Max and I left L.A. Wednesday night at 10:20pm. Now its Saturday, our second day in Bali but our first full day here at Jiwa Damai. We can’t believe we skipped four days so easily. We definitely time traveled a bit.
I woke up 3 times (or was it twice?) to go to the bathroom last night. But otherwise it was surprisingly easy for me to sleep. I had a dream where I saw Nana and I cried. The funny thing was that every time I got out of bed to run to the bathroom, Orchid (who was curled up in between Max and I) would meow at me and then wake Max up. Sorry Max.
With my internal clock so messed up, it’s easy waking up at 6am for meditation and yoga. The sun hasn’t quite come out, but outside everything is alive. As I sit down with the yoga group, the jungle vibrates with birds, lizards, and the banging music and chanting from a nearby temple practicing its morning prayers. Then it starts to quietly rain. I can the see the drops hit the pond next to me. As I watch everyone around me meditate, I think about how scared I am to be here. Part of me wants to run away to the touristic paradise everyone visits in Bali, and another part of me is entranced by this secluded place in the jungle. I know this is a challenge and it’s up to me to make the best of it. I just have to decide if I would be happy doing it.
As the group switches into Vinyasa yoga practice, I start to feel at ease again. This is something I know and am comfortable with. I start to feel a bond with the people around me. I feel as if we were all here in unison, struggling but enjoying the same poses. Learning. One of the teachers walks around to adjust us, and her friendliness makes me feel better, even more comfortable. I’m so sweaty from the humidity that I keep slipping on my mat and have difficulty holding my poses. The one teacher walking around sees my struggle and is kind enough to grab me a towel. After that I’m able to continue with the poses smoothly. I realize that I have just started a new routine for my stay here. I’m going to practice yoga every day.
At breakfast, I get a scolding from Margret. She thinks I’m being a diva and tells me that this is not the touristy paradise that everyone else goes to (she can read my mind!) and says it seems I have the wrong impression of Jiwa Damai. She definitely intimidates me. I’m slightly upset but now I’m determined to prove her wrong. I’m just afraid she’s going to exclude me from most of the volunteer activities since she has this prissy impression of me. Regardless, Max and I have this amazing breakfast of banana pancakes.
After breakfast, Catherine shows us around the property and introduces us to our duties as a volunteer. I like Catherine. She’s very straightforward but also kind. She shows us the cleaning duties, then takes us through the gates to show us the rest of the property, as Margret instructed her to.
After 28 hours of traveling and a sweaty yoga practice, I finally take a shower. The Balinese way. The volunteers have a small rounded stone bathroom with a sort of hole in the ground with a place for your footing as a toilet, and then a faucet with a large basin (like a giant deep sink) for bathing. There’s a little handled bucket to pour the water over you, with the drain at your feet. It isn’t that bad, using a bucket to pour over my head. It’s cold but refreshing in the heat. When I was done, Max and I decide to do a mini exploration outside of Jiwa Damai (since we have a free day). While walking down the streets, everyone says hi to us. The buildings all look slightly like temples. I feel kind of strange being two white blondes walking down this narrow cobble-stoned street as occasional motorbikes drove past us. We look lost. In a way, we are; we aren’t sure how far down the rice terrace were that we want to see. But then, we find it.
Suddenly the path opens up to these beautiful green fields. The road keeps going, and we want to follow it, but we feel like we shouldn’t wander too far. It makes me more eager for another free day to explore. We both envision riding a motorbike down that path through the fields.
At lunch, the yoga group crew introduces themselves one by one. They are so friendly and are from all over the world. I definitely stick around after I finish eating because I want to keep talking to them. One of them offers Max and I this interesting looking fruit, “mangosteen,” to try. I’m afraid I’m not allowed to eat it since it’s food for the guests, but they insist that I try it. It’s purple on the outside and looks like a mix between a mini onion and a coconut, but when you open it up it looks like a mandarin. Magenta-colored juice runs down my fingers, but strangely the fruit inside is white, and looks like mini mandarin slices. It tastes amazing. I decide right then that this strange fruit wins the top of the list for the best fruit I’ve ever had.
Margret wants Max and I to get a feel for Jiwa Damai today, so I ask Catherine if I could shadow her while she prepares to perform her duties. She shows me the garden and tells me what she has been working on. I start to become excited about helping. I begin to feel as if I can have some purpose here. Catherine tells me about the habits of the other workers, how they work slowly and are sometimes are on a different page from each other. She says they were all very nice though. She also talks about the Balinese culture. In this culture, everyone already knows what their job is in society. They have a role, they fulfill it. Their family is the center, and so is their religious ceremonies and practices. They find a husband or a wife and marry them. The wife goes to live with their husband’s family, and everyone lives together. It’s funny, we were saying how it’s so different in our society. No one really knows what they want to do in life and when it comes to a spouse, we go through several people, then choose someone to marry.
At dinner we have rice pudding – so yummy. It looks like black gooey rice with coconut milk drizzled on top. Margret keeps asking how I’m doing. I think she’s starting to have hope in me. Tomorrow I get to help Catherine with cleaning duties and gardening so I’m excited. I want to be useful here.
I’m able to use the computer in the office this evening. It’s nice being able to email my mom and then hearing from my friends on Facebook feels good. I love all my friends. I’m glad to know that I have people who care back at home. I’ll probably get a little homesick but at least I’m getting more excited about being here.
