Bert Vierstra
Early in the morning, between 5 and 6, you can hear besides the usual roosters, some ceremonial words spread by loudspeaker. Sometimes you can also hear some recorded gamelan.Yesterday I finally put up a site that a friend and I were "working" on for a year, and its now one year ago that I decided to go to Bali. I am now here for little over 6 months, and don't regret it, should have done it 20 years ago....Yesterday after putting the site on line, Dewi called me, and she wanted to go for a ride. We went to Singaraja, ate something at Dunking Donuts and then to her sister and uncle that were at another uncle. I still can be surprised at all the aunts and uncles one can have on Bali. At the uncle, who wanted to sell his house to me because he is going to marry again, (his third wife, and he keeps the other two) I found Ketut, who is married to a dutch guy. "I am having problems with my husband, he is drunk all the time". I had talked with him once, he said to me that he was responsible for 100 people in his village. "You know how it goes, they all want my help". Dewi and family took me, after the uncle, to places a little up the mountain, not far from my place, that I had never seen before, beautiful landscapes and quiet villages. "Gee", I thought, "yeah, this IS Bali, why wasn't I here before?". After aquiring some Rambutan from, I think it was an uncle, I went for my usual swim.A little later Silvia called, "The PLTGU is over". "Huh?". "Yes its over, they are not going to build it here, they had a meeting in Denpasar today and they decided to start searching for alternate ways to generate energy".In the evening Dewi called again and we had some Thebotol and Jagung Bakar at Segara Beach. Tired and sleepy I went home and tried "Das Rheingold", really nice, I managed to get over my sleep and got half way.This is a picture from my neighbor's wife, I put their marriage on VCD.http://bali-information.com/forumpics/neigh.jpg[/img]-
lantana
A surprise package today. It lifts my heart. I am smiling, then laughing; nothing takes you like that feeling of being on Bali. Exquisite Balinese puppets....Then, on the CD-R, I watch the artist make them. Very real: I find I'm saying "thank you" to the artist on the screen, as he holds them up. Guitar and Gamelan and Dance---even a shot of the Tiger. I think maybe I got the best present.... Thanks, Bert!
