Hello from Bali, Indonesia!
When you picture Bali you aren’t exactly picturing the life we are living. We aren’t walking distance from a beach, there aren’t tourist shops lining the streets, very few people speak English, and we don’t eat smoothie bowls for breakfast everyday.
We are living in the community center of a village towards the center of the island of Bali. The community center has a roofed area and a small building in the middle then another roofed are in the back. We have a few people sleeping inside small rooms but others of us are in our tents under the roofed areas. Depending on if it’s rained we might be in the back or the front. The other day the back area flooded in the middle of our exchange culture time with the kids so we had to quickly find a solution and keep the kids busy at the same time.
We buy our food at a local convenience store or at shops along the street if they are open. There are ceremonies every day here in Bali so many things are unpredictable for when paces will be open. It took us a few days to really figure out our eating process since we have no refrigerator or food storage but it’s working out now!
We wake up every day at 5:45 AM to the call to prayer that is played on a loud speaker for the village from our compound. Then we may attempt to go back to sleep but there may already be some people at the community center sweeping or creating ceremonial items for the day. Sometimes we even wake up BEFORE 5 am to ladies coming to clean around us or take us to their sister’s local store that happens to be open that day.
Our day then begins when we get up and do the things we need to do. Maybe shower under the faucet in the squatty potty stall or wash clothes in the bucket by the bathroom. We have until 9 am as personal time, including going to buy breakfast at whatever shop is open or at the convenience store.
At 9 AM we begin ATL and look back, look up (reading our “manuals”) then look forward. During that time we often discuss what we are thankful for or what we have learned so far in Bali. We then go into our manuals to look up and ask ourselves what we learned about God, people, and what we need to do from the story. Our looking forward time is discussing the next few days of the schedule.
ATL goes until around 11 or 12 and then we have lunch and break time. Kids are supposed to show up around 4 but they tend to show up right at noon. We may be out hanging with the families we have met or playing with children, or taking a nap if we can find the space and peace enough to do so. At that time we also go out and venture into the village to find some food for lunch.
When we join the kids it begins our Exchange Culture time, I will explain what this looks like in my next blog.
At 5:50 the call to prayer happens again and the children literally run away to get home for their prayers and dinner. We have that time to eat dinner too and sometimes, most times, there is an event in the community center at night. But, if there isn’t, the local men come and play Ping-Pong until late into the night.
It’s a known fact that the World Race is constant community, but usually that is referring to our teams. Here we are in constant community with the locals too.
This village has never had foreigners stay in it before and it has caused a lot of excitement, and even some confusion. We are often asked if we are lost or need help getting to the monkey forest. We have been adopted by a mama who is always appearing where we are, I wouldn’t be surprised if she walked through the door of the coffee shop I am sitting in to type this, we took a 20 minute taxi ride to get here.
All in all village life is still my favorite lifestyle! Yes it’s hot, the bugs are different and a lizard fell on my head the other day. But, the simplicity of being here brings me a peace in my spirit I can’t quite explain.
I hope every one of you who reads this is doing fine, enjoying life wherever you are and pressing into God’s presence everyday!
