We have decided to stay in Indonesia. The reasons are not very interesting – at the end of it all, we felt Hawaii was just too big of a risk to take without enough assurances that it would work out. The situation we’re in now, if we don’t like it, we change jobs. If we don’t like the island, there’re 50 others in either direction that are cheap to get to. We’re not tied down to a lease, etc, etc. Hawaii had one great outcome and possibly too many unpleasant outcomes. Plus, if that nuclear plant in Japan decides to blow up, Hawaii’s first in the line of fire of radioactive crap. I like it down here in the Southern Hemisphere – the nucular-free zone. Which leads me to wonder – is it less polluted here in the less populous Southern Hemisphere?

We’ve been working for over two weeks now at the Buddha and we’ve dived a bit. The shop had no staff until we arrived, so there are some logistics things that are made a little bit more difficult. For example, there’s really noone to explain the dive sites to us and what’s appropriate for what, so we’re having to figure it out as we go along. Not easy, but we’re making our way through the different sites. Also, it doesn’t put us in a super position to meet other dive pros.

I don’t like our job and can’t wait until the island picks up a bit so we can change. The other day it seemed like everything was conspired against me. First off, the resort itself is really run down and in desperate need of a facelift though I’ve been told that the rooms are rather nice. The equipment, the owner claims was just serviced, yet it seems that every time I pick up a piece of gear, there’s a problem with at least one component. The paperwork is in complete disarray, the boat engine’s been on the fritz and in need of maintenance since we’ve been there with no indication that’s going to get fixed any time soon. And now the pool’s been emptied half and looks awful.

That same other day, I had one customer in the morning and one in the afternoon and both times got horrible drops so that I ended up swimming over dead coral. That’s the problem with diving here – there’s been so much dynamite fishing that if you don’t drop on a known reef structure, you’re pretty much swimming over a graveyard. It’s a shame because the reefs are so beautiful. If they hadn’t dynamited this place to shit, it would probably be the best diving in the world. I was so angry with the boat staff because I feel like they’re taking the piss. So I have no motivation to be here.
And every day there’s new rules – oh no, we don’t do this or we don’t do that. Do we give customer service or does this not exist here? They have no issues telling customers to come back 50 times because this or that staff person isn’t here to do this or that.

At night – after sort of about 5 o’clock, the owner starts blaring thump thump music. If that wasn’t bad enough, the two neighboring bars also play music at elevated volumes, creating a cacophony that makes me want to do violence. It is an insult to my spirit. And the bar just north of us generally plays Pink Floyd and the likes which I’m perfectly okay with chilling out to. I’ve tried explaining this to the owner – well not the part where I can’t stand his choice of tunes, but the cacophonous part - but he seems to care not. So I won’t work at night. It’s not fair to Ryan.
This frustration I think is magnified by the fact that I spent the last 5 months on PP working for a dive shop where everything was clean, the equipment was brand new and paperwork was meticulously tended to.

For a few hours I was ready to leave this place, just so down and feeling like this was panning out to be a continuation of my frustrations with PP. Then I realized that I’m just spending my time in the wrong part of the island.

Last night we went to quiz night at Trawangan Dive, at the northern end of the island. We were supposed to meet friends of our friend Amanda, who unfortunately didn’t show up, but we had so much fun nonetheless, enjoying a great Mexican meal (yes, we’ve found proper Mexican food – watch out my butt) and a very fun round of pub quiz. We made up a little team of two – just us and came in second – not too shabby. And very very funny! This could be a weekly thing for us.

So I’ve sort of eyeballed a couple of dive shops that might be better suited to my personality and requirements and it might be time to go check those out.

I apologize if the following paragraph offends any of you. The 5:00 a.m. Allah Akbar shit over the megaphones needs to stop. The endless afternoon droning of Allah this and thats needs to stop as well. This is how I reckon it goes: at 5:00 or so the man comes on the megaphone, “Wake up you infidels.” It’s short. About ½ hour later, he comes back on to give us another warning, “Get to the mosque, now!” Then about 15 minutes later it starts for good. The mosque drones on and on and on and on. It’s mind-numbing. Maybe if you understand what is being said, it has a whole different effect, but to me, it just sounds like an announcer at the airport repeating over and over the security measures. Sometimes it sounds like a football announcer because he gets a little bit excited. And possibly the worse is when they get the little kid they’re training to be the next Imam on.

We moved about a week ago to new bungalows and I’ve not been woken up by the mosque since, so clearly this new hotel does not have a megaphone inside my bedroom, which is a definite plus. The room is not as nice, per say, but it’s as functional and has the great advantage of a proper fresh water shower. As is usual whenever I change environments, my skin is having a revolution, so being able to finally wash with fresh water is an improvement. Our room, costs about ½ what the previous one cost and comes without the 5:00 a.m. alarm clock and also included is proper Balinese coffee with my breakfast instead of instant crap. The lack of Internet is taking some getting used to. We’re such sluts for instant access to information!

I’ve been attending yoga classes regularly. The yoga shala is a beautiful space, and when the child Imam isn’t screaming through the megaphone a very peaceful and serene place to practice. I’ve bought a 10-class package at a nice reduced rate. The classes themselves are not the standard practice that I was used to with Keira and I do miss Keira’s class. With Keira we were developing a regular practice of the primary series of Ashtanga Yoga. And with regular practice, the poses become easier with time. And I enjoyed that sort of commitment to a regular practice. I realize the only thing standing between me and that regular practice is a yoga mat, so first order of business when we leave this rock is the purchase of a new mat.

I am working on patience and discipline. We are after all still living in a beautiful place.

Peace, ya’ll xoxoxo