Adventures of a Tribe

Now we see him…now we don’t!

Posted on November 15, 2017 Updated on November 15, 2017

We’ve been living in Bali for 3 months now, and in those 3 months Danny has spent 5 nights at home. He has accepted a position as a pilot for a young billionaire who keeps his jet in Beijing. In the past 3 months Danny has been flying him back and forth between Beijing, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore etc…A couple of weeks ago he called saying he was coming home for 9 days, and ended up being able to stay for 4, and last night he arrived home around 10pm, and upon landing, received an unexpected email saying he needed to head back at 7am this morning because the owner wants to go to Shanghai. So, once again he’s gone! I’m so glad he loves what he does. We miss him so much when he’s gone and appreciate his hard work.
Jude is currently in Australia. She’s been spending the last week with her South African side of the family in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast, and is helping our friends, the Murry Family, work on their sailboat, Pandora. Within the next few days they will be setting sail to explore the beautiful waters around Australia.

In the mean time, we continue to explore Bali and enjoy the culture here. Recently, the streets have been decorated with beautiful traditional Balinese decorations to celebrate Galungan. It marks the time when ancestral spirits came and visited the Earth, and the good spirit, Dharma triumphed over the bad spirit, Adharma. One of my favorite decorations, is Penjor, which is an offering to express gratitude for life. A tall decorated bamboo pole is secured by the roadside, and the upper end that curves represents the peak of the sacred mountain, Mount Agung, and the very end represents the tail of the Barong (good spirit).

Penjor stand tall in front of each Balinese home for the holiday and are also used in temple ceremonies.

Women carry their offerings on their heads much of the time and remind me of those I’ve seen carrying all sorts of things the same way in Africa.

We took my mom to see the beautiful rice terraces, where layers of green stack like pancakes,

and hard working farmers stand bent over hour after hour tending to their crops…stopping only for prayers and sacrifices to the Gods.

The markets were busy as vendors spend their days bargaining with Westerners who want a good deal.

So many of these hand made crafts are created here in Bali, then shipped all over the world, marked up and sold for more.

Some of the stalls are so stacked with product, the goods seem to swallow people up inside where they’d never be found again.

Markets are perhaps some some of my favorite places. I love the people, the energy, the colors and textures.

Smells draw me in, as the scent of curry powder, incense, fruit and flowers fill the air. When it’s extra humid, the pleasant aromas are periodically interrupted by patches of sweat, garbage and fish. An aromatic buffet.

We walked down paths past beautiful moss covered temples that seem to have been forgotten,

and thatched roofs stacked like totem poles.

Every peak, every step and every level is symbolic in Hinduism…all a carefully planned and created masterpiece for the Gods.

The air is so thick with moisture from recent rain, it gathers and drips, saturating the ground once again.

Some walls never seem to dry and become a perfect base for vines and tiny beards of moss.

We finally head home as midday light finally makes its way through the trees and lights up fern like stained glass along the walls. I love immersing myself in nature because it is simple, and beautiful.