S says goodbye...

The following morning in Mataram (Saturday) after nibbling on the American portions of the included breakfast we headed back to the scene of the Mataram Mall that Eric had ventured to the evening prior. And I must agree it was quite a sight. Very much a mall like any other mall. Multiple stories, multiple shops, kiosks, a McDonald's, cars displayed on the ground floor. One of the most striking differences was the prominence of Muslim women's head coverings, on the women, but also the various styles displayed on mannequins, models, and in store advertisements. I was also intrigued to notice those women who did not cover their heads (or shoulders) and found that there was no correlation with generation/age, seemingly only personal/family choice and degree of conservatism.

After the adventure in the Mall we headed back to our hotel, packed our bags, and grabbed a taxi to the Mataram airport where (for only a few dollars more than the ferry ride before) we decided to fly back to Bali. Arriving in Bali sometime after 6pm, we got another taxi from the airport to Ubud, the lovely 'cultural' heart of Bali and what we coined a 'little Europe". Though the sun had set and evening was upon us, we hardly worried about finding a place to sleep, because as Eric voiced in driving up Monkey Forest Road, "I feel like we're home", we felt completely comfortable with the area and our destinations had been decided before we even left Ubud the first time. We had planned to stay another couple of nights at Sania's House. We of course wouldn't you know that we arrived there all excited and exhausted at the same time only to find out that they had no rooms and we really should have called to make a reservation because now the busy season had arrived. No doubt we were a bit bummed, and kicking ourselves for our own stupidity. So book in hand we picked another homestay a street over, only to find out that they too were full. In the midst of our return down the street and no doubt sensing our disappointment/desperation we were ushered by little man to come and look at his rooms. With little hesitation and a discount from 100,000 rp to 80,000 for the finicky hot water, (and water that much to my unpleasant surprise on the second night would turn off between the hours of 2 and 6am) we scored ourselves a decent enough room for about 8 bucks. Our time in Ubud can be summed up very simply as souvenir shopping (during which time I know Eric had some serious misgiving about the permanency of our relationship as I made my indecisive way from one shop to the next) some great eating, and the collection a few more people's stories.

The writing of this blog is bittersweet as it is the one that culminates the S part of EandS, where S leaves this so called other world, one so very different from her own and returns to all of the comforts and people that she is grateful to call 'home' - in doing so she leaves her E to navigate some more of this vast world on his own.

Sometime within the last week or so we decided to end our trip together on what you might call reliable and ridiculously comfortable ground. We booked our last two nights in a resort about fifteen minutes away from the airport in southern Bali, returning to the tourist epicenter, yet in a locale farther south and still farther yet from the Kuta that we initially scoffed. At the time this seemed like the ideal choice, especially considering our plan to start the trip this way proved unsuccessful. Yet we'd been here for only a day and half a day and beneath the beautiful pool, beach front chairs under thatch bungalows and big white canvas umbrellas, buffet meals, and 24 hour room service, our hearts were heavy and our minds less forgiving. The paradox that has been so much of this trip- the strength of the tourist $ on the Balinese economy vs. the exploitation of the natural state/culture of its people, the monopoly of foreign owned business/land, and people's unavoidable ignorance - has been a glaring presence and a consistent topic of conversation these past couple of days. In the exchange of polite greetings and small talk with the staff we've hesitated to say that we've actually been in Bali/Lombok for three weeks and are now at an a ridiculously priced resort. It's like saying: "We've seen how poor your country is and how your people live, yet let us just wear our 'wealth' on our sleeve a little more." The most shameful part for us is imagining the people who do not leave the walls of the resort, and yet will say they have been to Bali. They may have been, but they will not have seen.

And now this is S saying goodbye, as the next time I read this blog it will be from back home on the 'other side of the world". Thanks for following along.

with love,
us

S out...

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