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| Agung |
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| Made (Ma-DAY) and Nanda |
We take the long way round, uphills and down into the jungle
ravine and when we arrive, I ask what is her favorite cake, dash in and get it
in return for the favor.
My next ride is a short distance past the monkey forest to a bead
store. I search for a missing stone for my beautiful pendant.
They direct me up the block to a silver shop. The woman there is
friendly and offers to polish the
necklace for me and then we find a better clasp. It is a necklace made for tourists but the Balinese like it and
comment on its beauty. It is serene and prayerful. She sends me to a stone shop for the missing
piece.
Outside, a man offers me a taxi ride. I decline, but when he
reads my t-shirt from the Green School, he breaks out into a song and dance to
the words "Bye-bye plastic bags!" I laugh and add "bye bye
plastic water bottles" and ask him to do an encore performance for video--
he does! And I can't resist joining in.
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| This made my day! The other side of his sign said "Taxi" |
(Not sure if this video will play- hope so)
The stone store is well stocked. I sift through the amethyst bin
and find none like the small teardrop stone I lost. I browse the other bins and
find a green peridot, so perfectly cut that when I put it in the necklace to
see if it fits, the shopkeeper cannot dislodge it -- clearly meant to stay
there.
A short stroll -- passed orchid
seller on bicycle, tourist buses, lunch stand and workers -- to my friend Koni's
garlanded pathway.
Today, Koni tells me how his destiny was shaped by
Bizet's opera "The Pearl Fisher," that it led him to live by the sea
in Sri Lanka for years when he was young, in search of this love story come
true. But that's another tale, much better than the film "Big Eyes"
that we watched afterwards.
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| A feast with Koni on an earlier visit |
It is still light when I leave -- 5:30 p.m. It is dark every
night here all year at 7. Equatorial. I meander down Jalan Sukma and savor the
street life of this community as the day closes down to night.
I wander into a store with fabrics, see a beautiful old metal
Singer sewing machine. After I photograph it, the tailor asks me to take his photo too.
I will bring him a copy next week. So easy, so open, so friendly.
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| The tailor's wife |
His wife gets up to help customers at their fried chicken stand.
Many stop to buy it so I get some too.
My perfect day of ends back at home, eating the chicken with the
evening star bright in my window, a candle, incense and this page.
