I just wrote such a long post, then my computer died! So i'll just tell a brief little story now, and in fill in the rest in a bit, after I'm feeling better from this lingering cold.
It took two days of flying, driving, and sleeping in Narita to make it to Jakarta. We had a confusing dinner conversation and ended up with sliced tomatoes with salt.... and the breakfast buffet was a bit confusing as well.. what is that anyway? But we were off and on the plane soon enough.
No indonesian airline would accept foreign credit cards online, so we ended up just having to muddle our way through once we got there! Which was quite a test, being sick and hot and hustling from terminal to terminal trying to find a flight, with a good ten locals crowded around us lost looking westerners trying to sell us crumpled up tickets for hundreds of dollars with other peoples names on them! We finally boarded the biggest plane I've ever been on, a double decker! then flew off to denpasar with sighs of relief. All the lights of Jakarta winked at us as we flew overhead, both welcoming us and saying you have a lot to learn.. into an unknown night.
And now we're here, in beeaauteeful bali.. where huuge scultpures are the norm, and temples and statues are everywhere, all wrapped in checkered cloth, to keep away bad spirits, and keep them warm.
We had a bit of a tumultuous first stay, as Isaacs just recovering and I'm pretty sick, so we've been laying low, enjoying our home and the thick, rich, spicy/woody air, and the view of forests and rice paddys all around.
We got a moped yesterday!! eee, excited! isaac's just driven it yet, but I'll learn too so I can get to and from my school when I start my practicum in the next week or so. I think we're gonna practice in little sessions first though because.. well let me give you a picture of the roads here: You drive on the left, no one signals, you just wave your hand the direction you want to go, theres motorbikes zipping around you, everyones beeping to warn you they're coming, and theres the few surprise chickens and dogs just to spice things up! Yep, craazy!
But we're lucky the roads are fairly quiet here, so we'll get good practice before zipping off on adventures.
I think tomorrow we're going to visit the monkey king temple, and the monkey forest, but we'll see if I'm feeling up for it!
All in all its beautiful here, in a multi faceted yet to be discovered way. And all the people I've met have been so gracious, they have eased some of my apprehensions about being a westerner in their lands. I feel fidgety to start teaching, as I know this will make me feel more at peace with my journey here. Something I've been thinking of lately and struggling with in a way is guilt. I know guilt is not a useful sentiment, something to pass through, and not to be acted upon. But it's a hard mechanism to let go of though.. when it serves any kind of self doubt or fear.. but exchanging love, knowledge and spirit should never be motivated by this feeling, so I pray for myself the strength to only act for the eternal flow of balanced reciprocity and love. I pray for the people here, the children and whole system of the world to find their towards the spiralling light!
Love you all. Heres some pictures I took of our home here, and whoooaa! we weren't expecting this! Our friend, whos been coming here for years was charged with finding us all a place (they are all amazing by the way :) and he fell sick, so last minute had to grab a place and that meant finding one thats a bit pricey... but gorgeous! We're moving out next month into a more modest place, but for now we'll just have to endure it :)
SOOOO BEAUTIFUL! wowwwwwwwwww......
ReplyDeleteswoon. <3
thanks for sharing, i eagerly await more meanderings from u kaery! miss u n isaac muchly
my thoughts wander to u guys often <3