was warm and the visibility was pretty awesome.  Later, they drove us back to Canggu.   This is our best attempt at a group photo: Rams getting more confident under water: We saw some amazing things!

 I have been wanting to go to Garuda Wisnu  Kencana Cultural Park for a while now, as we can see it from our beach in Canggu, and I wanted to see it in person.  This amazing sculpture is the largest in Indonesia and 4th largest in the world.  It makes our Lady Liberty look like a Barbie Doll.  John has been less than enthusiastic about the 1 1/2 hour drive each way, by car, so I was delighted when I found us another way to travel there, in only 40 minutes! Today we took the Go Boat from Canggu to Uluwatu and then took a car up to the Cultural Park.  It was a blast.  The boat holds 12 passengers, and launches one beach down from us at Nelayan.  Here is what the launch looked like: We reached a high speed of 19 MPH, until one of the engines went out, and it took closer to 70 minutes with the one engine.  But we got the best views of Bali! Everything looks very small, but the Garuda Wisnu is that sticky uppy thing under the arch of the pontoon. ...

Remember the gala?  One of the items we won was a mask making workshop with a GS family.  Today Ramses and I went to Batuan to learn from I Dewa Made Marantaka and his father I Dewa Guess Mandra.  These 2 master artists and 3rd and 4th generation painter and mask makers They allowed us to practice some of the skills of mask making, showed us their private art collections, taught is a little Balinese dance and treated us to lunch.  Ramses purchased this amazing mask made by the grandfather of a Green School high school student!  He is experimenting with a new style and it worked for us!

Today was Bamboopalooza at Green School.  Families broke into teams by nationality, (some couples 'split up') We have a total of 39 different nationalities. Each team was tasked with creating a booth that showed off their countries uniquesness.  Team USA had a diffcult time choosing a theme for our booth, being the land of appropriation.  Fourth of July X Barbie won the vote.  Pulled Pork, watermelon and PB&Js. Corn Hole game. Red/white/blue and pink ruled the day. My fav booth was the shared Pakistan and India one (Yum.). UK had the cutest pub, but they ran out of booze early.  Germany showed off their classical precision and had pilsners till the event end.  What a cool tradition!

Ramses is in a play!  The Anarchist which is a comedy. He is playing the police inspector.  He is super excited and announced Tuesday night that he needed blue suit pants....now.  In SF, no problem.  Here?  Well, there is  Uniglo, and we have been to several. So,  John and I jumped in a car Wednesday morning and  drive to Kuta (the party capital of Bali). A big Uniqlo is attached to the Sheraton on the beach.  Pants aquired, we decided to walk back along the beach past stalls of cold beer and surf lessons and massages.  It was a beautiful but hot day and it took us 2 hours.  I'd do it again!

 Last week Rams went to outdoor education with Green School, glamping it up at BaliWOSO.  This weekend he went camping and kayaking with his young men's group in Bedugul.  Here is a little glimpse into Ramses' weekend.  I believe that is Mount Catur in the background. Unfortunately, his phone (with US Sim card) is now at the bottom of that beautiful lake.  So, he is now the proud owner of an Indonesian cell phone.  Let me know if you need his new What's App number.

I'm starting with an image of one of my furry friends from the Goa Cafe (which never smells bad BTW).  warning: the images that follow are quite disturbing...   It's been a stinky couple of days at the villa. First, there was the gecko in the knife drawer.  Then the gross smell started.  Wayan asked the pest control folks to come check, but they found nothing.  Wayan come over and found a gecko under the couch.  Blech. But after airing the place, it still smelled BAD throughout the entire first floor.  I was thinking of moving out until it could be resolved, it was so bad.  But, Wayan sent in an expert and low and behold, a rat had died in our ceiling as well.   Here's to cleaner air and happier thoughts!

Fantasy books often use the idea that supernatural or magical things existing in our world and the average mortal can not see them because they are not expecting to. People look right past things that are incongruent. This morning, as I opened my knife drawer I saw ants which was weird as I've never had ants there before. To me the knives looked funny and there was a small one that seemed out of place.  It took a good 5 seconds of looking for my brain to  SEE  the dead gecko in between my knives. I screamed. That got me thinking about other things I have looked at but it took time to see them.   The trees with skirts:  Anita first pointed these out to me.  We had been here 6 weeks.  Trees bigger than a grown man can wrap his arms around are thought to contain spirits, are sacred and are wrapped with cloth. Here is 1 across the street from our house: Another at Potato Head: All temples have wonderful statuary....