Today we get started on what we came here to do. Breakfast is punctual as we are all excited to get to the orphanage. As is usually the case in these parts of the world, pick up time is 08:30 plus or minus 40 minutes, usually plus. Eventually Wyan, a short, round smiley Indonesian arrives to collect us. The drive to the orphanage was longer than expected, a further testament to just how far off the mainstream we have travelled. The drive is the usual circus of cars, trucks and scooters until we break from the main road. The orphanage is in a Christian district of the island, with more affluent looking homes as well as cleaner, well maintained streets (we use that term loosely though). The steep un-kept driveway opens up to a beautiful courtyard/pavilion with two sets of dorms on the phalanx. We arrived to find most of the children at school, avoiding the anticipated herd of little hands and feet surrounding the vehicle. It was nice to ease into the environment. The kindergarteners, having only one hour of school a day, greeted us with no apprehension whatsoever. Based on their experience with the set of DWC visitors, they assumed we were all Canadian; just what an American wants to hear after traveling 9000 miles. The boys are a team of three, the most notable being Gasper and Axiel. Both the age of five, they are the youngest. As the week progresses, we learn they survive by sticking together with just about everything they do. The girls are Micel (Michelle), and a couple others that are too shy to meet us the first day. Micel is completely the opposite. Before our feet can even touch the ground she has latched on to one of us in a way that could impress an octopus. The rest of the day she is going, doing and holding hands with all of us. Lastly, we meet a German aid worker who has been teaching English and helping day to day operations for the last five months. Her grasp of both the English and Indonesian culture and languages never stops impressing us the whole time we are here.
Next on the agenda is a two hour orientation/Q&A session which takes as many minutes to accomplish. Bathroom here, work over there, coffee under here. It takes the first week for us to completely understand what exactly we are helping to build. Today we busy ourselves moving large and small rocks from one side of the complex over to the other where the building is being constructed. Newcomers to the DWC experience are eager to get the process going and are looking for any efficiencies they can exploit. It is a race to see what wins you over first, the ambient conditions and heat exhaustion, or the realization that to the Indonesians, time is not the most precious asset. The workers on every level here do a good job of balancing work with rest. It is too hot and humid for even them to work as we would expect in western society. Time is on your side, take as much of it. Forty minutes feels like two hours, and that’s when you’re in the shade. You feel very under productive taking so many breaks, but the locals insist on stopping regularly. By the end of the day we have moved two moderate piles of sand and rock as well as destroyed two wheel barrows (one person). Lunch is with the children; it is what you would expect from a boarding home. A large bell is rung and the walls of each dormitory seem to open up and spill out children big and small.
This afternoon was really hot and we are slowly learning why things don’t “move” quite as fast as back home. One of the first Indonesian words we learned on the job site was "plean, plean"…which means slow, slow or slow down. We are all looking forward to a cool long shower and many hours of sleep.
Tommy Marx
DWC Team Leader
Friday, February 17, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Day 2: Scooter-ville in Negara
Wake up was planned as much later than the usual due to the lasting effects of jet lag. However, our natural body rhythm had most of us up by 7am. With an appetite for a good breakfast matched equally for one for adventure, we all wandered downstairs. Rice is the staple of this civilization; there may not be a person on this island who has not eaten rice three meals a day; you can even get it at McDonalds (wherever that may be).
We hired a car for $35 for the day to take us to see the sights. The first order of business was shopping for some cheap necessities at the local mall. One can always tell the hip hang outs in town by the number of scooters parked on the side of the road. We arrived at scooter-ville in Negara and entered the mall. Imagine a Rite-aid, Safeway, Fry’s, and Baskin Robbins all crammed into one. Unlike Walmart however, the lowest price is not posted, but rather the result of a bout of bargaining. Most transactions are negotiated by either party typing a number into a calculator until both are nodding in agreement. It’s feels invigorating to get your price, until you realize that you spend five minutes bargaining over 60 cents. Then it’s on to the beach to try our hand at swimming in the Indian Ocean. Our first stop is a surf spot call Medewi Beach. We are greeted by a bunch of young men itching to rent us boards and teach anyone willing how to surf. Unfortunately we are looking for a sandy beach so the exodus moves on to Brown Sugar Beach. We play in the surf amongst grazing cattle and women collecting drift wood for burning. The fine black sand below our feet provides a nice environment for body surfing in the warm water. Thunder sounds in the distance and before long the drops are starting to fall around us. Our surfing buddies show up unexpectedly hoping to make a sell on their rentals and lessons, but our motivations now are to visit the local carnival on the way home. The carnival is more of a giant flee market, where locals bargain with vendors for cheap knock offs of names such as Adidas, Swiss, and Guess. For every vendor selling the cheapest watches, there are ten more just around the corner, all attempting to make a living off the idea of conspicuous consumption. The real challenge is finding a food vendor you trust that won’t have you running to the toilet an hour later. Some took their chances, while others stuck to the Coca Cola and bottled water. In the end we all survived the experience with local food unscathed.
Finally it’s back to the hotel for some personal time before dinner. Dinner will be at a Muslim restaurant with a cook whose knowledge of America puts us all to shame. Rest assured when this guy finally walks off the plane for his first visit to the states, you’ll be able to see the smile 100 miles away. The next order of business is a good nights rest for the coming adventure tomorrow.
Tommy Marx
DWC Team Leader
We hired a car for $35 for the day to take us to see the sights. The first order of business was shopping for some cheap necessities at the local mall. One can always tell the hip hang outs in town by the number of scooters parked on the side of the road. We arrived at scooter-ville in Negara and entered the mall. Imagine a Rite-aid, Safeway, Fry’s, and Baskin Robbins all crammed into one. Unlike Walmart however, the lowest price is not posted, but rather the result of a bout of bargaining. Most transactions are negotiated by either party typing a number into a calculator until both are nodding in agreement. It’s feels invigorating to get your price, until you realize that you spend five minutes bargaining over 60 cents. Then it’s on to the beach to try our hand at swimming in the Indian Ocean. Our first stop is a surf spot call Medewi Beach. We are greeted by a bunch of young men itching to rent us boards and teach anyone willing how to surf. Unfortunately we are looking for a sandy beach so the exodus moves on to Brown Sugar Beach. We play in the surf amongst grazing cattle and women collecting drift wood for burning. The fine black sand below our feet provides a nice environment for body surfing in the warm water. Thunder sounds in the distance and before long the drops are starting to fall around us. Our surfing buddies show up unexpectedly hoping to make a sell on their rentals and lessons, but our motivations now are to visit the local carnival on the way home. The carnival is more of a giant flee market, where locals bargain with vendors for cheap knock offs of names such as Adidas, Swiss, and Guess. For every vendor selling the cheapest watches, there are ten more just around the corner, all attempting to make a living off the idea of conspicuous consumption. The real challenge is finding a food vendor you trust that won’t have you running to the toilet an hour later. Some took their chances, while others stuck to the Coca Cola and bottled water. In the end we all survived the experience with local food unscathed.
Finally it’s back to the hotel for some personal time before dinner. Dinner will be at a Muslim restaurant with a cook whose knowledge of America puts us all to shame. Rest assured when this guy finally walks off the plane for his first visit to the states, you’ll be able to see the smile 100 miles away. The next order of business is a good nights rest for the coming adventure tomorrow.
Tommy Marx
DWC Team Leader
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Day 1: Feb.11th 2012 The team arrives in Bali!
After a fractured arrival by all individuals in the group, it is 4pm and we are ready to depart for the Negara region of the Island of Bali. We all have now learned that the phrase “taxi boss” is not Indonesian for hello, but rather the constant reminder that half the island has shown up at the airport on the slight chance they can drive you somewhere. We know there is a long ride ahead (3+ hours), and while the expectation of poorly maintained roads is fresh in our minds, none of us are prepared for the experience that awaits.
Traffic is thick through Kuta and Denpasar, and scooters seem to be the Iphone of this society. The traffic flows opposite of that in the United States and lane lines or dividers are viewed at the very most as a suggestive reminder that one must share the road. As we move northwestward past town after town, very slowly we make our way out of the city. With Circle K, Burger King and the Mercedes Benz behind us, we see a more traditional Bali with its Hindu Temples and Compound style family homes.The road is filled with every kind of transportation imaginable. Scooters whiz past out of everywhere; mostly Hondas and Toyotas make up the cars, and large flat bed trucks transport everything from rice to cattle. Every driver wants to get somewhere on a road that hasn’t been able to handle the traffic for 20 years. Ones place in this whole circus of movement is solely dependent on their size. Trucks get the most respect followed by cars leaving scooters to fend for whatever is left. This provides a continuous level of entertainment that would be on par with an Evel Knievel show. While at first the inexperienced tourist shows concern for their safety, volley after volley of close calls quickly glosses their concern with a shell shock of indifference. Before you know it you’re wondering why the driver didn’t use that 25yrds before a blind curve to pass that tour bus you have been following for the past minute and a half. It leaves your mind to wonder, what is this all like at night. Then you find out. But enough about the traffic.
After two hours on the road we stop for a bathroom break and to watch the sunset. A snack of ice cream to chase away the heat we grab a bag of corn chips called “happy toos”, we hop in car for the rest of the trip. At night the trucks use LED lights on their phalanx to let people know how big they are. It’s not until two tour busses pass us at the same time with a herd of scooters in tow that you decide driving at night may not be the best idea.
The first night after our precarious drive we stopped at a local restaurant for a late night dinner, our first true Indonesian meal. Some of us got what we thought we ordered and some were surprised, and want to know what happened. We did enjoy our first Bintang, the local beer. Really hit the spot after a long day. We were all happy to get to the hotel, and some comfortable beds.
Tommy Marx
DWC Team Leader
Traffic is thick through Kuta and Denpasar, and scooters seem to be the Iphone of this society. The traffic flows opposite of that in the United States and lane lines or dividers are viewed at the very most as a suggestive reminder that one must share the road. As we move northwestward past town after town, very slowly we make our way out of the city. With Circle K, Burger King and the Mercedes Benz behind us, we see a more traditional Bali with its Hindu Temples and Compound style family homes.The road is filled with every kind of transportation imaginable. Scooters whiz past out of everywhere; mostly Hondas and Toyotas make up the cars, and large flat bed trucks transport everything from rice to cattle. Every driver wants to get somewhere on a road that hasn’t been able to handle the traffic for 20 years. Ones place in this whole circus of movement is solely dependent on their size. Trucks get the most respect followed by cars leaving scooters to fend for whatever is left. This provides a continuous level of entertainment that would be on par with an Evel Knievel show. While at first the inexperienced tourist shows concern for their safety, volley after volley of close calls quickly glosses their concern with a shell shock of indifference. Before you know it you’re wondering why the driver didn’t use that 25yrds before a blind curve to pass that tour bus you have been following for the past minute and a half. It leaves your mind to wonder, what is this all like at night. Then you find out. But enough about the traffic.
After two hours on the road we stop for a bathroom break and to watch the sunset. A snack of ice cream to chase away the heat we grab a bag of corn chips called “happy toos”, we hop in car for the rest of the trip. At night the trucks use LED lights on their phalanx to let people know how big they are. It’s not until two tour busses pass us at the same time with a herd of scooters in tow that you decide driving at night may not be the best idea.
The first night after our precarious drive we stopped at a local restaurant for a late night dinner, our first true Indonesian meal. Some of us got what we thought we ordered and some were surprised, and want to know what happened. We did enjoy our first Bintang, the local beer. Really hit the spot after a long day. We were all happy to get to the hotel, and some comfortable beds.
Tommy Marx
DWC Team Leader
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)