My time in Bali is drawing to a close, and it doesn't feel real yet - but I must get up in four hours to go to the airport, at which point my wine headache and lack of sleep will probably make it feel very, very real.
Today was an exercise in saying farewell - I got up early because I couldn't sleep, and I spent the morning working on the roof deck for the last time while drinking a flat white and trying not to miss the place before it's gone. Then I spent several hours packing - it was made easier by the fact that I just have to throw everything into bags, but it still required some organization skills. And then I spent an hour eating a burger and drinking wine and reading a book at Element (see: saying farewell). I then needed to go to the supermarket to hit up an ATM and buy some wine for tonight, but it was the hottest day we've had since I've been here and I was thoroughly melted already, so I hired my favorite motorbike guy to drive me there, wait five minutes, and bring me back. #missionaccomplished
Then I spent the rest of the night saying farewell to people. I also traded sunscreen for a skirt, which was the kind of bartering that can only happen in these odd serendipitous travel situations. A few of us toured each other's rooms (a weird shadow of the night when Clayton, Sarah and I toured each other's rooms, but Clayton has been gone so long that the people on this tour never knew his name...), and I pawned off some stuff that I was getting rid of (no need for spray sunscreen in London!), and then I took Rachel's skirt from her, which felt like I was getting a better end of the bargain.
And then we ate in the kitchen downstairs - Xavier cooked, using ingredients and a recipe prepared by Eka (one of the women in the cafe who had the day off and made this for us Blue Apron-style). Several people also had the same idea of contributing wine, and we all bought the same kind, so there were like six bottles of wine + a box of the same wine, and I got very happily buzzed. And I said goodbye to all my favorite people, and we planned my presidential campaign (it is perhaps ill-advised to start a presidential campaign with three Americans, two Russians, a French guy, an American-Chinese dual citizen, an Indonesian, and a bunch of Canadians, but they quickly said I could go for world president (and the French guy, Xavier, bowed out because 'the French are useless'), so campaigns have gotten off to worse starts, I guess). We also listened to auctioneering recordings on YouTube, waded in the pool to cool off, had a sidebar convo in the laundry room where I unveiled my master detective skills about the people around us (luckily Tamara and Fenny had both been drinking as well, so they were duly impressed), and generally had my favorite kind of night.
But now I'm desperate to close my eyes for a few hours - and then the journey begins again. Goodnight!
Today was an exercise in saying farewell - I got up early because I couldn't sleep, and I spent the morning working on the roof deck for the last time while drinking a flat white and trying not to miss the place before it's gone. Then I spent several hours packing - it was made easier by the fact that I just have to throw everything into bags, but it still required some organization skills. And then I spent an hour eating a burger and drinking wine and reading a book at Element (see: saying farewell). I then needed to go to the supermarket to hit up an ATM and buy some wine for tonight, but it was the hottest day we've had since I've been here and I was thoroughly melted already, so I hired my favorite motorbike guy to drive me there, wait five minutes, and bring me back. #missionaccomplished
Then I spent the rest of the night saying farewell to people. I also traded sunscreen for a skirt, which was the kind of bartering that can only happen in these odd serendipitous travel situations. A few of us toured each other's rooms (a weird shadow of the night when Clayton, Sarah and I toured each other's rooms, but Clayton has been gone so long that the people on this tour never knew his name...), and I pawned off some stuff that I was getting rid of (no need for spray sunscreen in London!), and then I took Rachel's skirt from her, which felt like I was getting a better end of the bargain.
And then we ate in the kitchen downstairs - Xavier cooked, using ingredients and a recipe prepared by Eka (one of the women in the cafe who had the day off and made this for us Blue Apron-style). Several people also had the same idea of contributing wine, and we all bought the same kind, so there were like six bottles of wine + a box of the same wine, and I got very happily buzzed. And I said goodbye to all my favorite people, and we planned my presidential campaign (it is perhaps ill-advised to start a presidential campaign with three Americans, two Russians, a French guy, an American-Chinese dual citizen, an Indonesian, and a bunch of Canadians, but they quickly said I could go for world president (and the French guy, Xavier, bowed out because 'the French are useless'), so campaigns have gotten off to worse starts, I guess). We also listened to auctioneering recordings on YouTube, waded in the pool to cool off, had a sidebar convo in the laundry room where I unveiled my master detective skills about the people around us (luckily Tamara and Fenny had both been drinking as well, so they were duly impressed), and generally had my favorite kind of night.
But now I'm desperate to close my eyes for a few hours - and then the journey begins again. Goodnight!
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