Living in the Bamboo Village

Ahhh, living in the jungle.

After exploring the nearest town of Ubud on bikes yesterday with Chad (it took about 45 minutes to get there), I do feel lucky to come back home to our bamboo village. Although we are that far from a store for groceries, I have never seen so many scooters, tiny streets and traffic like in Ubud. It is high tourist season, but crowded and crowded. Here in the Bamboo Village, there are about nine houses of various sizes.  It is a village of teachers and families, about 10 minutes walking from the Green School campus. There is good security and a village manager, so little things are mostly attended too. But I have learned that we also take care of each other..."it takes a village" they say...I'll write more on that as I get to know the community.

My little bungalow sits on one end of the village, the closest to the path towards GS. There are a few glass windows, but everything else is open air. There are many things to get used to when living in the open air tropics. And many questions to ask. For example, "what is the green powder outside the perimeter of the bungalow?" Yes, that is very important. That is what keeps the snakes out. And who replenishes that after it rains and washes away? And the white chalk I need to buy will keep the ants form coming up on the counters/furniture. And if I get a cat, that will help with the rats. Go kitty! And is it okay to accidentally step on the little offering left by my door each morning? Oops.

Right now, as I write, the sounds outside are incredible. it is about 8pm and the world is alive outside (and inside as well). There is a cacophony of sounds...squawking, chirping, quacking, buzzing, humming, chanting (from the nearby temple) and my neighbor playing his trumpet about 10 ft away. It is not quiet. And last night the rain was so loud, and so powerful I got out of bed to look for leaks, which happen with an organic roof. And I found a few, not too bad since my computer was 5 centimeters away from a dripping puddle. I woke up a few hours later to a big spider web, right by my head. A busy spider to say the least. And after trying to attempt yoga tonight, I was thwarted by guano dropping from the ceiling onto my mat as the bats awoke for the night. And as I am writing, I just tried to stop a little black bug from going under the keyboard and into the computer. He beat me.

So, other than needing knowing where to dump my compost (they use it to feed the pigs), where to take laundry, how to refill my water jug, who to call in an emergency and where I might find a fire extinguisher, I think I am good. 

And already I have learned a few valuable lessons:

1. stay really calm and steady while biking on the road (no bike lanes). absolutely no sudden movements or you might get squashed. 

2. at night, walking to/from houses, use the path. there are biting ants and big spiders on the foliage.

3. bring warmth to the tropics, it gets cool at night.

4. don't panic if something drops out of the ceiling.
5. learn the language asap in case you get lost or need anything like a cell phone (i started classes today).
6. don't bother bringing a glass of water to bed. everything likes to crawl into a glass of water.
7. don't run at noon. you will be beat red and your head will feel like it will explode for about two hours afterwards.

That's it for now. Stay tuned!