Spoiled

Not much to report work wise from Alor. Just getting things set for when I am gone. So I finally did leave Alor, a day later and 3 hours later than I planned. Plane was cancelled on Sunday and it was a beautiful sunny day. In the afternoon it rained so we had to cancel on the muitara kids program. Then on Monday there was a delay in the plane arriving to Alor. But I did finally make it out of there. I met Evan at the office in Sanur and then we drove straight away the 3½ hours up to the North Bali site. We finally got in at 9 that night. I was up at 5 am that day, so it was a pretty long day for me! Just for the record it is possible to get from Alor to N Bali in a day, a very long day though. In the morning in N Bali I was up and ready at 7 for some operating. Spent the first few days pretty unclear of what I was doing there and Nic took some time on the third day to give me some things to do. Operating oysters in N Bali is really more of a commercial production than in Alor. They have 20 techs in Alor! All so focused and some have been operating for seven years now, so they know their stuff. I was walking around the operating room doing this and that helping the techs do little things. But then Nic told me oh no, we don’t help them. Don’t do that. So I am just supposed to tell them what they are doing wrong and help them out otherwise. A bit hard for me. Super monotonous too day after day walking around the 15 techs operating and critiquing their technique. I am still pretty bad at operating too. I did half a net (8 oysters) and it took an hour. I was pretty frustrated at the end of that hour too. Good techs can operate an oyster in about 3 minutes.

On another note! It is a Hindu holiday here in Bali at the moment, called Nypeti. Biggest holiday in Bali and pretty interesting too! On the drive up to N Bali all the temples were decorated and everyone was walking in the streets all dressed up in their garb. When I got to N Bali one of the jewelery selling girls told me the story behind the holiday. Well festival really. All the villages make an ogo-ogo, a large paper mache-esk statue (can be really elaborate!) of the devil. On Thursday afternoon the ogo-ogos are lifted on bamboo and marched to the nearest temple. Kind of like a parade really. People playing the gambalan, people all dressed up singing and marching along, and then followed by a huge number of people on motorbikes. At the temple, I guess the people give the devil all the bad things they have done. Then they run around making lots of noise to scare the devil away. I didn’t go to the temple, but this is what I have heard went on. Then the ogo-ogos and all the people are paraded back to the middle of a village and at sunset the ogo-ogos are all burned one by one. That night and the day after is a day of silence. No one works, no one drives, no electricity. People just stay in their houses in silence and mediate.
A side note about Hinduism. I had a brief moment yesterday when I was thinking… it kind of feels like my life has been leading up to this period in time. I took a course in non-western religions back at Eckerd College and I really enjoyed learning all about Hinduism. They have a story like the Bible, with all these crazy gods with special powers. Its really interesting to me that even in this day and age, people can still believe with all their might that there is a god that used to be a man and he got his head chopped off, and the only head that would fit on him was the head of an elephant. Oh and he needed wings! Hence the god of good luck, Ganesh. Who would have thought 5 years after I took that course that I would be marching in the streets celebrating Nypeti in one of the only two major places that Hinduism is still practiced in the world?

So Nic and I couldn’t operate during Nypeti so we left Thursday afternoon and went to the nearby resort town of Pemureran. There are lots of fancy resorts here on the beach with nice pools and restaurants. And when you stay at a hotel you can use electricity and enjoy the hotel, but you just can’t leave the hotel and wander around the town. Lots of tourists here! A lot from France too which is weird. I am staying at this swanky resort called Adi Assiri. Its really nice, AC, outside shower and bathroom, free massage, free welcome drink, 2 pools, and 2 restuarants (with American food!). What more could I ask for? So I’m living it up for $50 a night. Which is high for Bali, but I didn’t have much choice in this town everywhere is booked up as the tourists and expats have to stay at the hotels during Nypeti. I went out with Nic last night and had something to eat at a restaurant on the main road. But other than that I’ve been cooped up at this nice hotel and I’m kind of loving it! Such a treat for me. It just started to rain, which means more movies and TV shows to watch on my computer! I have had spaghetti carbonara and a pizza so far! Excited to see what is in store for dinner. I am going to catch a ride on a motorbike back to work tomorrow at 7. So an early morning tomorrow and back to bad food (still better than Alor, with questionable meat!) at the site in N Bali.I am also already in vacation mode and I need to not be. I need to be into this operation and really helping Nic out because he is super stressed. But the countdown is on! Really only 14 days left in Bali and then I’m leaving on a jet plane, don’t know when I’ll be back again….No I really do know when I’ll be back to Bali again though, on May 3rd! Ha! But ya heading to Orlando and then the Bahamas to meet James and take the boat he works on back across to FL. In Florida my parents will be home and I can’t wait to spend some time with some of my friends. So that’s all for now from my nice pad in Pemuteran, Bali for the moment!