bali dogs – City to jungle

July 6, 2019

And the Year 3 is Over – #20

hello everyone,

sitting in our prague appartment, indo music blaring from my comp – downloaded for educational purposes of course – with a/c on, i can’t stop thinking of how bizarre life has become – i spent last 10 months in tropics, without using a/c one single time in my house – only to arrive to central europe to switch it on. super dry and hot, prague being good 15’ C warmer than ubud, all the asphalt and cement just making the heatwave much worse.. but still happy to be here, also happy knowing i won’t stay too long (-;

not a bad place for high school trip – Rote island

nothing really big happened during the last 3 months in bali – pretty much business as usual. while i stayed at home the rest of the family travelled a bit. dan and linda had an amazing time skiing in japan in april – powder snow and sushi, onsen and blossoming sakuras. dan also joined dom for a school service trip to the indonesian island of rote – where they dived with huge oceanic mantas and dom learnt about conservation. not too bad to be a parent volunteer for a trip like that! finally dan went on his ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ motorbike trip to mongolia with an incredible group of friends. you can watch a short shot by one of them. looks like mongolia is a country to visit!!!

Sands of Gobi

meanwhile i enjoyed the quirks of our island and had my share of kids – 1-2-3, in different number and configuration.

mt. agung erupted every couple of days but luckily nothing major. couple of times our garden, pool, bikes etc were covered in ash but so far not too much drama.

following linda and her temporary brother kaleo, dom also became a certified diver and interestingly finds observing the tiniest sea creatures most relaxing. now i’m the odd one out – honestly, nothing better than sitting with a book and cup of tea whilst the rest of the family boards a boat and off they go for a day of diving.. ((-;

we still enjoy the nature (outside – and – inside our house..) – beautiful wasps started to build a nest in linda’s wardrobe and couple of bats decided they wanted to ‘hang-out’ – literally – in our bedroom. can you imagine my surprise when i woke up very early in the morning hearing some squeaks.. and realised that it’s not only the mosquito net hanging from the frame of my bed – but also a pair of bats! as they keep coming back regularly, linda named them cleo and king tut and i must say it’s been one of the nicest experiences to have these two little creatures as my new pets. just wonder if now i’m officially a witch…

Continue reading “And the Year 3 is Over – #20”

February 17, 2019February 17, 2019

Good Things Bad Things – #18

good morning from the island dear friends!

it has been a while since you heard from me. in the meantime i managed to be in bali, prague, italy, prague again and then finally back to bali – times both joyous and sad, sometimes both at the same time – but definitely following each other like inseparable friends. it should be no surprise that bigger the joy the harder the fall – but somehow i still get surprised by duality ((-; anyway i would always take surprise over dullness – not wise but.. (-;

now i’m really happy to be back on the island even though i can hardly use my right hand – and hence comes my first bali warning. yes we have venomous snakes here (like the blue krait in our garage the other day..) and we have dengue fever but – we also have these vicious little buggers – tomcats aka rove beetles. i warn you – if you are lucky to see them (i wasn’t) don’t touch them. they do not bite, they do not sting but alas – they release this liquid (basically they piss on you i would say although that might not be the actual case) that acts like acid. i only felt something pricking me on my neck so i touched it – and apparently managed to spread it all over. in couple of hours i had blisters, burned skin, swelling.. all the yummy things! there is no cure and i’m not going to die but man it itches. and hurts. there are two positives though – it didn’t happen to one of the kids (as we would surely have to call a helicopter knowing him and his pain threshold..) and – i have increased my empathy because now i understand how it feels to really want to jump out of your skin, wishing to cut your arm off, banging your head against the wall just to ease the pain. new admiration to all the people who suffer from skin conditions!

Continue reading “Good Things Bad Things – #18”

November 12, 2018

Waiting for the Rain – #17

hello everyone from calm and hot bali!

as the island gets hotter & hotter and the landscape drier we are waiting for the rainy season like never before! yes it’s nice that our personal belongings are not getting mouldy for a change, our clothes actually dry up after washing and the dogs (and us..) do not stink of wet hair/old castle but still – may the rain come!

since my last writing it has been two months of relatively quiet bali life. still learning new skills daily to cope with asian reality – like carrying a birthday cake on the motorbike, fishing a snake from the pool or getting a scorpio out of dogs’ water bowl to name a few. or removing sea water from the engine..

both dan and i ticked off an item on our midlife crisis list – motorbikes bought. i’m enjoying my snail pace around the town and backroads of ubud while dan rides a bit more on the wild side – volcanoes, beaches, paddies and forests. sounds super ecological to me.. his brand new bike has already gone for on ocean dip – not sure if that was intended ((-; he finally launched his online project and we are all holding our breath to see how that goes! Continue reading “Waiting for the Rain – #17”