happy five months!
today, it's officially five months we've been out on the road. crazy, eh?
speaking of "eh?," we've now started to travel with a couple of lovely Canadian women - Tammy and Kelly from Winnipeg - and it's lots of chatting and laughing and fun. i forgot how nice it is to just sit around and talk. They're on the tail end of their trip (left canada on november 5 as opposed to our november 6) and have been running around southeast asia in many of the places we're planning to go. so, needless to say, their brains will have been picked sparkling clean by the time we part ways, which may not be for another week or so. how did we meet them, you ask?
well, it's kind of a good story... (famous last words):
so. on the day that we shopped all the way down one street in ubud, buying fisherman pants and sarongs and ikat along the way (remind me to tell you what ikat is - VERY cool), a canadian guy - mark - stopped nabia on the street and asked her to show him where he was on the map. she did. there was pleasant chatting. next day we saw him again - he was just coming back from a 7 hour bike ride up a mountain or something, and rode past us on the road. he has been to java a couple of times on business (swimwear, import/export) and so offered to show us in our book some good places to go. we said, "great! tomorrow 5:30?" "great." "great." blah blah blah. next day was the day i wrote my last significant blog - with the frustration and the pressure and all that jazz. we met him at 5:30 and he had with him yet ANOTHER Canadian (they're everywhere! but this one is actually originally from Missouri and currently from British Columbia). This one's name is steven and he comes to bali every year (for the past 6 years anyway) for 6 months to check in on the workshop that does the bone and horn carving for his jewelry business that sells at folk festivals and new agey gathering type things. so, the four of us had a lovely dinner chat chat chat... nabia and i had previously bought tickets to see the kecak dance, also known as the monkey dance or the fire dance, so we did that. see the developing glossary at the end for explanation -really cool. but we met up with them again afterwards because steven (who has eaten at almost every restaurant in town) mentioned something about a black-bottom tart that was to die for. it was deeeeeeelicious. and dessert cost us each more than dinner had, but it was great to just sit around and indulge and talk...
ok. after that and nighttime swimming in the pool at their hotel/bungalows and drinking fresh coconut juice from the young coconuts that steven shimmied up the palm trunks to get, we all made plans to meet the next morning for a visit to the Monkey Forest (temple in forest with resident monkey gang). Steven showed up at our homestay on his motorbike and the two of us hopped on the back and we sped off to the morning market to pick up some bananas for the minkeys. (at this moment i'm sure my mom has gasped. in fact, typing it, i can almost hear her. it's ok, mom. really. remember who i am and that i wouldn't go if it was really scary.)
morning market in ubud: smokey, crowded, piles of fresh and rotting fruits of various shapes, colors, and sizes. we got bananas and some snakeskin fruit that looks like snake on the outside and garlic on the inside -it's quite dry and a little chalky, but has an interesting taste. then more motoring down the road to the monkey forest. the monkeys are soooo cute! there were tiny wrinkley baby ones that clutched their mommies' tummies and big fat male ones that "yawned" just to show you their teeth. i got molested by one that actually opened my shirt and stuck its hand down from its perch on my shoulder. i wish there had been a photo of the look on my face, because i certainly was surprised. there were no bananas in there though, so it wasn't particularly interested and quickly realized there was more gain to be had from exploring steven's backpack. anyway, we made it out with ourselves intact for the most part.
then we rented another motorbike. nabia stepped up to the challenge after having given steven's a little test drive in the morning and we all strapped our helmets on like good little motorbikers, and we went off to explore a little bit. i rode with steven because it's a little harder with two people, and nabia did a brilliant job handling her own. we saw emerald green rice paddies and people with the conical hats. we saw ladies with stacks of vegetables and baskets and rice and flowers on their heads. we saw temples (stopped at one that had 11th century tombs hewn into high rock faces in the valley - and everything was still bright from the rain... really cool. a wade into the cool clear river there completed the experience. on the way back towards ubud, the rain that had been threatening from afar finally caught up with us and we got drenched (motorbikes don't have roofs...). we took that opportunity to stop for lunch. the day continued to be utterly serendipitious (thanks to emily for reintroducing that word into my vocabulary) - full of little coincidences that just worked out. the place we pulled over to get out of the rain happened to be across from a restaurant. the food was nothing to speak of, but it was convenient nonetheless.
the rain stopped and the road dried. we set out again, to find some prince that makes good batik. where we stopped, there was a little town market. steven said "i could go for some chicken satay..." and i said "there's some right over here. it's the only stand in the market." coincidence? so we chowed down on that and a wanih [sp?] aka a white mango. yummydelicious especially when sliced right there in the square, the juice dripping onto the dust and onto our feet. as it happened, the prince was out fishing, but we had a good experience there anyway. back on the bikes, we made our way to a place steven knew about - a temple of which he knew not the name. we decided to just go there instead of searching for the Elephant cave (goa gajah) that was in the guidebook, because it was on the way and we were getting tired. so we went. it turned out to BE Goa Gajah. convenient. as we entered, a man took our donations. his name was made (remind me to tell you about the naming system here. fascinating.), pronounced mahday, and he told us about two canadians that he was going to take on a tour of bali for a week on motorbikes. he invited us to join up and we thought about it as we explored the temple (very cool cave and surrounds... stone and green jungle make for a beautiful ancient looking combination.). he said he could take us to meet the other two people. so off we went back towards ubud, where we met the two canadian women (can you see where this is going?) and set up a time to meet the next morning because they were in a rush. but they seemed nice enough. and also flexible - reminding made that they had NOT made a plan to leave the following day or a route that he described in detail - all that had come out of HIS head and not been agreed upon. made us feel a little better.
back on the bikes and for a dip in the pool. went for foot massages (that's when i wrote last). met up with mark again. then to dinner at this place called Tutemak with delicious nasi campur (it's just rice in the middle with little bits of various curries and dishes around the outside. mmmmm). sitting on the floor on the cushions around the table, we all filled ourselves until we could eat no more, then everybody off to bed (we scrapped our former idea of a movie from steven's new 100 dvd collection - we were all too tired).
next day. meet up with tammy and kelly for breakfast. we talked all morning until it was time for a late lunch. we talked through that too and into the afternoon. then we secured a driver for the next day and agreed not to go find made (he was nice enough, but liked to exaggerate and to talk on and on, past the point of the conversation). so then we came up here to lovina on the north coast of bali. there is a black sand beach. very strange looking, but cool.
it's been pretty rainy since we got here yesterday at midday, and we spent yesterday sitting at a restaurant all afternoon, laughing and eating and having a grand old time. the place is owned by a british woman and an american man who are very nice and we're actually moving over to stay at their little inn tonight rather than the one we stayed in yesterday. they took us this morning to a little village where they go to buy coffee. it was fantastic. the kids at the school all ran out to see us and shake our hands and ask our names. there were one or two that were braver than the rest, i'm sure making fun of us in indonesian, but they were all adorable and it was great to feel like a celebrity. we saw an old old man and woman packing up the coffee and grinding up tobacco for chewing. you could tell it wasn't a stop on the tourist trail, and it felt really good to be there. we saw cocoa on the trees as well as coffee (kopi, here), and we saw the classrooms in the school. the second you take out the camera, it's mass chaos and everyone clamors to be in it and then to see the result. very adorable.
so things are good. i feel like i'm finally getting to see parts of this island that aren't crawling with other tourists, and it feels a little more authentic. we're not quite sure what our next plan is, but there might be some snorkelling or some temples. there will definitely be more eating and more chatting and more laughing.
much love to y'all back at home. regardless of how it sounds sometimes, i really do miss you.
amy
OH YEAH:
ikat - this dying process kind of like tye dye. the threads for a cloth are put on the loom, but not woven. then knots are tied tightly onto bunches of it. then it's dyed. the parts under the knots do not take the dye. knots are undone and redone and the process is repeated, with multiple dyeings to get the right shades and colors. then, after all that, the cloth is finally woven. comes out looking like a fuzzy design. it's really pretty.
kecak - a cappella chorus of men sitting in a circle around a fire. not singing, but chanting. at least 100 men. syncopated rhythms, synchronized motions. there are dancers too, in the center of the circle, acting out the story of the Ramayana (Hindu) with monkeys and birds and fighting and kidnapping. it was really mesmerizing and cool. i have a little video of it.
naming - in the lowest caste, the second name is given according to the order of birth. first born is putu or wayan, second is made, third is nyoman, fourth is ketut and fifth would be putu or wayan again. fascinating.
also this. send me stuff:
Amy Greenwood (underline my last name - that's greenwood)
Poste Restante,
Post Office
Jl Kebonrojo 10
Surabaya 60175
Java Timur
i'll be there in about 3 weeks (april 26 or something is when our visa runs out and we fly away to bangkok), so get thy butts to the post office and send me stuff! (please? maybe postcards? that'd be fun... ones from york can be doubly helpful to show my city to curious indonesians and other southeast asian people)
much love and om shanti shanti (bye in balinese) and sampai jumpa lagi (see you later in bahasa indonesia) and peace out, yo,
me
email me
speaking of "eh?," we've now started to travel with a couple of lovely Canadian women - Tammy and Kelly from Winnipeg - and it's lots of chatting and laughing and fun. i forgot how nice it is to just sit around and talk. They're on the tail end of their trip (left canada on november 5 as opposed to our november 6) and have been running around southeast asia in many of the places we're planning to go. so, needless to say, their brains will have been picked sparkling clean by the time we part ways, which may not be for another week or so. how did we meet them, you ask?
well, it's kind of a good story... (famous last words):
so. on the day that we shopped all the way down one street in ubud, buying fisherman pants and sarongs and ikat along the way (remind me to tell you what ikat is - VERY cool), a canadian guy - mark - stopped nabia on the street and asked her to show him where he was on the map. she did. there was pleasant chatting. next day we saw him again - he was just coming back from a 7 hour bike ride up a mountain or something, and rode past us on the road. he has been to java a couple of times on business (swimwear, import/export) and so offered to show us in our book some good places to go. we said, "great! tomorrow 5:30?" "great." "great." blah blah blah. next day was the day i wrote my last significant blog - with the frustration and the pressure and all that jazz. we met him at 5:30 and he had with him yet ANOTHER Canadian (they're everywhere! but this one is actually originally from Missouri and currently from British Columbia). This one's name is steven and he comes to bali every year (for the past 6 years anyway) for 6 months to check in on the workshop that does the bone and horn carving for his jewelry business that sells at folk festivals and new agey gathering type things. so, the four of us had a lovely dinner chat chat chat... nabia and i had previously bought tickets to see the kecak dance, also known as the monkey dance or the fire dance, so we did that. see the developing glossary at the end for explanation -really cool. but we met up with them again afterwards because steven (who has eaten at almost every restaurant in town) mentioned something about a black-bottom tart that was to die for. it was deeeeeeelicious. and dessert cost us each more than dinner had, but it was great to just sit around and indulge and talk...
ok. after that and nighttime swimming in the pool at their hotel/bungalows and drinking fresh coconut juice from the young coconuts that steven shimmied up the palm trunks to get, we all made plans to meet the next morning for a visit to the Monkey Forest (temple in forest with resident monkey gang). Steven showed up at our homestay on his motorbike and the two of us hopped on the back and we sped off to the morning market to pick up some bananas for the minkeys. (at this moment i'm sure my mom has gasped. in fact, typing it, i can almost hear her. it's ok, mom. really. remember who i am and that i wouldn't go if it was really scary.)
morning market in ubud: smokey, crowded, piles of fresh and rotting fruits of various shapes, colors, and sizes. we got bananas and some snakeskin fruit that looks like snake on the outside and garlic on the inside -it's quite dry and a little chalky, but has an interesting taste. then more motoring down the road to the monkey forest. the monkeys are soooo cute! there were tiny wrinkley baby ones that clutched their mommies' tummies and big fat male ones that "yawned" just to show you their teeth. i got molested by one that actually opened my shirt and stuck its hand down from its perch on my shoulder. i wish there had been a photo of the look on my face, because i certainly was surprised. there were no bananas in there though, so it wasn't particularly interested and quickly realized there was more gain to be had from exploring steven's backpack. anyway, we made it out with ourselves intact for the most part.
then we rented another motorbike. nabia stepped up to the challenge after having given steven's a little test drive in the morning and we all strapped our helmets on like good little motorbikers, and we went off to explore a little bit. i rode with steven because it's a little harder with two people, and nabia did a brilliant job handling her own. we saw emerald green rice paddies and people with the conical hats. we saw ladies with stacks of vegetables and baskets and rice and flowers on their heads. we saw temples (stopped at one that had 11th century tombs hewn into high rock faces in the valley - and everything was still bright from the rain... really cool. a wade into the cool clear river there completed the experience. on the way back towards ubud, the rain that had been threatening from afar finally caught up with us and we got drenched (motorbikes don't have roofs...). we took that opportunity to stop for lunch. the day continued to be utterly serendipitious (thanks to emily for reintroducing that word into my vocabulary) - full of little coincidences that just worked out. the place we pulled over to get out of the rain happened to be across from a restaurant. the food was nothing to speak of, but it was convenient nonetheless.
the rain stopped and the road dried. we set out again, to find some prince that makes good batik. where we stopped, there was a little town market. steven said "i could go for some chicken satay..." and i said "there's some right over here. it's the only stand in the market." coincidence? so we chowed down on that and a wanih [sp?] aka a white mango. yummydelicious especially when sliced right there in the square, the juice dripping onto the dust and onto our feet. as it happened, the prince was out fishing, but we had a good experience there anyway. back on the bikes, we made our way to a place steven knew about - a temple of which he knew not the name. we decided to just go there instead of searching for the Elephant cave (goa gajah) that was in the guidebook, because it was on the way and we were getting tired. so we went. it turned out to BE Goa Gajah. convenient. as we entered, a man took our donations. his name was made (remind me to tell you about the naming system here. fascinating.), pronounced mahday, and he told us about two canadians that he was going to take on a tour of bali for a week on motorbikes. he invited us to join up and we thought about it as we explored the temple (very cool cave and surrounds... stone and green jungle make for a beautiful ancient looking combination.). he said he could take us to meet the other two people. so off we went back towards ubud, where we met the two canadian women (can you see where this is going?) and set up a time to meet the next morning because they were in a rush. but they seemed nice enough. and also flexible - reminding made that they had NOT made a plan to leave the following day or a route that he described in detail - all that had come out of HIS head and not been agreed upon. made us feel a little better.
back on the bikes and for a dip in the pool. went for foot massages (that's when i wrote last). met up with mark again. then to dinner at this place called Tutemak with delicious nasi campur (it's just rice in the middle with little bits of various curries and dishes around the outside. mmmmm). sitting on the floor on the cushions around the table, we all filled ourselves until we could eat no more, then everybody off to bed (we scrapped our former idea of a movie from steven's new 100 dvd collection - we were all too tired).
next day. meet up with tammy and kelly for breakfast. we talked all morning until it was time for a late lunch. we talked through that too and into the afternoon. then we secured a driver for the next day and agreed not to go find made (he was nice enough, but liked to exaggerate and to talk on and on, past the point of the conversation). so then we came up here to lovina on the north coast of bali. there is a black sand beach. very strange looking, but cool.
it's been pretty rainy since we got here yesterday at midday, and we spent yesterday sitting at a restaurant all afternoon, laughing and eating and having a grand old time. the place is owned by a british woman and an american man who are very nice and we're actually moving over to stay at their little inn tonight rather than the one we stayed in yesterday. they took us this morning to a little village where they go to buy coffee. it was fantastic. the kids at the school all ran out to see us and shake our hands and ask our names. there were one or two that were braver than the rest, i'm sure making fun of us in indonesian, but they were all adorable and it was great to feel like a celebrity. we saw an old old man and woman packing up the coffee and grinding up tobacco for chewing. you could tell it wasn't a stop on the tourist trail, and it felt really good to be there. we saw cocoa on the trees as well as coffee (kopi, here), and we saw the classrooms in the school. the second you take out the camera, it's mass chaos and everyone clamors to be in it and then to see the result. very adorable.
so things are good. i feel like i'm finally getting to see parts of this island that aren't crawling with other tourists, and it feels a little more authentic. we're not quite sure what our next plan is, but there might be some snorkelling or some temples. there will definitely be more eating and more chatting and more laughing.
much love to y'all back at home. regardless of how it sounds sometimes, i really do miss you.
amy
OH YEAH:
ikat - this dying process kind of like tye dye. the threads for a cloth are put on the loom, but not woven. then knots are tied tightly onto bunches of it. then it's dyed. the parts under the knots do not take the dye. knots are undone and redone and the process is repeated, with multiple dyeings to get the right shades and colors. then, after all that, the cloth is finally woven. comes out looking like a fuzzy design. it's really pretty.
kecak - a cappella chorus of men sitting in a circle around a fire. not singing, but chanting. at least 100 men. syncopated rhythms, synchronized motions. there are dancers too, in the center of the circle, acting out the story of the Ramayana (Hindu) with monkeys and birds and fighting and kidnapping. it was really mesmerizing and cool. i have a little video of it.
naming - in the lowest caste, the second name is given according to the order of birth. first born is putu or wayan, second is made, third is nyoman, fourth is ketut and fifth would be putu or wayan again. fascinating.
also this. send me stuff:
Amy Greenwood (underline my last name - that's greenwood)
Poste Restante,
Post Office
Jl Kebonrojo 10
Surabaya 60175
Java Timur
i'll be there in about 3 weeks (april 26 or something is when our visa runs out and we fly away to bangkok), so get thy butts to the post office and send me stuff! (please? maybe postcards? that'd be fun... ones from york can be doubly helpful to show my city to curious indonesians and other southeast asian people)
much love and om shanti shanti (bye in balinese) and sampai jumpa lagi (see you later in bahasa indonesia) and peace out, yo,
me
email me
posted by theonetheycallamy at 4/06/2005 04:06:00 AM
2 Comments:
Wow! Five months ! It sounds like happy times again, and that is terrific. You are both making us so proud,,,as we get over our nervousness, and missing you. Hugs from Fethi and me
Hey, how did you hear that gasp?? It was SOOO tiny!!!
Actually, I was smiling more than gasping. I feel like I'm reading chapters in the most wonderful book- but it must be a novel, because I can't believe you're actually doing all this stuff!!!!!
It sounds great. I love that you're getting to travel with others too. Sharing experiences with compatible friends is the best. Thank goodness for all those wonderful Canadians- male AND female.
Keep being happy, and I'm going to go and google your new territory in Bali, so I can appreciate it even more.
Love and kisses,
mom
And by the way, your blog IS up now on your site.
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