Everyday life in Bali

By Anita: 

Everyday living in Bali is  a bit different than our usual routine.  Our house is on the corner beside a rice field.  This week, we’ve been watching as the workers harvest the rice, first by hand and then finish it up with a large machine.  (Clearly, I need to find someone who can explain this process to me a little better.)    




In a vacant lot two doors down are some Balinese cows 
and chickens that roam the street.   Our eggs come from these house chickens that roam freely in Bali. We don’t have to pay extra for these organic, free range eggs!  On my walk this morning, a mother hen and her chicks scooted across the path in front of me.  I wasn’t a quick enough draw with my camera to catch them before they disappeared into the bushes.  

As Don has said - it’s hot here - imagine the temps and humidity of Charleston in summer.  Many places in Bali are not air conditioned  - except for the tourist places - so by 9 a.m. we’re pretty much coated with a fine sheen of sweat that just increases throughout the day.  But we’re learning to sweat gracefully.  Ha!

Our house is small but nice -

 with one bedroom and an office.   The bedroom and office have air conditioning  - which is helpful for writing and working and for sleeping at night.  The open doors in the living room and kitchen sometimes pick up a breeze  but it still gets quite hot  (ok... really hot) in the afternoon.  

Our kitchen has a two burner propane stove and a toaster oven - and a rice cooker.  

Since tap water here is not drinking water ( at least not for Westerners), we have a giant bottled water dispenser.  I think we’re going to set a record for the most water jugs two people can go through in a week.  

We share the house with a variety of small lizards.  Lizards in the shower take a little getting used to.  Our bathroom shower has enough hot water for me to either wash my hair or shave my legs - a lesson in clarifying your priorities.   And we do have a western style toilet -even though I’m getting used to the squatty potties. 

We do have internet now but instead of paying by the month, we pay by the amount used.  You become aware of how much time you spend aimlessly surfing the net and just leaving the internet on while you’re off making a cup of tea or cooking dinner.   The thing we don’t have right now is television - and those of you who know Don Flowers know he is going through news, sports and The Voice withdrawal. 

By far, the best thing about our little house is our pembantu, Ilou.  A pembantu is a house helper.  Ilou has helped us do everything from paying for electricity and drinking water to cooking some fabulous Balinese food for us for lunch.  She shakes her head at us when we don’t know what to do,  then tells us what to do, and translates for the visitors who show up at our door.    

It's a slower pace of life here - not so driven and rushed.  People take their time about life.  Not a bad plan at all. 

Beijing - First impressions

By Anita:
My first impression of Beijing was the one I really wanted to see.

There they were...behind a large group of fairly somber Chinese people waiting to pick up friends and relatives at the air port...Alison and James jumping up and down and waving!    The real reason reason for the trip to Beijing!








Other first impressions:    *When you can see the pollution in the air,  it's a bit polluted.  *Don't ever complain about American traffic.   Beijing traffic, including cars, buses, motor bikes, bicycles, and lots and lots of people, is complete madness.  And they believe in car horns.   *There are a lot of people in Beijing.









*It's amazing how much you can communicate without knowing a  language by using gestures and context clues.  And pointing at pictures.
* You really only need to do rush hour in a Beijing subway once in your life.  It an incredible mass of humanity.  You're packed in like sweaty little sardines in a tin.

As Alison says, "You have absolutely no personal space."      

First day in Bejing, we toured the silk market, visited Lake Houhai, and shopped in a houtong. But the hugs and the stories and the love were the best part.

AF

It's Not Just About Me

I will be the last person in the world to ever say that the opportunity to take a sabbatical is not an incredible gift, perk, benefit, extravagance—you pick the word!  It is wonderful!

But it isn’t just wonderful for me!

It is also an incredible gift to my family. 

I am aware that I have a lot of flexibility with my weekly schedule.  If I have a doctor’s appointment I just go.  If I need to run out to the bank or the grocery store during lunch, I can.  That is wonderful.  I often wonder when normal people go to Wal Mart.  (OK, lets be honest, I don’t go to Wal Mart anyway.  Anita makes that run, but you understand what I am saying!) 

But the flip side is that I work during normal “family time.”  Weekends are full—either with weddings or more often just getting the sermon finished.  Sundays are full.  We can’t plan a trip away…because Dad has to work.

But a sabbatical!  It is extended family time!

I realized that the first time I ever took a sabbatical.  The girls were young then, but as the time came nearer they got more and more excited.  They looked forward to the time.  “You mean you won’t have to go to work?” they asked.  “You can come and have lunch with me at school?”  “You will be here when we get home?”

During one of the most memorable sabbaticals we have ever took the whole family went to England.  We got to see so many sites, created memories that fuel stories that we still tell.

That was gift!  It is gift! 

Even now…now that the girls are all grown up.  This sabbatical is gift to them!  Savannah was home from Austin last week.  We laughed and went to the beach and had fun and never got interrupted with “work.”  Next Wednesday we will leave to head to Beijing for a few days with Alison and James. 

It is even more!  I spent a few days this week at home in Cherryville.  I mowed the “Lower 40” (actually just about 2 acres) helped Mom make some decisions, and just relaxed in the old homeplace. 

On the way back to Charleston I stopped by to see my father. All of that would be next to impossible during “Normal” time.  But sabbatical time…

So on behalf of my family, thank you!  It is gift to me, but also to them!