I was about to post a different blog, but it appears that we lost a cable that connects our camera to the computer, again. So, here is something i put together from my memory of the 'lost blog' - the one I erased last month...

I will post the new blog within the next few days.

I'll explain this in a minute...

This is a short and unofficial introduction to the people of Bali- for those of you who are planning to explore this part of the world, it can give you an inside look at some of the things you will learn after spending 3 months in a Southern Asia country.

One thing you will soon notice after arriving in Bali, is that the women here perform the hard-labour work. This is amazing to watch, and very humbling. These women work for under 3$ a day, and many women work for just over 1$ a day. I've seen women carrying everything from bundles of 25 foot long bamboo trunks on their heads, to baskets of agricultural harvesting and even livestock.

 One woman, who is particularly amazing, has discovered that the mud at the bottom of a particularly fast-flowing river is in demand from the local construction companies... so she spends her days jumping off a riverbank with a bucket on her head, collecting this mud one handful at a time. Literally, she jumps with an enormous basket on in one hand, while holding a smaller bucket in the other. She holds her breath as she enters the water, and then disappears into the river. When she surfaces, she has scooped up a handful of precious mud in her little bucket, and she then places this mud in the larger bucket that sits on top of her head. She will continue to dive down to the river bottom and repeat this process until her large bucket is filled to maximum capacity, at which point she exits the river, climbs up a hillside path that she has worn into the landscape from these repeat trips, goes up a steep and wet rock staircase, and deposits the mud onto a pile at the edge of the bridge. She fills her buckets for about 8 hours a day, almost every day of the year. (Photos courtesy of Sandesh Poin)

She literally throws the last bucketful into the air and makes it perform a perfect flip. That's truly maximum capacity 

I weight lifted and tried to "bulk up" for years- and I couldn't get back muscles like this woman.. 

I remember thinking to myself after watching a woman balance over a dozen construction bricks on her head "And what do the Balinese men do that's so special"

To answer my own question, the Balinese man can do EVERYTHING. Or at least he will try. If you ask a Balinese man if he is able to perform a certain task, he will say 'yes' before you even hint at what it is. You see, a Balinese man cannot afford to turn down a potential source of income. Since they have not yet figured out how to clone themselves, the Balinese man has become omnipresent by forming a conglomerate of 'friends' in which they network and share 'clients', taking a commission off any sale that they potentially 'booked' for their colleague. You can say to a taxi driver "I need help building my spaceship, all I need is carbon-fiber and ____" before you can say 'Unobtanium', the taxi driver will say "Yes!" with certainty and confidence that will leave you almost considering the possibility that he could somehow manage to locate the Unobtanium. In fact, you actually have to be careful what you say, because if you mention that you want or need something, a Balinese man will pick up on it and take immediate action.

A few weeks back, I looked at my phone and noticed 4 missed calls, all spaced within a minute of each other. It was our driver, Nyoman. Days before, Simone had mentioned that she thought there were Chameleons in Bali, and would like to find one if it were possible. Well, its not possible. There are no native Chameleons in Bali, and its illegal to sell exotic animals here- punishable by very serious prison sentences. Regardless of the dangers, Nyoman had put the word out to his 'friends' that there was urgent need for a Chameleon, known locally as a 'Boomlong'. When I return Nyomans call, he answered the phone- completely out of breath and sounded excited.

 Nyoman said: "DAVE! I climbed up all the stairs to your house- are you and Simone home?"

I said; "Um, yes. Why?"

Nyoman: "I have Boomlong!"

Wow, I did not expect that to happen.


So I walk out the front door to welcome our exhausted taxi driver/exotic animal dealer, who is holding a cage that contained one very distraught and aggressive reptile- which was not a Chameleon. A friend of his had managed to capture a reptile that looked like a Kimodo Dragon mixed with a crocodile, while clearing a field behind a local resort hotel. The only characteristic that this lizard possessed that resembled a Chameleon, was the fact that it was indeed a reptile. Other than that, no similarities whatsoever. This hissing dragon has a tail that was about 2 feet long, and it had a head like a snake and the body of a salt-water crocodile. It really was quite frightening. I exclaimed our disinterest in adopting this ferocious dragon, and our taxi driver actually took it quite well.

NOT a Boomlong... but it's surprisingly obedient with the pink leash/mouth bow tie combo

It's really quite amazing to see how efficient these men are when it comes to networking and multitasking. Just recently, I had a Fedex package that went MIA somewhere in Indonesia, because it required payment of import tax and did not have a complete address. Naturally, I called Nyoman and told him that i have a job for him. I only gave him my tracking number and my name, and less than 24 hours later, the package was hand-delivered to me, from him. I have no idea how he got this package, but I had no doubt at any point that he would accomplish the task. He is also the man who helped us get our local Balinese drivers license. That was a fun experience... It took a 20$ bribe to the police chief to ignore the fact fact that we were not here with business Visas, and the test we took (in a local restaurant outside the police station parking lot) already had all the correct answers circled.
My favorite part of the experience: Question #15 on the license test.

As much as the answer D sounded tempting, I really needed this drivers license so I circled A and handed in my exam.

Another thing that you will learn about Bali, is that there is a very limited vocabulary used here. The Balinese dialect of Indonesian language is quite pleasant sounding, and relatively simple to acquire. A great example of its simplicity, is that there are only 4 male and 4 female names in the Balinese culture. Literally, if you call out the name "Ketut!" in a room of 100 people, on average, 25 people will say "yes"

Names in Bali are simple;

Wayan, Putu, Gede for 1st born male child
Wayan, Putu, Iluh for 1st born female child

Made, Kadek for 2nd born male child
Made, Kadek, for 2nd born female child.

Nyoman, Komang for 3rd born male and female children

Ketut for 4th born male or female children.

The 5th born reverts back to the list for 1st born children.

That's just a fun fact for you.

Well, since I have no access to my photos, I will save the best for last... I figure that I will post 2 more blogs after this one, before I leave Bali. The next will be full of pics, with stories surrounding most of them.

Thanks for checking in, I'll be back soon!

Love and Light to all