Empty Nesters Again

On our way to the mountains

We’re empty nesters again and it never gets easier.  Skyler left for Boston yesterday at noon, and Shanti left for London this afternoon.  Our annual quality time together reminds us just how much we enjoy being around them.

Breakfast at our villa

So now it’s just the two of us for the next three weeks in Bali and for the many months until we get to spend time with them again.  But we don’t feel sorry for ourselves, and you shouldn’t either.  Our future always seems to get better than our past.

Mt. Batour

The other part of Mt. Batour

On Thursday we traveled through some beauiful rice fields and villages to Mt. Baaur, the site of a massive volcanic eruption in 1969.  Then we toured a coffee plantation for a coffee tasting.  Skyler and I sprung for a $5 cup of coffee lewat (weasel).  The Indonesian word is ‘tahi coffee’ and the literal translation of it is ‘shit coffee’ because

Coffee tasting

the weasel eats the coffee beans and digests the hard outer shells of them, making the coffee strong, yet very mild.  No wonder it costs US $50 per pound!

We then rode bikes about 18-20 miles mostly downhill through remote villages.  If it weren't for the rust, the bicycles may have fallen apart.  Our guide arranged for an unscripted stop in a typical Balinese household compound, not staged or sanitized for our viewing.  The flies, rubbish, smells, pigs, chickens, and laundry were all present, as were children playing and women weaving.  In spite of it all, Bali is much cleaner than India and other places we have been.  Teenage boys and young men hung out at nearby warungs (shops) drinking coffee, smoking Keretacs (clove cigarettes) and playing video games.

riding through a typical village

Every household has a temple, some of which are larger than the living quarters.  The compounds also  have several standalone rooms for different family members, such as grandparents, parents, and adult children.  When a couple gets married, they stay in the grandparents’ room for three days.  Ideally, the wife is pregnant soon thereafter, but often beforehand.  They jokingly call it an MBA degree—marriage by accident—but our guide explained that it is rarely an accident.  “Where do they do it?” I wanted to know, because there is no privacy at home or elsewhere.  He couldn't or wouldn't tell me in either language.  

The backside of a Balinese compound

We also learned that the parental care responsibilities and the inheritance to the land falls to the youngest son, which is so contrary to that of most other cultures.

Shanti and I elected to ride for an optional five miles uphill to lunch.  We got there just before the heavens opened up with the daily monsoon downpour.  It has rained here every afternoon, except for yesterday.  Fortunately it let up by dinner time, where we discovered a new footpath to a small restaurant.  The walk home in the dark is so pleasant, as we can see people hanging about, hear the sounds of insects, and even see gamelan practice (click here to play this short video clip!)

Mushroom soup

As you may have guessed, we are foodies, and this trip has been a delightful adventure every single day.  Friday we were fortunate enough to get into Locavore to experience the most amazing meal of our lives!  A fusion of Balinese-Western cuisine, it was five courses, plus a lot of extras.  What a sensory feast to see, smell, taste, and savor over nearly three hours.  The cost with drinks?  About the same as an evening in one of Salem's upscale restaurants.

Then to top off our indulgent afternoon, the four of us enjoyed either a massage, pedicure, facial, or manicure at the spa in our village at very reasonable prices.

Skyler enjoying a pedicure

We were serenaded by the sounds of new Bali music—not gamelans and or typical Yani massage stuff, but that of brick cutters, carpenters, saws, and drills.    Construction is going on everywhere!

Kathy and Shanti have been going to a number of yoga classes.  I may go to a Pilates class tomorrow while Kathy goes to yoga.  Hopefully I'll get a solid 1.5 hour workout without all the new-age woo-woo, incense, and candles.  Meanwhile, we've been getting in a lot of walking, about 4-5 miles per day, according to the pedometer on my phone.  Before Shanti left today, we took another stroll through some rice paddies, among occasional art studios, warungs, and guest houses.

Walking in the 'hood'

Neighborhood hike

Salad excitement

Then lunch at a raw food organic place.  I never saw Shanti so excited over a salad.  I had a durian-almond milkshake.  Ecstasy!

We've really enjoyed visiting with nearly every Balinese we meet.    Being able to speak just a little Indonesian really opens up a lot of doors.  The people here are friendly, welcoming, respectful, helpful, and proud of their culture and homeland.