good morning dear friends,
recently not much was happening in the calm waters of bali life apart from the usual shockers – like a coconut tree (i’m saying tree, not coconut!!!) falling on our roof and a snake in our bathroom brought in and RELEASED, STILL ALIVE by our cat while i was peacefully brushing my teeth. these things feel kind of ordinary by now (-;
dominik must have had something in his stars as he has had a little chain of “unfortunate events” – scraping his back on the rocks in rough sea (i know it sounds pretty trivial but the way things heal or better to say don’t heal in this climate every wound can turn pretty serious), a test tube exploding in his hand during chemistry class (luckily only contained hot water), being stung pretty badly by a jelly fish and finally (let’s hope finally..) chipping his front tooth when diving into the pool.. luckily it seems nothing is able to thwart dom’s enthusiasm for life (-;
lola went camping with her classmates and after initial hesitation it was a huge success! climbing coconut trees, making chocolate and natural dyes.. what is there not to like?
i have done my usual visa and shopping runs to singapore – and because previously i felt a bit put down by too much civilisation there (getting lost in shopping mall, unable to cross huge road, not daring to enter metro etc.. seriously, it’s a bit too much for us villagers!!) i heeded the advice of a dear friend and stayed in little india – what a charming part of town with all its colours, scents and flavours! going back for sure.
other than that still in the home-making business.. at the moment house hunting for our next year’s adventure and doing yoga in barter economy (-;
dan ventured on his first “discover the indonesia” trip recently – with bunch of new friends trekking, sailing and diving around komodo islands. pics look stunning and he had a great time – as a dragon i can’t wait to meet the komodo dragons myself!
we are still enchanted by our school – if you are interested to know a bit more, you can watch this 5-minute video: Green School
it’s fun to be part of it although i sometimes find it rather strange – especially for a former long term dubai resident – among other things you are able to buy alcohol on a farmers market at the school premises (and if you think the alcohol stand is run by australians.. then you are right!) and you can also have a tarot reading there.. ((-; we had the most amazing guests at school this week – representatives of Lakota tribe (US) and Dayak tribe (native people of Kalimantan) – sharing stories, wisdom and dances with the school community.
there is always a ceremony happening in bali. some are big, some are small but they are always beautiful. in march we have been very lucky to experience one of the most important ones – celebration of balinese new year. the eve of the new year is full of colours and noises – big ogoh-ogoh (elaborately crafted statues representing evil spirits) parade in every village, music, singing, flames.. marching trough the village in the dark seeing the beautiful and scary creations in the light of the torches was unforgettable! next day – the actual balinese new year called nyepi – is dedicated to silence. everybody is expected to stay at home, airport is closed for the whole day, the only people working are emergency doctors, firefighters and police. no lights are supposed to be switched on. balinese follow 4 prohibitions – no fire, no travel, no entertainment and no activity. day is spend inside home compound in meditation and peaceful reflection. foreigners are left to their own devices (or DEVICES…) and generally do whatever they want behind their door. we had a very quiet day at home (together with our dubai friends!) – and the most stunning star gazing ‘session’ i have ever experienced. we lounged in our deck chairs for what seemed like hours looking at the stars, planets, constellations, satellites and shooting stars. with the whole island in the darkness the night sky was beyond stunning. what a beautiful start to new year.
i find particularly astonishing that balinese spend days, weeks or months creating something that has no material value (the example being the above mentioned ogoh-ogoh) – creating it just to burn it because of spiritual reasons. maybe i’m cynical but i feel that in our western civilisation we never do things without some kind of profit in mind.
bali is full of surprises also on material level – like when dan decided to bake bread and the “ovenproof american quality” glass dish just exploded into tiny pieces..
it’s fun to be here – where else you can watch star wars in one and only vegan cinema in the world?
the guests keep coming – most recently turks, south africans, scots, dutch and russians.. we have had some serious fun and adventures with you guys! and it also feels kind of bittersweet that we can only spend time together once in a long while.. looking forward to our last visitors of the season and then – adios amigos, summer is here!
i can’t believe we only have 4 weeks of school left. and soon we will be in prague. where did all that time go? when we were about to move to bali, our plan was to stay a year or two, see how we like it.. now, when we are about to finish our first year i feel it was just a week ago we arrived. one year is definitely not enough. so the plan is to come back after summer and see how that goes (-;
hope you are all doing fine!
jarka
xx