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Published: October 13th 2006
Will you marry me?
Here Mary and I are making it pretty much impossible for any future guy to make a decent purposal. So we were still alive, and besides a nasty scab, that looked slightly like hitler's mustache on Mary's upper lip....we were recouperating nicely. We were officially staying at Cheer's bar....We could not walk in or out of our hotel with out someone calling our name or stopping us to ask how we were doing? It was like I have become a part of a the big family I had always dreamed about. Like any family, at times it was frustrating to have your waiter steal your paper before you even read it or to have to share your cookies with the bartender, but it was all in good family fun, because everyone at the hotel, guests and staff, treated us like American Royalty. I bet they are right now selling pictures of us on Bali-BAY.
Act 3 consists of daily trips to the clinic to get my bandage changed, constant counting and recounting of our money, which never seemed to be enough, and a continious dialoque about how Mary and I could make it so that we didn't have to go back to China. There were comments thrown out such as "We picked the wrong country?" or "Do you think
Side trip
Making friends early on gets you a free trip to the center of the island to check out the volcano and a hindu temple. the pool boy will trade places with us?" Maybe it was the english overload or the morning omlettes, but we were like druggies, knowing that that we needed to get clean, but making every excuse we could to avoid rehab.
Out last night in Bali just sealed our fate, that life could not get any better than this moment. We hired a driver (remember.....we are learning) to take us to Jimaban Beach. Here, everynight, many resturants set up shop on the beach. You get a table in the sand to watch the sunset and dirty your fingers. The food was too good, and the view even better. This is actually the site of the 2005 bombings in Bali. And like most places, Bali after the bombings (especially the second, much smaller bombing) is a much different place. They are thristy for tourism, because it has been a long drought. You can see it in the various empty resturants or in the eyes of the shopkeeper, who at 4pm will still give you the "morning price" because he hasn't sold anything that day. I know I struggled, justifying that I don't make much money in china, but having the fact
that I can afford to leave Bali, a fact which is not true for most of the locals. At a salary of about $40-70 american dollars a week, a plane ticket from paradise would take some extra praying and good luck, because hard work will never be enough. But even that being said, it was hard to feel sad for the people we met from Bali, because through it all they were happy, they laughed, smiled, and treated each other well. It might have been just a front for the tourists, but mary and i continued to comment that even though americans have more money, they tend to complain more, be more depressed, need more things, and see other's lives as better. I myself am often guilty of this phenomenon. Maybe it's the good weather, the eternal supply of sunsets and sunrises, or something in the water of like I said, maybe its just an act, but I don't think so. I have had this discussion with others in china.....would you rather be happy and have less money or be unhappy and posses more money. I think, as would most americans, wish the first, because happiness is priceless.....but maybe that's
A seat with a view
Driving back down from the volcano, Mary snapped this picture which takes in so much of bali...rich rice patties, and an endless coast because I have not had to worry about money or my income did not depend on other people's fears.
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Mom
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What a wonderful experience. I am so proud of you!