hello hello, here i am again with some news for those who “give a damn”.. if you are not a reader just scroll down for some pics!
another 5 weeks gone and to tell you the truth we are getting kind of comfortable (-;
little warning. i know i’m repeating myself but.. when in bali.. don’t trust the google maps. just don’t.
one of the first lessons bali gave us was a lesson in non-hoarding. i’m happy we decided not to send container with our stuff here! even if i miss a little thing or two from time to time, it would not make sense to have all of our books and dubai wardrobes of clothes and shoes here.. everything you do not wear for couple of weeks gets mouldy – which is a great reminder of how little we actually need!!! if something spooky can grow on your shoes it really means you are not using them (-; very happy to have only the basics which i turn around constantly (-; decision making process is also kind of easy.
we have been trough some adventures especially on domestic front. sitting at home with kids on a nice late afternoon (remember it’s tropics, it gets dark pretty soon!) suddenly the electricity stops working. the fact that electricity stops working means that there is no water (pump..) and NO WIFI!!! now of course dan is far away in tunisia. frantically looking for head torch only to find out (after texting with the remaining battery on my phone) that the head torch is in tunisia as well! of course, there is always a risk of power cut in the hotel room.. and dan likes to be prepared. anyway we eventually found some torches and managed to call (very efficient) help and even managed to have fun (-; it so brought memories of my own childhood in bratislava back – where from time to time there would be a power cut. i still remember the beautiful metal chandelier with colourful candles my parents used to have. it was very special time of togetherness. and it’s so nice to remember things which i didn’t even know i remembered. the troubles with electricity are ongoing (it was caused by a tree falling over the electric lines.. and big shock causing damage to electrical lines in our house) but it sort of makes you appreciate what you always take for granted! also it makes our calm village life kind of exciting ((-;
another domestic adventure was appearance of termites in one of our little houses. we found out about the termites by the way of an unfortunate accident – our helper kadek fell trough the floor!!! i felt genuinely sorry (nothing happened to her) but i’m also glad it wasn’t the drama queen Dom who fell trough. must admit she is a bit heavier than Dom though.. so now the whole floor is being changed and kids sleep in one room – and we sleep in one room!!! thanks to termites (-;
a bit about the family – and the influence of this magical island:
it’s funny how we always have ideas about how things are going to be. when we decided to move to bali we knew (or thought we knew) that it’s going to be good for me, dan and linda. with dominik we were a bit unsure. he is the ultimate city boy who enjoys good wifi connection, virgin mojitos, soccer, reading his english speaking sport newspaper every day.. and has never been into nature or arts (two essential parts of bali reality) too much. surprise surprise.. guess who is thriving most? now i have this boy at home i hardly recognise. he joined his sister’s art classes and is creating awesome pieces of art. he choses extraordinary electives (in the middle school there is quite a lot of freedom for kids – apart from math and literacy they get to explore a lot of fields to figure out what makes them tick) – medicinal gardens, urban planning, pottery, seeds to table (gardening and cooking) program.. well life is certainly full of surprises! and after all, they have virgin mojitos in ubud too ((-; and of course he still plays pokemon go and clash royal. it would be too much to ask him to abandon these vices.. (-; his latest passion is posting reviews on trip advisor!!!
6th graders – dominik – went camping into bali mountains recently. they had a lot of fun as kids usually do. what was a bit surprising for us parents was the fact that in 4 days we got one text message from the teachers confirming that they are all fine.. it felt quite unsettling and at the same time liberating not knowing what/how/where he is. especially compared to “every 3 hours twitter report” from his old school. well, we all survived!
linda is her usual sweet self, spending 90% of her free time submerged in the pool. it took her a bit of time to find new friends (as her dubai friends are so deeply ingrained in her heart) but here she is, enjoying the outdoor school and her amazing teachers (balinese, american, columbian..) chatting happily to the girls from her new class, smitten by all those animals they have on the campus – brand new tiny piglets, bunnies, chicks, ducks and dairy cows.. drumming on african drums during the music class, getting her hands dirty during her green studies and especially visiting the smelly piggies!!!
kids celebrated their 12th and 9th birthdays in october – time is running so fast!
bali is working her magic on dan too – how else could i explain that after 20 years in corporations it’s the last thing he wants to do? big change happening for him and for us as well. let’s see where his decision to leave corporate world (or lets say joined decision of the corporation and dan 😉 will bring us.
as for me – i knew teaching yoga in bali legally was going to be difficult. i just didn’t know how difficult. as i’m not so adventurous as to take the risk of being deported, i’m enjoying my own practice and study and wait for what life brings (-; i’m learning indonesian and i’m also learning to cook local food. come and try (-; i’m also writing postse this one! and i write postcards which not always make their way where they should.. getting familiar with the way things work or rather don’t work over here. i made one visa run to singapore – and was overwhelmed by the traffic and amount of people! not sure what living in bali for longer period of time will do to my ability to face civilization!!!
although we actually enjoy staying at home most of the time (electricity or not, it’s a magical place!), we did a bit of island exploration during the half-term break. going south, east and north we have discovered (or re-discovered) some nice places – and some astonishingly beautiful ones. our road trip was fairly uneventful but there were a few highlights worth mentioning – Dom stepping on a sea urchin (followed by typical “helicopter” rescue.. those of you who know him know what i mean..), Lola (always great spotter) spotting a beautiful stripy (very venomous..) sea snake while we were snorkelling – we were out of the water rather quickly i tell you! – not being admitted to a (previously booked) hotel and meeting the first truly rude person in bali (my guess she wasn’t balinese) and finally an attempt to climb mount batur which ended even before it started – our car just wouldn’t go up rather tricky hill to the starting point of the climb.. we will certainly give it another try soon (perhaps in a different car)!