more people and adventures

For thanksgiving we decided to forgo even trying to make a traditional dinner. We tried to locate some of the ingredients but its seemed so complicated here. Just so we wouldn’t be tempted we went to the beach for the day instead. Uluwatu is a hot surf spot but also home to a cliff dwelling temple that is 450 years old. We went up at sunset just as a storm was blowing in and it was breathtaking.

walking up to the temple

sunset.  temple is to the right.

Because the town is mostly on a cliff to get down to the beaches it involves lots and lots of stairs- ok 99 to be exact which is a lot when carrying Vaughn and beach gear. But once there it was amazing. Lots of little cave that led out to the surf. The water was turquoise blue and warm. We stayed overnight in a hip spot with lots of 20something surfers. Luckily they went to bed early so they could catch the early waves. We mostly went unnoticed except for Vaughn sudden decision to not wear clothes…

clothing optional

a long way down

Harmon's picture for Ranger Rick

Now we are home and settling back in to the daily routine. On Tuesday, I drove with Pastika to a home visit that we were told was about 20 minutes away in Giyanar. Well it turns out we had very Vermont directions. You know the ones.
“Oh Johnny’s place. Yeah turn where the yellow barn used to be. You know the one that burned down 10 years ago?” So we were off with a name in hand. We drove down a lovely lane like road. We stopped every 4-5 minutes to ask about the jewelry maker and each time were told to keep going. So we continued past rice fields and groves of palm trees. I saw people harvesting rice the old fashioned way- by hand into baskets then shaking the water out before laying it out to dry on the road.

rice drying

We drove far enough that I began to think we were going to end up at either a coast or on top of a volcanoe. At first I saw odd contradictions in the country like men wearing traditional dress and hats using weed wackers. Then far enough out that there was nothing modern to see at all. Far enough that people were interested to see a van coming down the road and very interested see a white person in the van. Interesting to note that out in the country old women and old men wear sarongs and not top. Finally we arrived at a small drive where an elder woman who was wearing a top sweeping the lane told us the jewelry maker had just moved closer to town and to go back the way we came. So back we went. Winding our way to her newly finished home.
Wayan was an incredibly gracious and sweet woman. She and her husband run a very successful jewelry business. She and I spoke at length about education in Bali. She told me if you want a good education and a good future for you children you must pay for the education. It is about $300/ year for first grade. It sounds reasonable until I remember the average income in about $40/month in Bali. This is only a “decent” school. Even though they are attending a school, she says she spends lots of time “homeschooling” on top of the schooling. She knows the key is that the children are well educated and speak good English. It was wonderful to meet her and to learn more about the realities of Bali.

Now about Pastika. He has probably known and worked for Robin longer than anyone else in Bail. He is officially the day driver which means he but he does so much more for the clinic. I was blown away to learn he is a breastfeeding specialist! He completed a breastfeeding support class and does home visits for mothers who need help with nursing. He also talks with all the fathers before they leave the clinic. He tells them how important breastfeeding is for the health of his new baby. In Indonesia babies are 300x more likely to die if they are not breastfed. He also tells them that formula will cost them almost 1 million rupia/ month (approx $100). So now he has their attention so he reminds them that they must not let a grandmother give the baby a bottle. He gives all the families a ride home so no new baby or healing mother has to go home on a motor bike. Thanks for supporting the good work that Pastika does for the families of Bali.