Things I Find in the Shower

    So, it's been almost a month, and it's time to shake things up. So, as of today, I've decided to move to Denpasar! Just the outside edge, close to my work place, and not into the congested heart of the main city. It's like moving to the west end of Somerville when you say "I'm moving to Boston." I'll be renting a room in a small apartment building/boarding house thing called a Kos. It's a simple but nice situation. Just one room and a bathroom, but it's clean, fully furnished and has AC. Yes, it's farther from the natural tropical splendor of the Ubud area, but honestly.... I'm fine with that. Nature has been  getting very friendly with me recently. For some reason Nature really likes to hang out in my shower.  Seeing nature is fine. Being surprised by nature when you're getting naked and just wanting to wash your hair....

Yeah, so these are some friends I met in the shower over the last week:

This little guy is just over a foot long, nose to tail. And runs really fast. And is now hiding behind the closet. or somewhere.

This guy is probably three or four inches wide, toe to toe. Apparently he doesn't spin webs... so I have no idea where he is. 

Yeah. Nature is just to beautiful, isn't it?... and friendly.... and close... and running at my feet.....

     In other news, before I met the lizard last night, I went to try to meet the Local Scene at the monday night movie at the Yoga Barn in town. So I was already a little dazed and confused when I got home, which probably contributed to the jumping and the yelping. (not screaming. yelping. there's a difference).  I went looking for some now-local westerners to discuss grocery shopping with. Instead, I got to talk about the evil of organized religion and government, how the first draft of the book *everyone* is writing is going, the "simple, innocent" beauty of the Balinese culture, why the NRA is going to destroy the world with it's madness, and time splitting into two in black holes, .... and then I got to watch a film about the beauty of natural birth. ...... yeah. 

    Ubud... a very special place.  

Coming up for Air

Hello all. It seems like forever since i updated this last week. I've been having some trouble getting to the internet when i'm at home, and work has been busy busy busy. and amazing. Suffice to say,e everything so far is awesome. I get to go to construction sites. the other interns are really nice, my boss is nice, all the other people i've interacted with have been cool, too. My fellow interns took me out to Denpasar and showed me the city last week, and will do again this week. they are a lot of fun.  and i've got projects to do. Some materials characterization and process optimization experiments to figure out. Some design. This week I've mostly spent learning suspension bridge design on the fly. Which is slightly nerve-wracking, but mostly awesome. I had my first two language classes at the library, and i'm a little more hopeful that i might eventually remember some of this vocab. (Rolling the R is key!) Now it's the end of the day, and I've survived to my second week as a PTBP intern. And so far haven't broken anything or make anything collapse, and I've tried lots of weird food without getting sick (knock on sooooo much wood) so I'm counting it as a roaring success.

So far have had very little culture shock. Living here is surprisingly easy and straight forward.... ( knock on wood, again?) and I am learning a ton. That's definitely the best part. So much learning.  My brain is rather fried, but it's a good feeling.

oh, on the wold-life front, just fun factoids: a lizard nearly dropped on me in the shower last night, I found a spider the size of my hand, I've gotten used to seeing long-legged roosters wandering around construction sites, and I've been cautiously adopted by a cat.

Ok, more later! Miss you all! have a great weekend!

How to reach me!

So I finally got a phone! Woo. Now there are plenty of ways to reach me.  The easiest and cheapest will be by skype.

To Skype me: shoot me an email or facebook message to set up a time, and add me as a contact by searching for "arih88"

To call me: first, buy a calling card. like the "Jupiter" card at Comfi : http://www.comfi.com/Phone-Card/Jupiter  --- just 4.5 cents per minute! Then call the "local access" number on the card, and enter your pin when prompted. 

And then, to reach me, dial:
011-62-823-4057-5633 lost this sim, so I have a new number:
011-62-812-3746-2920
(exit code)-(country)-(cell/area code)-(my phone)

I'm pretty sure incoming calls free for me, but I have waaay limited outgoing international calls. So I will probably stick to skype. but i get texts! and can text out on a limited basis. woo!

Mailing address at my office is:

PT. BAMBOO PURE
Br. Piakan, Sibang Kaja
Abiansemal, Badung
BALI 80352 - INDONESIA


And the rest fo their contact info is here, just in case.
P. +62 361 469 874 / 846 3314
F. +62 361 469 874
M. +62 821 470 11 884
www.ibuku.com
www.greenvillagebali.com


To get mail from me, either email me your mailing address, or leave it in the comments. 

Another factoid!

 Just 'cause they are soo cool.

Though Bamboo usually grous less than 15 cm/day, the fastest growth rates  of bamboo per day ever recorded are: (and these are each in 24 hours!!!)

4) 88 cm by Phyllostachys edulius, Koishihawa Botanical Gardens, Tokyo, Japan 1898.

3) 91.3 cm by Bambusa aurundinacea, Kew Gardens, England, 1855.

2) 119 cm by Moso-chiku, Phyllostachys edulius (16 cm diameter!) Kyoto Prefecture, Japan 1956


1) 121 cm by Madake, Phyllostachys reticulata, (12 cm diameter) Kioto, June 23, 1955


to put this in perspective, that last one grew enough in one day to go on the big-kid rides at amusement parks. seriously, the sings that say "must be this high" are 48 inches, or 121.9 cm. ..In ONE day! 

Bamboo Fact of the Day!!!!:

Bamboo never changes in diameter. The diameter is set by the type of bamboo. The new shoot emerges from the ground at full width, and already containing all the diaphragm/node things it will ever have. Then as it grows, the column essentially just stretches out as the distance between nodes increases.

Betcha didn't know THAT! 

Wifi at last!

Hey all!  It’s been a while since I last posted because I don’t have wireless at the house, and it’s taken me a while to find somewhere else to post.

Lets see, so much has happened since then:

Things I’ve learned: Geckos chirp like birds, dogs can learn to look both ways on the street, the part of Ubud where all the tourists are isn’t really Ubud, and it didn’t exist 30 years ago, it’s really just an outer suburb that has exploded to accommodate them.

I had my last night/day at Kebun Indah. They are so great. Got a tour of the Ubud Kaja rice fields  on Sunday morning, a big loop past rice and coconuts, and a surprising number of random cafes and tourist bungalows and even a “fine Italian restaurant”. Apparently foreigners  buy up random rice fields from Balinese that want/need to make fast cash, and then tend to turn them in to proto-businesses. They fill in the land, run some wiring out, and turn it into “ an authentic, scenic Balinese rice field experience”.  I’m sure it looks amazing on the website photos, but in practice it is beyond bazar.  My guide obviously had mixed feelings about it too. He wasn’t psyched about how the tourists have taken over in the last 30 years, but on the other hand, he makes his living giving tours and running a little café/guest house/etc. Interesting guy.

I am learning to drive a scooter! Yesterday it rained for a bit, so fewer people were out on the roads. I jumped at the opportunity. Within a half hour  the roads were busy again, but I had made five or six laps of my tiny little neighbor hood of Nyun Kuning, and could now turn right. There was a group of women moving bricks at the one major intersection, and they got to see the whole process. On the first lap I almost ran my bike straight at their brick pile, and they all jumped. The next lap was more successful, and by number five they were smiling and cheering my progress.  (this might be an exaggeration, but  they definitely at least grinned and remarked. I was proud enough of my right turn into traffic that I’m pretty sure I cheered out loud for myself, so I’m going to go with they were cheering with me. )  Right turns are haaard. Remember they drive on the right here. 

Today Putu drove me out to Sibang Kaja, partly to see the Green School and partly so I can learn my rout to work. The ride to work  sticks to a few large-ish roads, which is uncomplicated,  but traffically intimidating.  We’ll see how I do on Wednesday.  The Green School is … stunning. I mean really, wow.  I will dedicate an entire post to it some time, with pictures, because, … just… wow.

Ooh! I went SHOPPING! For real things! In the actual shopping road, not the tourist area. Ibu Wayan, my awesome new housekeeper gave me a ride and helped me out. There is NO WAY I could have managed without her. Too much traffic, to much to stare at, no interpretable signage anywhere.  I perched on the back of her bike and we set out in search of 1) a mosquito net and 2) a lock for the door.  The security measures at my house include a stick with a nail through one end used to bar the front gate against dogs, and a padlock on the porch door. Except that the padlock had been misplaced. So I had a stick with a nail in one end. Not sketchy at all. (actually, weirdly, not one person seemed to bat an eye at this, so I’d like to think it’s not quite as sketchy as I think? Unclear) 

Anyways, Wayan and I went out, and wandered from stall to stall until we found what we were looking for. The mosquito net we found on the second try, and was fairly straight forward, except that I have no idea if I paid a fair price, since Wayan has never bought one, or really ever considered using one.  The lock proved trickier, and eventually we were pointed towards a large-ish supermarket things. They did have padlocks! And also a Dairy isle! So I grabbed some essentials in my first grocery haul! Woo! I now have milk, eggs, potatoes, onions, rice, fruit, butter and tea. I can now officially cook for myself in my very own kitchen! WHAT!?!?!?! Woooo!

today i am eating a delicious breakfast of fruit, rice porrige and chicken curry-ish-thing at the little hotel restaurant across the way. Finally! Free Wifi! 

ok, love to you all. Will try to answer the emails i got in the last two days, but it might take a while. 

Ari

Breakfast post

So, I'm sitting here watching the rain, and figuring out the internet here over a lovely breakfast of nasi Goreng (fried rice) with fried egg, fruit, yogurt, pineapple juice and ginger tea. Delicious, And also, the only real meal I've eaten since the Singapore Airport, since I accidentally slept through dinner yesterday. Mom, your midnight-snack care package saved me! Thank you thank you thank you!

I've been awake since about 2 am. So much for outwitting jetlag. pipe dreams. 

Yesterday I arrived at the airport, made my way past all the “visa on arrival” tourists to the “foreigners with extended stay pass” desk, and promptly found out that I've got the wrong visa. Thanks unnamed man at the embassy! Woo! Looks like i might need to actually leave the country every two months instead of renewing the visa. But I also got the name and number of the immigration clerk who  promised “a different way” to stay in thte country. hmmmm. ok. not sketchy at all. 

Then I found Nyoman waiting for me in a throng of people holding up signs with western names. The hour-and-a-half van ride to Ubud was spent making small talk, and being laughed at for my wide-eyed, swivel-headed staring at everything. Nyoman narrated a little, telling me which towns we were going through, and pointing out markets, temples, homes, home temples and palaces. Then I got here, signed some forms, and as the smiling hostess walked away, I got a minute to myself in this new place. The rooms are lovely, and come with a bowl of fresh fruit, a porch, and a pool literally 10 feet away. I tossed my luggage on the bed, looked around, smelled a flower or two, and promptly fried my camera battery then fell asleep. Yay! So yeah, care package request number one? I guess?

It is LOUD here at night. Not the chaotic human cacophony of the main road just a few hundred feet away, but the constant rushing of the stream just beyond the pool, the constant patter of what here probably counts as dew, but back home would be a downpour, birds, insects, some hooting monkeys of some sort, some local form of cricket, and the gentle hum of a generator. 

Now I'm just relaxing, and waiting for Ben to come by and show me over to the place I will be renting for the next month+. apparently it is very close. And it will be my first time on a motor bike, so we'll see how terrifying the trafic looks form that vantage point. Yesterday it definitely felt liek the majority of the vehicles on the road where bikes, so I think this will be fine. 

Love you all! Will let you know how the housing is looking soon! In the mean time, Kebun Indah is so freaking beautiful! Wow. 

Sleepless in Singapore

Things I learned today:

1. LAX is dreary and dull.

2. If you're flying the largest passenger plane in the world, you need three separate boarding tunnel-bridge-things to load everyone in a timely manner onto two separate floors. And all 400 passengers do not appreciate starting this process half an hour late.

3. Considering how huge they are Airbus A380s have incredibly smooth landings.

4. I am champion at sleeping on planes. Yeah! Life skills for the win.

5. Singapore's Changi Airport is AWESOME! I'm sitting next to a Koi pond right now. There is also a free movie theater, a cactus garden, a butterfly enclosure and apparently a rooftop pool.

Unfortunately, the price of earning all these useful things is that it's now 5 am on thursday morning, and I completely missed July 4th. Oops. Hope you all hade a great holiday!

And we're off!

So it begins!

   Adventure of the day: A squirrel tried to abscond with my return ticket. actually. I have decided to take this as a good omen.

   I'm hanging out in DIA now to waiting to board the first of 4 flights that will eventually land me in Bali on Thursday. I've got a great little food pack from my mom, copious advice from my dad, and only 50 lbs of checked luggage! Woooooo!

   Only 36 hours until I arrive in Bali. lets hope it goes smoothly.  I'll probably update again from the Singapore airport, which apparently is swanky. hmmmmm. Love and thanks to my wonderful departure committee. You amaze me. I miss you already.