Bleary-eyed Arrival

Thursday, May 30th, 2013

We're here in Bali, eating a leisurely breakfast on a balcony overlooking a rice paddy, listening to the sounds of the birds, surrounded by coconut palms and flowering plants. The air smells fresh and sweet with a hint of incense.

We are 14 hours ahead of you. Today is yesterday where you are.  Hmm. That means that if you were traveling around the time of your birthday, you could celebrate it twice if you were traveling to or from Bali.

It was 42 hours of exhausting travel from the time we left Santa Fe until the time we arrived at Hotel Arjana II on Jalan Kajeng Street. We flew Southwest to LAX with a 5 hour layover; then Singapore Airlines to Singapore, with an hour stopover at Narita airport in Tokyo; a six hour wait in Singapore, then on to Bali, arriving at the capital city of Denpasar.

Singapore Airlines offered service that was reminiscent of a by-gone era, with an endless stream of quality food and snacks at no extra charge, and slender hostesses who were impeccably dressed in sarongs, with black hair coiffed without a single hair out of place, skin like porcelain, skillfully applied make up and relentlessly polite and patient.

Arriving in Denpasar was a bit surprising for me. I wasn't prepared for the amount of cars and chaos and pollution and construction. The little capital appears to be experiencing booming growth with little regulation. Our drivers met us at the airport with a couple of vans. As we drove out of the streets choked with motorbikes and cars and diesel fumes, the further away we got, the more beautiful the view became with lush green fields of rice and tropical fruit trees. After an hour or so, we arrived in Ubud with streets lined with shops full of handmade wood carvings, paintings, handmade fabrics, along with shops full of western goods as well. But, all of us were in such a daze from sleep deprivation, it was hard to fully digest what we were seeing. We were driven up a long street that was an enclave of exotic looking bungalows off the beaten path enveloped by a profusion of jungle plants.

The students are in their own bungalows that belong to a hotel ten minutes down the hill from where the adults are staying. The enclave includes a beautiful balcony where we are sitting now, leisurely eating breakfast, a pool of ample size, and paths through the "jungle." After lunch, the students will be getting their first massages as part of their Bali program. It is so moving to seeing how excited the students are to be here. Some of them have never flown on an airplane before, and some have never left New Mexico. They are wide-eyed and deeply appreciative for this experience that has been given to them. One of the girls screeched in delight as she walked into her bungalow and said, "Oh my god, I'm in paradise. I wish my mom could see this. She wouldn't believe where I am."

After arriving, we did everything we could to stay awake long enough to have dinner at Tutmak, a restaurant run by a Balinese who had been married to an American woman. Galen and Zinnia wanted to give the kids a gentle transition into true Balinese food. After dinner we all fell into bed. Galen had us get up at 5:15 so he could take us on his usual morning walk up through the "jungle" along a narrow path through the rice paddies to see the sun come up and illuminate the surrounding volcanoes. We actually could see the headlamps of climbers in the distance on the highest volcano, Agung, which dominates the skyline. Each field had a little temple for praying for the harvest. Apparently the priest is the one who tells them when to plant and when to harvest. Some of the rice paddies were full of ducks who were eating the remains of the harvest. The rice farmers rent out their fields to the duck herders.

It's time to walk to town to eat lunch. More later.
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