Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Hey everybody

Sitting here inside the house, my leg on a pillow, laptop on the lap, just read out my book, don't want to start another right now, games on the iPod and actually feeling bored at the moment. It’s all because I so much want to go outside, explore the area, go to the beach and just WALK around. Simply walking normal seems for me like the best thing in the world right now!

The garden in this house is very small and there’s no good chair or something there. There is a hammock actually hanging there, but the owner told us that it’s only hanging for the look…strange but ok…. the trees here cannot hold a person. So I don't dare to try it. So then I sit inside, but inside here is actually partly outside.

The house is typical Indonesian style, just surrounded by a cement wall with a door, the house is for the rest open to just walk in. There are walls and rooms, but the wind can blow freely through the whole house. Also in the bathroom, between the wall and the roof you can look outside. The owner told us that from the back there had been a robbery here once, when the bathroom wall was less high. But in the front the wall is not high at all from the neighbours side, but the social control (keeping an eye on each other) here in Bali is so strong that nobody will get in that way unless getting killed (owners words). We are living here in the middle of a sort of big backyard with around 4 Indo families, the houses are only separated by walls. It’s very cosy and I think we will feel like home here!

At the moment we are living here together with the owner, there are 3 (2 ½) bedrooms and it’s no problem living together for a while. He will travel some the following weeks so will also be here alone. From October 15th we will move to another house until December 9th. That is cheap and okay place for that period. Finally from then we are living here by ourselves ☺

Rino started working/internship yesterday and it’s going well so far, relaxed colleagues and a good feeling about what he is going to do there and for them. So that's a good start. Working mon-fri from 9am-5pm. So that's already better then he had hoped. Maybe he will tell about it later.

We have taken one trip to Ubud together to visit the foundation Sjaki-tari-us, were I will be doing volunteer work. Because of my foot I cannot start yet, but it was nice to see the place and get to know some of the people working there. I am excited about how it will be! The scooter ride there is also interesting, it’s badly signed here in Bali and there are many many roads and small villages. So that will also be a challenge the first times. Last time we drove wrong both ways ;-) Must also admit that I also am a bit scared driving at all here on the scooter… the first week I was only sitting on the back of Rino’s scooter, now I have tried and I’m not that tough on my own, haha. But it will come and I just have to take some short rides in the area in the beginning I guess.

Weather-wise it’s actually strange these days, its supposed to still be dry and sunny in September, but it has been raining every morning from around 5 and for a few hours, yesterday it was actually cloudy and rainy almost the whole day (I was happy of course sitting inside). But for the rest it’s a lot of sun and it’s HOT! I know, it’s going to be a lot worse in the wintertime… but still, this is a ‘getting used to face’ for our bodies. We are trying to sleep without AC now for some nights, it’s hot but it works, so we are really trying our best as you can see to acclimatise! ;-)

The food is sooo nice here! We now know that we should not go to all the restaurants here, that's for tourists and it’s expensive (relatively of course). We have discovered the warungs around here. A warung is a small, often family owned business. It is a partly outside, cosy type of restaurant, serving Indonesian/Malaysian/Chinese food, and it’s always cheap! At one we had a meal each for 2 euro together. Mostly till now we eat for around 5 euro together. And you should all try it, because here they can cook, that's for sure! ☺ Its impossible to cook inside for this prices, so we eat outside for the next 10 months, witch is NO problem for us! ;-)

Rino just came home so now we say good evening to you all from here and wish all of you a great day! ☺

4 comments:

  1. Goed om te horen dat Rino's start goed was :)! Keep it posted!! Ik smul er elke keer weer van :)! xxxxx

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  2. hallo lieverd, dat het gauw wat minder mag regenen, dat je voet gauw beter wordt en dan kan je over Bali gaan sjeezen met je skootertje. Maar niet te hard rijden hoor ......! liefs van mij

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  3. Hoi Neef en aangetrouwde nicht ;-)

    Zo, ik ben ook 'bij' nu. heb alles doorgelezen.. GAAF! Wat een belevenissen en wat een tijd gaan jullie tegemoet! Ik heb nu pas door wat jullie allemaal gaan doen: petje af voor het vrijwilligerswerk van Iris! Ben benieuwd waar jullie in het werk allemaal tegen aan gaan lopen. Corruptie?
    Ik was in 1992 3 mndn in Aziƫ waarvan een week of 3 op Bali. Ga vooral ook weg van Kuta en Ubud naar prachtige plekken die minder toeristisch zijn en doe een lang weekend Lombok ! Is prachtig en maar een uurtje of 4 varen dacht ik...
    Ik ben zelf net terug van een weekje Corsica. De zomer is hier duidelijk voorbij, er is nog geen kabinet... enfin... jullie missen nix!
    Ik ga trouwens lesgeven als docent: "allochtonen" lesgeven die hun inburgeringsexamen nog moeten halen.

    Enfin, ben benieuwd naar jullie verdere belevenissen!!
    Jos (en Nico)

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  4. Hei hei dere to! Jeg folger med litt her i blant, og det er artig lesing (bortsett fra at Rino ble syk og foten din da, Iris). Foeler at dere er med i en slags reality-serie :) Kos dere vidre.
    Hilsen Johannes

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